Help me choose between 2 notebooks *poll*

[tokamak]

I've been looking for a laptop for a while, and I've narrowed it down to two choices:

Dell E1505
Core Duo 1.66 ghz
512 mb ram
80 gb 5400rpm hard drive
Radeon X1400 128 mb
15.4" 1280x800 glossy
2 yr warranty
pros: dual core, well-known company, 2 year warranty, longer battery life
cons: would have to add ram (adding $$$), slower graphics card, lesser build quality, ugly

Asus Z71V
Pentium M 750 1.86 ghz
1 gb ram
80 gb 5400rpm
GeForce Go6600 128mb
15.4" 1680x1050 matte
1 yr warranty
pros: upgradeable (whitebook), better build quality, better video card, comes with carrying case
cons: not dual core, support only through reseller, slightly less battery life

both notebooks cost about the same, so that is not a factor.

they will primarily be used for web, email, Office, a few scientific things like MATLAB and LabView, light web development, and some older games. Right now the most taxing game I want to play is Civilization 4 (which is actually very taxing), but I like to keep my options open.

 

[AmigaMan]

while I like the core duo over the P-M, I think the Asus offers more for your money. I really can't stand 15" notebooks that only offer 800 pixels as the maximum vertical resolution. It just seems like a waste of space to me (just like my 17" @1440x900).

 

[modedepe]

I kind of agree with AmigaMan. Using a 1280x800 resolution these days is pretty painful for me. Though, aside from that factor and the better build quality of the Asus, it looks like the Dell would be better...

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: modedepe
I kind of agree with AmigaMan. Using a 1280x800 resolution these days is pretty painful for me. Though, aside from that factor and the better build quality of the Asus, it looks like the Dell would be better...

I would think a resolution of 1280x800 would only be good for a smaller size monitor (such as anything under (and including) 14.1")

If you could upgrade the Dell screen to WSXGA, you may want to do that and go with the Dell.

 

[tokamak]

Dell does offer the option to upgrade to WSXGA, but it's $100 extra. I'd have to drop down to the lesser battery to fit that into my budget, which would erase (probably even reverse) the Dell's battery life advantage.

leaning towards the Asus at this point. 2yrs warranty for the Dell is nice, but I can't see myself taking full advantage of dual core, and everything else is in the Asus' favor.

 

[Leafblighter]

Man, I'm typing on my z71v right now and absolutely love the thing. There are 2 points of major notice to think about and you did already mention the screen on the z71v being many times better than that on the dell. another fact is that the dell is 17", which means that its also that much bigger and heavier than the asus, which is definately a factor if you're like me in school and need it every day of the week to do your homework.

the lappy is designed well, and even with the screen is the ALS, ambient light sensor, which will automatically dim and lighten the screen based upon the ambient lighting of the room around you (saving your eyes and totally making this one feature I can't believe that no other manufacturers have gotten smart enough to include).

can you tell that i've had only a good experience w/ mine?


the downers: no core duo, which in the next few years may make more of a difference as the computer slows down relative to new software. but honestly, get yourself a 1.86 or higher if your budget permits and you'll still be happy. and ok, whatever, so you only get 3-3.5 hours of battery, big deal really, its still more than enough for 98% of the time that you'll actually be using the thing.

hope this helps.

 

[tokamak]

Leafblighter, that Dell is actually 15" - they just started offering them with dedicated graphics less than a week ago.

Thanks for your reply, though - very helpful. If you don't mind, I have a few other questions. How heavy is the Asus? Does it start to be a pain to carry around? How do you feel about the overall quality? Also, where did you buy your Asus?

 

[Leafblighter]

my mistake about the 15", i know a friend of mine bought nearly the same one as that and it was 17" and i assumed yours was the same.... but anyways.....

its about 6.5 pounds or so with the battery and no, its not a pain to carry it around. i do it every day and if anything i guess i've gotten used to it, but still, i've seen plenty of other 'laptops' around which are definately 10lb+ behemoths that are portable in name only. in the end there's no reason to complain about the z71v's weight at all, esp considering the features (and the only other way to usually get a smaller lappy in this world is to step down in features and up in price, the screen alone on this one had me sold).

in terms of build quality this thing is stable and solid as a rock. one of the little features that i have come to appreciate more and more especially after sitting down every so often w/ my sister's dell is that asus actually placed the battery just along the front of the machine. which to you and me though, this means that, ta dah!, the palm rest does not get burning hot like in countless other lappy's which have the HD right there. it gets a little warm maybe after sitting there for countless hours, but that's it. the only possible complaint comes as a result of their decision to put the intake fans on the bottom of the lappy, which results in slightly higher average temperatures (according to NHC's readings, which i've compared to a few other notebooks). but its really not that bad or worth complaining about since it doesn't really affect performance at all.

one thing to make sure to do if you do buy one of these, would be to NOT get the SATA hard drive. due to some sort of, i think a choice made by Intel w/ the Sonoma line, there is one IDE channel here and anything running even on SATA actually has to still go through this channel (b/c there is no dedicated sata channel i believe). it really doesn't kill performance having it this way, but I just wanted you to know that you shouldnt go out and waste money on a SATA drive when there is no added performance whatsoever. spend the cash on a bigger or faster ide drive and you'll be much happier.

I bought mine online from Integrated Systems Technologies (www.istnc.com). these guys are fantastic for tech support, and if you are like me when i bought it and questioned some no-name company from the carolinas, check them out at reseller ratings and you'll see that they've got only glowing reviews. i think they've even offering a free upgrade to a dvd burner for this particular model right now, at least they did the last time I was on their website. asus sells from a bunch of other people, so i honestly can't really comment on any others since i havent personally dealt w/ them.

hope this helps. let me know if you have any other Q's

 

[blues008]

What's a good retailer for Asus? I've been looking at a few of their laptops and would interested in hearing where you're buying from.

Thanks!

 

[Leafblighter]

Integrated Systems Technologies is where I got mine from. http://www.istnc.com

you can find a whole list of many more through asus's website.

 

[tokamak]

Leafblighter, Asus owes you a thank-you note - you helped them sell a laptop. Ordered yesterday

blues008, I ordered mine from http://www.geared2play.com . I had a question during ordering, and they replied in literally less than 5 minutes. Very good experience so far, and they have good reviews at reseller ratings.

 

[Leafblighter]

heyyy, congrats on the purchase. geared2play is another one of those great sites on the Net. enjoy the lappy.