about to buy a labtop and have some questions?

[ncage]

Guys this is the first notebook that i'm going to be buying so i have some questions.

1) Screen size - I know i want at least a 15.4in screen but think maybe i would like a 17in. Is there going to be a big difference on how long the labtop can last on battery power between a 15.4 & 17in screen?

2) Screen Type - I see most of them give you an optiong for a glossy or a matte like finish. In general which is the best to go with?

3) Battery Cells - I thought the number of cells in the batter determine how good a battery is. For example a 9 cell would be a lot better than a 6 cell. When i was looking at hp labtops i noticed that they have a 8 cell as the default and a high capacity 8 cell. What do you think we are talking the difference would be on battery life between the two. They really don't say other than the high capacity can last over 3 hours.

4) General Screen - This one is really hard choosing. For HP at least, you can choose to go to the higher resolution screen for $50 extra. THe next step up which they call their "ultra" screen. This is really only information they offer about it
"Ultra BrightView offers an improved color gamut by 72%". but then it bumps you back down to the lower resolution (1440x900) rather than (1680x1050).


Any help would be appreciated. If you need to know what i'm going to do with this labtop to be able to help me....it will generally be programming. I will also occasionaly take it on trips to transfer pictures from my camera & maybe watch some movies. I am not at all worried about gaming. I doubt i will ever game on this labtop (i rarely do at home).

Any other pointers you could give would be appreciated.

thanks,
Ncage

 

[Brainonska511]

1) Yes - generally, 15.4" last longer because they power a smaller screen. Also consider size if you plan on carrying it around. You don't think 8lbs is a lot (for a 17"), but when you start carrying it regularly, it is a pain.

2) Depends where you are most likely to use it. Glossy is good if you're going to be indoors and not having the sun shine through a window onto the screen. Matte screen if you plan on using it outdoors and indoors.

3) Cells != battery life. The only time you can use cells to tell battery life is within the same notebook. The cell sizes between diffferent notebooks vary too much to do a cell to cell comparison (so you'd have to look at AmpHours instead).

4) Personally, I'd rather have a WSXGA or higher screen on a 15.4" or larger.

If you're not going to game, stick with integrated graphics if you can, since you seem somewhat concerned with battery life.

 

[ncage]

thanks for the reply. Ok figured the 17 would have shorter battery life, but generally, how much shorter? Throwing around two brands of labtops now: Dell & HP. Dell has ok deals on both 15.4 & 17in but HP only has a good deal ona 17in one.

thanks,
Ncage

 

[onlyCOpunk]

www.notebookreview.com will undoubtedly have a review of the notebooks you are looking as well as comments about their battery life.

And since battery life seems to be your main concern, how much do you anticipate you will be needing? You ca always buy an extra battery. I would say a 17" in your situation would be better then a 15.4" on account of desktop realty. Of course when you use at home you could always use a second monitor as well.

And do stick with integrated graphics if no games are intended to be played.

 

[Soundmanred]

Labtop?

 

[corkyg]

Am in general agreement with Brainonskas except maybe for resolution. I have had a 17-in screen, and today I have a 15.4 glossy (HP) and a 14.1 matte (IBM/Lenovo. I prefer the matte for most use.

I mainly use my laptops for work - i.e., text, data, and photography. Resolution is kep at the native res of the LCD - but I always have to use the Large Font option in the display in order to read comfortably. Those ultra high res screens by default display font too small for me to read comfortably.

As for batteries, I always have 2 batteries for each laptop - a 6 cell and a 9 cell. At home, battery life is really not an issue - I use the A/C adapter. On the road, I only use battery when necessary. Most of the time, A/C is available, even on flights.

Weight for me is important - a 7-8 lb. laptop can have about 3 more lbs of stuff - power brick, disks, mouse, tools, second HDD, etc. Add to that a large camera backpack with a DSLR and three lenses, and you start to have a load, especially when processing through airport security.

My next machine will probably be a 12-in screen.