Laptop choices

[Stu Olson]

I find myself in the mood to replace my 4+ year old laptop.

I've been doing the virtual tire kicking thing on-line, looking at the various sites...Dell, IBM, Toshiba, etc. and have looked at some of those "less known" laptops from companies that take out those two page ads in the major PC mags.

A few things that are top on my list for must haves....

1. S video or NTSC video INPUT (I want to view video from my camcorder)
2. Minimum of 40GB hard drive
3. Minimum of 256MB memory
4. Prefer the newer Intel mobile processor that uses a lot less power.
5. Prefer a 15" TFT screen
6. CD-R, CR-RW burner, DVD reader
7. Windows XP (prefer Pro) OS

A few things that would be nice to have but could live without....

1. DVD burner (prefer dual format but probably won't happen)
2. 60GB or better hard drive
3. Built in 3.5" floppy

Price range: $1500 ~ $2500

So...that is my wish list. Any of you techie types keeping up with what is currently available that might fit the above specs?

Or....do you have a recommendation (what to get or what to stay away from)?

Any input is welcome

[BlueJeeper]

I have always found the reviews at www.cnet.com to be helpful, and they have a huge notebook review section. They also list upcoming releases.

In the price range you mention, I would definitely be adding a wide-aspect ratio screen, and 802.11 and Bluetooth wireless to the "nice-to-have" list.

[Allen]

The new widescreens are pretty Pimp

And if you don't have integrated wireless, or a wireless network with broadband, you're really missing out.

My wife loves the wireless network I set up for her laptop.....

Allen

[Stu Olson]

Rick and Allen,

Thanks for reminding me....yes, 802.11(b) is a MUST have. I already have broadband and wireless in the house and would not get a new laptop without it. I neglected to put that on my list (not enough coffee yet this morning when I posted!)

I have seen a couple pics of the wide aspect ratio screens and the though of having two nice sized applicaitons running side by side is rather cool (not to mention watching a DVD in the correct format). I'll put that on the nice to have list for now, only because I think it would severely limit my choice if on the must have list.

I'll be sure to check out cnet.com and look at the reviews.

Anyone else got their favorites? Brand and model references appreciated.

[Sephiroth]

I want to view video from my camcorder)

your camcorder does not do firewire??
Toshiba is a work horse, stay away from Sony at all cost, Dell is good if you don't mind online shopping. Just don't forget that what they call desktop replacements now are heavy. Built in floppy is common on Toshiba as well as combo CD,DVD,Burner.
Mine has worked with out a hitch.

My top two would be Dell or Toshiba, here at work I order nothing but Dell's and that is Laptop's as well as Desktop's and servers. The Dell service is second to none.

[Stu Olson]

Hi Don,

Excellent point....yes, my camcorder has firewire. I am so use to running it into a NTSC monitor for preview purposes that I wasn't even thinking about using the firewire port (although I use that all the time when I do editing on the desktop box). DOH!

OK...that will make the selection a little easier. I had seen numerous laptops with NTSC output, but one 1 or 2 with NTSC input.

Outstanding! Sometimes I get to close to something and can't see the other options that are available!

Ya know, for a pimp, you are a pretty nice guy!

[Sephiroth]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Stu Olson
[B]Hi Don,


Ya know, for a pimp, you are a pretty nice guy!

[Overkill]

I agree with Don completely, and might I ad beware of Gateway. Even though several of their systems are truly from the same manufacturing plant as Dells, Gateways latest models are nothing but flakey at best.

[Jim M]

I didn't see any mention of a serial port anywhere. Is this important to you? As an IT professional, I need it to do base configurations on many devices, not the least of which are Cisco routers and PIX boxes. I?m a CLI kinda guy though. Most new laptops only come with USB, and you must use a converter. I've found them to be problematic. YMMV.

I've run IBM, Dell, Gateway, and Toshiba in the last three years. I would rule out Gateway due to quality issues. Toshiba would be the next ruled out due to similar quality issues. Neither laptop felt like a serious machine that would last in a professional and travel environment. They just seemed like ?coffee table? laptops for home use. I also had issues like video and RAM problems within a year of ownership.

