Laptops (again)

[coreno]

Ok, I'm looking for a laptop, and I've got several choices. First, lets look at what this is going to be used for.

I am tradtionally a poweruser at heart (I make my desktop do anything and everything, run 20 windows at once, etc...). But this laptop is a requirement for the college course I am taking. The college offers 5 laptops at a discounted price (quick summary of each from a broshure they sent me and the Gateway website):

Gateway 450X
Pentium M 1.6GHz
256 MB RAM
40GB HDD
24x/10x/24x CD-RW and 8x DVD Combo
2 USB 2.0
15" Screen
ATI Mobility 9000 64MB
~5 hour battery life
Dimensions:
13.15"(W) x 10.63"(D) x 1.3"(H)
Weight:
6.13 lbs (With CDROM and 6-cell battery)

Gateway M675E
Pentium 4 2.8GHz with Hyper-Threading
512MB RAM
60GB HDD
Floppy Drive
24x/10x/24x CD-RW and 8x DVD Combo
4 USB 2.0
TV Out, S-Video
17.1" Screen
ATI Mobility 9600 8x AGP 128 MB
~2 hour battery life
+$200 over the 450X
Dimensions:
15.75" (W) x 10.63" (D) x 1.52" (H)
Weight:
8.8 Pounds

M275X-C (Tablet PC)
Pentium M 1.4Ghz
512 Ram
40GB HDD
Floppy Drive: integrated 4-in-1 memory card reader (***?)
24x/10x/24x CD-RW and 8x DVD Combo
14.1" screen
integrated gfx

Gateway 200E
Pentium M 1.4Ghz
512MB 333Mhz
40GB HDD
External FDD
24x/24x/24x CD-RW and 8x DVD Combo
2 USB 2.0
S-Video, TV Out
14.1" Screen
Integrated Video

Gateway M405E
Pentium M 1.5Ghz
256MB
30GB HDD
24x/24x/24x CD-RW and 8x DVD Combo
2 USB 2.0
S-Video, TV Out
14.1" Screen
Integrated Video

I know, that's a lot to look at. The course I am going to be taking reccomends the 450X, but for $200 more the M675E doesn't seem like a bad deal at all.

I've tried getting advice from some online friends, but they havn't really helped, they have thier own conception of what a laptop should be. One says that a laptop doesn't need more than 1ghz and its all about portability. He also claims his 900Mhz is one of the fastest PC's he has (comapring to dual Athlon systems too). Now I don't know how he figures, he's probably comparing the speed of MS Word or something, I dunno. BUt i have a feeling 1ghz isn't going to cut it- unless I'm missing something.

[renegade600]

everyone has their own concept of what a laptop should be. Let me ask you, why do you want a laptop? Do you plan to actually carry it around or is it a desktop replacement? What will you run mostly on it?

Of the computers you selected, I would go with the 675 but there are problems with it. It is too big to carry around. It will get hot, and battery life will be low. I would also want 1 gig of ram.

[coreno]

Originally Posted by renegade600

everyone has their own concept of what a laptop should be. Let me ask you, why do you want a laptop? Do you plan to actually carry it around or is it a desktop replacement? What will you run mostly on it?

Of the computers you selected, I would go with the 675 but there are problems with it. It is too big to carry around. It will get hot, and battery life will be low. I would also want 1 gig of ram.

That is one my biggest problems. I don't utimatly know what I'll be using it for. The 450 was merely reccomended that that's all I know. I don't know how much time away from an outlet I'll have, or what applications I will be running on it etc...

Chanches are I will be using it as a home away from home sorta thing. ARGH, so many descions. Maybe I'll just go with the 675 and give myself an extra workout with the extra weight!

Edit: going with the schools gateway entitles me to free support and repair, and a loaner should my laptop need repair.

[renegade600]

Originally Posted by coreno

That is one my biggest problems. I don't utimatly know what I'll be using it for. The 450 was merely reccomended that that's all I know. I don't know how much time away from an outlet I'll have, or what applications I will be running on it etc...

Chanches are I will be using it as a home away from home sorta thing. ARGH, so many descions. Maybe I'll just go with the 675 and give myself an extra workout with the extra weight!

Edit: going with the schools gateway entitles me to free support and repair, and a loaner should my laptop need repair.

If you don't know what you will be using it for then get the most up-to-date laptop you can afford. IMO, The lower cpus are great when it comes to battery power but as time goes on they will be limited as to what you can run on them.

You are right, it is a tough decision - good luck.

