Notebooks.

[LisaJill]

Hey all!

 

I have been allotted $1500.00 with which to purchase a notebook pc to take to school; rather than toting a humongous tower and monitor etc.

 

I don't have to make this decision til August when I move up to Northampton, MA (I got into Smith College! =) ) so this is just some pre-research that I'm doing.

 

Now, I'm spoilt. I'm used to a fairly high powered machine and large monitors. I do *not* intend to tote said laptop around with me. Except for trips home, it will stay perched on a desk. Weight, therefore, is not an issue.

 

What do I want? I want the biggest monitor that I can get. I want something with plenty of cpu and memory and a decent graphics card. I also want the best wireless that I can get in built for ease, if that's available.

 

It needs to be a PC. I'd prefer a mac, honestly, but I have too much software that I've paid for that is PC specific; simply too much invested. That being said; if someone wants to tout macintoshes - I love them, go right ahead. Maybe I'll change my mind. =)

 

What do I do with said pc? Internet browsing of course; streaming webcam (the software I paid for, this is one of 'em) to my site, html/css programming, word processing/spreadsheet, graphics editing. I have hardware that must be able to interface with the machine; including a Nikon Coolpix 5700 and a Quickcam Orbit; as well as an Olympus D20 digital voice recorder. I also intend to get a PDA for taking notes during classes, so it will be important that can talk to the main pc and synchronize flawlessly.

 

Well, given my rather painful requirements, anyone have any suggestions or starting points? =)

 

Thanks!

[DarqFlare]

Good luck getting the processing power you need for all that for $1500...

 

I can do limited graphical editing using my Dell Inspiron 5100, and I got it to $1300... With a couple options above the base system (One of which I'm returning).

 

Anyway, if I had to suggest something, I'd suggest the Inspiron 5100. It works for me... Now, if I can just find a way to get the display settings to apply upon bootup every time... Arr!

 

PS: It will be fine with a PDA. I've got a Jornada.

 

PPS: Do not get the Dell DualBand WLAN miniPCI card if you do get this laptop. If you need wireless, get something NOT Dell-branded.

Edited April 15, 2004 by TCH-Robert

[schussat]

Robert: Can you really only do limited graphical editing work with the 5100? Maybe I'm out of touch these days, but it looks pretty powerful to me. Of course, I'm still getting along just fine with my 1.7ghz Toshiba Satellite, so maybe I'm not the best person to ask.

 

PS: Smith College! Congratulations!

[LisaJill]

I don't do any heavy graphical editing, mostly making photos do what I want them to do. I'm terrible with photoshop though, and it strips out exif data *grumbles*

 

Thank you for the info Robert. I'll have to consider that. The $1500. is a gift from my father for this purpose; I can probably put another $500 towards it to make it a more powerful box. =)

 

Thank you schussat! =)

[TCH-Andy]

I use a Toshiba Satellite all the time - I have the 2450 - 2.4GHz P4 (actually a desktop processor rather than a laptop processor). It has all the power I think you probably need, wireless connection, DVD, RW CD etc. 15" LCD which is very clear. I'm pleased with it - and you should be able to pick one up for about $1500 in the US I should think.

[Madmanmcp]

Lisa, for years I set up a "laptop" on my wife's desk at home and thats what she wanted for her "Desktop". Now I added all the necessities, an external monitor, a mouse and a keyboard so it had the whole desktop feel to it. Then we connected whatever extras she needed or had...PDA, cameras, printers.

 

I have no preference to suggest since I had several brands and they all did the job nicely, HP, Compaq, and IBM ( they are all still functional).

 

What I would suggest is you look for a middle of the road model, not the high-end top of the line speed demon or the low-end, slower, obsolete, fire sale model. These will put you in the 1200-1500 range and have plenty of power to run what you want.

 

Some will come with wireless already included, if not a wireless PCMCIA card will run $49 to $79...but will you have a wireless access point where you are going? If its a college dorm you probably will not and you need to look for wired ethernet.

 

You mention alot of addons and these maybe a bit tricky. Hopefully they are all USB and if so you could invest in a USB hub with 4 ports which will hopefully be enough.

 

To start off I would suggest you use some of your old hardware and leave the good stuff connected to your PC at home. You can purchase a good monitor later. The mouse and keyboard are cheap so you may have some cash left over to get them, otherwise use what you have.

[TCH-Bruce]

OK, someone is probalby going to think I work for Sony since I keep recommending them.

 

Here are the specs of the PCG-K13 Sony Vaio laptop.

 

 

Intel® Pentium® 4 processor 2.8GHz, with 533MHz system bus

 

512MB DDR SDRAM for multitasking power, expandable to 1.0GB

 

DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive

 

15" XGA TFT display with XBRITE technology and 1024 x 768 resolution

 

40.0GB hard drive

 

ATI RADEON IGP 345M graphics with 64MB shared video memory; dual-display support

 

Integrated 802.11b/g wireless LAN; 10Base-T/100Base-TX Ethernet LAN; V.90 high-speed modem

 

i.LINK (IEEE 1394) interface and 3 USB 2.0 ports for high-speed data transfer; Memory Stick PRO card slot

 

Weighs 7.3 lbs./2.3" thin for easy portability; removable, rechargeable LiIon battery; power cord and AC adapter

 

Windows XP Home Edition operating system preinstalled

 

Generous software bundle including Quicken, DVgate Plus, WinDVD 5, SonicStage, PictureGear Studio and more

 

You can get this at Best Buy for $1399.99

 

What can I say, I like Sony products.