The IBM's are built like a tank. I've spilled milk into mine, dropped it, baked it in the truck, and generally abused it through travel and work, and it keeps on going. The keyboard also has a great feel and I like the little eraser mouse (not popular, so keep in mind some IBM models are ONLY eraser mouse type). As a traveler, one of the best features of the IBM is the little LED light that illuminates the keyboard. It may sound gimmicky, but I really miss it on my new Dell.

Most recently I've used a Dell D800 (wide screen) and a Dell D600 (14" screen). Both are excellent machines and come with almost everything. One of the best features of the Dell is the availability of their CompleteCare warranty coverage. This covers everything, even accidents like dropping it off of a roof or driving over it. Hard to beat and I've used it several times on an older model when I broke the LCD monitor. The worst part I?ve found with Dell is the wait while it?s built and shipped.

The wide screens are nice, but they tend to be heavy and bulky. The D800 is pretty light for it's size, due in part to being a two spindle design. I have landed on the D600 though, based on the enormous size of the wide screen. It's about the size of a ream of legal paper. That may not seem like much, but if portability is of high value, then that size is huge. Also, try fitting a ream of legal in you current laptop bag. Usually doesn't happen. I have some really nice bags for travel that can hold all the various other troubleshooting and networking gear needed for remote site work. The idea of buying a new $150 bag was not sitting well with me.

I've got more thoughts if you care to hear them. You could even give me a call if you like and we could chat a bit.

[Stu Olson]

Thanks again for more information.

I was disappointed to see negative comments about Gateway. I say this because a good friend of mine is a Gateway reseller and will work me his best price (good Jeepin' buddy). So....I guess I may keep that on the back burner for now.

My current laptop (at least the one that is being replaced) is a 4+ year old Toshiba. That laptop has seen more Jeeps trips than some of the folks I wheel with! LOL While I will admit that it rides along in its case, I've never had an issue with it since I owned it. I've scraped the hard drive clean once and did a fresh reload of Win98SE but that was all the maintenance it has seen (other than some extra memory added a couple of years ago). So, I have varying recommendations on Toshiba (Don recommends it and Jim say stay away).

There is an old saying that goes "No one ever got fired for ordering an IBM PC". Sounds like that still holds true, at least for Jim. Jim, I may just take you up on that invite to chat about PCs. I'll shoot you a note if I need to get in touch with you.

Well...back to the reviews and such.

Anyone else care to put in their two cents worth?

[Dan-H]

I've used DEC, Compaq(s) , HPs, Dells and an IBM.

the DEC was solid as a rock, and 2.5 years into a 3 year warranty the screen had a vertical line down the center. Compaq bought DEC, and all their warrany headaches so they sent me a new Armada M700. Not bad. traded a P2 266 for a P3 750.

I use an HP at work. the drive is noisy. (made by IBM) and the drives have been failing on most of my co-workers. (note to self. backup hard drive...)

Wife drives a Dell, and I've used several Dells at work.

most of the older Dell's are now running Susi Linux but still going strong after several years of (ab)use.

The IBM belonged to a friend and was decent.

So, what is important to me? The display. My wife's 15.5" TFT matrix display is awesome. Better than this compaq, and my HP, which isn't bad.

My biggest gripe about Compaq is they put the stupid Function Key where the control Key goes, and since I use my laptop as a window into a Unix environment all the time, that drives me nuts.

I like CDs that open to the front, not the side. My HP does this.

make sure to get USB 2.0. should be on a newer setup, but double check.

see what the maximum RAM is, and make sure you aren't getting low density memory. many of the P4 laptops can do 1Gbyte. 512M is limiting for a developers system, but fine for most recreational use. I get by with 320Mbyte at home, but 512 is not enough at work.

some have quieter fans. I think my wifes Dell is a two speed fan. this compaq is very quiet.

I have to applaud Dell's customer service. My wife has had two hardware problems and both were handled very well. one was a flakey CD in a DVD/CD/floppy combo, the other was a glitch in the matrix display. both were handled quickly and without any problems. email is not the best way to get things resolved, and like many tech support, I waded through a couple of levels until I found someone that could make it right quickly.

anyway, no clear answers, just some yammering.

if you get close on any specific model, I'd search the tech forum from that vendor (Dell has a BBS) and see if others are having probs. might be a sign of a lemon.

