Since when was buying a laptop so damn confusing?

[nephalim]

It's so hard to figure out what is better than something else, at Dell's site they have 3 different "ultimate" models, with the most expensive seemingly having a ridiculously slow processor...i'll make this simple. I'll just ask a few questions.

What's with this new "Pentium Processor M"? How come it's only available on the most expensive system, has a 400mhz FSB (as opposed to the regular P4's 533mhz on mobile systems,) and most importantly, is sold at a max speed of 1.7mhz. Is there something i'm missing? Is this some Centrino thing (also which I know nothing about?) Is it's 1.7mhz equivalent to 3ghz in a P4? Why is it so expensive? I notice it has a 1MB L2 cache as opposed to a 512KB in all other processors

How does the "Mobile P4-M" compare to the "P4-M"? Once again, when it comes to Dell at least, The "Mobile" P4-M has only a 400mhz FSB compared to the 533 in the P4-M. What the hell? Is the "mobile" P4-M one step closer to "mobile?" What's the difference, battery usage? I imagine since a more mobile processor would be made to run cooler, it would run consequently faster as well.

Did I mention they also have a "Pentium Processor M Low Voltage"? Luckily we can drop that one right here...

Then we come to graphics cards. What's the (64MB DDR) NVIDIA GeForce™4 4200 Go equivilant in desktop cards, vs. the (128MB) nVidia GeForce™ FX Go 5650? Are they all that much better than the M9, and isn't Radeon coming out with a new card soon?...

I want to get a new laptop, and I want to spend under 2k....Dell seems to do the best for the money, but they can't seem to figure out what their top-of-the-line model is...the "Pentium M" at 1.7ghz is like $2500 in a standard system....I don't get it...

 

[jollyrancher]

What's with this new "Pentium Processor M"? How come it's only available on the most expensive system, has a 400mhz FSB (as opposed to the regular P4's 533mhz on mobile systems,) and most importantly, is sold at a max speed of 1.7mhz. Is there something i'm missing? Is this some Centrino thing (also which I know nothing about?) Is it's 1.7mhz equivalent to 3ghz in a P4?

Yes, its that Centrino thing. They're the best wireless "on-the-go" laptops available if you're a travelling businessman, salesman, etc. So if this is the reason you're getting a laptop, it's the best choice since it's light, gets amazing battery life and has great built-in connectivity. But the 1.7ghz = 1.7ghz. If you're a student then you probably don't need this and should get something else. But it really comes down to what you're going to be using it for. If you want the fastest "desktop equivalent" just get the one with the fastest cpu and best gfx chip (Nvidia or ATI) that you can afford.

 

[URAMetroid]

I know this is not what you asked, but here are two links, one about Centrino mobile technology and the other, is a review of a almost Centrino notebook.

Intel Centrino Mobile Technology

IBM ThinkPad T40 Review

 

[dcook32p]

Notebook Recommendation

I want to get a new laptop, and I want to spend under 2k.

That's what it all comes down to, isn't it?

Dell does have some very good pricing on their Inspiron line of notebook PCs, and you can get a very powerful machine for well under your budget.

You do need to decide one thing before you pick the model, though. Will your emphasis be on portability or power? If it is portability you seek then the Intel Mobile Pentium 4-M Processor with Intel Power-Saving Technology will be your best bet (except maybe finding a notebook powered by a Transmeta processor). Obviously, if you seek power then a 1.7 GHz IA-32 processor isn't exactly top-of-the-line.

For portability, which nets you extended battery life, choose the Inspiron 8600. You may as well spring the extra few dollars to make it fully Intel Centrino compliant.

For power, which gets you... well... power, choose the Inspiron 8500. This models has options for processor speeds up to 2.6 GHz.

The Inspiron 5150, while being slightly more powerful than the Inspiron 8500 with a 3.06 GHz processor and a 64 MB GeForce FX Go 5200, doesn't include the large 15.4" LCD screen. This will also get considerably less battery life than either of the 8000-series notebooks.

