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Laptop window shopping
Arik
Galen's Apprentice
in Zocalo v2.0
I'm considering getting a latop, though not in the immediate future... perhaps within the next couple of months.
I'm interested in getting a good, well-rounded desktop replacement system. By well-rounded I mean:
* high quality screen decent sized screen (15"+)
* fast (1.7Ghz+)
* good video card (though 32 megs will do)
* good speakers
* dvd/cdrw combo
* decent battery life.
What are some good brands that have what I'm looking for? I've heard good things about IBM and Toshiba, but haven't had any personal experiences with this.
Also, if anyone knows the difference between P4 and P4-M laptop CPUs, I'm very curious what it is. I have a theory that P4 is the desktop P4 processor that was just stuck into a laptop, while P4-M is the more portable, lighter less power-intensive version?
I'm interested in getting a good, well-rounded desktop replacement system. By well-rounded I mean:
* high quality screen decent sized screen (15"+)
* fast (1.7Ghz+)
* good video card (though 32 megs will do)
* good speakers
* dvd/cdrw combo
* decent battery life.
What are some good brands that have what I'm looking for? I've heard good things about IBM and Toshiba, but haven't had any personal experiences with this.
Also, if anyone knows the difference between P4 and P4-M laptop CPUs, I'm very curious what it is. I have a theory that P4 is the desktop P4 processor that was just stuck into a laptop, while P4-M is the more portable, lighter less power-intensive version?
Comments
Features on the on my office baught over the summer: 2GHz processor, nVidia Quadro4 400 GLGO (I think thats it), 40GB HD (they sell up to 80GBs in those things), can't recall the memory, but I think they handle up to 512MBs. You can get a DVD combo CDRW drive in them too. Costs about $5000 though [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/smile.gif[/img]
If you get one and decide to install linux on it, ask me what you have to do to get XWindows to work - you'll have XWin crash due to driver problems otherwise. I know how to get arround it - its quite simple really, but not strait forward.
P4-M are Mobile Pentium 4
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Brands: Toshiba...if they are just as bad as they were a year ago, they suck - big time. At work we seem to have had a harddrive fail in them about once a month (we had about 25 of them).
IBM: Generally good quality, but IBM is always slow putting the latest gimmics on their systems. Part of that is quality related: They don't put anything on until they have fully tested it.
Dell: We started getting those at work over the summer, and every one of them was nice. They have a few bugs though: DO NOT install the Touchpad driver if you plan to use an external mouse. It seems that the speed controls on them are mutually excusive - but yet installing the Touchpad driver disables access to the normal mouse panel, so you can't set mouse speed anymore! The other annoying thing about them was their driver install CD: Remember to eject it before rebooting after installing a driver, otherwise it will boot OFF THE CD! They are very good sound systems otherwise.
Also, if anyone knows the difference between P4 and P4-M laptop CPUs, I'm very curious what it is. I have a theory that P4 is the desktop P4 processor that was just stuck into a laptop, while P4-M is the more portable, lighter less power-intensive version?[/B][/quote]
Yup.....Ya gotta watch out for that. Some companies are putting the non-mobile variant in their notebooks and selling them at lower prices......
Yeah, I REALLY like Dell laptops, good prices, great performance.
IBM of course is still the king of the heap, but you pay a HUGE premium for one of their systems.
I have a decent laptop, a dell 4100 with a 1ghz p3-m, 512 ram, 32mb Geforce 2 go, dvd, and a 14.1" sxga+ screen...but I can't imagine replacing my desktop with it..reliability (which isn't to say mine hasn't been reliable so far..but laptops tend to not last as long as a desktop, and if you drop it, then you are really in trouble..and I can't cross backup between drives), lack of storage space, and a lack in overall system performance (esp in games)....
I would reccommend you get a lower-end dell laptop (the 4150 or whatever is a great combo of size/performance/price), and then use the extra you would have spent on an uber laptop on a desktop..then you have both.
