Simviation Forum - Looking At Laptops

Jun 11^th, 2004 at 10:36am

Iroquois Offline
Colonel
Happy Halloween
Ontario Canada

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Posts: 3244

We'll, I'm being forced to find a laptop for my Dad. I know next to nothing about them. I have some idea of what he wants so here it is.

1ghz or above CPU, AMD or Intel
256mb RAM or above
Windows XP Pro
CD-RW dirve
Floppy drive (if they still come with them)
USB 2.0
LAN port
CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP!

It's for business not for gaming so it doesn't need a super power GPU. I was hoping you guys could give me some suggestions.

I only pretend to know what I'm talking about. Heck, that's what lawyers, car mechanics, and IT professionals do everyday. Wink

&&The Rig: &&AMD Athlon XP2000+ Palomino, ECS K7S5A 3.1, 1GB PC2700 DDR, Geforce FX5200 128mb, SB Live Platinum, 16xDVD, 16x10x40x CDRW, 40/60gb 7200rpm HDD, 325w Power, Windows XP Home SP1, Directx 9.0c with 66.81 Beta gfx drivers

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Reply #1 - Jun 11^th, 2004 at 2:25pm

GeForce Offline
Colonel
It keeps going and going!!
Wooohoooooo!!
London, United Kingdom

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Posts: 2616

Dell use a good system. Try this link, find the notebook that looks best and then click Customise It. You can add and take away bits and pieces until it's just right.

Jon 8)

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Reply #2 - Jun 11^th, 2004 at 6:03pm

Fozzer Offline
Colonel
An elderly FS 2004 addict!
Hereford. England. EGBS.

Posts: 24861

I look at lap-tops... Wink

...!
Often the girl opposite slaps my face, and I get thrown off the 'bus... Roll Eyes

...!
...again... Cry

...!

LOL...LOL...LOL...!

Cheers all... Grin

...!

Paul.

Dell Dimension 5000 BTX Tower. Win7 Home Edition, 32 Bit. Intel Pentium 4, dual 2.8 GHz. 2.5GB RAM, nVidia GF 9500GT 1GB. SATA 500GB + 80GB. Philips 17" LCD Monitor. Micronet ADSL Modem only. Saitek Cyborg Evo Force. FS 2004 + FSX. Briggs and Stratton Petrol Lawn Mower...Motor Bikes. Gas Cooker... and lots of musical instruments!.... ...!
Yamaha MO6,MM6,DX7,DX11,DX21,DX100,MK100,EMT10,PSR400,PSS780,Roland GW-8L v2,TR505,Casio MT-205,Korg CX3v2 dual manual,+ Leslie 760,M-Audio Prokeys88,KeyRig,Cubase,Keyfax4,Guitars,Orchestral,Baroque,Renaissance,Medieval Instruments.

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Reply #3 - Jun 11^th, 2004 at 7:06pm

Politically Incorrect Offline
Colonel
Personal opinion given
free of charge!
Williamsport, PA

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Posts: 3915

I just knew when scrolling through the topics and saw the title of this one and Fozzer as the most recent post what his reply would be LOL!! Grin

Fozzer your getting predictiable! LOL!! Grin

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Reply #4 - Jun 11^th, 2004 at 8:56pm

Pinchaser... Offline
Colonel

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Posts: 941

LOL. Fozzer, thats two zinger's on the day! Grin

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Reply #5 - Jun 11^th, 2004 at 9:22pm

congo Offline
Colonel
Make BIOS your Friend
Australia

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Posts: 3663

One thing you don't see in the specs of the Dell offerings is the mainboard specs.... ie. Chipset type.

Careful scrutiny of their website reveals that Dell now offer a secret backdoor and some fineprint to identify which chipsets they use on some of their recent products.

Seeking out the info eventually led me to the chipset manufacturers website, Intel as it turns out, where you can see the specs on Dell's current laptop, the Inspiron "1150"

http://www.intel.co.jp/design/chipsets/mobile/852gmv.htm

This is where I get my goat up and reveal what is so common a trend with current specials offered by the mass marketers.