Good luck with your purchase. And may I recommend dual-booting with Mandrake GNU/Linux?

 

[smegforbrain]

I've got a Dell PC, but one of the IT guys at work told my wife that their laptops and notebooks suck.

 

[dcook32p]

The Truth About Dell Notebooks

I've got a Dell PC, but one of the IT guys at work told my wife that their laptops and notebooks suck.

If Dell notebooks suck then so do ASUS notebooks - as that's the OEM design that Dell uses for their systems.

ASUS is the third largest manufacturer of notebook PCs world-wide, and they have one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings among their peers (including Toshiba and IBM - the two largest notebook manufacturers).

The only complaint I have ever had about ASUS OEM designs is the difficult way in which they make you swap hard disc drives. You have to remove far more plates, heatsink components, and wires to get there. IBM, by comparison, requires only the removal of two screws covering its shield and the four screws on the drive itself. Toshiba used to have a swappable bay in their notebooks, but I haven't dealt with their products in quite some time.

Edit: I corrected a typographic error.

 

[AlphaWolf]

If Dell notebooks suck then so do ASUS notebooks - as that's the OEM design that Dell uses for their systems.

ASUS is the third largest manufacturer of notebook PCs world-wide, and they have one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings among their peers (including Toshiba and IBM - the two largest notebook manufacturers).

The only complaint I have ever had about ASUS OEM designs is the difficult way in which they make you swap hard disc drives. You have to remove far more plates, heatsink components, and wires to get there. IBM, by comparison, requires only the removal of two screws covering its shield and the four screws on the drive itself. Toshiba used to have a swappable bay in their notebooks, but I haven't dealt with their products in quite some time.

Edit: I corrected a typographic error.

For my dell inspiron, you just remove one screw to remove the HDD.

 

[nephalim]

For my dell inspiron, you just remove one screw to remove the HDD.

Same with mine.

I don't know whether to get the 5150 or the 8500. The 8500 is far superior in every way, except the screen (although they offer XGD screens, of which I have no idea what they are,) having a modular bay and a far larger amount of ports (it's lighter believe it or not, too.) According to Dell's own information, the 5150 has superior battery life to the 8500!! I wouldn't think that's true, and was told a few posts up it wasn't too, Go figure...I don't get it. What's the Mobile Pentium 4-M have that the Pentium 4-M doesn't? Maybe it's best to save my money and get a better machine and just get a regular P4 with the 533mhz bus and all, same as the 5150 (The 5100 I think)?

EDIT: Sorry this is so rambling...but I just can't get my thoughts straight with all this. Now, what about the graphics card? Is the Geforce 64mb model I mentioned in my first post good? How much better than the M9?
This is the best they offer on the 8500:
64MB DDR NVIDIA® GeForce™ 4 4200 Go AGP 4X Graphics
This is the best they offer on the 5150:
64MB DDR NVIDIA® GeForce™ FX Go5200 AGP 4x Graphics

I don't know what these equate too, i'd appreciate someone telling me, thanks...

EDIT2: it DEFINETELY looks like the 5150 is a far better system at a better price. No modular bay, no "mobile" Pentium P4M (it's a regular P4M,) no serial or parallel or ps2 ports, and it doesn't have the wide angle 15.4" screen (is it worth it?), and, finally, it's about a pound heavier than a fully-loaded 8500 (but smaller,) but otherwise it's better in every way, including battery life (according to Dell,) processor speed & bus & memory speed, & price.

 

[dcook32p]

Final Recommendations

I just instant messaged a friend with a new Inspiron 5150. He confirms the single screw reports, and I am proven wrong.

He also notes that his battery life, while playing Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, is about 1.5 hours. During Dreamweaver MX 2004 sessions he can usually get between 2 and 3 hours depending on whether he is listening to an audio CD or not. So if that's enough for you then I would go with the 5150 - you don't seem thrilled enough about the 15.4" screen to warrant purchasing the 8500.

