Best laptop for under 1200?
05-31-2005, 10:30 AM
#31
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Originally Posted by mcowger
Absolutely serious. Have used pretty much every current dell (1100, 600m, 700m, 8600, 9100, 9300, 6000, 300m) as well as many of the IBMs.
They do have some different parts (like keyboards as you noted, though I prefer the dell keyboard over the IBM one, hard drives), but the cases and screens are pretty much the same.
This may change in the future, as the IBM PC line was purchased by Lenovo and may be moved to China.
They do have some different parts (like keyboards as you noted, though I prefer the dell keyboard over the IBM one, hard drives), but the cases and screens are pretty much the same.
This may change in the future, as the IBM PC line was purchased by Lenovo and may be moved to China.
05-31-2005, 11:57 AM
#32
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Originally Posted by mcowger
Personally, I like the Dell 600m, 8600 series. But if you dont want dell, then the IBm shoudl be fine. Its pretty trivial to swap out the HD for something bigger/faster (hint: hitachi makes a 7200RPM laptop drive, 60GB).
7200RPM = lower battery life.
Stay away from Dell, personally I have seen many, many problems like others have stated.
I have an Asus M3Np notebook and though I have not had any hardware failure, the chassis is noticeably weaker towards the front where the batter is now, and has too much flex. little snap crackle pops of plastic are not comforting after owning the laptop since last September.
:sigh: if only my thinkpad 600e had more power. =\ I still have it but the mouse goes all wacky. replaced the keyboard but still no love.
Maybe I will make it my car PC system. 
05-31-2005, 12:13 PM
#33
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Originally Posted by mcdrama
7200RPM = lower battery life.
Stay away from Dell, personally I have seen many, many problems like others have stated.
I have an Asus M3Np notebook and though I have not had any hardware failure, the chassis is noticeably weaker towards the front where the batter is now, and has too much flex. little snap crackle pops of plastic are not comforting after owning the laptop since last September.
:sigh: if only my thinkpad 600e had more power. =\ I still have it but the mouse goes all wacky. replaced the keyboard but still no love. Maybe I will make it my car PC system.
Stay away from Dell, personally I have seen many, many problems like others have stated.
I have an Asus M3Np notebook and though I have not had any hardware failure, the chassis is noticeably weaker towards the front where the batter is now, and has too much flex. little snap crackle pops of plastic are not comforting after owning the laptop since last September.
:sigh: if only my thinkpad 600e had more power. =\ I still have it but the mouse goes all wacky. replaced the keyboard but still no love.
Maybe I will make it my car PC system. On a side note, I have 3x 600's that I am planning to make into one good one if you need parts. Just let me know.
05-31-2005, 12:28 PM
#34
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Originally Posted by wombatsauce
The chassis creaking and snap-crackle-pops are what I hate most about Dell. I would have a hard time paying big money for something that flimsy (just me I guess).
On a side note, I have 3x 600's that I am planning to make into one good one if you need parts. Just let me know.
On a side note, I have 3x 600's that I am planning to make into one good one if you need parts. Just let me know.
05-31-2005, 12:39 PM
#35
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Originally Posted by mcdrama
7200RPM = lower battery life.
7200RPM
Startup (peak, max.) 5.5W
Seek 2.3W 2.5W
Read (avg.) 2.0W 2.5W
Write (avg.) 2.0W 2.5W
Active idle (avg.) 1.1W 1.3W
Low power idle (avg.) 0.85W 1.0W
Standby (avg.) 0.2W 0.4W
Sleep 0.1W 0.2W
5400RPM
Startup (peak, max.) 5.0W
Read (avg.) 2.0W
Write (avg.) 2.0W
Active idle (avg.) 0.85W 1.2W
Low power idle (avg.) 0.60W 0.85W
Standby (avg.) 0.2W 0.4W
Sleep 0.1W 0.2W
05-31-2005, 01:10 PM
#36
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Originally Posted by mcowger
Not true. Common misconception. On the order of .5W differences in less for the 7200RPM during active use. Compared to the 21+W the processor draws and the 30-50W the screen draws, that 0.1W is maybe 1 minute difference, which will be made up by the fact that everything happens faster, so you get more work done.
7200RPM
Startup (peak, max.) 5.5W
Seek 2.3W 2.5W
Read (avg.) 2.0W 2.5W
Write (avg.) 2.0W 2.5W
Active idle (avg.) 1.1W 1.3W
Low power idle (avg.) 0.85W 1.0W
Standby (avg.) 0.2W 0.4W
Sleep 0.1W 0.2W
5400RPM
Startup (peak, max.) 5.0W
Read (avg.) 2.0W
Write (avg.) 2.0W
Active idle (avg.) 0.85W 1.2W
Low power idle (avg.) 0.60W 0.85W
Standby (avg.) 0.2W 0.4W
Sleep 0.1W 0.2W
7200RPM
Startup (peak, max.) 5.5W
Seek 2.3W 2.5W
Read (avg.) 2.0W 2.5W
Write (avg.) 2.0W 2.5W
Active idle (avg.) 1.1W 1.3W
Low power idle (avg.) 0.85W 1.0W
Standby (avg.) 0.2W 0.4W
Sleep 0.1W 0.2W
5400RPM
Startup (peak, max.) 5.0W
Read (avg.) 2.0W
Write (avg.) 2.0W
Active idle (avg.) 0.85W 1.2W
Low power idle (avg.) 0.60W 0.85W
Standby (avg.) 0.2W 0.4W
Sleep 0.1W 0.2W
Damn you fawker!!! hehe
For some reason I thought last year when I read this review at tomshardware[ http://www.tomshardware.com/mobile/20031031/index.html ] the 7200RPM drive had a bit more of a dent on the power. Good point though, things will happen faster so you get more work done.
