Laptop gurus, speak to me

[Onkel Neal]

I'm thinking about getting a laptop, lord knows I could use it. Here are the things I think I want/need in one:


Light and portable, something like 10" to 13" would be ideal
Windows XP
Wifi and 3G ready, whatever it takes to connect to the web at hotels and coffee shops
Cellular internet ready, internal or have a slot for a phone card-thingee, whatever it takes to connect to the web through ATT/Version/Sprint when there is no kind of wifi or connection available.
Powerful enough to run Office, Front Page, FTP, and Image Composer, IE and e-mail.What I would also like but these are more optional:

DVD burner (esp. a slot type with no tray :yep: )
2GB RAM
40GB or more hard drive/flash memory
I'm open to ideas, suggestions, and especially information from people who are up to date on the latest tech... thanks:up:

Neal
(stuck with a 2003 destop)

[SUBMAN1]

Get an Asus Eee 901. The reason I say that is it sounds like you want portability above all else. The 901 has the Atom CPU and it only weighs in at 2 pounds and costs about $400-$500.

It also has a SSD hard drive (20 GB) making speed to the HD (The laptops slowest component) lightning fast and not prone to crashing. I suggest buying a Linux version and loading your own XP to save $$$.

Without any more info, that is what i would steer you towards.

http://eeepc.asus.com/global/901.htm

-S

PS. Did I mention over 8 hours battery life?

PPS. Did I mention tiny too? I'm buying one for myself. Great to have something like this on an airplane or while traveling.

PPPS. 40 GB is more than you probably need if you don't plan to game.

[SUBMAN1]

Second choice throws out all those options and that would be if you wanted a fast vid card (for playing SHIV or DW LAWAMI 3.08 on the road). Then that should be your only criteria since any laptop with a fast vid card will far exceed your specs as listed automagically.

-S

[CCIP]

Second choice throws out all those options and that would be if you wanted a fast vid card (for playing SHIV or DW LAWAMI 3.08 on the road). Then that should be your only criteria since any laptop with a fast vid card will far exceed your specs as listed automagically.

-S
Yea, I was about to say that. If you definitely want a fast vid card, then your choices are pretty much limited to the higher-end laptops. Anything more modest usually comes with on-board video which is a no-no for gaming.

That's sort of how I picked my laptop last year (it's a 17" HP, with an 8600GS card). I'm very happy with it and it's definitely a good, if modest, gaming station (shame it doesn't run SHIV as well as I'd like it to... but it's all I got!)

Sounds like an Eee would be the choice for you if it's just a business lappy, though! I'd definitely consider it.

[nikimcbee]

I'm thinking about getting a laptop, lord knows I could use it. Here are the things I think I want/need in one:


Light and portable, something like 10" to 13" would be ideal
Windows XP
Wifi and 3G ready, whatever it takes to connect to the web at hotels and coffee shops
Cellular internet ready, internal or have a slot for a phone card-thingee, whatever it takes to connect to the web through ATT/Version/Sprint when there is no kind of wifi or connection available.
Powerful enough to run Office, Front Page, FTP, and Image Composer, IE and e-mail.What I would also like but these are more optional:

DVD burner (esp. a slot type with no tray :yep: )
2GB RAM
40GB or more hard drive/flash memoryI'm open to ideas, suggestions, and especially information from people who are up to date on the latest tech... thanks:up:

Neal
(stuck with a 2003 destop)

Good luck with the XP part:roll: . i just bought an intel dual core, 4 gig of RAM, the newest wifi, not g but N. Consumer reports rated it a great buy (it's a gateway) for $750. It does have vista on it:roll: :damn: It plays SH4 just fine.

[CCIP]

I actually wouldn't complain about Vista nowadays all that much, especially if you have plenty of RAM on the system. After SP1 it's gotten quite alright. I don't notice any performance differences and to be honest my laptop's more stable nowadays than my XP system was... buuuut that's another discussion, no?

[nikimcbee]

I actually wouldn't complain about Vista nowadays all that much, especially if you have plenty of RAM on the system. After SP1 it's gotten quite alright. I don't notice any performance differences and to be honest my laptop's more stable nowadays than my XP system was... buuuut that's another discussion, no?

