Buying first laptop

[Interitus]

Getting ready to buy my first laptop as I'll be starting my programming classes soon and I'd like to be able to have a lappy at school. I try to keep on the up and up with hardware but lappy's are one area I'm admittedly in the dark with.

The biggest problem I'm having is trying to decipher Intel's model #'s for mobile CPU's. I primarily wanted a decently powerful laptop that could do some moderate gaming should I get bored on break at school or something. However I started to think about being able to compile on the laptop as well and figured I might need a little more umf in the processor category.

Anyways, enough with the rant. I'm looking for some advice on what family of processor I should be looking at given my wants. Which are:

Good battery life to last through the school day
Enough power to do compiling in the future
Decent gaming power (think warcraft, not crysis)
Portability or low weight (gonna be toting this around in my backpack all day)

I was looking primarily in the $1500'ish range. I'm not opposed to the Macbooks either. I did play with one a few weeks ago and liked it. I've also heard they're very good for programming purposes. Most of the models I've looked at sport the P8600 CPU. What I did manage to find on the net pointed towards the T series being better though *shrug*

Help? lol.

 

[IlllI]

mobility + gaming + good battery life dont really go well together. you will have to sacrifice something. generally that tends to be bigger, heavier, crappier battery life. better to just get a desktop for gaming and a small, light laptop for other stuff.

 

[Hacp]

The P series has a lower TPD than the T series, mainly cause of the lower cache amount(I think). I would personally aim for the P8600 or P8700. If you're going to play warcraft only, the integrated 4500MHD is perfectly fine.

You can get the Latitude E6400 with Nvidia graphics, P8700, 9 cell battery, 1440x900 LED, bluetooth for around 1 thousand. Then, add an OCZ vertex and 4gb from newegg and you have the perfect computer

Weights around 5 pounds, the same as the 13.3 inch macbook.

 

[Interitus]

Thanks for the quick replies.

As for the gaming part, I'm really not looking to do any serious gaming on it, just enough graphics power to play some WoW on low settings or something along that line. I guess I should have been more clear in the wants section on that. The most important wants for the laptop are definitely just the battery life, weight, and ability to do compiling in as timely a fashion as possible without sacrificing too much on the weight and battery life. I'm sure I'll be able to plug the laptop in during some classes too.

Thanks for clearing up the difference on the P and T series Hacp.

I have noticed a lot of the P series laptops sport the ATI Mobility 3650 too. Would the 3650 have a noticeable impact on battery life of the laptop versus the Intel 4500?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to make sure I'm happy with my purchase

edit--

Just saw your edit Hacp.

I'll look at the Latitudes, I had looked at the Dell Studio ones since I kinda like their looks too and possibly the XPS 13, but had completely forgotten to look at the Dell business laptops.

 

[Hacp]

Originally posted by: Interitus
Thanks for the quick replies.

As for the gaming part, I'm really not looking to do any serious gaming on it, just enough graphics power to play some WoW on low settings or something along that line. I guess I should have been more clear in the wants section on that. The most important wants for the laptop are definitely just the battery life, weight, and ability to do compiling in as timely a fashion as possible without sacrificing too much on the weight and battery life. I'm sure I'll be able to plug the laptop in during some classes too.

Thanks for clearing up the difference on the P and T series Hacp.

I have noticed a lot of the P series laptops sport the ATI Mobility 3650 too. Would the 3650 have a noticeable impact on battery life of the laptop versus the Intel 4500?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to make sure I'm happy with my purchase

Ya, big battery life difference. A thing you might want to take into consideration is if you'll be doing any processor intensive tasks while on battery. It can seriously affect battery life.

I would suggest a laptop with a modular bay battery option if you need both power and battery life, but not the butt of 9 and 12 cell batteries. I think thinkpads have a modular battery option.

 

[Hacp]

Just saw your edit Hacp.

I'll look at the Latitudes, I had looked at the Dell Studio ones since I kinda like their looks too and possibly the XPS 13, but had completely forgotten to look at the Dell business laptops.

If you're looking for a latitude and don't mind refurbished, I heard dell has a coupon 20% off in the outlet. For example, I see a "scratch and dent" for 800 bucks before the coupon that has 9 cell, nvidia, P8600,backlight,WXGA+ LED, DVD burner, and 4gb of ram. Add in the coupon+tax and you'll get a great machine for 700. Then, you can replace the 80gb HD with a 250gb OCZ Vertex or Corsair Pseries

 

[boomhower]

The P8400.8500,etc. are the best compromise between power, price, and batter life.

 

[Interitus]

Ok, still haven't had a chance to get the laptop ordered, finals are kickin my arse.

I have one more question.

Does anyone have a preference on network cards available in the 6400? I did my homework on the two available cards (Intel 5300 vs. Dell 1510) but still not sure which one to pick. I understand that the intel is a 3x3 while the Dell is a 2x2. I'd like to use one of these two for draft N compatibility, but my home network is run from a Linksys WRT54GS. I might upgrade later, so having N compatibility would be nice.

I also missed the outlet 20% coupon before I was ready to pull the trigger, so I might wait to see if one pops up again. Considering buying new though since Dell has the Mini-9 for $50 with the 6400 and 6500 and Mom was wanting one. Would be a good mother's day gift. I also would really like a 64-bit OS, and none of the outlet refurbs state that they come with a 64-bit OS.

Not really sure about the OS part. Just want to be able to use the 4gb of RAM and I plan on having this lappy for a long time so it wouldn't hurt.

Any thoughts on the wireless card or OS issue?

 

[fffblackmage]

I'd go with the Intel wireless, I don't like my Dell wireless card in my Inspiron 1520. =/

I think the problem with my Dell wireless card is heat though. It randomly drops the wireless connection on really hot days. I should get a chill pad....

 

[Rottie]

if you want discount coupons on some notebook you choose you can check out at Notebook Reviews and also they have a lot info on all notebook and their rants complaints, etc.