OT: Laptop relacement

  • Thread starter Thread starter pheasant
  • Start date Start date
P

pheasant

The old Inspiron P3 500 is showing it's age; W98SE random freezes for
the last couple years getting worse, RAM starting to get flaky, reports
anything from 128 to 384 on each boot. So time to take him to the rifle
range.

I'm an AMD fan for desktop builds, but being laptops are a breed unto
themselves, and I have to buy it already put together would appreciate
some input.

Tasks are pretty much surfing the internet, reading email, and not much
else, so don't need an AMD 939 or P4 fire breather.

I'd be perfectly happy with this old Dell, but it's finickiness is
getting old.

Stick with Dell or find an AMD based Toshiba or similar? Would like
something that runs fairly cool so it could be left on 24/7 to act as a
desktop replacement, and be quiet to boot. Plugged into AC of course.

Your thoughts appreciated.

Thanks

Mark
 
pheasant said:
The old Inspiron P3 500 is showing it's age; W98SE random freezes for the
last couple years getting worse, RAM starting to get flaky, reports
anything from 128 to 384 on each boot. So time to take him to the rifle
range.

I'm an AMD fan for desktop builds, but being laptops are a breed unto
themselves, and I have to buy it already put together would appreciate
some input.

Tasks are pretty much surfing the internet, reading email, and not much
else, so don't need an AMD 939 or P4 fire breather.

I'd be perfectly happy with this old Dell, but it's finickiness is getting
old.

Stick with Dell or find an AMD based Toshiba or similar? Would like
something that runs fairly cool so it could be left on 24/7 to act as a
desktop replacement, and be quiet to boot. Plugged into AC of course.

Your thoughts appreciated.

Thanks

Mark
Click to expand...

That's not off-topic at all. But, you should only buy a laptop if there is
a definite NEED for portability. And, make sure you get a 5-year warranty
on any laptop, even if you have to pay extra for it. To fix anything on a
laptop, you will be relying on someone else to do the work, and it will be
expensive. -Dave
 
Hello Mark,

I echo Dave's remarks, the extended warranty is a must.

I've been using an IBM Thinkpad A22p since Oct. 2001 and it's been
flawless. The modem burnt out 2 weeks before (luckily) the extended
warranty dried up, but that's it. This notebook has seen heavy use.
I've been using it as a desktop replacement for the past 5 years,
although I do turn it off every night. While I understand the statement
to examine your needs (i.e. do you really need portability) it's just
plain nice to be able to work anywhere in the house. Beside that I
travel so do actually need the portability.

Were I to replace this notebook here's what I'd look for as a basic
minimum.

- At least a 15" monitor.
- Onboard wireless ethernet, with a built in RJ45
- Onboard USB2.0, with more than one jack. If this is primary
workstation you'll need "off notebook" backup. In a perfect world the
notebook would have Firewire as well.
- Non-proprietary BIOS. IBM has proprietary BIOS, which is a bummer.
- It's nice when the vendor has online updates. One click with IBM and
I can get all the notebook-specific utilites installed. Nice when you
do a format and clean install.
- Be aware of the maximum ram constraints. My notebook is only
expandable to 512.
- Also . . . get a full XP install disk, even if you have to spring
extra cash. Those separate service partitions are a PITA, as are the
"recovery" CDs.
- One last thing . . . heat is often a problem with notebooks, I'd
consider a cooling pad when the notebook is sitting on the desk. (look
for USB powered, on/off switch for fans, some are temperature
controlled.)
- Replacing my Thinkpad? . . . I'd go Toshiba again (I had Toshiba
before this IBM)

Beyond that it gets into CPU speeds, mobile sound cards, etc etc

Hope this helps,

Matthew
 
I ran across this place below and was pretty fascinated with the idea of
building one's own laptop from parts. I haven't ordered or even built one,
but just like building a desktop I'll bet one learns a fair amount about the
innards from doing it one's self.

http://www.rjtech.com/

Interestingly they have online manuals for how the pieces go together.
 
pheasant said:
Stick with Dell or find an AMD based Toshiba or similar? Would like
something that runs fairly cool so it could be left on 24/7 to act as a
desktop replacement, and be quiet to boot. Plugged into AC of course.
Click to expand...

Of the Gateway, Toshiba, HP, and IBM laptops I've had, the IBM (now Lenovo
for new machines) wins hands-down. The Pentium M / Centrino setup is
probably your best bet regardless of brand.
 
Well here are a few remarks from me, not sure if they will be helpful
or not !

1) Firstly, I have spoke to about 6 laptop "professional users" and
their No.1 bit of advice was DON'T buy an AMD based laptop (notebook),
they just aren't up to the job !!! (Sony and Dell ONLY use Intel !)

2) I spent 3 months analysing and looking at laptops, there are SO
many out there but basically you have 2 choices :-
a) lightweight and good (well 3hrs or so) battery life, but not
heavyweight in performance
b) heavy, big screen (17"), short battery life (90 mins ?) but as goos
as any desktop !

3) I went for option 2b above.
I went for a HP Pavilion with Pent 4, 3.4GHz processor, 2GB RAM, 100GB
hard drive, 4 USB ports, Firewire port, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth built in,
DVD/CD Writer (LightScribe one too !), card reader, good graphics
card, etc. etc. it also is 17" widescreen too.
Basically, it is a mirror of my latest desktop except my desktop has 1
TB of hard drive space (on 6 HD's), and a slightly better video card,
but the BIG advantage it only has ONE cable to it most of the time ..
the mains cable.
Also I can use it anywhere in the house (I have a Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
network, with 2 Bluetooth Printers) and in the garden too !
It DOES NOT get hot, in fact the 3 little fans underneath don't run
half the time, and when they do they are quite.
I was amazed, as I was quite prepared to put up with noise and heat,
but it just isn't there !

4) My friend, who goes to Spain on a regular basis, wants a laptop,
and although he likes my laptop, it just would not be suitable for
carrying around all the time or on aircraft, as the basic laptop alone
is on the limit of hand baggage weight, WITHOUT the mains supply
adaptor, which is really weighty too !
So depends what you want from them ......

Hope this might be of soem help !

Steve
 
Back
Top