[borfast]

Try these guys: http://www.gericom.com

 

My dad bought a Notebook from them a couple of months ago and it's really good!

[LisaJill]

Thank you to everyone for your suggestions! I'm happy I asked this a few months beforehand, I'll be an expert by the time I'm done.

 

As for the extra peripherals; part of the reason for doing this is to NOT get caught up in lugging up a monitor etc etc. The only peripherals I'll have will be the ones mentioned, there will not be an external monitor. There will be an external mouse of course; probably speakers and/or my headset. But the monitor is one of the big, bulky things I'm trying to avoid bringing.

 

Oh, and I want wireless because it may come with me from time to time, say if I travel for more than a few days (I like travelling a lot) it just won't be a daily toting type deal. I have several cards laying about but I'd really rather have as much inbuilt as possible.

 

All my peripherals, except one which I'm replacing before I get this, are USB; I'll need a 7 port usb hub, but they're available and not expensive, so not a problem. I like gadgets, it's really an expensive hobby.

 

Thank you all again, I really appreciate the suggestions and help!

Edited April 15, 2004 by TCH-Lisa

[Madmanmcp]

But the monitor is one of the big, bulky things I'm trying to avoid bringing.

 

Well Flat Panels are not that bulky and mine has the speakers built into the stand so you kill two birds with one stone .

[LisaJill]

I already have about 20 pairs of speakers laying around; and the lcd's are expensive; I'd rather put that money towards a nicer laptop.

 

But thank you for the suggestion. I want this to take as little space and be as quickly portable as possible. If I was going to get an lcd I'd probably just drag my box up there and save about a grand....

 

I don't mind the notebook monitors though, I was using one a fair bit when I was in D.C., so that's not a big deal.

[DarqFlare]

Ahh.. In regards to limited graphical work.

 

I'm saying you can do most Photoshopping needs, but rendering some large things is probably outside the range of the D.I. 5100.

 

I just got a new DLink PCMCIA wireless card to replace the crummy Dell miniPCI, and it works much, much better. I still can't connect to the local college network, but I'm not the only one with that problem.

 

The 5100 weighs about 8 pounds. Some call it heavy, but for me, it's fine. I'm strong enough,

[vfwlkr]

How about this [hpshopping.com]

 

Processor

    Intel® Pentium® 4 processor 2.8GHz with HT Technology

Operating system

    Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition

Memory

    512MB DDR SDRAM (2 x 512MB) at 333MHz; maximum memory 2048MB DDR SDRAM (2 x 1024MB)

Graphics card (Video graphics)

    NVIDIA® GeForce™ FX Go5200 with 64MB DDR (dedicated)

Hard drive

    40GB Enhanced IDE hard drive [gigabyte is defined as 1,000,000,000 bytes, accessible capacity may vary]Primary CD/DVD drive

    DVD/CD-RW combo drive

Display

    17.0" WXGA+ TFT WVA (1440 x 900) display

Wireless connectivity

    54g Integrated 802.11 b/g wireless LAN

Digital media

    5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick® Pro or SmartMedia cards

External ports

    4 Universal Serial Bus USB 2.0, 1 port replicator connector, 1 IEEE 1394 (FireWire), 1 FIR (Fast Infrared)

Communications

    Integrated 10/100Base-T Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector), integrated V.90/V.92 56K modem (RJ-11 connector)

Dimensions

    15.67" (L) x 10.94" (W) x 1.67" (front H) x 1.85" (rear H)

Weight

    9.4 lb.

Sound

    Internal Harman Kardon® speakers; AC audio link, 16-bit Sound Blaster® Pro-compatible audio, volume control buttons and mute button

 

$1499.99

[LisaJill]

I'll add this to the list of ones to look into. Thank you. =)

[TangentIdea]

Even the low-end mac laptops are pretty nice. Most of them come with built-in 802.11b or g wireless, and all have 10/100BT ethernet. Of course, if you're doing a lot of graphics work, a mac would be a pretty obvious choice... Photoshop is practically built around the mac, and a mac is built for graphics and video.

 

However, if most of your existing software is PC-only, that'd be a problem. Virtual PC is just not fast enough to make it worthwhile. But I use a Mac for everything -- it's so stable and easy to use that I don't ever have to worry about it. My parents' eMac, which is running OS 10.2, goes for weeks without having to be restarted. No joke.

 

-Ryan

[LisaJill]

Well, I've ascertained that most of my peripherals will be happy on a Mac and have proper software; but my webcam software wouldn't be. I don't know if there is good webcam software for a Mac (to stream to my site) and thats my main concern now, as I like it. I could probaby run that in a virtual manager without a problem. =)

[natimage]

This is what I use...haven't had any major complaints. Although I don't think their Centrino technology is all it's cracked up to be. Not in my laptop, anyway!

 

I run Photoshop 6.0, all the Macromedia Studio programs, AVG virus, ZoneAlarm firewall and PestPatrol and it's still pretty snappy! I also have a LOT of images on this machine...I've worked with 12MB images with no problems!!

 

Good luck in your search!

 

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