Help me choose a $2000 and $3000 laptop

[568overclocked]

My office is looking to purchase a laptop for under $3000. Also another laptop for under $2000.
Our needs is mainly multimedia, for streaming audio/video and encoding audio/video. It will also
be used for some graphic intensive work.

Should we go with a P4 or P4-M cpu?

The specs I was looking for

Pentium-M 1.7ghz or higher OR P4 3.0ghz or higher
512mb or more of DDR sdram
60gb or more hard drive
64mb or more for video card
dvd+/- recorder
usb 2.0
10/100 ethernet
15.4" or bigger screen
firewire

preferred to also have -
sound card with headphone jack, microphone in jack and line jack
wireless 802.11b/g
decent battery life
under 8lbs - the lighter the better but weight not main priority
durabilty - ex. Sony has styling but doesn't seem as durable as say an IBM. IBMs are well built

Any recommendations.

 

[Frightcrawler]

3000 - as high as an IBM T series as you can go with your budget.
2000 - as high as an IBM T series as you can go with your budget.

Simply put, they are the best. I am assuming you are not going to be gaming, since its for the office. The T and X series are the best. Since you probably dont need ultra-portability, the T series is the way to go.
As a general rule, business/no-gaming laptops = IBM. It's going to be a universal theorem one day.

 

[fbrdphreak]

When you say P4-M, I assume you are meaning a Pentium M since you said 1.5Ghz+. IBM makes GREAT laptops (see my sig), but for the multimediate features you are looking for you might look at other brands too. IMO, HP makes good quality laptops and they do have a business line as well. As far as the consumer line goes, the zt3000 uses Pentium M (i.e. Centrino), 15.4", 40-80GB HDD, USB 2.0/firewire, and DVDRW. You could get a fully loaded zt3000 for ~$2000-$2200. The zt3000's get on average about 5hrs of batt life, of course less depending what you are doing.
For your $3000 notebook, look at Toshiba. They have some excellent multimedia laptops, "Media Center" notebooks so to speak. If you could elaborate more what you want to use your $2000 & $3000 notebook for, I could point you more in the right direction.
As far as IBM goes, you could get one with the features you want for close to $3000 or so. Check out their website, especially look into business pricing. I just don't know if they would have all the little features you want, but the quality would be outstanding.
Again, write back with what you are specifically using the $2000 & $3000 notebooks for. GL

 

[568overclocked]

we will be using the laptop for onsite video/audio streaming...it will also be used for post production audio/video editing and encoding...mainly will be using software from adobe and macromedia and also avid xpress pro.

i was looking at the acer aspire 2025 for the $3000 laptop and the aspire 2012 for the $2000 laptop...yes, i know they are under the price but with accessories and maybe the addition of more ram, i'm sure it will get closer to the max price...it has pretty much everything we are looking for but would like to know what other comparable products are out there...looking for the best value price laptop without sacrificing build quality...

 

[Corporate Thug]

powerbook

 

[Justin216]

Definitely a 15/17" Apple Powerbook...there is a reason that most AV professionals use macs....They are more effecient at processing large chunks of data and are quite a bit snappier at applying layers and effects....

 

[GnomeCop]

what??? only 1 post recommending IBM? come on, I expected at least 8 from this forum

 

[xcrunner51]

i love my T42! go for that

 

[568overclocked]

getting a mac is not an option at this point since most of our software is pc based...

i'm definitely considering a IBM although there is something about the Acer Aspire 2025 that keeps me coming back to it

 

[fbrdphreak]

I'm not familiar with those particular models, but for your uses let me make a couple general recommendations:
Pentium 4 w/HT (Pentium M if one of the notebooks needs good battery life)
**The P4's are generally more efficient at AV editing than AMD procesors
7200 RPM HDD ** that will make a big difference in the performance w/out much of a battery life impact
1GB RAM **Will of course improve performance, but also batt life from the decreased hard drive access
12 Cell batt for P4 notebook **Almost a necessity for any kind of batt life. For example, P4 3.2 Compaq notebook w/12 cell gets ~3 hours

Beyond that, it might be a good idea to get a good service agreement to protect these laptops. Read the fine print!! GL

 

[Wuzup101]

If you can't go with a powerbook definitely go with an IBM T42! What software are you using that's PC only BTW?

 

[568overclocked]

Looked at the configuration for IBM T42. Seems like I can get more bang for the buck with the Acer Aspire 2025. Any more suggestions for similar laptops to the Aspire 2025 and the Aspire 2012. I'm not ruling out the IBM T42 just yet though. My director makes the final decision based on my report

As for software we already have waiting for the new laptop, there is quite a bit

Adobe Premiere Pro
Adobe After Effects
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe EncoreDVD
Adobe Audition
pretty much everything Adobe

Avid Xpress

Macromedia Studio

Visual Communicator

Discreet Cleaner XL
Real/Helix Producer

Doom3 <- i got to relax sometimes....=)

and the usual Microsoft products

yes, i know many of these titles can be put on a powerbook, but we already have them and i don't think purchasing new software for the powerbook is within our budget

 

[AmigaMan]