Vista didn't bother me until I tried to instal SH3:damn: . 64 bit explorer is fun, but then there's the driver issue!:roll:

[SUBMAN1]

If you need WWAN, and don't care about cost, look at Sony sub notebooks.

http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/subcategory/notebooks/ultra_portable/tt-series

-S

[lesrae]

My 2p worth, I wanted a new XP PC recently and Dell were able to supply one, it wasn't from their catalogue it was 'old' stock from their business side, but did exactly what I wanted. They may be able to offer similar on laptops if you speak to them.

[DeepIron]

Howdy Neal!
My recommendation: the Sony VAIO NR430/E: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8892923&type=product&id=1211587728587

It's a little larger than you mentioned but I just purchased one and I'm extremely pleased with it. (Not to mention that I'm VERY picky when it comes to these kinds of devices!) It meets all your specs save two .. It's got Vista Home Premium on it, but I've it configured to look and act like an XP machine and it has a "tray-type" DVD unit. So far, it runs all my XP programs. It has 4 USB ports to support just about any device you might want, has an SD card slot, memory stick slot and Express card slot. Very handy! The battery life is between 3-4 hours and the unit is light and very well built. :up:

The screen is somewhat reflective and I thought this would be annoying. The truth is, the on-axis viewing angle is excellent and the "glossiness" of the screen is hardly noticeable at all. Besides, it's getting impossible to find any LCD screens on laptops that have the old style "matte" finish anymore...

The performance is very snappy. The Intel Core 2 1.86GHZ CPU has more than enough horsepower for this class of laptop. The 2GB of RAM is more than sufficient IMO. One cool thing, you can add a memory device, like a SD, memory stick or USB drive and have Vista use it's ReadyBoost feature. This allows Vista to write "cache" writes to the device and does speed the laptop even more. I added a 4GB SD stick to the laptop, configured it for ReadyBoost and leave it in place semi-permanently (I seldom use SD devices favoring memory sticks and USB drives for program storage).

One note: it has an Intel X3100 graphics chip. While the performance of the chip is quite good (I play a few games like Galactic Civilizations II on it) it is NOT a gaming chip... That being said, if you want to keep a few movies on the drive or DVD for replay (I have an entire series of Sherlock Holmes episodes on the drive), the performance is excellent!

I researched (for about 3 months) a number of netbooks like the Asus EEE, Aspire One and the MSI Wind along with numerous "portable" laptops before purchasing this Vaio.

[SUBMAN1]

My 2p worth, I wanted a new XP PC recently and Dell were able to supply one, it wasn't from their catalogue it was 'old' stock from their business side, but did exactly what I wanted. They may be able to offer similar on laptops if you speak to them.

Do not buy Dell. You will get propreitary parts that can only be updated by Dell and they will never update the drivers. I fought with them for 4 years and was always promised a driver update for an ATI card that couldn't use generic drivers - I never did get that update. In 5 years, they never updated one driver for that entire laptop and I spent $3000 on it.

-S

[Onkel Neal]

Howdy Neal!
My recommendation: the Sony VAIO NR430/E: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8892923&type=product&id=1211587728587



That looks like a solid machine, but it's bigger than I want.

Subman, I have been looking at the Asus Eee 901 and the Eee 10 model. (http://techreport.com/articles.x/15338) The 10 is about the right size, but I am hesitant to pull the trigger, I am hoping a version will come out that that has a DVD unit. Sure would be nice to watch movies on a plane....:hmm:

Low price is not a must but I would like it to be under $1200, and it is nice to know that if something breaks on a $400 unit, or if it falls off the motorcycle, I drop it or lose it, it's not a major problem.

There is no urgency to play games on the laptop, that can wait until I get back to the office. Of course, I am guessing that any modern laptop will be able to play AOE I and II, Starcraft, Mah-jongg, etc, older games with ease.

[longam]

I purchased the low end dell XPS for sales and they love it. I never had any problem with the higher end stuff from dell, but never buy from the bottom shelf that’s where all the proprietary comes in.

[DeepIron]

Neal... The form factor of the net books like the EE pretty much preclude the inclusion of a DVD player. You could, however, use a utility like Alcohol http://www.alcohol-soft.com/ and solve the problem...