The Dell displays are AWESOME BTW..extremely high resolution that you rarely see on any other brand, mine is at 1400x1050 right now..a new gateway I saw the other day could only do up to 1024x768, anything higher and it goes into that dumb "scrolling screen" mode.
[This message has been edited by Keyan (edited 09-30-2002).]
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[url="http://www.alecm.com/"]Alec McClymont[/url]
3D Artist - GVFX
"Something is only impossible until it's not."
i suspect that apple will announce a dual g4 laptop at the next macworld.
Go with the nVidia Geforce 4 Go or Quadro 4 Go...most good systems can come with those [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/smile.gif[/img]
I was considering getting a Dell Inspiron 8200 model, 1.7 Ghz with 15.1" Ultra Sharp screen (supposed to be really really good). however, I heard that dell laptops have really weak sounds quality with the built-in speakers.
Random Chaos/Keyan: What is sound quality like on your laptops? Is dell sound really as bad as people say?
Oh - one annoyance of Dell laptops: No external volume control. You have to do it in the OS. Which is a PAIN for Linux.
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We are here to place President Grenewetzki under arrest!
[b]Radeons suck...
Go with the nVidia Geforce 4 Go or Quadro 4 Go...most good systems can come with those [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/smile.gif[/img][/b][/quote]
Problem is the Geforce 4 Go is WAAAAAY slower then the Radeon 9000 M, and just as damn fincky, Ive been around notebooks with both the Geforce 4 Go and the mobile Radeon 7500 and they are just as fast and just as trouble prone.
Fastest for a notebook currently is the Radeon 9000M unless Nvidia launches a mobile NV 30 this fall, which there hasnt been much mention of.
One thing about the video card- ATI has a very nasty tendancy to ABANDON driver support for their built in cards, leaving it up to the OEMs to provide drivers for new OSs. I know a lot of people with ati vid cards in laptops that got screwed when XP came out..my roomate no longer has video out. Nvidia, with the unified drivers supporting EVERY video card, including the laptops, keeps up support for mutliple OSs and new OSs.
Basically, "big" laptop speakers are a cheap gimmick IMO. They can never, ever compete with "real" speakers, and you'll rarely use them when you are "out and about" because they are distracting to others. If you want some speakers for gaming, I would definatly suggest you get one of the small 2.1 sets- 2 sats and a small sub, that will exceed any laptop speakers for like $30...
[b] Problem is the Geforce 4 Go is WAAAAAY slower then the Radeon 9000 M, and just as damn fincky, Ive been around notebooks with both the Geforce 4 Go and the mobile Radeon 7500 and they are just as fast and just as trouble prone.
Fastest for a notebook currently is the Radeon 9000M unless Nvidia launches a mobile NV 30 this fall, which there hasnt been much mention of.[/b][/quote]
But can you name:
A: A fully working ATI driver for any card of their's
B: A location to find a Linux driver for that ATI card thats in Laptops
You can do both for nVidia...though laptop AGP interface can finicky with linux drivers - I know how to get arround that now.
2. There are linux drivers for the mobility 7500 out there, and I drivers for the 9000 will probably be comming soon, notebooks with it havent even shipped yet (they should be comming out this month)
If you want performance in a notebook your pretty much stuck with dealing with the ATI chip probably for the next 8 months, assuming Nvidia paper launches its next mobile chip at Comdex (which is where they typicaly announce mobile products)
The problem is the Mobility 9000 even if finicky is a much better performer the the Geforce 4 go, now when Nvidia gets around to launching its next mobile chip, the situation will change.
Finally a decent product from Wal-Mart! [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/tongue.gif[/img]
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[b][url="http://www.savefarscape.com/"]SAVE FARSCAPE![/url][/b]
My father has a Toshiba laptop that has a pair of 2 way (mid range and tweeter)speakers and a subwoofer built-in. [img]http://216.15.145.59/mainforums/smile.gif[/img]
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Chase
Web Hosting Provider for FirstOnes.com
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Chase
Web Hosting Provider for FirstOnes.com
http://www.radiusco.com/