Laptop questions (help please!)

[Mr. Mopery]

To clarify, I both of the chips I mentioned are Pentiums. The new M ones are usually associated with Centrino stuff (not that I really know what that is) and were designed especially for laptops. The fastest ones I've seen online were around 1.6mhz.

Sorry about the confusion. Does anybody know how this Pentium M 1.6 compares to a Pentium 4 3.0?

[Arledrian]

Mr. Mopery, I think considering your needs, your minimum configuration should look something like this:

AMD Athlon 1500 (1.33ghz)
256 MB RAM
30 gigabyte disk
16mb graphics card

Also make sure it has a LAN (ethernet) port with as many USB and firewire ports as possible. This set up will match all your needs and let you play Morrowind and NWN.

I think ideally we'd all like the top of the range, but you can get a notebook like this without breaking the bank. I have a Compaq Presario 900 with the above specifications and it cost me $729. It's also been very reliable and quite speedy with no problems whatsoever.

To clear your confusion a little, centrino laptops have wireless LAN built-in, and are often thinner and lighter, and emit less heat. They have a low-voltage cpu which gives longer battery life. Also, I'm pretty sure that they clock higher speeds than non-centrino laptops with the same megahertz rating.

Can't shed any light on how the P4 3.0ghz compares to the P1.6m though, haven't had the chance to play with either of them

Hope this helps a bit [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 08-04-2003, 05:58 AM: Message edited by: Arledrian ]

[Sir Taliesin]

I just went throught this little exercise over the last three months. Here is a good link. Check out the Notebook/Laptop Buying Guide, on the top left of the page. It has a lot of good information.

Personally, I REALLY, REALLY liked Toshiba, but they were REALLY, REALLY expensive. Dell was up there too. But I had a set criteria of what I wanted and they couldn't fit the bill. I searched E-Bay high and low and almost gave up, when I walked into the local Circuit City store and came across a Compaq Presario 3015us on closeout. Got it for a song (almost damn near stole the thing by saving $500 off the regular price)!!! Here are the Specs:
8.2 lbs, Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz , 512 MB DDR SDRAM , Portable , 16 in SVGA , 1 Lithium Ion , Microsoft Windows XP, Firewire port and 4 2.0 USB ports to hang a bunch of perifials. No 1.44 floppy though.
I know it's heavy and it doesn't have wireless, but I was looking for a laptop that could it all, including running a high power CADD program. And that's what I got. I just dread the day I have to call Customer Service Support, cause I heard they were the worst. Any way happy hunting and don't close any options.

[andrewas]

Originally posted by Mr. Mopery: To clarify, I both of the chips I mentioned are Pentiums. The new M ones are usually associated with Centrino stuff (not that I really know what that is) and were designed especially for laptops. The fastest ones I've seen online were around 1.6mhz. Sorry about the confusion. Does anybody know how this Pentium M 1.6 compares to a Pentium 4 3.0?

I knew that. Really I did. Deliberate mistake. Honest.

Anyway, the P4-M 1.6 seems to perform about the same as a P4 1.6 would. Its a different technology that runs at a much lower clock rate, but uses less power, generates less heat and is in general designed for a laptop where heat and power are critical.

But you wont get a laptop CPU running any faster than 2.2Ghz, so as far as laptops goes, its a pretty good chip and as always with games, its the graphics card and not the CPU that really matters.

[Animal]

Originally posted by andrewas: quote: Originally posted by Mr. Mopery: To clarify, I both of the chips I mentioned are Pentiums. The new M ones are usually associated with Centrino stuff (not that I really know what that is) and were designed especially for laptops. The fastest ones I've seen online were around 1.6mhz. Sorry about the confusion. Does anybody know how this Pentium M 1.6 compares to a Pentium 4 3.0?

I knew that. Really I did. Deliberate mistake. Honest.

Anyway, the P4-M 1.6 seems to perform about the same as a P4 1.6 would. Its a different technology that runs at a much lower clock rate, but uses less power, generates less heat and is in general designed for a laptop where heat and power are critical.

But you wont get a laptop CPU running any faster than 2.2Ghz, so as far as laptops goes, its a pretty good chip and as always with games, its the graphics card and not the CPU that really matters. [/QUOTE]The Centrino core throttles down the speed of the CPU when not needed, to conserve power. Compared to a P4 3.0, it would have it's a$$ handed to it in short order, but the P4M (Mobile) is designed for laptops not for desktops so it's an unfair fight.

Don't just look at speed when buying a laptop, check out the battery life and heat that it generates as well. You can find laptops running a desktop version of the P4 up to 3GHZ, but the battery life is dismal, and putting it on your lap is going to cause third degree burns. [img]smile.gif[/img]

I'd grab a P42.2, running the latest nVidia or Radeon mobile graphics processor and you'll be able to run anything going. Of course, you're also going to top dollar for it, but you get what you pay for, right?

[Mr. Mopery]

(Waves a wand and resurrects the topic one last time)

Um, thanks everyone for your input. Thanks for the link, Sir Taliesin, especially.

