10 replies to this topic

[Jack]

I want to buy a new notebook comp. What should I get? Should it be the Centrino stuff or the AMD XP-M? XGA or WXGA? How does the shared video memory thing work?

Any input would be awesome.

P.S. My price range is about $1500 USD (that is about $200000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 CAN).

[DeadlyDon]

I bought an eMachines several months ago. It's an Athlon XP-M(2400 I think). It only cost me about $1100. It has a 15.4" widescreen display, 802.11g wireless, 56k modem, RJ-45 network port, CD-RW/DVD combo drive, ATI Radeon 9200 IGP(shared memory), 60GB hard drive, 512MB PC 2700 memory, Windows XP Home, etc. I've been real happy with it so far. It's NOT a gaming laptop though! If I turn off all optional graphics and such I can play BF on it. The shared video memory simply means that the video card uses a set amount of your system memory for graphics. I think this is adjustable in the BIOS. The video card has NO memory of its own. The new eMachines use the Athlon64 processor. I think it was PC World which recently did a Top 10 list in which eMachines made it in the laptops top ten list. The new eMachines, using Athlon64, are under $1500 USD.

BTW, My understanding is that Centrino is a bunch of marketing BS

[Why Two Kay]

Centrino is a markiting "term" used to describe some elements, then when placed together, make it Centrino. It has a slower processor (NOTE: the numbers are not comparable so a 1.6 GHZ Centrino acts like a 2.5 GHZ P4-M) that has less battery usage. Also, it has some intel wireless features, and a new chipset.

Verdict: AMD Athlon XP Mobile

Shared video memmory means that the video card memmory is shared with the main system-memmory. This wont happen if there is AN ACTUAL VIDEO CARD IN THERE.

Verdict: Get one with a real video card (such as the 9600 Pro Mobile)

As for the XGA thing, go with whatever has a higher resolution, remember bigger is better (at least in this situation )

Some of the Dell are pretty good. I dont reccoment E-Machines because my experience with them show that they can be kinda flakey in stability, plus they add too much extras you dont need. Dell is pretty good, but dont go for extended warrenties and stuff like that, if it doesnt break in the first 90 days, it wont brake unless you do somthing to it. (Such as dropping or hitting it.)

Also, memmory, go for at least 512 MB. Will make everything better especially if its running Windows XP Home. Dont bother with PRO, its only for people with large networking or multiple processors.

If you can, go to a local Best Buy/COMP USA/ whatever you have and get one of the models you plan to buy, dont use it to test for performance/graphics because you might change so,e of those settings when you go online to buy it. Test to see if the keyboard is big enough, how thick it is, how much it weights, you have to remember these things. Bad Keyboard= Bad Typing. Heavy Weight = Not Portable

Well, thats all i have to say. If you read this whole thing, thank you.

[Jack]

Thanks DD. XP-M sounds like the winner. I have it narrowed down to Acer, Fujitsu, or the HP Presario 3140CA (I can get these through work at cost prices). Any suggestions?

I'm still confused about the WXGA vs XGA screens. If I am not going to use this as a dvd player, then do I want the WXGA?

Thanks

[Enforcer]

PM dante and see what he can do for ya...

[Jack]

Thanks all. Soon it will be mine....

[Boondock Saint]

Enforcer,Jul 14 2004, 01:54 PM] PM dante and see what he can do for ya...

And with every purchase Dante includes a free "Love Sheep".....I got mine....excuse me.....we need time to be alone.....

[Jack]

Hmmm, I'm "into" goats myself. Can he still "help" me with that one?

[Jack]

Decision time. I have it down to these two. One is AMD64 based. The other is the P-4 family.

In a Captain Kirk voice I say: must decide now. Can't wait any longer. What should I do Spock? I just don't know. Help me Bones.

Thanks

http://www.directdia...m...X.A3005.110

http://www.bytewizec...s/9/42/566/6146


Oh yes. Both come with the rubber goat Boon....

[DeadlyDon]

I think you need to be honest with yourself about how you are going to use this laptop. The Pentium based laptop has a larger screen, better 3D video and a faster CPU. Are you really going to take advantage of these extra features? I have the 15.4" screen and I really like that for when I'm doing development on my laptop, which is admittedly rare. I never play games on my laptop and probably wouldn't no matter how fast my video is. I have the AMD XP-M 2400+ in my laptop and it is plenty fast. Are you planning on playing 3D games on your laptop? If so, you should consider the Pentium based system. Are you going to do sound, video and/or image editing? If so, again, consider the Pentium based system. If you, like me, primarily use the laptop for email, web browsing and porn, then you don't need the extra CPU and video horsepower. Ok, that's my rather long-winded opinion. Good luck!

[Why Two Kay]

http://www.directdia...m...X.A3005.110

http://www.bytewizec...s/9/42/566/6146


Oh yes. Both come with the rubber goat Boon....

Dont go with the second one for gaming, it has shared graphics which is just like INTERGRATED graphics on cheap-o Intel Motherboards. Your quality will suck big time