VisorCentral.com - New Laptop: Desktop Replacement or Ultraportable?

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Posted by Keefer Lucas on 10-09-2001 01:40 AM:

New Laptop: Desktop Replacement or Ultraportable?

The kids are rapidly overtaking my single home desktop, and its getting harder and harder to keep the system running at optimum levels with a plethora of poorly written children's games (unspeakable memory leaks the norm, not the exception)on the same system as my business and home programs and records. Another system is overdue.

So these are my rationalizations. I will spent $1500. Maybe a tad more. Maybe a tad less. I will get a laptop, because, like my Visor I can keep the kids hands off of it. Another desktop system in the house and I am sure the "hands off Daddy's PC" would last about an hour.

I am evenly split between wanting something that is a desktop replacement (15" screen, DVD, 4 hour batteries, dedicated 3D processor) or something that is wickedly portable (12" screen or less, full size keyboard yet ultra-slim form factor). In either case I will want an integrated DVD so I can watch movies on airplanes.

I use mostly business apps and Photoshop...next to no games (well, certainly not Quake IV).

Anyone have any thoughts on the merits of each? Has anyone bought a 7 lb plus "desktop replacement" and regretted its bulk? Has anyone bought one of the flyweight models and felt that in retrospect it was a slightly built piece of crap?

I am truly torn between my love of miniaturization and my craving for performance. I need help.

Posted by ToolkiT on 10-09-2001 04:06 AM:

I would go for the office replacement and use your PDA for ultra portabilty...

In mobility you can't beat a PDA...
Get a LAptop that can do the most, since you can upgrade without buying an new one get one you can use the longest...

Just my $.02 (AUD 0.04)

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Posted by dick-richardson on 10-09-2001 06:51 AM:

I agree with ToolKit. And might I suggest Apple for their line of fine computing devices. You can't get much more power or much more portability than a TiBook (alhought $600 out of your range), but the iBook w/DVD is a system that has had my attention for quite some time, as well as fitting nicely within your budget.

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Posted by namja on 10-09-2001 10:13 AM:

get a refurbished dell. it's only refurbished in name as almost most of them are merely returned items. besides they carry the SAME warranty as new merchandise.

you should be able to get a decent inspiron 8000 series, although $1500 is somewhat pushing it.

Posted by homer on 10-09-2001 02:27 PM:

The TiBook basically takes care of both needs. Huge screen, DVD, and ultra-portable. That said, it's more than you want to spend.

The iBook, while being slightly thicker, is still extremely portable...and can easily fit into your budget with room for bells and whistles.

Otherwise, I've always been happy with Compaq's laptops, though they certainly aren't ultra-portable.

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Posted by foo fighter on 10-09-2001 05:09 PM:

Ditto to what Dick and Homer posted. If I were in the market for notebook right now, Apple would be my "hands down" choice. Especially the T-book. The iBook is an excellent consumer notebook in your price range. It's a shame their desktops aren't as compelling.

But if you MUST have a PC notebook, check out Sony's Vaio line. SweeT! Dell's portables are a decent choice, but they look like sh!t.

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Posted by sdoersam on 10-09-2001 05:27 PM:

quote:
Originally posted by foo fighter

But if you MUST have a PC notebook, check out Sony's Vaio line. SweeT!

As someone who has had to support the Sony Vaio line of notebooks, stay away. Rarely have I found a notebook that is harder to work on in terms of both software (OS) and hardware. Besides, the floppy and CD-ROM are optional????

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Posted by lennonhead on 10-09-2001 08:04 PM:

I have the iBook with a CD-Rom drive and IMO is one of the best notebooks ever made. I say that because it is both inexpensive and very powerful. The form factor is great too, very portable and light. You can get any type of drive you want with it (CD, DVD, CD-RW or Combo). In terms of processing power the 500 MHz G3 is very fast. OSX 10.1 runs well on it. RAM is cheap now so you could easily afford another 256MB chip. The screen is fantastic too, although it is only 12.1" it supports 1024x768, is crisp, clear and the viewing angle is quite large (larger than most notebooks I've seen).

I have been very happy with mine, no problems. The Ti is nice too if you can afford it, but personally I'd rather have the extra thickness of the iBook since it isn't nearly as wide.

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Posted by miradu on 10-09-2001 08:46 PM:

How 'bout a ThinkPad with one of these

Well actually you should click this link: http://palminfocenter.com/view_Story.asp?ID=2436

The other one leads you to a pdf.. this one shows a picture and is off PIC

that is assuming you have a m500 or m125 I can't wait for the Visor version to come out! (like it will IBM is like way with Palm... )

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Posted by Soul Raven on 10-09-2001 09:09 PM:

If you're brave, try a lesser known brand. There are quite a few out there.

For myself, I bought a Sager notebook a couple of years ago. The model I picked up was ertainly not the lightest laptop out there, but I was able to get a K6-2 400mhz with DVD for about $500 less than comparable Dell/Sony/Toshiba models. It came with a 4MB ATI 3D card and 6GB HD and was my EverQuest platform for almost a year. I had to send it back twice during the one-year warranty, but it was returned promptly and has been working like a champ ever since, only showing as much age as any 2 year old PC would. I just checked their website, and the model I got is under $900 now. $1,500 USD would get you a 15" Active Matrix LCD, Pentium� III 600MHz Processor featuring Intel� SpeedStep� technology, 256MB SDRAM, 20.0GB HD, 8X Max. DVD-ROM & Software MPEG II, 10/100Mbps Ethernet Smart Li-ION Battery & Free V.90 Fax/Modem (I just cut and pasted that, so it pulled in all the trademark stuff, sorry). It also has a ATI Rage LT Pro AGP video card with 8MB SGRAM.

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Posted by ToolkiT on 10-10-2001 03:34 AM:

I have no experience with (T)Ibooks so cant advise you on that one.
As for Wintel notebooks, I've had a couple of Toshiba Tecra's (from 500, 510, 720, 8000 to 8100) and I must say I like them...

The 720 (very outdated now) even survived a big drop... only a small piece of plasic broke of...

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Posted by JHromadka on 10-10-2001 04:18 AM:

My best advice would be to not let price be your deciding factor. We bought my wife a Compaq Notebook 100 back when it was on of the few $999 laptops and have had nothing but problems with it. If we had some spare cash right now we'd buy her an iBook.

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Posted by MitzEclipse on 10-10-2001 06:55 AM:

If you're going the PC route, go portable, but not so much ultraportable. I had a Vaio Superslim, and I took that sucker around everywhere...onlyproblem is batteries lasted less then an hour and nothing was built in! CDROM was external, floppy, etc... Even the VGA port for presentations was external.

So I got a compaq armada m700. I love it, still a pretty slim factor, but has a dvd built in, vga, etc... and it's still pretty light. And it has a 14.5 " Screen.

Just my 2 cents.

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Posted by dampeoples on 10-11-2001 02:21 AM:

Aquire a job that will furnish one. You, Like me can have a 433MHz Thinkpad with 128M Ram and NT for the low, low price of nothing.

Posted by ToolkiT on 10-11-2001 04:55 AM:

quote:
Originally posted by dampeoples
Aquire a job that will furnish one. You, Like me can have a 433MHz Thinkpad with 128M Ram and NT for the low, low price of nothing.

hehehe, have that and my current laptop has double the specs yours has! Take that!

But I agree it is the best value for money! Ok it will cost you a lot in spare time (about 50 hours a week) but still it is worth it!

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Posted by dampeoples on 10-12-2001 12:10 AM:

OOPS! I think I dropped my laptop! Gotta get a new one...

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