I am a bastard when it comes to battery life though, I need every minute I can get when I am mobile without power source.
06-07-2005, 01:50 PM
#39
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Bump because I saw this earlier and don't want to make a new thread.
I'm thinking about getting an ibuypower laptop. I've thought about VAIO's and they're pretty cool but expensive and I can only get a 4800 RPM hdd no matter what I upgrade, so that's out of the question. The desktop dell I have at home sucks, but I hear otherwise about the notebooks. Anyways, back to the ibuypower notebooks, does anybody have any experiences with them? faulty stuff? also, would you recommend AMD or Intel processors? My experiences with Intel have been good so I'm leaning towards them. I am going to be using the notebook for everything including some light gaming and through them, I get the best performance in the neighborhood of $2000, which I think is a good deal. Any other recs? Thanks for your reply.
I'm thinking about getting an ibuypower laptop. I've thought about VAIO's and they're pretty cool but expensive and I can only get a 4800 RPM hdd no matter what I upgrade, so that's out of the question. The desktop dell I have at home sucks, but I hear otherwise about the notebooks. Anyways, back to the ibuypower notebooks, does anybody have any experiences with them? faulty stuff? also, would you recommend AMD or Intel processors? My experiences with Intel have been good so I'm leaning towards them. I am going to be using the notebook for everything including some light gaming and through them, I get the best performance in the neighborhood of $2000, which I think is a good deal. Any other recs? Thanks for your reply.
06-07-2005, 02:01 PM
#40
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I have one of these
http://www.averatec.com/notebooks/3200series.htm
I was going to suggest getting a Dell, but you seem hell bent against it.
For the price, the Averatec is a nice little lappy. I wrote up a review of it on Yahoo - but in short, the battery life is a little anemic (although it works fine for my needs), and the wireless antenna reception isn't as good as my wife's Dell 600M. I upgraded it to 1GB of RAM (only 1 slot). Definately more of a laptop for those comfortable with tinkering around with it. But yeah, I agree with some of the stuff above - if you really need a gaming type of laptop, be prepared to spend a bunch of money. If all you want is something to do work on that's got some good bang for the buck, then try the averatec.
I would also recommend checking out the user forums and seeing their reviews too - some people have had some problems, but I think that stems more from people running linux and reinstalling XP Pro and stuff like that
-C
Oh one last thing - if you have a choice of processors, I would go with the intel one (centrino?) supposedly they have better battery conservation than the AMD processors (or so I've been told)
http://www.averatec.com/notebooks/3200series.htm
I was going to suggest getting a Dell, but you seem hell bent against it.
For the price, the Averatec is a nice little lappy. I wrote up a review of it on Yahoo - but in short, the battery life is a little anemic (although it works fine for my needs), and the wireless antenna reception isn't as good as my wife's Dell 600M. I upgraded it to 1GB of RAM (only 1 slot). Definately more of a laptop for those comfortable with tinkering around with it. But yeah, I agree with some of the stuff above - if you really need a gaming type of laptop, be prepared to spend a bunch of money. If all you want is something to do work on that's got some good bang for the buck, then try the averatec.
I would also recommend checking out the user forums and seeing their reviews too - some people have had some problems, but I think that stems more from people running linux and reinstalling XP Pro and stuff like that
-C
Oh one last thing - if you have a choice of processors, I would go with the intel one (centrino?) supposedly they have better battery conservation than the AMD processors (or so I've been told)
06-07-2005, 02:46 PM
#42
Sorry to see so many Dell Bashers. No laptop is perfect. Dell "offers" on-site next day repair at your office or home. Our company switched from Toshiba and no regrets. Saved me a lot of time with office cry babies.
06-07-2005, 03:04 PM
#43
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I picked up a dell 6000 laptop today (with the 750 off 1500) - came out to $738 shipped
1.6 pentium M, 256mb ATi Raedon, dvd burner, 2yr warranty, etc.
You can diss dell all you want- but I, nor any of my family have had any problems with tthe several desktops we have. Plus- I'd like to see someone find a better value than this...
1.6 pentium M, 256mb ATi Raedon, dvd burner, 2yr warranty, etc.
You can diss dell all you want- but I, nor any of my family have had any problems with tthe several desktops we have. Plus- I'd like to see someone find a better value than this...
06-07-2005, 03:05 PM
#44
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Originally Posted by byoung
Sorry to see so many Dell Bashers. No laptop is perfect. Dell "offers" on-site next day repair at your office or home. Our company switched from Toshiba and no regrets. Saved me a lot of time with office cry babies.
oh and he was late
edgar,