The chipset is running a 400mhz FSB for starters which is three major technologies behind current offerings.

I have a freind with a 400mhz FSB who wished to upgrade his CPU recently from the celeron supplied originally in that system to a P4 2.6 -> 2.8ghz CPU by my recommendation as a cheap upgrade path.

We could not buy a New P4 CPU for that system in this country....period. Nobody stocked the old stuff anymore.

I made the usual rounds to local suppliers to see if anyone had old stock....... nope. Nothing.

So, before you buy into a "New" Dell or any Laptop, check the chipset is current technology so at least you aren't buying yourself an outdated system before you even start.

Mainboard: Asus P5K-Premium, CPU=Intel E6850 @ x8x450fsb 3.6ghz, RAM: 4gb PC8500 Team Dark, Video: NV8800GT, HDD: 2x1Tb Samsung F3 RAID-0 + 1Tb F3, PSU: Antec 550 Basiq, OS: Win7x64, Display: 24" WS LCD

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Reply #6 - Jun 12^th, 2004 at 11:10am

Iroquois Offline
Colonel
Happy Halloween
Ontario Canada

Gender:
Posts: 3244

I don't think outdated technology really means much to my dad. He had used a 1994 200mhz PowerMac for before he caved in an bought a new computer in 2002. (Ah the days when Apple was ahead of IBM) His current laptop was bought in 1997. It's a 200mhz PowerBook. Slow as toot and not compatable with his new system.

I looked at a few yesterday. A Dell, a Compaq, some noname brand, an Apple Powebook G4, and an Apple iBook. Last too slow for their price. I suggested it was best to go to BestBuy or Futureshop and look at them but he wanted some info first.

I'll stress again that this new laptop is stictly business. There will be no games at all on it. (My dad hates video games for some reason ???) It doesn't need Wi-Fi because it's a construction firm and there are no "hot-spots" on the job site except for a poorly ventalated porta-potty. Grin

Should have a LAN port or modem connection on it. A 1ghz CPU is probably enough to run today's modern business applications. Can you still get laptops with a Duron CPU? I know my Duron has been faithful to me although it has come time to retire it.

Another thing I should mention is it should be very durable. It will be on a jobsite and the boys are notorious for not being careful with things.

I only pretend to know what I'm talking about. Heck, that's what lawyers, car mechanics, and IT professionals do everyday. Wink

&&The Rig: &&AMD Athlon XP2000+ Palomino, ECS K7S5A 3.1, 1GB PC2700 DDR, Geforce FX5200 128mb, SB Live Platinum, 16xDVD, 16x10x40x CDRW, 40/60gb 7200rpm HDD, 325w Power, Windows XP Home SP1, Directx 9.0c with 66.81 Beta gfx drivers

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Reply #7 - Jun 12^th, 2004 at 11:00pm

Rivers Offline
Colonel
As Real As It Gets
São Paulo Brazil

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Posts: 513

Try to go with a centrino powerd laptop they are a combo of processor made for laptops and WiFi technology.

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cmod.to?seg=HHO&coid=-26380&sel=0&rcid=-2636...

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Reply #8 - Jul 16^th, 2004 at 10:17pm

Iroquois Offline
Colonel
Happy Halloween
Ontario Canada

Gender:
Posts: 3244

Well, he finally got one. A Compaq with an Athlon XP 3000 CPU. It's got a lot of nice features. A bit over kill but it was on clearence. It's got the Wi-Fi, Geforce FX graphics card, DVD. Quite a nice setup and a good pirce to boot.

I only pretend to know what I'm talking about. Heck, that's what lawyers, car mechanics, and IT professionals do everyday. Wink

&&The Rig: &&AMD Athlon XP2000+ Palomino, ECS K7S5A 3.1, 1GB PC2700 DDR, Geforce FX5200 128mb, SB Live Platinum, 16xDVD, 16x10x40x CDRW, 40/60gb 7200rpm HDD, 325w Power, Windows XP Home SP1, Directx 9.0c with 66.81 Beta gfx drivers

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