Question:
Help me move beyond my Pentium II!
Yes, you read correctly...I still have a Toshiba Tecra 8000, which will have it's 7th birthday this January. It has served me very well, and I have had zero service issues with it, apart from losing a few batteries (which is normal) I put XP on it a while ago, and it has performed fair, but lately has become painstakingly slow. I have been waiting for Vista which is near and want to purchase as soon as Vista is available. I don't care how much it costs, as you can see I want something that will last, and be equally dependable. I loved Toshiba, as it has proven itself, but I don't necessarily need to have another. I'm not sure if their quality reputation maintains itself, or if there is better now. My philosophy when it comes to buying computers is buy the most modern/highest quality/best features so it will last say...7 years! I will now answer the cut & paste questions below. Thank you very much to all those who choose to share their time helping me and all those who look for help on here. This is a very kind service to provide to us.
General Questions
I want a duo 2 64bit. Also I get a employee purchase discount with Dell/Toshiba/Lenovo & Panasonic(not sure if they make pc's) It doesn't have to be one of these necessarily though.
1) What is your budget?
The roof.
2) What size notebook would you prefer?
b. Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
c. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
either of these. Slighly leaning more towards option b
3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
office applications, internet, possibly games, dvd's
4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
for the moment on a desk, but i plan to soon go to grad school, thus a lot of moving around. I also work for AA and fly a lot, but have not taken my current one because of no battery, and it weights a ton
5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
possibly, no idea
6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
good experience with toshiba, but doesn't have to be
7) How many hours of battery life do you need?
as many as possible. I'm also concerned with batteries burning out if it is plugged in a lot.
8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
no, that's fine
9) Please select your country's flag as a post icon and tell us what country are you buying this in?
Screen Specifics
10) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
Leaning towards widescreen
11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
Standard
a. XGA -1024x768 - Large and easy to read text + graphics icons, but you fit less stuff on the screen.
b. SXGA - 1400x1050 - Compromise resolution between XGA and UXGA.
c. UXGA - 1600x1200 - Very small text and graphics icons, you can fit lots of stuff on the screen.
Widescreen
d. WXGA or WXGA+ - 1280x768/800 or 1440x900; Wider viewing version of XGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
e. WSXGA+ - 1680x1050; Wider viewing version of SXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
f. WUXGA - 1920x1200; Wider viewing version of UXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
I would guess option b or e. I often have 10 task bars open at once (don't like the ie grouping option) I'm more concerned with quality/clarity of the images than size.
12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
glossy??? I guess that's what's popular now??
Build Quality and Design
13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
yes, i want a good looking laptop
14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
long time
Notebook Components
15) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 160GB?
one big enough to last. I want fast access
16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD-ROM, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-RW drive
i want a least a dvd-burner. Would consider blue-ray/toshiba hd-dvd if the price isn't too crazy
Answer:
Re: Help me move beyond my Pentium II!
I'll throw out a few suggestions--your budget really lets you get anything you want. Other members will obviously have other/better suggestions.
Asus: G1P, W3j, A8js.
Compal: HGL30, HEL80
HP: nc8430
You should be able to upgrade to hd/ blue-ray down the road after the format wars are over and one is declared the winner.
Welcome to the forums!
Answer:
Re: Help me move beyond my Pentium II!
I'll start from highest gaming power to lowest (all 14.1" or smaller systems):
Asus A8Js
Asus A8Jp
Asus W3Jp
Compal HGL30
Lenovo ThinkPad T60
Asus W7J (13.3")
Sony VAIO SZ (13.3")
HP nc6400
I think you might like the Lenovo or the HP in the list for their business-class build and support.
Answer:
Re: Help me move beyond my Pentium II!
I've heard that vista waste alot of battery so vista might not be best option to move first.
http://news.com.com/2100-1016-6079215.html
otherwise I just recommend same as in previous posts
Answer:
Re: Help me move beyond my Pentium II!
I also work for AA and fly a lot
That says 14" or under to me which means WSXGA+ won't be an option. I like the T60 or nc6400 options if you want it to last as long as your Toshiba, but they're both matte screens.
You should be able to upgrade to hd/ blue-ray down the road after the format wars are over and one is declared the winner.
You'll be on your next notebook by the time that is sorted out.
Answer:
Re: Help me move beyond my Pentium II!
Keep in mind if battery life is most important, any laptop with a dedicated GPU won't give more than 2.5 hours of work at the best case. That said, you can try the Sony SZ, it's got both an integrated Intel GMA and dedicated Go7400. It's 13.3" screen size, so will be comfortable on flights.
Don't worry too much about HD/BluRay... lets wait and see which format wins out, otherwise you end up with a brick of a disc player.
Answer:
Re: Help me move beyond my Pentium II!
Keep in mind if battery life is most important, any laptop with a dedicated GPU won't give more than 2.5 hours of work at the best case.
That's not entirely true. Although dedicated graphics cards can shorten your lifetime, you can surpass 2.5 hours.
My notebook gets about 4 hours of light usage on battery with its go 7600. I could probably get a little more if I fiddled with the power settings and GPU clock speeds, etc.
Answer:
Re: Help me move beyond my Pentium II!
He said he wants a pretty high resolution display, so I think the SZ or any other similarly sized notebooks may be out of the question.
Answer:
Re: Help me move beyond my Pentium II!
5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
possibly, no idea
You don't need a dedicated graphics card if you aren't going to play games - a lower-end dedicated one would be nice if you want to run Vista though.
The ThinkPad T60 that was mentioned above would get my vote. It is available with an SXGA+ display.
Answer:
Re: Help me move beyond my Pentium II!
I recommend the Asus A8JS(it is 14.1" widescreen and has the NVIDIA Go 7700), which you can find here:
http://www.powernotebooks.com/product.php?itemId=1655
Good luck and happy computing!