[Spider]

The college offers 5 laptops at a discounted price

You left out the most important thing...the prices.

Yes educational institutions "can" have good deals that may be hard to beat
in the public sector but since your asking about the "best deal" then you
should post the prices they are asking. Someone here may be able to
point you to a better deal than the Gateway parade your facing.

[coreno]

Originally Posted by Spider

You left out the most important thing...the prices.

Yes educational institutions "can" have good deals that may be hard to beat
in the public sector but since your asking about the "best deal" then you
should post the prices they are asking. Someone here may be able to
point you to a better deal than the Gateway parade your facing.

I knew I was missing something :P

450X - $1,639.00
M675E - $1,839.00
M275X-C - $1,793.00
200E - $1578.00
M405E - $1,261.00

*note- i did do a little price comparison shopping, but it usually takes a lot of time to get a pc of a similar style/specs to compare prices.

[Spider]

To be honest with you those prices are an extremely poor deal. Those are also used systems.
I think there is somebody there who is taking advantage of students.

Here is an example of a potential high risk buy at Ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...102361800&rd=1

The seller has sold 135 items at Ebay. Many of the positive reports come from the
same Ebay user name. A Positive Feedback: of 86.9% on 135 items with multiple
positives from the same user name would mean...
...STAY AWAY from that seller.

Here is an example of a good safe deal
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...486094345&rd=1
Seller has sold 1288 items at Ebay and they have a Positive Feedback: of 95.3%
In the negative comments you can see the seller has resolved the problems
with the buyer(s) and the buyers report a happy solution to their original complaint.

Buy now price $1,375.00 new computer
HP P4 3.06 GHz Laptop DVD Burner, 802.11g WiFi & Wide Screen Display
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...486114882&rd=1


$949 After $100 Mail-in Rebate
Inspiron 1150 Pentium 4 2.66GHz, 14.1-inch XGA, Windows XP Home Edition,
256MB DDR RAM, 30GB Hard Drive, CD/DVD, 65 WHr 8-cell Lithium Ion Battery,
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/prod...=19&l=en&s=dhs

You can get a much better deal at any large retailer in your area just walking in the door
and telling them to show you Pentium 4 Notebooks and you have a $1,200.00 to $1,900.00
price range. If your ready to spend $1,200.00 to $1,900.00 on a Notebook computer then
you better buy a new one, it'll also come with a lengthy warranty.

[sho-dan]

have you consider the lost,misplace,stolen laptop theory it should be in the price range also,cheap and good would work(its the way i think)

[Spider]

Since you were talking Gateway Notebooks I should show you this as well. New from Gateway themselves.
http://www.gateway.com/home/products..._catalog.shtml
M350 series $999.99
FREE SHIPPING
Celeron Processor 2.8GHz
Windows XP Home Edition
256MB DDR RAM
40GB Hard Drive
CD-RW/DVD combo drive
Screen Size15" SXGA+
Hyper-Threading Technology

[coreno]

A few added things to this:
I NEED 802.11b wireless.
I also want to stay close to the specifications of the ones I have listed.

I'll be out running errands tomrrow so maybe I'll stop by Circuit City (do i dare Best Buy? ) and see what they have.

[Spider]

I NEED 802.11b wireless

The recent wireless protocol is 802.11g, you'll find most of the new Notebooks have wireless included.
802.11b is ok but it still "drops". 802.11g everyone likes.

[coreno]

Originally Posted by Spider

The recent wireless protocol is 802.11g, you'll find most of the new Notebooks have wireless included.
802.11b is ok but it still "drops". 802.11g everyone likes.

I need it because that's what the college uses and I don't wanna fire it up and find out I can't use the wireless network. But I know very little about the wireless networking technologies so maybe they're backwards compatible, I dunno.

[coreno]

Oh, and what's the deal with the different types of screens? (i.e. WXGA+ and XGA)

[coreno]

I don't mean to be spamming the boards but I just built the same system (M675E) on Gateway's site and the total came to
$2,124.96

So it's not the college that's jacking up the price, they ARE saving me money. I will build identicle ones on IBM and Dell (including 3 years service&support and default carry case).

[renegade600]

Originally Posted by coreno

Oh, and what's the deal with the different types of screens? (i.e. WXGA+ and XGA)

svga - 800x600
xga - 1024x768
sxga -1280x1024
sxga+ - 1400x1050
uxga - 1600-1200
wxga - 1366 by 768 pixels

there are others...

The higher the resolution the larger screen it will support.