[Sephiroth]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Jim M
[B]I didn't see any mention of a serial port anywhere. Is this important to you? As an IT professional, I need it to do base configurations on many devices, not the least of which are Cisco routers

My Toshiba has a serial port that I hook up to our Cisco routers, Stu do you want to hook up your laptop to Cisco routers??


Toshiba would be the next ruled out due to similar quality issues. Neither laptop felt like a serious machine that would last
in a professional and travel environment. They just seemed like ?coffee table? laptops for home use. I also had issues like video and RAM problems within a year of ownership.


Quality Issues? coffee table laptop? professional environment?


Come on Jim, I deal with IBM as well as Gateway and Dell, Sony, Toshiba everyday and IBM has quality issues as well. I replaced two hard drives on one IBM within a month of each other.

A computer is only as good as the components it uses, and warranty is a key issue and that brings me back to Dell, yes Dell has its problems as well but its warranty more then makes up for it.






]

[Stu Olson]

Don....the chances of me attaching my laptop to a Cisco router are probably right between slim and none (and slim just left the building). However, the chances of me attaching it to my GPS is quite high....so a 9 pin serial port is certainly something I would want.

I spent a fair amount of time over on the IBM site. I can not for the life of me find a good performing laptop there that has a firewire port. Even when I go through the customize process, they are never offered. Maybe I am just missing something on the configuration screen.....but if I am not, then no 1394 port means no purchase.


Oh well...back to the web sites. (I think my eyes are starting to cross.)

[Jim M]

I managed an environment that supported an about 70 of them used by a mobile sales force. We had a high failure rate with the Toshiba's so we bought Gateway next. Also a high failure rate. Next up was IBM. Out of ~75 machines in 1.5 years (I left the company at that time) only one ever needed service and it was for a dead keyboard which involved maybe four screws to replace.

I agree wholeheartedly about Dell's warranty. The failure of Dell machines is at least as high as most competitors, but Dell will fix the issue quickly and with little fuss. My experience here deals with over 1000 machines in a consulting environment and about 20 in my new position (and growing to over 100 next year).

Relax Don. I was speaking from MY experiences and giving MY opinions. Stu asked for thoughts on this matter; I gave MINE, you gave YOURS. One of the things that makes open forums valuable is the ability to share thoughts, opinions, and experiences. You like your Toshiba and that's great. I respect your opinion, even though you have never quite figured out the whole quoting another post thing...

[Sephiroth]

even though you have never quite figured out the whole quoting another post thing

[Darrell C]

Stu,

Personal experience only, in ordering PCs (both desktops and laptops) for a small office. I've got two Gateways and just replaced one. I won't order another. I've ordered almost 20 Dells in the last 6 months, including laptops. Products have been great, and so has service. Some are used off-site in a county-wide trauma registry system and on-line, real-time, Emergency Department statusing program. I've been very pleased with Dell.

And Dan, my current Dell laptop (Inspiron 8100) has a two-speed fan also. So your memory is correct.

[Stu Olson]

I again wish to thank everyone for their input. Between your input and that from some local folks, Gateway has been dropped from the list.

I spent some time yesterday with a Jeepin' friend of mine (JimM, you know Les) who is an IBM rep and he helped me find an IBM with a 1394 port....and he even had to work a bit at it so I didn't feel too bad when I couldn't figure it out.

I just might give IBM a try....still kicking the tires on a couple of models but for a variety of reasons, the IBM just might get the nod.

I'll let you know what I come up with....shouldn't be too long before I make a decision.

[Jim M]

Les is a good guy. He helped me out when I bought a bunch of IBM stuff from him. I still use my personally owned StinkPad at home, right now actually. Like you said, "Nobody ever got fired for ordering an IBM PC."

[Stu Olson]

Well, I did it....now I just have to wait for it to show up. If it is in stock, it will be here by Friday.

