People, I'm in a realllll fuckin bind right now. I've got about $2,500 to spend on a laptop, which will be my PC replacement, as well as taken to school since I'm transferring this coming Fall, and I don't know one thing about laptops. I've been researching and researching, and I came across one which struck my eye. I never knew anything about Tablet PC's so I went to microsoft.com and checked out the Demo and I was simply amazed. It seems that these things are absolutely perfect for a student, as you can jot down notes and shit on this and can turn automatically into real text. Anyways, here is the link to the laptop I'm looking at:


http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/...7&ccid=1291021

Now if I get it, I was probably gonna get either the 1.7 or 1.8ghz, as the 2.0 is kinda pointless to me to spend the extra cash on. Most likely I'll get 512mb memory, or possibly 768? As for harddrives, my buddy said to just stick w/ the basic 40 and when I need more space, come to him and he can hook it up a little bit. But from what I see, HD's for laptops are rather expensive. On the toshiba website, it's like $45 more for a 60gb which seems worth it. However, for $135 more I can get a 60gb 7200rpm hd. Should I do that? Anyways, I need your help for a few things.

1. Is this a good laptop?
2. The reason why I'm stressin is because I dont know if I should get this, or get a bigger laptop, say a 15" for like $1699 which comes w/ like 3.3ghz P4's and more memory and more HD space. But the small size of this laptop, and the fact that it can be a Tablet is just so pimp!
3. It doesn't come with a CD-ROM, so you have to buy one as an accessory from them for $199 and it is a Toshiba USB 2.0 Slimline External CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo Drive. My question here is, can I ONLY get this, or are there other ones that are compatible with this laptop?
4. What main accessories would you say I need?
5. I hear the M-processors with Centrino technology are jsut about as fast as your current P4 3ghz and shit. Is this true? Would the 1.6ghz be fine for me, or should I get the 1.8ghz?

Lastly, if there's any info you can give me about laptops that can help me out, please feel free, as I'm a newbie to the laptop scene. Again, thanks so much for the help!!!

`John

 

Toshiba makes awesome laptops. I'd rank them second behind IBM, but with them pulling out of the consumer market, Toshiba may be the top laptop maker. Also, I don't think IBM makes tablets, so if you're set on a tablet Toshiba is the way to go. Centrino is just a maketing thing, a prepackaged wireless kit, per se. It isn't as fast as a P4, but the Centrinos use less power so it'll last longer on the battery.

I bought a laptop for work -- a Dell 600M. I got a REALLY good deal -- half off. Dell isn't bad either.

 

cool, cool...what do you think of tablets? And woudl you be able to help me out on any of the other questions?

 

If you're really want something mobile, getting a really big P4 laptop might not be the way to go. They're in the 8-9 pound range. (My Dell is about 5.) Unless you're gaming or doing graphic design, a P4 is probably overkill. I would definitely get a CD-burner/DVD drive and a wireless card. Since I have a home PC, I didn't get a huge HD (40GB) but if this is your only computer, you should probably get a 60GB HD.

 

Do you plan to take this laptop with you a lot, or will it sit on your desk most of the time. I guess I'm trying to ask if battery life is important. The P4 laptops draw more power than the PMs. donno exactly how much but I believe low-voltage P4 uses around 40W, PM is more like 20W or so.

 

Yeah, I heard the P4s such a grip of power as well. As for being mobile, yes, it will be going with me almost everywhere, especially all day long at class. I was planning on getting a back up battery, but am not sure on whether to get a battery charger kit (it's like $250!!!). As for a wireless card, it comes with an Integrated Intel® PRO/Wireless (802.11b/g).

The other laptop I was looking at was the Sony S260 which has a 13" screen and is like $1700 after rebates. But then I won't have the laptop. Also, as I mentioned, alot of the 15" laptops (sony/toshiba/ibm) are around the $1500-2000 range as well, and I can't decide whether or not having a small, tablet notebook would be better?

