in the market for a new laptop
11-09-2006, 10:26 AM
#81
Photography Nerd
Although I really like IBM/Lenovo thinkpads, if I were buying a laptop for myself, it would probably be an Asus or Toshiba. They tend to be more multi-media oriented, while Lenovo is more business oriented. Asus is one of 3 vendors who builds Macbooks for Apple so they know how to make a solid machine.
11-09-2006, 12:12 PM
#82
Senior Moderator
Originally Posted by Dan Martin
Although I really like IBM/Lenovo thinkpads, if I were buying a laptop for myself, it would probably be an Asus or Toshiba. They tend to be more multi-media oriented, while Lenovo is more business oriented. Asus is one of 3 vendors who builds Macbooks for Apple so they know how to make a solid machine.
11-09-2006, 12:23 PM
#84
Photography Nerd
Originally Posted by srika
wow news to me - who are the other 2?
Foxconn and Asustek also build the PS3, BTW...
Last edited by Dan Martin; 11-09-2006 at 12:26 PM.
11-09-2006, 12:39 PM
#85
Senior Moderator
Originally Posted by Dan Martin
Foxconn and Quanta
Foxconn and Asustek also build the PS3, BTW...
Foxconn and Asustek also build the PS3, BTW...
11-09-2006, 12:40 PM
#86
Master in Science
Join Date: Aug 2003
Age: 44
Posts: 3,845
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Brandi
I have a top of the line Sony Vaio that I just love!
I have had a HP and a Toshiba which was the biggest POS ever! No offense to anyone that has one but mine sucked majorly!!
The Vaio I have now was costly but so worth it!
I have had a HP and a Toshiba which was the biggest POS ever! No offense to anyone that has one but mine sucked majorly!!
The Vaio I have now was costly but so worth it!
11-09-2006, 01:40 PM
#89
Senior Moderator
I thought all they did was make.. .connectors. 
I had seen Foxconn parts in my old Dell laptop.
I had seen Foxconn parts in my old Dell laptop.
11-09-2006, 07:39 PM
#90
2002 CL Type S
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Batesville, Mississippi
Age: 42
Posts: 130
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by slo007
My family has been through about 5 Sony laptops in the last 3 years -- they get a discount through work -- and except for one, all the others had problems. Two of them required $100 fan replacements after their original died and the system overheated and crashed; and two have software problems (Sony stuff) that keep giving error messages (one is 1-month old). Sony recommends replacing the latter, but it's a huge nuisance because you loose time and data. My dad would rather live with the stupid message than replace the laptop.
When I had my HP.. It was basically a lemon! HP ended up sending me a replacement & after having the same problem with 2 of them before I broke down & had enough and I bought my first Toshiba. My Toshiba was priced ok but also ended up being a major POS. It was worse than my 2 HPs..
The Toshiba was cheaply made in my opinion!
Anyway so far I havent had any issues with my Vaio..Its been better to me than the 3 from before..
I will pray it stays like this for awhile!
I know if I lose anymore personal stuff & papers for school I am gonna throw this bitch outside & run over it with my car!(Oh wait that was the other one! HAHA)
Last edited by Brandi; 11-09-2006 at 07:42 PM.
11-09-2006, 09:19 PM
#91
Originally Posted by Dan Martin
Although I really like IBM/Lenovo thinkpads, if I were buying a laptop for myself, it would probably be a Mac...blah blahblahblahblah blah blah blahblah blah blah blahblahblah!
11-14-2006, 12:10 PM
#92
Senior Moderator
check this out!! I have been debating getting a tablet, this may just sway me.. dunno though, I am kind of a sucker for real estate.. that's why I want WUXGA and am still considering going 17".. but this is still quite cool.
http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/11/14/lenovo_x60_tablet/
http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/11/14/lenovo_x60_tablet/
Lenovo tablet PC automatically turns screen to user
Wolfgang Gruener
November 14, 2006 12:52
Lenovo today announced a new, futuristic feature in an updates series of its Thinkpad X60 tablet PC.
The devices are equipped with "Active Rotate," sensors that can recognize a motion of the laptop and automatically adjust the position of the screen to the user. According to the manufacturer, a redesigned navigational dial lets users move in four directions.
There is also a new 12" outdoor, anti-reflective screen, which comes with a touchscreen feature that allows users to drag the cursor across the display using a finger.
The X60 tablet PC is priced from $1800 and will begin shipping in early December.
Wolfgang Gruener
November 14, 2006 12:52
Lenovo today announced a new, futuristic feature in an updates series of its Thinkpad X60 tablet PC.
The devices are equipped with "Active Rotate," sensors that can recognize a motion of the laptop and automatically adjust the position of the screen to the user. According to the manufacturer, a redesigned navigational dial lets users move in four directions.