Regarding the graphics cards, you should check the usual hardware sites for reviews and performance benchmarks. Search Google using those product names and see what you can find. I haven't really kept up with the graphics card industry since mid-2001. The more perceptive of you will have already noticed that I am still using a 16 MB 3dfx Voodoo3 3000 AGP. It serves my needs.

And sorry about the mis-information. As it turns out, a quick search of SEC filings would have shown me that Dell stopped licensing ASUS designs about two years ago. That's what I get for not checking my facts.

 

[GogoTheMimic]

Speaking of laptops, I want to get a dirt cheap one. I just need it for instant messaging(wireless) while I'm on campus at college and typing notes. A good sized hard drive is a must for mp3s.

 

[AlphaWolf]

And sorry about the mis-information. As it turns out, a quick search of SEC filings would have shown me that Dell stopped licensing ASUS designs about two years ago. That's what I get for not checking my facts.

Hmm...well, my laptop is over two years old

 

[dcook32p]

Cheap Notebooks

Speaking of laptops, I want to get a dirt cheap one. I just need it for instant messaging(wireless) while I'm on campus at college and typing notes. A good sized hard drive is a must for mp3s.

If you intend to use your notebook PC away from AC power and utilize 802.11 wireless then I can not sufficiently stress the benefits of Intel's Centrino technology platform. You will achieve <i>much</i> improved battery life, integrated 802.11b wireless networking, and a typically lighter-weight system than a traditional notebook PC.

Although I prefer IBM ThinkPads to Dell's product line, the IBM models are noticeably more expensive. So I will recommend Dell's <a href="http://www.dell.com/us/en/dhs/products/model_inspn_inspn_600m.htm">Inspiron 600m</a> [dell.com]. Pricing on this model starts at US$1,299.

If you don't need the extended battery life and/or the integrated 802.11b wireless then you can opt for a far cheaper system - between US$600 and US$1,000.

 

[GogoTheMimic]

Well shit, I was hoping for like 300-600 dollars. :\ I just spend 1600 building my desktop.

 

[dcook32p]

A Used Notebook

I was hoping for like 300-600 dollars. :\ I just spend 1600 building my desktop.

I searched Google for <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=used+notebooks&btnG=Google+Search">used notebooks</a> [google.com]. The first result was <a href="http://www.westworldcomputers.com/notebooks.htm">this one</a> [westworldcomputers.com]. The price is in your range. The <i>value</i> is not. I'm sure you'll find a good deal out there. Remember to purchase a CardBus or PCMCIA 802.11b adapter.

 

[GogoTheMimic]

If anybody sees any good deals on laptops, let me know!

 

[Eagle]

Whatever you do, get a Centrino processor, those things are friggen amazing

 

[xuimod]

If anybody sees any good deals on laptops, let me know!

***first post on emutalk***

Go to Dell Outlet. Its a site run by Dell that sells refurbished laptops.

Some very good deals on there. You can get a D600 1.6ghz, cdrw, 40gb hd and 512MB ram for $1600. That's about $600-700 off retail. They're also backed by dell's warranty so you don't need to worry about it breaking down (I think 1 year for Dell outlet pc's but you can upgrade).

I know your price range is low, about $600, so if you look on the dell outlet website, they might have older model, refurbished laptops in that price range.

but my next laptop is going to be a IBM thinkpad T40. I'll probably buy it off ebay for about $1600 (with IBM warranty still good of course) . the T40 get's 7-8 hours battery life on the 9-cell battery and, with the 9-cell battery and cd-rw the laptop only weighs 5.4lbs!!!! not to mention the laptop is only 1 inch thick.

Also, the build quality for thinkpads is super solid. magnesium alloy chassi, they don't use cheap plastics like almost every other laptop manufacturer (dell included).

I hoping the thinkpad T40 (with 1.6ghz, ati 7500 32mb) will handle n64 emulation fine. from what i've read, i'm confident it will be.

sorry, kind of a rambling post but hope that helps.....