I'm using the non-expiring freeware version of Alcohol with my Vaio. You have to search around the website to find it... It allows me to mount up to 6 "virtual drives", each drive contains the contents (a disk image created by Alcohol) of 1 DVD which in turn has 4 Sherlock Holmes episodes. Basically I have 24 1hr movies... Each image is around 7Gb in size for a total of 49Gb of disk space used. It would be a simple matter to use Alcohol to create the disk images and mounts for full-length features. The limitation would be disk space...

I think you could create the disk images on your PC (with a copy of Alcohol installed there) and then transfer them to the net book via USB drive or similar, placing one image to one directory. You'd need a copy of Alcohol on the net book to create the mount points for the directories and bingo! movies without a DVD player.

One of the pay versions of Alcohol (Alcohol 52%, more suited to laptop use) allows up to 31 drives to be mounted. Probably far more than a net book would need tho'...

[Onkel Neal]

WTH?? :o You cannot build and buy a Gateway online anymore?? When did this happen? OMG, I feel unstuck in time.... :doh:

[Onkel Neal]

Ok, this is as close as I can get, I think:
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11299280&whse=BC&Ne=4001604+4000000&eCat=BC|84|4797|29771&N=4001604&Mo=122&pos=0&No=10&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=4797&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10590-Cat56670&topnav=

It's 13.3, has all the stuff, except XP (which I can load if I decide to, just reformat the HD, right?).

I have to confess, I do not know what to call the "card slot" where one jams in a cellular card to connect, what's that called? Does this unit have that?

Any drawbacks with this machine?? :D thanks for the help.


And this seems to be the same model number machine, with a different config...
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10151262

Why do they do that? Each config should have a unique model number :(

But, it's a lot cheaper.

[DeepIron]

Looks like a capable unit. BUT... be forewarned... it could be problematic to load XP on... It may be possible with XP Pro but not with XP Home. I've run into issue trying to find device drivers for newer hardware so it's... maybe, maybe not.

The EEE 1394 is a Firewire interface, the 8 in 1 card reader will handle most memory media... the rest of the specs look fine. A good buy for the money IMO.

Hmm... the two are not the same... different processors... T5750 vs T2390... and different HD sizes...

[EDIT] I'd need to know the model and manufacturer of your cell card to be more helpful. :)

[Digital_Trucker]

I have to confess, I do not know what to call the "card slot" where one jams in a cellular card to connect, what's that called?
A lot of the cellular cards are now USB, but the slot you are speaking of is the PCMCIA slot, I believe.

[DeepIron]

If your card uses a PCMCIA slot, I didn't see one in the specs of either unit. PCMCIA is an older tech... mostly replaced by USB anyway...

[Digital_Trucker]

It's 13.3, has all the stuff, except XP (which I can load if I decide to, just reformat the HD, right?).

It being a Dell, I don't know if you'll be able to get XP drivers for it. I'd check their support site for the machine and make sure they even have XP drivers.

[lesrae]

Do not buy Dell. You will get propreitary parts that can only be updated by Dell and they will never update the drivers. I fought with them for 4 years and was always promised a driver update for an ATI card that couldn't use generic drivers - I never did get that update. In 5 years, they never updated one driver for that entire laptop and I spent $3000 on it.

-S

Fair enough, I've bought about 10 laptops and 20 PCs from them over the last 5 or 6 years and never had any snags - everyone has different experiences with companies.

[FIREWALL]

OK Neal :D I'm wise to what your up to.

Carry it on an airplane my behind. :lol:

You want to tote it on your scooter. :yep:

I've been looking for something like that myself.

I'll be rideing my Harley to your shindig and want to be connected.

Give TigerDirect a look see.:o

I found quite a few choices in the $500 to $700 area.

Still haven't made up my mind yet.:damn:

[nikimcbee]

Dell was fun to argue with, because they wouldn't let me have XP, only vista.:roll: Their business computers you can choose either, and I called them on it. It was a fun conversation because their call center is in India:rotfl: :up: .

My gateway has an HD monitor and HD port! Can you say big screen HD TV!:hmm: :up: I bought mine from bestbuy, on a side note. I was their newest computer model.