 

I've seen one of those tablet pc's at Bestbuy and I thought it was kinda flimsy. Well the actual computer looked okay but I didnt like all the sqeaking it made when I turned the screen around. As far as the performance goes I

 

Thats what I'm using right now! I paid 1750 before rebates back around thanksgiving time. It has, by far, the best LCD I have ever seen on any laptop, and its only 4.2 lbs.

You dont want a P4 if you plan to travel with your laptop, thats for sure. Go for the PM. Dont worry too much on HD/mem... a minimum of 40GB/512MB is a must. Upgrades are expensive right now, but should cheapen up a bit in 6 months to a year.

 

damn....what a predicament

I think I'm most likely gonna go with the Toshiba Portege M200 and customize it some. It seems as though the Tablet would be awesome to use to jot down notes in class and such.

 

Dell inspiron 9200. I love mine. and for 2500 bucks you can get a kickass setup.

 

My prof has a toshiba tablet PC, he uses it to teach the class. Other than that I really dont know too much about them.

 

hey check this:

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...MP=OTC-17exta6

What are your takes on this? Do you guys think it's safe to buy a laptop from an online site other than the actual retailer (such as toshiba.com, or even bestbuy.com)? This is a pretty damn good deal.

 

New Egg's been around for a while, so I'd say its ok.

Wow... SXGA+ on a 12.1" screen... nice. Is that for real or a typo???

Looks good to me. Dedicated graphics, 5400 rpm drive, the mem is a little old at 266Mhz, but thats a small gripe (it will be easier to upgrade).

Overall not a bad buy... what does everyone else think?

 

High resolution 12.1" SXGA+ (1400 x 1050) display*

that's off of the toshiba website...

care to explain what that means to me? lol

I wonder if the DDR266 is a typo, because on the toshiba website, it says it has DDR333 mem

 

the 1400 x 1050 are the number of pixels your screen has. The more pixels, the more information your screen can hold. 1024 x 768 is probably what most people have. My s260 is 1280 x 800.. the toshiba is even better at 1400 x 1050.

For example if an icon takes up 100 x 50 pixels, a 1024 x 768 lcd will only be able to show ~150 icons on the screen (just an example). the 1400 x 1050 can hold 280ish. Twice the info regardless of the physical lcd size.

Some people complain that when the res is too high,they cannot see the words on the screen. You may want to check this out before you buy.

I believe ddr333 is the best you can get right now.

 

had mine since march last year and its been to the shop twice. Over heating, replaced the hinges and then the power cord failed the second time

 

I know a lot of people with problem free dells and thier customer service dept. is pretty good. Say if you do have a problem they come to you and fix it you don't have to send it out.
Check out www.pricegrabber.com before you buy.

 

Dell has some pretty good one's on sale today (1/13) with coupons.

 

If you are interested in Dell, then try sites like www.fatwallet.com and slickdeals.net

They always have discount codes being posted.

 

I'm currently using a Toshiba Portege tablet PC right now.

For a student, I'd actually say stay away from them. The amount of abuse a student laptop takes isn't really meant for a tablet PC (remember, you're in essense going to be scratching all over the LCD - if that breaks, time to get a new laptop).

As for deals and whatnot, you might want to go beyond the basic name brands. While the name brands sometimes have good deals, it's generally only on certain packages. Once you go beyond them (by customization or whatnot), you could easily jack up the costs by a large amount.

http://notebookforums.com is a good place if you want advice on what laptops to buy. Mind you, they have forums for specific specialty brands of laptops, so you'll get a lot of "fanboy" type responses as well. But most of the posters there are pretty good at giving good, sound advice on what's best.

At $2,500, you could easily get the laptop I was looking at:

Sager NP3790-V:

15.4" WUXGA LCD (1920 x 1200)
Pentium M (755) 2.0 MHz (Dothan)
1024 MB DDR333 RAM (2 x 512 MB)
60 GB 7200 RPM HDD
8x DVD+/- w/ DL DVD writer
External 3.5" Floppy
128 MB ATI Mobile Radeon 9700
12 cell Li-Ion battery x 2 (4 - 5 hour battery life each)
Carrying case
Car adapter (never know!)
802.11 b/g wireless
Bluetooth
1 year warranty, lifetime tech support.