 

[My95ZR2]

Laptops....Well, I just got a Centrino, and although it's clocked at 1.4GHz, it will smoke a P4 laptop. My friend has a P4 lappy, and I can run circles around it. I don't remember exactly why, but it's something about how the Centrino chip is designed.

Side note:
More Ghz does not mean more performance. Why? The best analogy I've heard is this. GHz is like a car engine's RPMs. RPMs vs. Horsepower is not a linear line. Neither is Ghz vs. the amount of instructions a processor can crank through. Don't believe me? Why did a P4 always beat a P3 of the same speed (when they overlapped speeds)? It's cause the P4 could crank through more instructions. Remember back to the 266Mhz and the 300Mhz. Tests were done, and the 300Mhz had more power, but the increase in performance didn't justify the price.

Anyway, this Centrino can really crank out the performance. The desktop my parents have is a 1.5Ghz p4 (400Mhz FSB). I did some tests on different things (emulation, Winrar compression, etc) and the lappy beat the crap outta it. I can even run Goldeneye with it on battery (Speed-Stepped down to 600Mhz).

Anyway, I got the 1.4Ghz Centrino, 60gig HD, the mid-grade screen (1680x1050), the nV Geforce4 Go 4200, DVD-RW/CDRW, 512Meg Ram. I can honestly fell no difference then the desktop, and only a slight difference when on battery. With all the rebates and stuff, the syste, came to ~1700, but now I think it's up towards 18 or 19 hundred...

Also, the battery life is about 2:30, while playing emulation. If you got any more questions, just post em.

Adam

 

[xuimod]

Laptops....Well, I just got a Centrino, and although it's clocked at 1.4GHz, it will smoke a P4 laptop. My friend has a P4 lappy, and I can run circles around it. I don't remember exactly why, but it's something about how the Centrino chip is designed.

Side note:
More Ghz does not mean more performance. Why? The best analogy I've heard is this. GHz is like a car engine's RPMs. RPMs vs. Horsepower is not a linear line. Neither is Ghz vs. the amount of instructions a processor can crank through. Don't believe me? Why did a P4 always beat a P3 of the same speed (when they overlapped speeds)? It's cause the P4 could crank through more instructions. Remember back to the 266Mhz and the 300Mhz. Tests were done, and the 300Mhz had more power, but the increase in performance didn't justify the price.

Anyway, this Centrino can really crank out the performance. The desktop my parents have is a 1.5Ghz p4 (400Mhz FSB). I did some tests on different things (emulation, Winrar compression, etc) and the lappy beat the crap outta it. I can even run Goldeneye with it on battery (Speed-Stepped down to 600Mhz).

Anyway, I got the 1.4Ghz Centrino, 60gig HD, the mid-grade screen (1680x1050), the nV Geforce4 Go 4200, DVD-RW/CDRW, 512Meg Ram. I can honestly fell no difference then the desktop, and only a slight difference when on battery. With all the rebates and stuff, the syste, came to ~1700, but now I think it's up towards 18 or 19 hundred...

Also, the battery life is about 2:30, while playing emulation. If you got any more questions, just post em.

Adam

I think the 1MB of level 2 cache is what makes the difference in the pentium-m (vs only 512Kb of L2 cache for the pentium-4). And considering how dependant n64 emulation is on the processor (more so than video card), the difference bt the pentium-m and pentium-4 probably really show up in comparsions involving n64 emulation.

BTW, I just found out IBM has a site of "IBM used certified" equipment. Some awesome prices on that site (T40 for only $1525). There's also some good used Pentium-3 class thinkpads there for about $600-700. Not great for n64 emulation (although epsxe should work good) but fine for running Win2k and other apps.

Definately a site you should check out if you're in the market for a laptop (I'll be going there to get my T40 once I earn enough $$$ to buy one).

 

[sheik124]

dunno why youguys are reviving an ancietn thread, i heard hp laptops were a good bang for your buck