I ordered an IBM R40 ThinkPad, 1.5GHz Pentium M, 400 Mzh FSB, 1MB L2, 512MB memory, 60 GB drive, CR-RW/DVD, 32MB 1400x1050 15" SXGA+ TFT display, firewire, 2 USB 2.0, 802.11b wireless, ethernet card, 6.2 hour battery, WinXP Pro, and weighs 6 1/2 lbs.

I already have a USB floppy drive to use with it and I decided I could live without the DB-9 serial port (I'll get a converter).

Looking forward to giving it a shakedown run once I get it!

[Sephiroth]

damm wimp!!!!!!!

Originally posted by Stu Olson
Well, I did it....now I just have to wait for it to show up. If it is in stock, it will be here by Friday.

I ordered an IBM R40 ThinkPad, 1.5GHz Pentium M, 400 Mzh FSB, 1MB L2, 512MB memory, 60 GB drive, CR-RW/DVD, 32MB 1400x1050 15" SXGA+ TFT display, firewire, 2 USB 2.0, 802.11b wireless, ethernet card, 6.2 hour battery, WinXP Pro, and weighs 6 1/2 lbs.

I already have a USB floppy drive to use with it and I decided I could live without the DB-9 serial port (I'll get a converter).

Looking forward to giving it a shakedown run once I get it!

[Stu Olson]

and why would that be?

[mnjeeper]

Good choice Stu. I have had (indirectly) a few thousand IBM laptops and hundreds of Dells, Toshibas, and a few sonys/gateways, etc. My favorite is IBM. The only one I would really stay away from is the sony. On the floppy note, I say skip it and get a 128 MB keychain USB is something you'd be hard pressed to find a PC without these days.....

[underDAWG]

Wow.... alot info to digest. I bought a Sony laptop a year ago becasue it looks cute :banghead: I should have asked first

[Sephiroth]

ibm sellout

Originally posted by Stu Olson
and why would that be?

[mnjeeper]

Originally posted by Don Palese
ibm sellout

That's it! Turn in your blue suit and white socks immediately!

[Stu Olson]

Originally posted by mnjeeper
Good choice Stu. I have had (indirectly) a few thousand IBM laptops and hundreds of Dells, Toshibas, and a few sonys/gateways, etc. My favorite is IBM. The only one I would really stay away from is the sony. On the floppy note, I say skip it and get a 128 MB keychain USB is something you'd be hard pressed to find a PC without these days.....

The keychain is a good idea and I will most likely pick one up. However, my Sony Mavica uses 3.5" floppies so I'll still use the USB floppy drive w/ the IBM (I already own it so there is no expense in getting one). Perhaps it is time to upgrade to a new camera too!


Don....true....I'll soon be an IBM owner soon enough.....but at least I don't have a Tera lift!

[Sephiroth]

Originally posted by Stu Olson
The keychain is a good idea and I will most likely pick one up. However, my Sony Mavica uses 3.5" floppies so I'll still use the USB floppy drive w/ the IBM (I already own it so there is no expense in getting one). Perhaps it is time to upgrade to a new camera too!


Don....true....I'll soon be an IBM owner soon enough.....but at least I don't have a Tera lift!

but at least I don't have a Tera lift! [/QUOTE] [/B]

[William]

My wife and I need a replacement computer BAD... Our home CPU is a and old P233.

One of the heavy lap to "work station replacements" seems to be a correction choice

What we need is microsoft office, the ability to download pictures from our digital camera, a read write CD rom, and a lot of memory to that end.

I'd like to be able to have an external memory storage, the ability to watch DVD movies (for long trips - for my daughter) and the ability to run "basic" other software (quicken, exercise trackers, etc).

Eventaully, we would like to be able to use it to manage a family web site with photos, etc.


Our budgette is set at 1200 dollars. We aren't in the "have to buy" catagory until November, but wouldn't pass up a decent deal if it were possible.

Any recommendations anyone?

[Sephiroth]

I did have an idea for you but it was deleated, the nightmare cotinues

[Allen]

Originally posted by Don Palese
ibm sellout

I did have an idea for you but it was deleated, the nightmare cotinues

Allen