Priced at http://pctorque.com: $2,324 ($2,270.55 cash price)

No OS or software, but that's because I can get them legit for cheap (gotta love the company store!). Simply drop down a grade or two (down to like a 1.7 instead of a 2.0) and you can probably slap on XP Pro and Office easily - or just buy 'em at the college store and get academic pricing.

NOTE: notebookforums is run by pctorque.com. I have no affiliation to either entities, and all information provided is as-is, with no warranty or liability for any entities using said information.

 

i love my toshiba laptop

 

http://tech.msn.com/mobile/825008.armx
from msn

 

Apple.

 

go to www.cnet.com and read their reviews on the type of laptop that you're interested in. It's a very reputable online review site for virtually everything electronic, from plasma TV to wireless networking card. HIGHLY recommended. I had just purchased an Acer travelmate for around $899, which has 15.4 widescreen, 1.4 ghz centrino, overall very decent specs. For school use, I'd recommend that. Don't spend $2500 on a laptop, for crying out loud, Intel is fixing to roll out the next gen centrino called sonoma, check out www.engadget.com for future products.

 

Demk1:

Great choice. I own the Toshiba m200 and I am VERY proud of it. I have previously owned laptops before and I can honestly say, “ Once you use a tablet pc, you can never go back” I still use my desktop in conjunction with my laptop. If you are seeking the tablet as a pc replacement, you will also be fine. The only question is what would you rather have: a convertible tablet pc or a slate tablet pc. The Toshiba m200 is a convertible since it can “convert” from a normal looking laptop or a slate. A slate tablet is one where there is only a screen with no permanently attached keyboard. Here is a slate:

http://www.motioncomputing.com/products/tablet_pc.asp

Most people who start out with a tablet get the convertible since it is most comfortable. After using my tablet for over 6 months, I now also want a slate J. I am also a junior in college and also work as a marketing coordinator for a marketing firm (I sell things overseas to large corporations). The BEST thing with the Toshiba m200 is the voice recognition. Yes it has voice recognition. Not only can you speak and it will type for you but it will also open, close, etc… tasks through speech recognition. There are three(3) built in mics on the m200. With three mics, the voice recognition is perfect.

1. Is this a good laptop?
Extremely good, I have never regret on the purchase of this machine.

2. The reason why I'm stressing is because I don’t know if I should get this, or get a bigger laptop, say a 15" for like $1699, which comes w/ like 3.3ghz P4's and more memory and more HD space. But the small size of this laptop, and the fact that it can be a Tablet is just so pimp!
The small size of this tablet is VERY pimp. This tablet is a 2nd generation tablet. The 1st generations were less powerful. Tablets have always been expensive but $2,500 should be plenty. It all depends what you want to do with it. I have a Pentium M 2.0 dothan ghz with 1 gb of ram and the 60gb with 72000 rpm. Even though tablet pcs aren’t meant for gaming, I can play battlefield 1942 online and still have 10 as my ping while on the wireless network at my house (I use verizon dsl). The Toshiba m200 is a great machine. It has the highest resolution of any current tablet pc and the only one with a svga screen. Once again, you don’t have to get the highest specs on your tablet, it all depends on what you want to do with it.

3. It doesn't come with a CD-ROM, so you have to buy one as an accessory from them for $199 and it is a Toshiba USB 2.0 Slimline External CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo Drive. My question here is, can I ONLY get this, or are there other ones that are compatible with this laptop?
You’re right the Toshiba m200 does NOT have a built in CD drive. It isn’t much of a problem. I use a program call alcohol 52%. It uploads the WHOLE CD on the hard drive so when I run a program, it will load straight from the hard drive thus making the machine more powerful while increasing battery life since power is not needed to power the laser in CD drives. You can also use alcohol 52% to upload WHOLE dvds thus eliminating the need for an external drive. I also own an external drive. It is NOT the Toshiba slimline external one. Mine has it’s own built it rechargeable built in battery. I do not know the name of it at the current time since I am writing this from work. There are numerous external drives you can purchase. I suggest NOT buying the Toshiba one since it is VERY overpriced. For $200, you can get one that can burn DVDs. I can get you the name of the drive that I use if you wish.