[nikimcbee]

Oh, and on a side note. Intel has totally rejected vista:rotfl: :up: as a corperation. Now there's a vote of confidence.:rotfl:

[lesrae]

Dell was fun to argue with, because they wouldn't let me have XP, only vista.:roll: Their business computers you can choose either, and I called them on it. It was a fun conversation because their call center is in India:rotfl: :up: .

Yup, pretty much what I did :O)

[nikimcbee]

Dell was fun to argue with, because they wouldn't let me have XP, only vista.:roll: Their business computers you can choose either, and I called them on it. It was a fun conversation because their call center is in India:rotfl: :up: .

Yup, pretty much what I did :O)

I knew what they would say, I just made the call for fun.:rotfl:
"Hold on let me ask my manager."
"No, we can't do that."
"You can just have the vistas, not the XPs."
http://chromatism.net/current/images/apu.gif

[Onkel Neal]

So, is there a lot of performance diff between these two? Is the faster one worth the extra $200 ?


Dell 1318 with Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T5750 at 2.0GHz
http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11299280&whse=BC&Ne=4001604+4000000&eCat=BC|84|4797|29771&N=4001604&Mo=122&pos=0&No=10&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=4797&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1&lang=en-US&Sp=C&ec=BC-EC10590-Cat56670&topnav=



Dell 13.3" Inspiron 1318 Pacific Blue Laptop with Intel Pentium Dual Core T2390
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10151262

[DeepIron]

So, is there a lot of performance diff between these two? Is the faster one worth the extra $200?
Hmm... the biggest diffs are in the CPU and bus speeds and L2 cache:

The T5750 is 2.0Ghz, 677Mhz bus and 2Gb cache.
The T2390 is 1.86Ghz, 533Mhz bus and 1Gb cache.

I'm using a T2390 in my Vaio and I'm completely happy with the performance. Seeing as you're not going to play graphics intensive games (Half-Life, Crysis, etc) due to the limitations of the X3100 video chip set, or doing any really intensive number crunching as in photo-processing, the extra $200 for the T5750 isn't going to show much performance improvement IMO.

Bottom line: I'd get the Inspiron with the T2390 (Walmart) and spend the $200 on something else...

[longam]

http://i.dell.com/images/global/general/spacer.gifThe Dell Inspiron Mini 9 has the solid state drive...cool!

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/laptop-inspiron-9?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd

[Onkel Neal]

So, is there a lot of performance diff between these two? Is the faster one worth the extra $200?
Hmm... the biggest diffs are in the CPU and bus speeds and L2 cache:

The T5750 is 2.0Ghz, 677Mhz bus and 2Gb cache.
The T2390 is 1.86Ghz, 533Mhz bus and 1Gb cache.

I'm using a T2390 in my Vaio and I'm completely happy with the performance. Seeing as you're not going to play graphics intensive games (Half-Life, Crysis, etc) due to the limitations of the X3100 video chip set, or doing any really intensive number crunching as in photo-processing, the extra $200 for the T5750 isn't going to show much performance improvement IMO.

Bottom line: I'd get the Inspiron with the T2390 (Walmart) and spend the $200 on something else...

Done, thanks! :rock:

[DeepIron]

Glad to be of service... :up:

[Blacklight]

I personally reccomend HP or Compaq (with a heavy leaning toward HP). Their laptops are pretty decent in quality. IBM Thinkpads are also pretty decent but you end up paying much more for them.

I will echo.. stay away from Dell or Gateway.

[Etienne]

I have a Dell XPS M1730. It's all kind of awesome, but it is not very portable. Which is to say, it's effin gigantic - the power converter alone is the side of a dictionnary. And the weight of one.

It's good for people like me who move their laptops once every three months (It's hard to go up a ladder carrying a desktop is all I'm saying) but there's no way to use it on a plane. Stay away from the XPS line if you need to move. (But man, are they awesome)

The cell phone card in mine keeps slipping out, so I have to bang the laptop to get it to work again. It's a PITA, but it's the only problem I've had with the laptop so far, it will be easily fixed once the warranty runs out... Oh, and I might be keeping my laptop in an environment that vibrates more than the common house.

