Shopping for notebook, What do I look for?

[cjolley]

What do I look for and look out for?
What do you think of HPs?

Thanks,
Chuck

[az]

Depends on what you're looking for

Office apps, 3D games, DVD, CDR, weight/size, battery life, screen size, price, support, linux, mac?

AZ

[Wombat]

HPs aren't bad, I'd consider Dell too. If you look around at the coupon sites, you can find some good rebate codes for Dell. Also, if you've got a Discover card and a little time, you can get $2 in Dell credits for every $1 cashback.

[cjolley]

Just got back on when I realised that I didn't mention that

I will get a 54G linkup for our home network to surf the web & do word processing in the garden.
Also WiFi on trips out of town.
Enough graphics power to run QuakeWorld is enough for me

chuck

[PAugustin]

I suggest you look for Centrino based computer. This is the best portable solution for now. You get P4 perf with much more battery life (like 4 or 5 houres).

HP makes good laptop, also look at the Sony Centrino, it is great. Dell is usually very good too.

[Wombat]

Careful with Sony. They have awful warranties.

[Technoid]

Have to say that I actualy advice against a AMD based laptop because they get so damn hot, since non of the manufactors seem to implement any of the powersaving functions

[RedRed]

Personally, I have had faultless reliability from Toshiba (tecras and Sattelites).

I cant say the same for Compaq/HP.

They arent the fast PC off the block, but since comming to this job, the toshes havent let me down (I have 2 demo boxes running Win 95!)

John J

[az]

Intel Centrino or Pentium M based notebooks are either lightweight, or have great battery life, or both. Pentium M is the new intel mobile processor (codenamed Banias), which is fast, power saving, and expensive. Centrino is actually the combination of the Pentium M with an intel chipset, and WLAN chip (only 11 MBit, though!).

So you might want to get a Pentium M based laptop with a 54 Mbit WiFi adapter built in, but it'll not be cheap. Sony or Dell, or Samsung might be good.

Or, wait a little and buy a tablet PC. You can reverse their display, and tilt it back on the keyboard, so that you have a touchscreen.

You should tell us your priorities and price range

AZ

[GNEP]

-Wieght
-Battery Life
-Screen size
-Noise (only become an issue in the last few years, but if you can get something silent or quiet, do it... no modding later with laptops...)

GFX chip (if you want to do any gaming, then look for the Radeon 9600 Mobility)

And yes, go for Intel over AMD for a laptop anyday.

[Kurt]

Re: Shopping for notebook, What do I look for?

Originally posted by cjolley
What do I look for and look out for?
What do you think of HPs?

Thanks,
Chuck

Before asking these questions, why don't you say what you want to do with it?

Is it work, play, both? Are you going to travel much, etc?

Otherwise, I agree that the Tosh is probably the safest bet. Their current models are way overpriced though.

Their tablet PC is also very tempting -if you really need it.

AMD notebooks are always problematic in my experience. Not because the chip is not valid but because manufacturers tend to use the cheapest parts -and that always creates trouble...

[Wulfman]

if your budget allows it, take a close look at IBM - if you want to keep the book for some years, you won't regret paying more in the beginning, as you will get every spare part (and astonishing service during warranty) for years.... the build quality (case, keyboard) is impressive.

mfg
wulfman

[az]

Oh, BTW, support for business lines is usually WAY better than for consumer lines.

AZ

[cjolley]

Hmm...
Much to think about.
This needs to be as cheap as possible considering the light use it will get.
On the other hand, all the cheap Intel based laptops seem to use Intel based graphics which have trouble even running quake 1, let alone anything newer.
I would rather get a separate 54G card so if the standards change, I can just change cards.
The only "must haves" I have come up with are:
1, 15" screen
2, 256m of ram
3, dvd player

Power saving is not much of a concern as we have eletricity on our patio and can use the cig lighter in the car.

They have an HP AMD 1700+ based laptop with Radeon graphics and a dvd/cdrw at Best Buy for $799 after rebates that I thought looked attractive.

How many think I should strongly avoid AMD?

Thanks,
Chuck

[GNEP]

I do. (Avoid AMD that is) - power and heat being the main reasons. Intel are just further ahead in managing them as far as I can tell.