Which laptops? (not urgent...)

[Nowhere]

Recently I've came to conclusion that laptop would be a good thing (tm) for me...mostly for typing on it in the first step during lectures. And not much else aprt form typing...a bit of web acces at faculty hotspot (though I could as well connect by wire) and sometimes some presentation in powerpoint, etc. , slideshow or playing video file (which could be prepeared to not be very CPU - intensive). So practicallyI'd be satisfied with anything that can run win2k (yeah, used...more at the end)
It would be nice if it would be small, I don't want to carr second bag for it...

However, one problem: 4 hours on baterries are absolutelly minimum, probably even 6 or 7 is a must...
So...what are my options? Used and cheap preferably. Does some cheap, uhmm...Toshiba for example, with mobile celeron based on p2/3 and two new packs of batteries, can approach such time? (other thing is...I'd like to do it on one pack of baterries...) Or are some older notebooks based on Transmeta the only way to go? They're for sure the only ones from the past about which I'm sure could achieve those times, especielly some NEC (for example) models without backlit screens (the places of use will be full of bright light). The only problem with them - were expensive then, so are rare, hard to find (not one on PL auctions)...and propably expensive also now. But probably they're the only way to go :/

The whole thing is mostly a song of the future...deciding at what should I look like and how much will it cost...one thing for sure, the laptops based on new Intel cpu's that'll come out next year will be for a looong time out of my price range...

[lecter]

I've got a Dell P3-500MHz with two great batteries, usually get 6hrs of battery life out of it...the downside is it weighs 4.5kg (and I live across the world from you). I don't quite see what you want, you seem to be the only Polish user here (and as such the only person familiar with your local market), and getting a laptop shipped from other countries would cost you plenty. Or are you just interested in some specific models which would fit the reqs? In the SH market around here, resonably old laptops (400+ Mhz) go for about 2-300$, but the batteries are usually crap...if you get it from a SH store, you'd surely have to invest in new battery cells. The best way to go imho is to find someone looking to sell his/her old laptop and make an offer...

Also, you could really consider saving up for a new laptop...they've gone down a lot in price - an ACER 1.5GHz, 256MB, combo-drive, WiFi+wired LAN model goes for about 500 Euros here. That way you'd have warranty and not experience the problems associated with SH laptops.

[Rakido]

Cnet made a battery-life test a while ago in April: http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/hardwar...9133705,00.htm

Hope that helps

R.

[Nowhere]

Well, lecter, I simply want something that fits my needs...those damn 6 - 7 h and suitable to be carried in small backpack along books etc.
And this Acer is about 700€ here...still, 500 would be waaay too much (besides...it look big; I want something on the small side; and cheap side...)

BTW, it looks like the MIT will finally bring the "100$ laptop" that sooo many before them announced...
Sad thing...it would be quite perfect for me, in price, possibilities and battery time (well...because there's no battery, look at it yourself ), especially with later models, where displays wil be based on "digital ink" tech. But I'm guess I'm too rich

[DGhost]

several of the IBM models have been reported to get 6-7 hours of battery life with their high end batteries.

[Claymonkey]

Nowhere the problem is if you want small you pay a premium. I have yet to see a small laptop that is cheap. Small caters to the travelling businessman and that ALWAYS carries a premium. Not only that but these small, expensive systems are often far slower than a cheap $700 laptop.

What you can do is get a laptop that gets say 3-4 hours of it's battery, but that has an optional battery. These seconday batteries often swap into the cdrom bay (at least on most dell's I've worked on). This will negate you're ability to use a cd, but with daemon tools you can get around that, you can also always keep the cdrom in your bag if you need to use it briefly to rip a new disk.

[Nowhere]

Well...I don't want excessivelly small - I simply want it to fit in my typical bag, which means not more than A4 size. And not too heavy also...but that doesn't mean excessively light (becase...I simply want it to be next work/study tool)
But what you mention later is why ther're expensive...people won't ever buy something slower or with smaller screen...

Hmmm...I wasn't aware that in many models the second battery also fits inside, for a price of loosing optical drive. I might see if typical used laptop that can be found here offers this possibility...and in how many hours it results...

[lecter]

The swappable drive feature is mostly on the older (or bigger) laptops I've seen...I've yet to see a thin, light laptop which would allow this.

[DGhost]

One other interesting things... most of the thing and light laptops I have seen do not feature the greatest battery life on them. they usually skimp on the battery in favor of a smaller package. the 14" and 15.4" notebooks seem to be the ones that sport the large batteries that give tons of battery life.

[Marshmallowman]

I guess you will be wanting one of these

http://www.digitimes.com/systems/a20050929PR206.html