Purchasing a New Laptop.

brothersinarm · Post by **brothersinarm** » 2005-11-08 10:20pm

Now that I sold my Dell Inspiron 5160 laptop, I'm looking to invest in a newer smaller and lighter laptop. I was hoping someone could shed light on this topic. I'm leaning towards purchasing an Apple Laptop, perhaps early next year when Apple will offer a free ipod with a purchase of their laptop. But I'm concerned about the software they offer. WIll I have to buy new typing software? Can I view powerpoint? I'm also open to buying a windows laptop but I'm quite unfamiliar with the new Intel Centrino and the AMD processors. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I would like to purchase warranty with my laptop and after dealing with Dell, I would like a company that offer a similar service. Finally I can only afford a laptop with warrany that is $1500 CA or lower. I'm actually not even sure if this is too much for computer these days. I paid this amount for my old Dell Inspiron 2150 Laptop 3 years ago before it crashed and was replaced by the 5160. Thanks for any help you can offer.

Ypoknons · Post by **Ypoknons** » 2005-11-08 11:45pm

A) New Microsoft Word is required, but I'm sure you can find it.
B) Powerpoint - yes. All Microsoft Office.
C) Intel Centrino. Great. Very fast; I forgot the conversions but a 1.7 Centrino/Pentium M is no so slower than a 2.8Ghz Pentium 4; try newegg.com for well priced laptops from Asus, Acer, Compaq etc...
D) $1500 is quite a bit. Depending on your needs, $700-$2000 decent laptops can be had....

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2005-11-08 11:55pm

$1500 is a good price for a laptop. Pretty much anything that meets your needs for portability and has 1GB of RAM is a good machine. Both the Centrino and Turion are terrific processors, and if you're willing to wait until next year both chip makers are expected to release some form of mobile dual-core processors. I'm afraid I'm not familiar with Apple laptops, and so am unavailable for comment, there.

InnocentBystander · Post by **InnocentBystander** » 2005-11-09 12:54am

As I understand it, dual core mobile processors (Yonah?) are still a few months away, likely a year before they are really as well priced as the current P-Ms, I would suspect.

Tell us, what do you want to do with this? Remember to list both what you do now, and what you might possibly want to be able to do with it.

Is battery life important? What about layout? Color? Light Gaming perhaps?
How about screen size, the 3 point 12inch laptops are wonderfully light, but some people aren't comfortable with something that size. Got an idea as to how many pounds your old laptop was, and how much lighter you want to go? etc.

You say 1500 CA, that's about $1300 in real money (

)?

Also, are you apart of a school or business which offers an EPP with folks like Dell, HP or Apple?

brothersinarm · Post by **brothersinarm** » 2005-11-09 12:31pm

is a good machine. Both the Centrino and Turion are terrific processors, and if you're willing to wait until next year both chip makers are expected to release some form of mobile dual-core processors

Would that reduce battery life?

Tell us, what do you want to do with this? Remember to list both what you do now, and what you might possibly want to be able to do with it.

I'll be using this computer for school only.

Is battery life important?

Oh this is very important to me. That's why I sold my other laptop. It's battery life was 1 and a half hours to two hours and it was not enough to get through the day. Is there any laptop that could run perhaps 6 to 8 hours?

What about layout?

No sure what you mean by layout.

How about screen size, the 3 point 12inch laptops are wonderfully light, but some people aren't comfortable with something that size. Got an idea as to how many pounds your old laptop was, and how much lighter you want to go? etc.

I'm thinking 12 inch would be great. I looked into Apple and the ibook has that screen size. Is it true the smaller the

screen the more expensive the laptop? I would really really like my computer to be small and light. My old laptop weight was 9.5 pounds. It was like carrying a sack of potatoes everywhere I went.

Also, are you apart of a school or business which offers an EPP with folks like Dell, HP or Apple?

I'm not sure actually. I know the University campus offers student discounts but I have no idea what EPP is.

You say 1500 CA, that's about $1300 in real money ( Laughing )?

...

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2005-11-09 12:42pm

If this is all about schoolwork, your best bet is a 15 inch notebook with the cheapest and lowest wattage Pentium M you can find. You CANNOT beat the Pentium M for battery life.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2005-11-09 12:51pm

brothersinarm wrote:
is a good machine. Both the Centrino and Turion are terrific processors, and if you're willing to wait until next year both chip makers are expected to release some form of mobile dual-core processors
Would that reduce battery life?

Unclear, but probably not, particularly since future chipsets are likely to be even more power-efficient.

I'm thinking 12 inch would be great. I looked into Apple and the ibook has that screen size. Is it true the smaller the

screen the more expensive the laptop?