Although I have no personal experience with them, I'd stay away from Acer. They're not business laptops, just general consumer laptops. I'd get an IBM or HP (love my NC8000). Their support is second to none and are quality-built laptops. There is a reason the Acer's are cheaper. You may get more "bang for your buck" but in the end you'll probably regret it when it breaks. My HP works great with my camcorder and the small amount of video editing I do. If I could change one thing on it (PentiumM 1.7Ghz, 1.5GB RAM, 5400 60GB HD, ATI 9600Pro) it would be to get a faster, 7200RPM hard drive. I also have firewire, bluetooth, wireless a/b/g, USB2.0, and even hardware file encryption (although I have no idea how to use it). It cost my boss around $4K but most of it was the extra memory we got directly from HP. We could have gotten it cheaper elsewhere.

 

[Connoisseur]

I'm very surprised many people are recommending a P4 over an A64 as far as video editing. That's pretty nuts. I'm pretty sure an A64 3400+ beats a similarly configured P4 3.2ghz at just about any multimedia task you put them up to. I understand the choice of Pentium M if battery life and weight are ALSO a convern. But as far as raw processing power you can't beat an A64.

 

[NJDevil]

Go w/ IBM, i have a t40 that runs extremely well and their service is truly unbeatable. If you look at the machine in terms of sheer performance, they are one of the best.

Good luck!

 

[568overclocked]

well i'm looking more and more at the ibm t42. can someone help me spec a laptop for $2500 using education discount

 

[PeeluckyDuckee]

*mandatory automated response**cough*IBM T42p*/cough**/mandatory automated response*

 

[jkresh]

considering you are mostly doing audo/video encoding and editing then a desktop relpaclement (ie athlon64 or pentium 4) based machine would make the most sense. The T42 is a great machine, but a pentium m cant realy compete with p4/a64 for video encoding/editing, and since wieght doesnt seem to be a major priority a legitmate desktop replacement makes sense for at lest one of those machines.

 

[ActuaryTm]

If absolutely married to the mobile line of processors (from your description of the tasks for this machine, it sounds as though a DTR would be a better choice), would suggest either the Compal CL56 or the Acer TravelMate 8003LMI. Also the Asus M6N is a very good choice.

If you are considering a full DTR (a bit heavier, of course), consider the Sager NP8790, the NP4750, or the soon to be released PCI-E version (Q3 or Q4 of this year).

Regardless of the choice of machines, if you plan on employing any sort of higher quality audio, suggest using one of the Echo Indigo products.

Good luck.

 

[568overclocked]

well the decision on purchasing the laptop was held back until just now....in the last 2 weeks that have past, i find that one of the laptops i was looking at (acer 2025) is now discontinued...the ibm t42p laptop is on the high end of the spectrum as now i may be limited to $2500 and not $3000...i would still like to keep the laptop somewhat light as i plan on carrying this back and forth between work...if i do end up able to get the t42p that i priced at $3000, any recommendations on a firewire pc card...firewire is definitely a must for us and the ibm t42p does not have it...

 

[568overclocked]

well looks like the ibm is out of the picture...we need a laptop with built-in firewire. we will be running multiple cameras and supposedly the software visual communicator studio does not work well with laptops using a firewire pc card with multiple firewire inputs...supposedly, u need 1 firewire pc card for every camera....i think that sounds a bit absurd...anyone have any suggestions on a laptop or can prove the above wrong.....

specs i listed are on my first post

 

[ActuaryTm]

Originally posted by: 568overclocked
supposedly, u need 1 firewire pc card for every camera....i think that sounds a bit absurd...anyone have any suggestions on a laptop or can prove the above wrong.....

Would a powered 1394a hub be out of the question as well? Confess I am not at all familiar with the software mentioned above, but the idea of a powered hub (as opposed to daisy chaining 1394a devices) would be to allow for multiple simultaneous connections.

In any event, after revisiting the specifications you list above, should also recommend perusing the NP3790 and the NP5690. Both seem to fit the requirements (including 1394a on both) - one model (NP3790) Pentium M based, the other (NP5690) Pentium 4 based.

Good luck.

 

[kuljc]

Originally posted by: jkresh
considering you are mostly doing audo/video encoding and editing then a desktop relpaclement (ie athlon64 or pentium 4) based machine would make the most sense. The T42 is a great machine, but a pentium m cant realy compete with p4/a64 for video encoding/editing, and since wieght doesnt seem to be a major priority a legitmate desktop replacement makes sense for at lest one of those machines.

I'm glad someone mentioned that.. b/c from what I've read in the past media encoding was better done on a p4 than on a pM... isn't that correct... and also since this is for a business I would have to recomend any type of IBM... for their service and reliability. Even if you have to invest maybe a bit more or sacrifice a little.

 

[nageov3t]

IBM T42

powerbooks are nice as sin, but you also gotta deal with the crap that comes along with it (the Mac OS).

 

[imported_goku]

So frightcrawler you say the IBM laptops are strictly for buisness, then I ask what would you recommend for gaming? This is taking into account you have a limited budget of around 2K and you need a laptop that has good battery life i.e centrino based laptops.