Best cheap notebook, with 1680x1050 (WSXGA+)?

[dtleahy7]

Hi,

Could someone help me narrow down the best of the cheap notebooks that have WSXGA+ native resolution?

I need to take a notebook to a trade show to run an application that needs 1680x1050 native resolution. No gaming. In fact, I won't even use the LCD panel on the notebook - I'll use a Samsung 225, 22" monitor instead. But, I assume I'll need to have the WSXGA+ capability on the included LCD screen, (and upon occasion I may not want to carry a monitor with me and may actually use the notebook's LCD.)

I'll remove Vista if included, and put on a copy of XP (Vista is overkill for this app, and I don't want to buy 2GB RAM), and probably will add my own memory to bring it up to 1GB, so I can purchase a very basic notebook.

Specs I need:
WSXGA+ 1680x1050 native resolution
DVI port (to connect external 1680x1050 monitor)
mouse port
keyboard port
CD burner
the HDD could be just about anything, and the CPU does not have to be anything killer either. This is really just a way to do trade shows without carrying in a big 'ol box. Can anyone help me with specific suggested models?

TIA,

Dennis

 

[HannibalX]

Well first off, what is cheap? Newegg has name brand notebooks for <$500 but they are all 1280 x 800. I don't know of any notebooks with a DVI out port. Notebook makers usually put this on a docking station.

 

[dtleahy7]

Originally posted by: Pale Rider
Well first off, what is cheap? Newegg has name brand notebooks for <$500 but they are all 1280 x 800.

Well, I see Dell notebooks around $500-$600, and compared to what the average college student might want ($1500-$2500) in a notebook, I'd say right now $500-$600 is the low end.

Originally posted by: Pale Rider
I don't know of any notebooks with a DVI out port. Notebook makers usually put this on a docking station.

Ahhh, see, I don't know squat about notebook computers - I've never owned one. The lack of a DVI out port could be a dealbreaker for me. I already have the 22" monitor, and the software application I'm demo-ing looks great on that monitor at that native resolution. I do not want to show the software on the 15.x" notebook screen at a trade show. It will lose too much pizzaz. I'm guessing by the time I buy a docking station, I will no longer be in the "cheap solution" category.

So, DVI out is not available, or at least not available on a budget notebook? Anybody know of any?

Dennis

 

[Old Hippie]

IBM ThinkPad T43

 

[secretanchitman]

you could use a dvi-vga adapter...so you'd at least get some signal out of the laptop.

 

[bX510]

Dells are pretty good, if your look for something around that price.

 

[dtleahy7]

I appreciate the replies!

Looks like there are a bunch of variants of the t43 Thinkpad, and maybe some of them have DVI out (but I can't find that info yet.) I'm sure there are modern Lonovo machines that meet the criteria, but are way past my budget.

I wonder about the VGA-DVI adapter, and it is critical to me not to have a degraded image. The application does display high resolution color corrected images, and I don't want to lose that in a hardware translation. (I'm not saying it won't work, just that I am suspicious that there will be signal degradation and will be no better than analog out, which almost any notebook can do.

The Dell site has gotten so dumbed-down. They don't list 1680x1050 for the $529 Inspirion 1501 with the "15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife?(glossy)" option selected, and don't really call it WSXGA+ either. If it is WXSGA+, it meets the criterion of cheap and hits the resoultion. However, I guess I would need some sort of docking station to get DVI out, and then I also wonder about signal degradation (digital-to-analog-to-digital?)

Dennis

 

[Old Hippie]

How about an HP dv9000z? Looks like if you're not willing to pay at least a grand, you're outta luck.

 

[dtleahy7]

Yeah, I think I am S.O.L. on the "cheap" side of the equation. Looks like I'll be carrying a big box into the trade shows... for now at least. I have already switched gears, and decided to build a ridiculously cheap box (with about $200 in components from Newegg), and I'll use it to show that my software will run just fine even on the most basic of hardware.

Thanks again to all who took the time to answer. I may very well take one of the suggestions after the first trade show, if I am successful in this venture.

Take care,

Dennis

 

[3chordcharlie]

You don't need 16x10 native on the LCD to be able to output that to an external screen.

My 12x8 notebook handles 12x10 screens just fine, and reports capabilities up to 25xxish by whatever.