Anyway, the point of this is the EVDO. Be careful what plan you get - there was a mistake with mine at one point, and they ended up charging me 3$ a megabyte. Nothing like a 700$ phone bill to wake you up... (They credited me and fixed my plan, thank god) But I'm still at 3$ a MB when I get an american signal, and the Dell EVDO card software doesn't have an option for home only, so it requires constant vigilance. Make sure you get a decent plan. Once the signal goes on 1X, you're back to the days of dialup, btw.

It's also too slow to play COD4 on line. Just thought you'd want to know :-D


Sorry for the rambling; I just started my vacation and, well, you know.

[lesrae]

I personally reccomend HP or Compaq

Aren't they the same company now? I thought HP had bought Compaq.

[Onkel Neal]

I have a Dell XPS M1730. It's all kind of awesome, but it is not very portable. Which is to say, it's effin gigantic - the power converter alone is the side of a dictionnary. And the weight of one.

It's good for people like me who move their laptops once every three months (It's hard to go up a ladder carrying a desktop is all I'm saying) but there's no way to use it on a plane. Stay away from the XPS line if you need to move. (But man, are they awesome)



Wait, what? The Dell I ordered is not an XPS, right?


Anyway, the point of this is the EVDO. Be careful what plan you get - there was a mistake with mine at one point, and they ended up charging me 3$ a megabyte. Nothing like a 700$ phone bill to wake you up... (They credited me and fixed my plan, thank god) But I'm still at 3$ a MB when I get an american signal, and the Dell EVDO card software doesn't have an option for home only, so it requires constant vigilance. Make sure you get a decent plan. Once the signal goes on 1X, you're back to the days of dialup, btw.

It's also too slow to play COD4 on line. Just thought you'd want to know :-D


Sorry for the rambling; I just started my vacation and, well, you know.

What's EVDO? What's COD4? Where's my glossary?

[CCIP]

EVDO = Extremely Vicious Door Opener, an appliance for old fridges where the door keeps getting stuck

COD4 = a mutated fish

:ahoy:

[DeepIron]

Neal, I believe you purchased the Inspiron, not an XPS. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don't Panic. :cool:

EVDO: EVDO or Evolution Data Only/Evolution Data Optimized (often abbreviated as EVDO, EV-DO, EvDO, 1xEV-DO or 1xEvDO) provides fast wireless broadband (3G) internet service directly to your laptop. You take the internet with you and surf the web in your car, on the train, in the airport, at a convention, on the road in your RV...

As you already have a cellular account, I doubt you'll have any issues. You're not buying an EVDO service as part of the laptop package.

COD4: Call to Duty 4.

[lesrae]

COD4: Call to Duty 4.

Call Of Duty 4? ;)

[DeepIron]

COD4: Call to Duty 4.
Call Of Duty 4? ;)

Oops! heh... :oops:

[Onkel Neal]

Neal, I believe you purchased the Inspiron, not an XPS. In the words of Douglas Adams: Don't Panic. :cool:

EVDO: EVDO or Evolution Data Only/Evolution Data Optimized (often abbreviated as EVDO, EV-DO, EvDO, 1xEV-DO or 1xEvDO) provides fast wireless broadband (3G) internet service directly to your laptop. You take the internet with you and surf the web in your car, on the train, in the airport, at a convention, on the road in your RV...

As you already have a cellular account, I doubt you'll have any issues. You're not buying an EVDO service as part of the laptop package.

COD4: Call to Duty 4.

Whew! Thanks. I do not have a wireless plan yet, just my cellular phone, so I need to learn about this EVDO, it sounds good. :yep: I do want the capability to surf from anywhere: car, train, beach, Seawolf Park, Alaska....

[Blacklight]

Aren't they the same company now? I thought HP had bought Compaq.
HP did indeed buy compaq, but the two still remain separate as far as the manufacturing of computers go. Consider the Compaqs as the cheaper budget laptops and the HP ones as the tough ones with the chrome. Both are actually good and decent qualtiy but the HP's tend to be physically sturdier and their keyboards have a more solid feel. But you do pay more for an HP laptop than a comparable Compaq one and the difference is in the sturdiness and I believe they use somewhat better brand parts (But don't quote me on that part.) HP's also are a little heavier than the Compaqs.