Built-in WiFi card worth it for laptop?

[LuckyTaxi]

Looking to get a Fujitsu and I'm customizing it myself.
For an extra $100 I can get the WiFi builtin card. I would hate to carry the extra weight
of the PCMCIA card. yea it aint much, but then I hate having that thing stick out from the side

 

[notfred]

Yes, worth it, antennas sticking out suck ass.

 

[Bootprint]

Which standard do they have built-in? B or G ?

 

[Gyrene]

Centrino technology is cool

 

[PlatinumGold]

my toshiba touchpad pc has it built in. Gets great reception and you don't have to worry about it.

yes, it's worth the extra expense. especially if it is a centrino (which mine isn't).

 

[Bootprint]

If it's Centrino I hope you don't use VPN. Was that bug ever fixed?

 

[LuckyTaxi]

ok ... so go with either centrino or builtin wifi. some models have the G and others have the B.
Now most of these lappys dont come with a floppy drive!!! damn, i need to dual boot, so if i screw something up under
linux, i would need to do a fdisk /mbr.

any other ways around this issue? i wouldn't even dare to use a floppy, but i would need it for the issue above. not sure how external usb floppies are.

 

[LuckyTaxi]

Originally posted by: dtyn
Centrino technology is cool

longer battery life and builtin wifi. is that it?

im falling in lvoe with these fujitsu.

btw ... those powerbooks look nice. i'm wondering if i should grab that instead

 

[Gyrene]

Pentium M processor

 

[Bootprint]

Originally posted by: lilcam
ok ... so go with either centrino or builtin wifi. some models have the G and others have the B.
Now most of these lappys dont come with a floppy drive!!! damn, i need to dual boot, so if i screw something up under
linux, i would need to do a fdisk /mbr.

any other ways around this issue? i wouldn't even dare to use a floppy, but i would need it for the issue above. not sure how external usb floppies are.

You can boot from CD, or even possibly off of pen memory.

 

[Kevin]

You might be able to get a seperate minipci card cheaper. However, if you get a Centrino it has to come with it.

You can boot from a USB floppy, there is usually a special method...

 

[kermalou]

what is the diff. between centrino and pentium m?

 

[Kevin]

Originally posted by: kermalou
what is the diff. between centrino and pentium m?

Gotta have a Pentium M, the Intel Chipset and WiFi I believe...

 

[LuckyTaxi]

damn sales tax ... looking elsewhere now

 

[Joony]

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=342&manufactory=1312&DEPA=5&sortby=14&order=1

First one on top! Hopefully the laptop has antennas preinstalled!

 

[AnyMal]

Joony - thanks for the link, just what I was looking for!

what is the diff. between centrino and pentium m?

Centrino is "optimised" for wifi, meaning lower power consumption when using wireless, it doesn't have it wifi builtin.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Yeah get it built in.

 

[Mday]

Originally posted by: Kevin
You might be able to get a seperate minipci card cheaper. However, if you get a Centrino it has to come with it.

You can boot from a USB floppy, there is usually a special method...

there is no guarantee that a laptop will have the proper minipci slot allowing for a wireless adapter. type 3 or was that C, is what is required. in my laptop, i know i have a type 2\b. i keep forgetting if they use letters or numbers for minipci types. and there is no guarantee that an internal antenna is there or accessible or usable.

 

[Derango]

Centrino is basiclly a marketing combindation

To be labled as centrino, you need to have:

1) Pentium-M processor
2) Intel Motherboard
3) *Intel* wireless card

If you go with another wireless card, you still get the pentium-M processor, which is the important part in all of this, without the nice centrino sticker. The only way its centrino is if you have intels 802.11b wireless card. A lot of manufacturers are shipping 802.11a/b/g type cards, or somthing similar as a choice alongside the standard intel 802.11b card.

 

[Kevin]

Originally posted by: Mday

Originally posted by: Kevin
You might be able to get a seperate minipci card cheaper. However, if you get a Centrino it has to come with it.

You can boot from a USB floppy, there is usually a special method...

there is no guarantee that a laptop will have the proper minipci slot allowing for a wireless adapter. type 3 or was that C, is what is required. in my laptop, i know i have a type 2\b. i keep forgetting if they use letters or numbers for minipci types. and there is no guarantee that an internal antenna is there or accessible or usable.

But if the laptop he is buying has the option, then I'm sure he can put it in himself...