There is also a new 12" outdoor, anti-reflective screen, which comes with a touchscreen feature that allows users to drag the cursor across the display using a finger.
The X60 tablet PC is priced from $1800 and will begin shipping in early December.
11-14-2006, 06:01 PM
#93
I'm Cool
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Diamond Bar, CA
Age: 39
Posts: 2,054
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Dem1K
as I mentioned, I have an Asus Z70va, and this thing is way tight. Seriously one of the best built laptops that I've ever come across. I agree w/ bobbydoedoe, ibm and asus > * 
The build quality can't be beat. Plus, Asus laptops look so damn sexy. In addition, yes, they are very very reliable. I love my carbon fiber frame 
The build quality can't be beat. Plus, Asus laptops look so damn sexy. In addition, yes, they are very very reliable. I love my carbon fiber frame yeap, love the CF top of the asus, and the magnesium top and the METAL HINGES of the ibm. Lenovo has its own line up in addition to its lenovo/ibm line up. I don't have any exp with the lenovo branded laptops, so iono about their quality
Last edited by Bobbydoedoe; 11-14-2006 at 06:05 PM.
11-15-2006, 07:14 AM
#94
Senior Moderator
does anyone know what the next thing is gonna be for laptops.. I mean looks like Quad-core is teh hotness for desktops atm.. if I get a 2.33 C2D, is it gonna be a dinosaur by 2Q2007??? 
11-15-2006, 04:47 PM
#95
What Would Don Draper Do?
Originally Posted by srika
does anyone know what the next thing is gonna be for laptops.. I mean looks like Quad-core is teh hotness for desktops atm.. if I get a 2.33 C2D, is it gonna be a dinosaur by 2Q2007???
i hope not though....i've been looking for a new laptop or desktop as well.
11-15-2006, 04:52 PM
#96
Team Owner
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Fontana, California
Age: 47
Posts: 30,991
Received 582 Likes
on
346 Posts
Originally Posted by srika
does anyone know what the next thing is gonna be for laptops.. I mean looks like Quad-core is teh hotness for desktops atm.. if I get a 2.33 C2D, is it gonna be a dinosaur by 2Q2007???
At least we can say within a year the core2duo made it into a laptop.
And to pack a small laptop with the high processor is a problem for any laptop maker because of cooling and power issues.
So to see a quad core powered laptop, although sounds great, may be very pricey even if it were introduced around the corner. You'd still be better off getting a core2duo instead. Unless you want to fork out the 2G+ for a quad core.
11-15-2006, 04:54 PM
#97
Senior Moderator
yeah but some times are more "prime" for buying than others. I mean, when I bought my previous CD, that I returned, that was not a good time to buy, since C2D's were right around the corner. I think I am going to go ahead with the C2D. I have been doing some research and it looks like we won't see more than 2 processors in a laptop for at least a little while - the multi's get too hot.
and, in other news, I have decided that portability is not a dealbreaker - I would rather have more real estate. That being said, I am considering 17"s again. And if I get a 17", it had definitely better be WUXGA. And, the best deals to be had on such setups are unfortunately at Dell... :evil:
and, in other news, I have decided that portability is not a dealbreaker - I would rather have more real estate. That being said, I am considering 17"s again. And if I get a 17", it had definitely better be WUXGA. And, the best deals to be had on such setups are unfortunately at Dell... :evil:
11-15-2006, 04:56 PM
#98
Senior Moderator
Originally Posted by Sly Raskal
Laptops will always be dinosaurs compared to the tech trends out there.
With the arguable exception of Intel's "Xtreme" line, laptops have been keeping up quite well w/ desktops... 
11-15-2006, 05:01 PM
#99
Team Owner
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Fontana, California
Age: 47
Posts: 30,991
Received 582 Likes
on
346 Posts
Originally Posted by srika
what rock have you been hiding under for the past year? With the arguable exception of Intel's "Xtreme" line, laptops have been keeping up quite well w/ desktops...
With the arguable exception of Intel's "Xtreme" line, laptops have been keeping up quite well w/ desktops... 
Nevermind disregard my previous post.
11-15-2006, 05:02 PM
#100
Team Owner
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Fontana, California
Age: 47
Posts: 30,991
Received 582 Likes
on
346 Posts
Originally Posted by srika
and, in other news, I have decided that portability is not a dealbreaker - I would rather have more real estate. That being said, I am considering 17"s again. And if I get a 17", it had definitely better be WUXGA. And, the best deals to be had on such setups are unfortunately at Dell... :evil:
11-15-2006, 05:18 PM
#101
Senior Moderator
Originally Posted by Sly Raskal
I guess I have been under a rock if I need to do research about laptops
Nevermind disregard my previous post.