I was looking at Dell online and they had a new 5150 laptop with the following stats:

...Processor: Mobile Intel® Pentium® 4 3.06GHz1 processor with on-die 512K L2 cache and 533 MHz Front Side Bus provides the power of desktop processors.

...Display: 15" SXGA+ or 15" UltraSharpTM UXGA TFT high-resolution

...Video Graphics: DDR ATI MOBILITYTM RADEONTM 9000 AGP 4X video graphics at 32MB and 64MB.

...Storage: Hard drives up to 60GB.

...Memory: 2 memory slots to support 256MB to 2GB DDR memory (PC 2700 at 333mhz).

...Height & Weight: Starting at just 7.91lbs6 and 1.83" thin when closed.

...Battery: Features a 12-cell7 Lithium Ion battery.

That's the basics, anyway. Anybody have any thoughts on this? The price isn't THAT big a factor, I can afford it, but what about the other stuff?

The weight's not great but mainly I have a notebook because travelling from Thailand to Poland to America with a desktop is rather pointless. I don't carry it every day.

I'm worried about heat, though. I have a 550mhz Presario now and my damned hands sweat sometimes when I'm typing. Would it be that much worse with this computer?? It's hot enough already here, I don't need more heat! And anyway, does this excess of heat hurt the computer??

Anyway, some final comments/ideas would be appreciated and the ones I've received so far have been quite helpful, thank you all.

[andrewas]

I would take a slower processor - the difference between 2Ghz and 3Ghz is surprisingly small as far as gaming is concerned, as long as you have a decent video chip, and faster chips mean more heat and less battery life.

[Sir Taliesin]

Sounds like a great system! Go with the 64meg video card and all the memory you can afford! The one thing I wish my compaq had is a stand alone video card. Mine is shared, but it is still plenty fast enough. Lack of a floppy is a pain sometimes, but I have one of those little USB flash drives from Belkin and that makes life a whole lot easier.

Heat isn't a problem with mine unless I have it on my lap for an extended period of time.

One other thing about having a laptop instead of a full blown desktop is the amount of space we have managed to save!!! We practically cleared off our computer desk when we moved the old one into the kids play room. We are even thinking about purchasing a much smaller desk cause we don't need that MASSIVE computer desk anymore. Our house is only 1200 square feet for two adults and three children, so space is at a premium!

[Harkoliar]

I would take a slower processor - the difference between 2Ghz and 3Ghz is surprisingly small as far as gaming is concerned, as long as you have a decent video chip, and faster chips mean more heat and less battery life.

if the price gap is waaayyy big from 2.0 to 3.0 ghz.. i would suggest following this advise.. but if its small.. go for it!!!

[Timber Loftis]

My Sony has made me very happy -- even considering the HDD that crapped out after 1.5 yrs (and was replaced -- buy extended warranty service). Even though the same $1800 will buy you a machine 4X as powerful now, my little 1GB wonder is still running anything I want to throw at it. Its 20GB HDD was an issue, but a 40GB external games hard drive for $100 was a nice quick-fix (new models come with 40GB, 60GB, or larger HDDs). Sony has the best initial software package and has great video/audio software, if you're into that. They also have a line that's relatively average-priced.

Before that I had Toshiba -- a solid performer. Good machines. Toshibas, like Sonys are not all expensive. Both brands have the premium models and the models sold on the shelf at electronics stores that are reasonably priced.

I do Pentium only chips after some bad experiences with AMD and Celeron. Make sure you get 256K or more memory on an XP maching (almost ALL models will have this).

Dell Inspirions seem to be good, and fairly priced.

In the end -- get something you can buy at a CompUSA or Best Buy. Their prices are cheapest, next to the catalogue companies. With the catalogues (like PC Connection), I've had some good experiences and bad ones (do NOT buy from Tiger Direct). If you buy from these guys, still geet a brand name, not one of their hodge-podge rebuilds. Why I like CompUSA/Best Buy is there is always some brand that's good and on sale, and you just can't beat 12 mos./no interest (just pay it all off in time, or ALL your stacked up interest falls on your head).

If you have a home monitor to hook it up to, go with a smaller screen size, otherwise insist on 15". Well worth it. Sony has the best screens I've seen.

My Sony (PCG -- which I think is a very similar model to Ziroc's, IIRC) is one of the 7lb. desktop replacements. Since I've added a monitor, speakers, external HDD, etc, I wish I'd simply gotten a slimmer, smaller, trimmer model and had the peripherals I needed. Travelling lighter is always nicer. So, I guess my question is what are you looking for -- portability or desktop replacement?

Answer this, and I'll gladly recommend particular models. As for brand names, I know I will always buy Toshiba or Sony, but if forced I just might buy a Dell.

If you are wealth, if graphic design is a huge issue for you, and/or if lack of compatability with IBM-style PCs is not an issue for you, Mac may be a good choice. For me, I stick with the near-universal standard. I have enough technical problems without struggling with Mac compatability.

[ 08-06-2003, 10:13 AM: Message edited by: Timber Loftis ]