First laptop, need help choosing...

[Shard]

Picking up my first laptop soon. I was going to wait until January when I start grad school, but this semester is hellish and I need to be able to work away from my room. I have a few questions:

What is the difference between WXGA and XGA? I know the W means wide, but is there a reason I should prefer W overr standard length?

What is more important, the processor or the video card if want to do some programming, photoshop, and light gaming? I am looking at the Acer TM3201XCi and the Emachines M6810. The Acer has a Pentium M and a 64mb Radeon 9700, while the Emachines has an Amd 64 3000+with a Radeon 9600 64mb.

The Acer is a nice 5lbs, but the Emachines is a 7.5lbs. How heavy is it? Just wondering what peoples experience is with heavier systems and such. Thanks!

-Shard

 

[vegetation]

For a grad school student, you want to go as light as possible as your laptop will be your life. The difference between the 5lb and 7.5 is huge. Go for the lighter system. Also battery life is important as you may not always have a plug nearby. Pentium M's generally get a lot better battery life than the A64.

 

[cirthix]

wuxga or bust

 

[nageov3t]

the laptop I'm using right now it about 7.5 pounds.

it's not an unbearable weight, but it's definitely noticable when I throw it into my backpack.

 

[Turkish]

Go for the lighter one. And unless this is a desktop replacement, go for the one with the smallest screen. I had a 15.1" and regretted it till I sold it.

 

[morris81]

Buying your first laptop can always be challenging. Have you considered an IBM Thinkpad? specifically, a T42. I know they are bit more pricely than the Acer or Emachine, but they are made to last.

 

[ShellGuy]

Morris u nutz T42 is more than a bit pricy. and for programing and all i would go with the AMD 64 my self.



Will G

 

[Shard]

I've actually added a new option to my list. I found a place, www.powernotebooks.com that has nice prices and setups, and they have an awesome score on reseller ratings. The model is called the PowerPro M 5:6 Supra:

15" SXGA+ TFT w/ Radeon Mobility 9700 128mb
Pentium M 735 1.7ghz
512mb PC2700 1-SODIMM
60gb 5400rpm HD
8x DVD/24x10x24 CD-RW
Intel 2200 Wireless
Carrying Case
AC Adaptor
Smart Li-ion Battery
3 year warranty
6.25lb
3.5-4hr battery life

Total: $1800

The price is a bit higher than I was originally looking for, but it seems to be a good setup. Any comments?
It does not come with an OS though, but I was planning on just installing my student edition of WinXP Pro. Note that the price includes 3 year warranty, where most places would charge extra. They automatically give you a 2 year, just costs $70 to extend it to 3 years.

 

[ActuaryTm]

The model referenced above is the Compal CL56. The price appears to be about average of those resellers offering that particular model - $1,375 from Mwave (but lacks the warranty extension), $1,635.00 from iBuyPower (again, no mention of warranty extension), $1670 from DiscountLaptops (with 3 year warranty), $1,935 from GamePc (with 3 year warranty), etc.

From the user reviews and my own brief experience with the CL56, it appears to be a very solid choice.

 

[jvarszegi]

The price is a bit higher than I was originally looking for, but it seems to be a good setup. Any comments?

For that price, you can have a nice Thinkpad T42 (which DOES come with Windows XP, and a nice on-site warranty if you like), as long as you apply for a student discount. If I were you, I'd go for something like that with a 14.1" screen at SXGA+ resolution; that's the best resolution for doing work. I think you're wise to avoid wide-screen laptops; in my experience, wide screens, especially at lower resolutions, are actually worse for editing documents than something at a 4:3 aspect ratio, and they're also not supported for many existing games. They're great for watching wide-aspect movies, and that's about it. Also, even for games that support wide-screen resolutions (much in the minority at present), you've gotta consider that you'll get lower frame rates at wide-screen than you would with a normal screen, due to the extra rendering load.

Plus, a Thinkpad will still be going strong when a cheaper laptop develops cracks, etc. and bites the dust. You can have a Thinkpad for many happy years and no problems. You've gotta ask yourself

If gaming's not such a high priority, I'd also look at the Fujitsu S6000 series. It's a great little laptop, very portable and with extremely good battery life (which you can also get out of a T42). You won't get even close to 4 hours out of the laptop you've chosen, unless you turn everything way down, including the screen, until you can't see or do anything useful. Both the T42 and the S6000 can be used with a modular-bay battery, effectively doubling your time away from the wall socket.

The S6000 has a 13.3" screen, just about the perfect size for XGA resolution, and is well under four pounds with a single battery; with two batteries, it'll still be pounds lighter than the one you've chosen, but with double the battery life (and that's USABLE battery life, not some claim on a reseller's website). It's got an award-winning screen, the CrystalView. It's a really sweet machine; just about the only reason you might not want it is that it has integrated graphics.

 

[Shard]

Thank you for everyones input. I ordered the system I pointed out earlier (except now with Corsair ram) from www.discountlaptops.com for $1635 including shipping. I ordered today at 6pm eastern time and they have already sent me my UPS tracking number, and it is shipping out tomorrow! Thanks again!