Notebook choice help needed

We may earn a small commission from affiliate links and paid advertisements. Terms

Status
Not open for further replies.
G

Guy

Senior Member
Because Im going to sac state next semester and ill be spending a fair amount of time away from my computer Im going to go ahead and snag a laptop. Im not looking for a total desk top replacement, but it will be something that Id like to be not terribly limited with in game choice. Ive been doing some reading, but am having some trouble discerning what would be my best option. Battery life isnt a huge factor as at csus there are tons of outlets all ofer the place for me to plug into, plus im going to ultimatly procure an extra battery. I also need at least a 64 meg video card (shared doesnt really matter as im planning on upgrading my ram soon) Here are a few notebooks ive been looking at and Id really appreciate some opinions

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc....-115-160&DEPA=3
This looks really good, though im not sure about acers in regards to quality. I dont know what Intel Integrated means in reference to the graphics card.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_in...68&pfp=compare&
seems good and as a saturday only special is reduced to 1299 tomorrow.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_in...315189&pfp=cat1
Seems like a good value, but im not terribly sure about the mobile amd chipset, as i have yet to really hear anything at all about it.

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_in...77&pfp=compare&
A p4 with hyperthreading (only difference is bus speed, right?) with a 128 meg video card.

any other suggestions for notebooks are appreciated too. thanks
 
#1 Sucks for gaming. Intel Integrated is the equivalent of Onboard Video in desktops, except non-upgradeable due to the laptop form factor.

#2: This is a good option, especially for 1300.

#3: I'd never buy an HP. :shrug2:

#4: Attractive hardware package, but I wouldn't own a Compaq (Comcrap)

Out of the 4, I would choose the Sony.
 
get a toshiba satellite, i have a m35 s456 and love it. runs fast great wireless conection.
 
acer fucking blows.

widescreen layouts own on laptops. the viao gets a plus for that.

HP/compaq sucks for everything but servers. i know, i work with them all day. my office is 100% HP


quickly looking through, i'd suggest:

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_in...1167&pfp=BROWSE

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc....-114-098&DEPA=3

and this one is a steal:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc....-114-080&DEPA=3
best ram, best chip, best outputs, xp pro instead of home crap, widescreen display, in your price range, built in firewire, etc, and toshiba makes a damn good laptop.

or, if your school's network uses blue tooth shit-
get this one
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-114-108&depa=3
 
Yeah, now its pretty much between the toshiba and the sony. hmm.


There isnt anybody with a newegg promotion code that gives me free stuff or a discount is there? :D
 
sure.

lets compare.


processors are the same.
display area is the same
video card is the same
viao has XP home. Tosh has XP Pro.

tosh has a better chipset, more room for memory in the future, and 2700 vs 2100 ddr ram, single 512, vs two lame 256 on the viao. plus the better chipset will be faster, even though the processor and stuff are the same.

the sony has a larger HDD, but 60vs 80 GB is really notign to compare upon. if this is a 2nd utility, you're not going to be flodding it with mp3's... and even if you do, 60 is plenty big.

viao has a dvd burner, while the toshiba only has dvd read, cdrw for burning... but, really, do you need to burn dvds over a cd for school? doubtful.

viao has "onboard" crap audio. tosh has a real audio card.

plus, new egg owns. :) and the tosh is $200+ cheaper

its a better machine at a better price for what you want to use it for.
and viaos aren't that great of a machine in the first place. just ask airj0ckey. lol
 
so the only difference between the one from newegg and this http://www.compusa.com/products/product_in...32&pfp=compare& is the inclusion of xp pro? and does having xp home or pro make much of a difference (i remember from my vb.net class i had to have pro to actually run the program, but does it have any other use)? Sorry if im asking a lot of questions, its just that this is something of a big investment.
 
Toshiba hands down.

Next year, I'll be buying one also for school, and the toshiba is what I plan on purchasing after my bit of research.

My mom has the equivalent in a newer HP, and its aight, nothing special, just about 200 less, and its HP quality. Wouldn't suggest it.
 
Originally posted by FearDaGreenCivic@Dec 10 2004, 11:22 PM
or do what i did and get a dell dude :clown2:
[post=430352]Quoted post[/post]​
Click to expand...

I've heard nothing but horror stories about dell laptops....could just be me....
 
I have last years version of this. Only real diffrence is the new k23 has a slightly faster processor.

sony k23

I would say that sony has the best displays out of anyone right now. A guy down the hall from me bought an alien were laptop for over 6,000, and my screen kills his in terms of washout. you can look at the screen from almost 90 degrees and you can still see everything on the screen. For playing DVD's, its very nice. I have had one problem with it however. After about 3 months or so, the back light on the screen started to not turn on (lcds have the LCD, then a backlight to actually elluninate it) when ever I would close the lid. With a little bit of reasoning, I found out it was the cover latch sensor. I called up sony, next day they had a prepaid nextday air box to send it back. They warned me to back up my info because they would not be responsible for any lost data. I backed up my movies and music. Get it back a week later, the thing was fixed, but they did reformat my harddrive. A little inconveinent, but its not that bad. Overall my impressions are its a very nice laptop. The screen is the best part about it. It is actually more clear then both my roomates monitors. As for gripes, I think that I got too big of a screen, and I should have got one with a centrino or AMD mobile M processor. The P4 processor take up alot of battery. Battery life on a centrino machine is 6+ hours. On a pentinum 4, your lucky if you get 2. Also the centrino machines are normally a little lighter.

If I did it again, I would have gone with the 10.6 widescreen or the 11.whatever widescreen sony. They are much lighter, have the mobile centrino stuff so the battery life is much better, and are not as bulky. For normal stuff, the 15.7 screen is great, but on campus its not perfectly ideal. Really, unless your doing alot of gaming, a super fast p4 is not needed. In the end, really the only thing that I do with my computer is listen to a shit load of music, surf the web, write papers/spreadsheets/ect, or do some coding in one of the schools math programs
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

newb
Its That Time Again! Laptop Selection?
2
Replies
24
Views
4K
endlesszeal
E
NickBeam
Best Oil write up ever.
Replies
8
Views
6K
Justin66
Justin66
Back
Top