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Subject: Buying a laptop, any recommendations?
Posted by: R9
- Leader [02624472] Tue, Aug 31, 2004, 01:13
First off, I have to state my frustration in just how difficult it seems to be to find a package that doesn't have something crappy in it. Maybe I'm just used to home PC's, where I can buy everything I want without having bundled software or crappy parts added in, but it seems like all the Dell, Compaq, Toshiba's, etc. all have that stuff. Can't I just place an order for one that has what I want? :)
What I'm looking for:
- An Athlon 64 processor. Probably would settle for a PentiumM 1.5 or so, but the 64 would be really sweet.
- A decent video card. No Radeon 9000, or GF 5200. A 9600xt would be nice, a 9800xt even better. (Although I probably couldn't afford the 9800)
- A 7200rpm hard drive. 4200rpm seems to be the standard, which is really slow. A few places let me upgrade to a 7200 rpm, but not all.
- One stick of 512 DDR ram, 333mhz. (Not 266mhz)
Thats it. In all my searching, I couldn't find ONE laptop that met those criteria. Some would have all of that, only be stuck with a 4200rpm hd. (And no way to change it.) And NO athlon 64 laptops that I've seen seem to come with a decent vid card. Who designs these things anyway??? ;)
So who would you guys recommend? I'm sort of looking for a company that would let me customize my own laptop with the above specs. Thanks for any help! |
| 1 | MadDOG
ID: 177501711
Tue, Aug 31, 2004, 16:11
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Why are you so stuck on the 64 Athlon processor. You mentioned it in the computer buying thread that I started. Is it really better than a Pentium chip? Or is it just better for gaming?
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| 2 | MadDOG
ID: 177501711
Tue, Aug 31, 2004, 16:13
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What do you think of the ATI Radeon X300 SE PCI Express video cards?
I am seeing alot of desktop PC's with that card in them. Is there something wrong with that card?
I also see the ATI Radeon X800 SE PCI Express.
Whats the deal with these cards. Almost every budget system I find has one of these in them.
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| 3 | R9
Leader
ID: 02624472
Wed, Sep 01, 2004, 02:46
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The A-64 is easily the top chip on the market right now. It surpasses the P4 in just about every test, and is less power-hungry. Its also cheaper. There's only two reasons Intel is still selling chips:
1) They've got brand recognition. Alot of people are still 'unsure' of the upstart AMD. Even though AMD has been the top dog for 3-4 years now.
2) Intel has alot of deals with suppliers, especially for laptops. Even if the chip sucks.
The two go hand-in-hand to maintain Intel's market share. #2 leads to alot of Intel chips on the market, which leads people to maintain their thinking in #1.
The X800 is the top video card on the market. Not sure what budget systems you've been looking at, but around here it retails for about 650$ Cdn. ;) The X300 is the value brand based on their new technology. I don't know much about it, but since it retails for about half the cost of a 9600XT I can't imagine it being a very powerful card.
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| 4 | R9
Leader
ID: 02624472
Wed, Sep 01, 2004, 02:50
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Although SE is also what they put on their value brands. I didn't see any X800 SE's on the 3 price lists of the stores around my house, so I don't know much about it. The X800-XT is the tops though, bar none.
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| 5 | MadDOG
ID: 178219
Wed, Sep 01, 2004, 11:36
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I guess "SE" stands for Second Edition. Which probably means a downgrade of some sort.
Thinks for the info R9.
BTW, does having the "FX" behind the Athlon 64 chip mean anything?
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| 6 | CCP Live From School
ID: 13834116
Wed, Sep 01, 2004, 18:06
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We have a Gateway Laptop at home and it hasn't given us one problem yet. We did have a networking issue, but upgrading from Win98 SE to WinXP Home quickly solved that.
At work we have new Dell Latittude laptops and they are slick. Very lightweight, yet powerful.
If you want high customization then look at either Alienware or Dell.
Why the love affair with a 64 bit processor? Don't you need a 64 bit enabled OS, software, drivers, etc. to take advantage of the extra horsepower? Please correct me if I'm wrong because that's a main reason why I'm holding off buying a new home PC right now.
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| 7 | R9
Leader
ID: 02624472
Thu, Sep 02, 2004, 04:17
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The tests I've seen that have the 64 smoking the P4 are using today's technology and programs, so if thats true thats even better. As things stand today, its still tops. Tomorrow it may even be better.
And thats my main reason really. In two years, an A-64 laptop will still be powerful. I doubt I'd be able to say the same for a P4 or PentiumM. When buying a new home PC, getting an A-64 is really the only way to go. No reason to buy something that will be outdated sooner. So I'm applying the same logic to laptops.
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