4. What main accessories would you say I need?
HAHA oh wow… I would strongly suggest a screen protector for any tablet you choose. When you write on the Toshiba m200, it feels EXACTLY like writing on paper. I on many times have accidentally grabbed the wrong pen and marked on my screen but the screen protector has saved my life. I can get you the name of the screen protector I use if you wish. I also STRONGLY STONGLY suggest getting the wacom cross pen. The stock Toshiba m200 is an excellent pen but the wacom cross pen will BLOW YOU AWAY!!! There is a capped and an uncapped version. I own the capped version; either one will do justice. The stock Toshiba m200 comes with Microsoft onenote. It is a GREAT program for students. If you haven’t, please look at the demo for it. I use it for both school and work. If you want, I can send you some examples of what you can do with Microsoft Onenote. Basically it helps students organize their notes. Another program you should check out is Gobinder. It serves the same purpose. You should try the demo of it just to see which one you prefer. I use Onenote only because it comes free with the Toshiba m200.

5. I hear the M-processors with Centrino technology are just about as fast as your current P4 3ghz and shit. Is this true? Would the 1.6ghz be fine for me, or should I get the 1.8ghz?
Yes, the Centrino technology are as fast if not faster than the p4 3ghz. I can’t tell you the exact formula to translate Pentium M speeds into P4 speeds but I know it comes out to be something like this. You take the Pentium M speed and multiple it by something less than 2 to get the P4 speed. The 1.6ghz is fine, the 1.8 is also fine but it also depends what you want to do with it. If it comes to money. I would rather get the 1.6ghz with 1gb of ram as oppose to the 1.8 with 512mb. Do realize that there are TWO types of Pentium M chips at the current time. The “older” ones are the banias while the “newer” ones are the Dothan. It is EXTREMELY hard to buy the banias chip and try to upgrade to the Dothan.

I will post more my experience and usage with a tablet pc if you wish. I can also send pictures/documents of how I use my tablet pc if you want. Anyone who sees these files will be shock and will definitely want a tablet pc. Microsoft does a HORRIBLE job marketing tablet pcs and that is why no one owns one or know what they are in the first place. In the mean time, please check out http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com/ . Use the discussion forum, since it is very valuable.

If you want to find great prices, you can either check ebay, the for sale topics under http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com/ , or various websites. I can help you if you want. It’s not a big deal. I love converting people into tablet users. When it comes to “when you should buy” there isn’t a good answer. I feel that you should buy things when you need it especially when it comes to technology. Toshiba has a 30 day price protection to where, in 30 days or less they’ll reimburst you the difference if after purchasing through them, they decide to give discounts and you get screw over. With computers, there will ALWAYS be something better. If you decide to wait, 6 months, something better will be in “development” and you’ll want that. Trust me, I know L. I am waiting for the NEC Versapro (a slate tablet pc). It will be soon release in Japan and I hope it will come to the USA. There are rumors that NEC will skip releasing it in the USA at all.

I will post more later when I have time or you can email me at huy33@yahoo with questions or even IM me with my AIM sn: Fulcrum23

 

wow that was awesome!! lol

Um...as for the accessories, I was kinda wondering like...as far as docking stuff, port replicators, extra batter/battery charger, etc...

 

Also...

So, as far as the cd-rom thing, you said you use something called alcohol 52%? I'm assuming you have to have a cd-rom to transfer the files from the CD, correct?

How about the screen protectors? How much do those things cost usually? And the Wacom pen, how much is that?

Now how do you recharge the battery on a laptop? Do you need to buy a recharger? Or can you simply just plug it into the wall?

 

Dothan * 1.65 = P4
Banias * 1.5 = P4

Dothan has more L2 cache (basically dothan > banias)

 

how am I supposed to know which one it has???