No. Small laptops are expensive to upgrade and very expensive to make into gaming machines (most don't have dedicated graphics cards, for example). You pay a much higher premium for 17 inch monsters, but you generally also get superior gaming performance which is something you seem not to be interested in. Generally speaking, 15.4 inch laptops and machines in that range offer the best price for performance in base-end systems, but weaker battery life than smaller systems (as well as the inherent loss in portability from being bigger), and cannot be upgraded to the quasi-ridiculous levels of the high-end gaming laptops.

A small machine, therefore, is the best option for you since it will offer not only better overall mobility but also better battery life. Just make sure it has a gig of RAM, or that you can upgrade it to that if 512 comes standard.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2005-11-09 12:53pm

Ace Pace wrote:If this is all about schoolwork, your best bet is a 15 inch notebook with the cheapest and lowest wattage Pentium M you can find. You CANNOT beat the Pentium M for battery life.

Not if you're looking at low-end P-M's. High-end Turions are actually less power-intensive than high-end M's because of the way the chips scale.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2005-11-09 12:55pm

Your right, high end Turion scales better, but in the simple "What has the best battery life?" a Pentium M still wins.

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2005-11-09 01:54pm

Listen up, the most important thing you want for your laptop is battery life. You wanted thin and light? I got a 3.5 inch laptop for 1300 CDN, sacrificed all the specs, but it ends up having a shitty 3 hour battery life. Make fucking sure that you get a 6 hour battery life, or there's no point having thin and light. I'm plugged in way more often than I would like.

In fact, if they don't tell you how long the battery lasts, ask them if you can test it. If it's 3 hours, tell them to kiss your ass. Lectures are sometimes 3 hours, and running out in the middle is infuriating.

The next most important thing is the wireless. If you want portability, again you don't want to be stuck plugging into a wall for internet. You don't just want Pentium M, you want Centrino. Centrino is Pentium M, Battery Life, and wireless. If it doesn't say Centrino, the laptop is missing one of the requirements, either has low battery life even with a Pentium M processor (my laptop has a Pentium M processor and has only a freaking pathetic 3 hour battery life), or it's missing the wireless. I had to purchase an integrated wireless card off ebay for 100 bucks because my base model was missing it. Nothing I can do about the battery life though, which pisses me off to no end.

Also... make sure, there's a fucking DVD combo drive, or a CD-ROM. Mine is 3.5 pounds because it sacrifices everything, there's no DVD and no CD-ROM so you have to fool around with network installation of everything. Another pissant you don't want to deal with.

Check out the egronomics, try typing a page before you buy the laptop. If it sucks don't buy it.

<edit>I made the mistake of thinking that just because there was Pentium M, there was good battery life. That's not the case, there's many other factors, and you've got to get explicitly from the vendor how long the battery will last. If it's Centrino, it has at least a certain hours of battery life, I think 4.5. If it's just Pentium M, there could be a shit battery life.</edit>

Brian

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2005-11-09 03:07pm

Er, can't you have non-intel wireless chips, which can't be labeled Centrino but still has the functionality? However, Intel wireless is pretty decent, so eh (the alternative is usually the crappy Broadcom chipsets. Fuck Broadcom.)

And I have a Centrino laptop from work w/ an effective 2hr battery life (Inspiron 6000 (why they didn't get Latitudes, I dunno - they aren't allowed to get IBM) I didn't buy my own as result- will save money for desktop). Centrino does not mean battery life, it just means P-M+Intel Wireless.

You've been swallowing too much marketing.

brianeyci · Post by **brianeyci** » 2005-11-09 03:24pm

Pu-239 wrote:You've been swallowing too much marketing.

Probably, but I remember doing research and finding a minimum battery life for the Centrino to be called a Centrino... I think it was from Intel's website.

Ah well, the point still stands, make sure there's a 6 hour battery life or the laptop sucks donkey nuts for portability. At least, a 4.5.

Brian

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2005-11-09 04:58pm

Pu-239 wrote:Er, can't you have non-intel wireless chips, which can't be labeled Centrino but still has the functionality?

Indeed. Only two chip sets qualify for the "Centrino" label. They're actually pretty good, but there are some other manufacturers that make various chip sets and components for laptops that do not qualify for the Centrino brand.

However, Intel wireless is pretty decent, so eh (the alternative is usually the crappy Broadcom chipsets. Fuck Broadcom.)

And I have a Centrino laptop from work w/ an effective 2hr battery life (Inspiron 6000 (why they didn't get Latitudes, I dunno - they aren't allowed to get IBM) I didn't buy my own as result- will save money for desktop). Centrino does not mean battery life, it just means P-M+Intel Wireless.

Quite true. It's also possible to invest in a second battery, provided that you are willing to shut down the machine and replace the battery, or just to prevent one from wearing down so far that the system is no longer realistically mobile.

brothersinarm · Post by **brothersinarm** » 2005-11-09 05:06pm

I was hoping to find a laptop that had long battery life and I decided to settle on this one. I've always wanted an Apple and it's the only one I could find being sold that had a 6 hour battery life. Thanks for everyone's help. I really appreciate it.

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