Nevermind disregard my previous post.
11-15-2006, 05:22 PM
#102
Senior Moderator
Originally Posted by Sly Raskal
you didn't like the HP DV9000t?
11-15-2006, 05:22 PM
#103
Team Owner
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Fontana, California
Age: 47
Posts: 30,991
Received 582 Likes
on
346 Posts
Originally Posted by srika
hey man, like I said, with exception of the Extreme line - and Quad's, laptops aren't too far compared to desktops. sounds like you took offense to my post, meant the "under a rock" comment in a jovial fashion.
I was joking as well.
11-15-2006, 05:26 PM
#104
Team Owner
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Fontana, California
Age: 47
Posts: 30,991
Received 582 Likes
on
346 Posts
Originally Posted by srika
no WUXGA
I knew they offered a 17" Ultra Brightview Screen, but that was abbreviated WXGA.
So I did some digging and found this...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WUXGA
11-15-2006, 05:53 PM
#105
Senior Moderator
Originally Posted by Sly Raskal
ahhh I had my abbreviations mixed up,
I knew they offered a 17" Ultra Brightview Screen, but that was abbreviated WXGA.
So I did some digging and found this...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WUXGA
I knew they offered a 17" Ultra Brightview Screen, but that was abbreviated WXGA.
So I did some digging and found this...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WUXGA
11-15-2006, 06:09 PM
#108
Senior Moderator
nice link.
I am gonna check those out.
Check this out - this is WXGA (top) vs WSXGA+ (middle) vs WUXGA (bottom)
HP Business Line Notebooks (nw8240, nw8440, nw9440) available with 1920x1200
Check this out - this is WXGA (top) vs WSXGA+ (middle) vs WUXGA (bottom)
Originally Posted by Xarthan @ notebookforums
11-15-2006, 06:23 PM
#109
Senior Moderator
well it looks like DX10 is coming to laptops soon... but since gaming is definitely not my primary focus, I am not too concerned.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/d...113141458.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/d...113141458.html
11-15-2006, 08:58 PM
#111
Senior Moderator
kinda old news, but, anyway..
http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/...26164321.shtml
http://www.macrumors.com/pages/2006/...26164321.shtml
The next major upgrade to Intel's notebook design isn't expected until early 2007 with a new notebook platform named "Santa Rosa". Santa Rosa will combine the Core 2 Duo processors with new supporting chips as well as Intel's AMT (Active Management Technology) and Robson technology. Robson uses flash memory to improve startup times and to cache frequently used applications.
11-16-2006, 04:59 PM
#112
Senior Moderator
Gives you some indication about C2D performance - namely, 2.33 vs 2.16. 2.16 is the highest I can go with the machine I am looking at, and I really don't think I can wait any longer. It is too bad but the 2.33 seems significantly faster than the 2.16 - I mean, we are not talking about "3 seconds" here. I just wish they specified whether the 1st machine had 1 or 2GB RAM. Speaking of which, look at the difference RAM makes.
http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/lapto...hey-212823.php
I am going to get the C2D 2.0 and upgrade to 2.33 later on..
http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets/lapto...hey-212823.php
I am going to get the C2D 2.0 and upgrade to 2.33 later on..
11-20-2006, 02:11 PM
#113
Team Owner
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Fontana, California
Age: 47
Posts: 30,991
Received 582 Likes
on
346 Posts
just ordered my laptop.I ordered the HP dv9000t
2.0 C2D
2GB Ram
17" BrightView Screen (I opted for this one rather than the ultra bright because I wanted the higher resolution)
100GB SATA 7200 HD
512MB Nvidia Go 7600 Graphics Card
Lightscribe DVD+/- Burner ( Free so may as well take it)
MS Office 2003 (free upgrade to 2007)
Plus other little goodies.
I really wanted the 2.33 after srika put up those benchmarks, but the max they offered was 2.0, but It's alright. I'm happy with it. And I'm numbed because of my wife's Dell Laptop, that anything I get is going to be faster anyways so it won't be a buzzkill when I get it.
Hopefully I'll have it in a few weeks. I'll post pics and review then.
Last edited by Sly Raskal; 11-20-2006 at 02:14 PM.
11-27-2006, 07:27 AM
#114
Senior Moderator
Hey NYZGREATST ...
What did you end up doing? I thought ... since you already have a Macbook ... why don't you install Boot Camp ... and dual boot between OSX and Windows XP? You have the package (ie case for laptop) ... why don't you run XP on it? Even if you don't have a legit copy of XP, just buy a new one and install it on there. Way cheaper than buying a new laptop. I wonder why no one has suggested this earlier (if they did ... I didn't find it!)
