#1681078 - 05/25/05 10:29 AM
I Want a new Laptop
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Bill@Welcome Home Studios
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Registered: 08/23/03
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Okay, my laptop is starting to act up, which is fair given that I beat the piss out of it.
I need a new one.
No Macs, Sonys, or Dells.
I want at least 60 gig 7200 RPM hard drive, and at least 1 gig of ram. DVD burner would be nice. Under 5 pounds is a requirement.
I was looking at the Toshiba Tecra. Any other options worth considering?
Bill
_________________________
"...it's easier than hitting the kids, and almost as much fun..."
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#1681079 - 05/25/05 10:36 AM
Re: I Want a new Laptop
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Lee Knight
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Registered: 10/19/01
Posts: 1077
Loc: Encinitas,CA,UNITED STATES
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Try here http://www.notebookreview.com/
I don't know if the site's any good but the name pretty much says, "Hey Bill, check me out."
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#1681080 - 05/25/05 10:42 AM
Re: I Want a new Laptop
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Lee Knight
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Registered: 10/19/01
Posts: 1077
Loc: Encinitas,CA,UNITED STATES
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I just checked that site out and it looks pretty cool. I just found an E-Machines with an AMD 64 and 512 of ram for $760! The HD runs at 4200rpm though. External drive maybe?
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#1681081 - 05/25/05 11:36 AM
Re: I Want a new Laptop
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Bill@Welcome Home Studios
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Originally posted by Lee Knight:
I just checked that site out and it looks pretty cool. I just found an E-Machines with an AMD 64 and 512 of ram for $760! The HD runs at 4200rpm though. External drive maybe?
Bill
_________________________
"...it's easier than hitting the kids, and almost as much fun..."
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#1681083 - 05/25/05 12:35 PM
Re: I Want a new Laptop
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Dylan
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My company uses HP nc6xxx series notebooks and they've been really reliable. I've rolled out close to 200 of them for my guys and I've only had a handful of warranty returns. They come with 5400 RPM hard drives, which are fairly fast in comparison to the 4200 drives that I'm used to. I haven't seen many off the shelf systems come with 7200 RPM drives, but you can add them relatively easilly. We're currently using the 6220, which sells for around $1400 for a Centrino, 512MB of dual channel DDR 400, 40GB HD, CDR-W/DVD ROM Combo, Wifi, and XP Pro. It's a lightweight, thin, and gets around a 4 hour battery life.
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#1681084 - 05/27/05 03:44 PM
Re: I Want a new Laptop
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theblue1
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Registered: 02/06/04
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Loc: Long Beach, CA
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The only 2.5" 7200 rpm drive I know is the Hitachi TravelStar 7K60. They only come in 60 GB. You can pick one up for around $160 or so on the web. Travelstar 7K60
A number of manufacturers make them available in their machines: Dell, Sony, for sure, probably others. But you have to check hard, usually, since a lot of vendors don't bother listing the HD speed in their laptops. (Virtually all others are 4200 or 5400.) [Last time I looked at Dell laptops on their site, the only way I could find the laptop spec was in their refurbished outlet, which is where I bought my current laptop, anyhow, and will probably buy my next laptop, too, everything else being equal. Although a quick look at dawbox.com was pretty interesting. Nothing's certain 'til it's done.]
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#1681085 - 05/27/05 04:24 PM
Re: I Want a new Laptop
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Bill@Welcome Home Studios
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Yeah, I put one in my Asus M2A quite a while ago. All of the machines that I am considering offer the 60 gig 7200 RPM drive as an option. I'd have no trouble putting it in myself, but the premium for having the companies do it for me ends up being about $100 over the cost of the standard 5400 RPM 40 gig drives.
Bill
_________________________
"...it's easier than hitting the kids, and almost as much fun..."
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#1681086 - 05/27/05 09:13 PM
Re: I Want a new Laptop
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Christopher Robin
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One thing - don't buy an Emachine. If they make laptops like they make desktops you WILL be disappointed.
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#1681087 - 05/27/05 09:35 PM
Re: I Want a new Laptop
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Bill@Welcome Home Studios
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Originally posted by Christopher Robin:
One thing - don't buy an Emachine. If they make laptops like they make desktops you WILL be disappointed.
Bill
_________________________
"...it's easier than hitting the kids, and almost as much fun..."
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#1681088 - 05/28/05 07:44 AM
Re: I Want a new Laptop
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Alndln
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Originally posted by Christopher Robin:
One thing - don't buy an Emachine. If they make laptops like they make desktops you WILL be disappointed.
_________________________
"A Robot Playing Trumpet Blows"
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#1681089 - 05/31/05 09:38 PM
Re: I Want a new Laptop
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spokenward
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Registered: 10/25/00
Posts: 1104
Loc: IL US
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The thing with notebooks is that the marketer is usually not the maker. MFR's buy from ODM's (original design mfr). You might be looking at two machines from e-machines/Gateway and they might be made by two different makers.
I have been considering the AMD64 that Alndln mentioned. (it does not fit Bill's weight budget)
Gateway 7426GX
I learned about it on the DUC - Best Laptops for PTLE which, like the Cakewalk site, has actual user reports and horror stories.
The maker is Arima. You will not find it on the Gateway site because it is sold only through retail (Best Buy and maybe JR) The earlier e-machines reportedly had problems with hinges, but some models are going under 1000 in the refurbished markets. The promoted price on the 7426GX mentioned above is 1399. At that price it is pretty appealing. My last two notebooks have been Macs, but I can do most of my work in XP so I am looking at these with a certain hard-eyed resolve.
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#1681090 - 05/31/05 09:48 PM
Re: I Want a new Laptop
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Sean Eldon
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Registered: 04/19/04
Posts: 462
Loc: Long Island
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laptops...i never understood paying almost double for a computer with half the power.
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#1681091 - 06/01/05 11:34 PM
Re: I Want a new Laptop
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Dylan
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Originally posted by bpark@prorec.com: Originally posted by Christopher Robin:
One thing - don't buy an Emachine. If they make laptops like they make desktops you WILL be disappointed.
Bill
I have only used a handful of the T series laptops, but last year my company bought about 100 of the R series and they are complete junk. I've had to send in at least half of them for repair for bad motherboards alone! We have more 3-5 year old IBM's around that haven't had issues than the R series. I don't know what has happened to IBM over the last few years but I can only strongly advise that you stay the hell away from them at all cost. The HP/Compaq business notebooks on the other hand have been great! FWIW, I've yet to see a laptop that you can purchase at retail outlet worth it's weight. The HP business notebooks carry a 3 year warranty as standard and their support is great. Most retails LT's only carry a 1 year warranty, FWIW.
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