Am I looking for something that doesn't exist?

[forcemac101]

I have been through most of the major makers of notebooks, and cannont seem to find a decent notebook that has the centrino (pentium M) with a 128MB 9600, and 14" inch or bigger screen that weighs around 6 pounds?

Anyone got any ideas of anything that would be close in terms of performance/size/weight? I don't want an Uber huge laptop, nor do I want a ultralight. Thanks

 

[jvarszegi]

The Thinkpad T42p. It comes in 15" and lighter 14" versions, with MR 9600 available in both 64MB and 128MB "FireGL" CAD-certified versions. It's an awesome laptop, from all accounts-- I've never seen one in person. Various configurations run from 5.4 to 5.8 pounds, if I remember correctly. You can get into a T42 with the 64MB 9600 for well under two grand, but the highest-end models run over three grand.

 

[forcemac101]

thanks, I am looking for around 1500-2000

 

[EvanAdams]

Asus has some stuff.
Sony S series. but costs more money.

 

[Abhi]

Inspiron 8600 is a widescreen, and is 6.9 lbs ...

 

[forcemac101]

yeah, the 8600 is a model that fits all that I want. But The widescreen thing might be a problem. When I am on the road i want to do some gaming, and most games don't support widescreen resolutions....so I will be stuck playing in a letterbox...so I guess another critera now is that it can't be widescreen....oh well the search continues.

 

[fbrdphreak]

See my sig for the T42 I have, but the T42p is definitely what you want. You can get the T42p in a 14" SXGA+ or a 15" UXGA (1600x1200) and with either a 64MB Radeon 9600 or a 128MB FireGL T2. The T2 will do games SLIGHTLY better than the 9600, obviously with a little more memory. Any of the T4x series are great. FYI, I got my laptop for ~$2000 after tax w/3 year Depot warranty & Thinkpad Protection (accidental damage coverage). However, I got mine through my university's bookstore. If you are a student or government employee, I believe you can get a discount. I also think you might be able to buy a "barebones" T42, and put your own HDD, mem, etc in it. Look into that as a money saving feature also.

I believe Sony offers a Centrino model with the 9600 in a 13.3" XGA screen, but it retails for ~$2000 itself. I don't know of any other brands that offer a 14-15" screen Centrino w/9600 for a reasonable price, but Asus & Fujitsu might be a good place to look.

IMO, go with the IBM. Can't beat IBM for quality & reliability
--Typed on T42........

 

[forcemac101]

I checked it out...man they want an arm and a leg....$2880 with only a 9600 64mb and 3 warranty, 512, 60gb and multi buner.... I have to go with the 1.8 Pentium M becuase it says no other config availbile with the 15 inch screen....for the extra 1300 dollars i want ot spend, I could get a new notebook 3 years later.....i can see 300 dollars more than 1500 I want to spend, but with the IBM i gotta spend a lot of money on other features I don't need just to get the 9600

 

[ActuaryTm]

• ECS G556e
• Compal CL56
• Sager NP3790
• Asus M6000N
• Acer TravelMate 8003LMI
• Acer Aspire 2012WLMi
• etc.

 

[forcemac101]

I kinda would like to buy direct from the manufacturer...I don't really want to deal with 3rd party sellers...thanks though...that compal cl56 looks like what I want...I just don't know if I about the warranty work if I need work done..

any user comments on those above models? and from discountlaptops.com?

 

[ActuaryTm]

Originally posted by: forcemac101
I kinda would like to buy direct from the manufacturer...

Be aware most (n fact, nearly all) notebooks are not made by what you may think are the "manufacturers"; they are typically designed by an ODM and then rebadged by whichever company plans to market them as their own - much like other PC related equipment (optical drives comes to mind readily). In the end, this offers the end-consumer a more competitive price point, as the same machine is available from multiple sources.

I just don't know if I about the warranty work if I need work done

All of the above typically offer at the very least a one year war ranty direct from the distributor. A number of OEM/resellers outsource any extended warranties to larger warranty houses for their warranty coverage - Panasonic, Warrantech, Philips-Magnavox, etc.

In the case of a notebook, nearly all repairs (even if purchased from a large retail chain with "in-store service") require the machine to be sent back to either the manufacturer or a specialized repair facility selected by the distributor.

 

[ActuaryTm]

The Acer Aspire 1681WLMi thread appears to show this particular machine at sub-$1300 over this weekend at Newegg. Certainly quite a number of features at that price point.

 

[jvarszegi]

In the case of a notebook, nearly all repairs (even if purchased from a large retail chain with "in-store service")

Unless, of course, you buy on-site service from a vendor that offers it, like IBM, Dell, etc. This is an important point for people that can't afford for their laptop to be out of commission for even a couple of days. With on-site service, it's very rare for a problem to require shipment back to the factory; and even in those cases, what's usually done is for the tech to show up with a new machine, install your hard drive in the new machine, and take the faulty one away.