I went with a macbook (after having a very reliable Dell Inspiron 600m for the past couple of years ... just 1 bad keyboard and I type a lot!). Here is my config:
Processor 065-6698 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- Memory 065-6709 1GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM-2x512
- Hard Drive 065-6702 80GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
- Optical Drive 065-6704 Superdrive 6x
- Intel 950 video card
Used my student discount and saved me a couple hundred bucks. This is my christmas present to myself. (And I will use boot camp in case I can't find a Mac equivalent app...)
What did you end up doing? I thought ... since you already have a Macbook ... why don't you install Boot Camp ... and dual boot between OSX and Windows XP? You have the package (ie case for laptop) ... why don't you run XP on it? Even if you don't have a legit copy of XP, just buy a new one and install it on there. Way cheaper than buying a new laptop. I wonder why no one has suggested this earlier (if they did ... I didn't find it!)
I went with a macbook (after having a very reliable Dell Inspiron 600m for the past couple of years ... just 1 bad keyboard and I type a lot!). Here is my config:
Processor 065-6698 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- Memory 065-6709 1GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM-2x512
- Hard Drive 065-6702 80GB Serial ATA @ 5400 rpm
- Optical Drive 065-6704 Superdrive 6x
- Intel 950 video card
Used my student discount and saved me a couple hundred bucks.
This is my christmas present to myself. (And I will use boot camp in case I can't find a Mac equivalent app...)
11-27-2006, 09:48 AM
#115
Senior Moderator
Originally Posted by Sly Raskal
just ordered my laptop.I ordered the HP dv9000t
2.0 C2D
2GB Ram
17" BrightView Screen (I opted for this one rather than the ultra bright because I wanted the higher resolution)
100GB SATA 7200 HD
512MB Nvidia Go 7600 Graphics Card
Lightscribe DVD+/- Burner ( Free so may as well take it)
MS Office 2003 (free upgrade to 2007)
Plus other little goodies.
I really wanted the 2.33 after srika put up those benchmarks, but the max they offered was 2.0, but It's alright. I'm happy with it. And I'm numbed because of my wife's Dell Laptop, that anything I get is going to be faster anyways so it won't be a buzzkill when I get it.
Hopefully I'll have it in a few weeks. I'll post pics and review then.
11-27-2006, 12:04 PM
#116
Team Owner
iTrader: (1)
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Fontana, California
Age: 47
Posts: 30,991
Received 582 Likes
on
346 Posts
Originally Posted by srika
missed this man, nice specs! honestly 2.0 C2D is plenty fast!
Yea, the 2.0 is fast, but you know how it goes, you get a 2.0 and you wish you had a 2.6, you get a 2.6 then you wish you had a 3.0
It's neverending, but I know I'll be happy with it. It's really going to help me make use of my dead time when I'm away from home and could be doing work.
11-27-2006, 12:17 PM
#117
Senior Moderator
I had a 2.0 core duo for a while a few months ago.. it was SMOKIN!!
11-29-2006, 04:15 PM
#118
I start fires
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Austin, TX
Age: 46
Posts: 192
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Any thoughts on this Sony Vaio model? The wifey wants one really bad... 
http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/product/VGN-SZ381P/X
Processor
Type : Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7400
Speed : 2.16GHz1
Front Side Bus Speed : 667MHz
L2 Cache : 4MB
Memory
Type : DDR2
Installed : 2GB (1GBx2) PC2-4200
Maximum : 2GB
Speed : 533MHz
Hard Drive
Capacity : 160GB2
Speed : 5400rpm
Interface : Serial ATA
Display
Screen Size : 13.3”11
Resolution : 1280x800
XBRITE™ LCD Technology : Yes
White LED back light for better quality and clarity
Screen or Display Technology : WXGA razor thin LCD panel
Graphics
Processor : NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7400 and Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Video RAM : 128MB (NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7400) and 128MB (dynamically allocated shared RAM/Video memory) (Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950)
http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/product/VGN-SZ381P/X
Processor
Type : Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7400
Speed : 2.16GHz1
Front Side Bus Speed : 667MHz
L2 Cache : 4MB
Memory
Type : DDR2
Installed : 2GB (1GBx2) PC2-4200
Maximum : 2GB
Speed : 533MHz
Hard Drive
Capacity : 160GB2
Speed : 5400rpm
Interface : Serial ATA
Display
Screen Size : 13.3”11
Resolution : 1280x800
XBRITE™ LCD Technology : Yes
White LED back light for better quality and clarity
Screen or Display Technology : WXGA razor thin LCD panel
Graphics
Processor : NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7400 and Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Video RAM : 128MB (NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7400) and 128MB (dynamically allocated shared RAM/Video memory) (Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950)