 

i love my toshiba tecra m2, it was almost heavily loaded at the time about 6 months ago or so, it is fast, and i got 3 year systemguard warranty meaning whatever happens to it they will fix for free for $1999

 

Okay here goes another of my crazy detailed long post.

1. Wacom Cross Executive Pen: ( http://www.wacom.com/tabletpc/accessories.cfm )
Apparently they retail for $49.95 but I bought mine for around $35 (shipping included). There is no big difference between the capped vs the uncapped version except one has a cap and the other doesn’t. It’s only a personal preference. This is a MUST have pen for any tablet pc. It has a “heavy” feel to it and will glide on the screen. Here is a review of it:
http://www.tabletpcbuzz.com/features/article.asp?ID=20


2. Screen protectors (2 big known types)
Writeshield ( http://www.pocketpctechs.com/detail...._ID=WSTAB005-1 )
Retail for $59.99 (no shipping). This is the screen protector I use for my tablet. Don’t be afraid of the price. It is extremely expensive but very good. You don’t need to buy two, just buy one. You can clean them and stick it back on. There is no adhesive but it sticks on with static electricity I think. You can peel it on and off all day if you want. The writeshield will add more of a texture paper texture feel to your tablet. Here is a review of it:
http://www.pocketpctechs.com/ppc_rave.asp#ws

Strong Engineering ( http://strongengineering.com/miva?/M...gory_Code=SPPT )
Retail for $6.80 (no shipping). I have never used this before so I don’t know much about it. I can say that it is EXTREMELY less expensive than the writeshield. I can not say anything about it’s quality or lack there of. I know that they are NOT reusable so you would have to replace it every now and then.

3. port replicators (http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/...4&ccid=1291043 )
Retail for $329.99 from Toshiba. I also don’t have much knowledge of this product since I do not own it. People use it along with the m200 to be a desktop replacement. I know you can find this cheaper at various places like ebay. It adds extra adapters and plug-ins for the m200 that the tablet itself doesn’t have.

4. extra batter/battery charger; 1 battery will come with the tablet itself. On my machine, I normally get about 3 hrs and 30 minutes out of one battery. If you go with a lower processing chip, your battery life will be longer. I own an extra battery along with an extended battery from batterygeek.

The Toshiba battery can be bought from their website but I know you can find it cheaper at various websites. The tablet can only charge one battery at a time. You just plug the ac adapter in it and the other end to the wall. It doesn’t take long to charge the battery.

Batterygeek (http://www.batterygeek.net/ )
I think I bought mine for around $170 from them. I don’t exactly remember what specific one fit the m200, but if you fill out that battery audit form, they will quickly contact you with the details. This is a great product. It will extend your battery life a lot. The best part is that it comes with extra adapters for you to use with other electronics but you have to make sure the voltage is the same so it doesn’t damage it. I know there are other extended batteries but I can’t think them on top of my head.

5. how am I supposed to know which one it has??? (Dothan or banias)
oh wow… I know all new customized tablet pc from Toshiba has the Dothan chip in them. If you buy from other places, you might want to ask them first. Dothan chips are only from 1.6-2.0 at the current time. Banias do not go higher than 1.8ghz

6. So, as far as the cd-rom thing, you said you use something called alcohol 52%? I'm assuming you have to have a cd-rom to transfer the files from the CD, correct?

http://www.alcohol-soft.com/
Retail for $29.51 from alcohol soft.
There are lots of ways to do this. Yes you’ll need a cd-rom one way or another. I’ve seen people use their desktop pc cd-rom and connect with the tablet by a usb/Ethernet/wi-fi and transfer the CD. Basicly once you upload the CD onto a hard drive, you can transfer it like you transfer any files. Alcohol 52% will even help you transfer cds that are copyrighted. My battlefield game was copyrighted, but I still got it on there. The least you can do is not have to buy a slim drive to save you some money. You can buy a less expensive bulkier cd-drive and leave it at home.

Wow, this took longer than I thought. So I’ll write my experiences with my tablet on tomorrow.