how long does YOUR notebook last??

[Semidevil]

dang, w/ school coming up, there have been plenty of laptop threads coming up. But oh well, here is another one.

OK, so school is coming up, and I"m still in that same boat as 2 weeks ago; still trying to decide a laptop. Here is the deal, I can get a nice lightweight 4.4 pounder laptop w/ 1ghz for around 1799 USD. Or.....My other choice is a nice little laptop that is just undr 5.7lbs for around 2000 USD . Which, has all the works....including a 2.0ghz, blah blah, DVD drive, blah, video card, blah, and blah.

So for just around 200 dollars more, I get a bigger screen, more components, etc etc etc. I mean, do you think it will be completly dumb to take the 1.0ghz over a 2.0ghz? That's double the speed, double the extras, double the meat, for only 200 dollars more.

So here is my conclusion: How long does a laptop usually last? If Im getting something fast, I'm expecting to use it for a long long time. If laptops usually break apart and need to be replaced w/ in 1-2 years, there is no reason to get the best stuff the first time right? right? so I just want to know how long all your guys laptops last before you switch to new ones?? anybody stayed w/ one throughout their WHOLE entire college life(all 4 plus years)??

plus, I know there's that weight issue....but then again, Im still not sure how much I"ll be carrying it around, as non of my classes are "laptop required." I just want one so I don't have to go home every single time I need to do computer homework.......

 

[tenoc]

You pretty much solved the price problem - 10% higher cost for 100% performance improvement.

Likely life is several years if not mistreated.

 

[Zim Hosein]

Semidevil, IMHO it all depends on what you need your laptop for and how you care for your personal items. I got my laptop for traveling purposes, it was midrange, a PIII 800, but it runs MS office w/o any issues. This was 11 months ago and it still looks brand new. Hope this helps

 

[bex0rs]

With the slower laptop, you are paying for the smaller size. You can probably find a similary configured, albiet larger, machine for just over $1000.

If I were making the decision, I would go with the smaller laptop just because 1Ghz is more than enough to handle school related stuff. To me, the upgrade to 2Ghz would not be worth the extra size, unless it came with a really killer bright screen surrounded by a thin bezel and non-integrated videol. But even then, the extra speed would really only be useful for gaming and IMO it is pretty dumb to be using your laptop in public to play the kind of games that would benefit from that speed increase.

Are you planning on having a desktop machine at home as well? If so, there would probably be even less incentive to get the faster laptop now since a sub $800 desktop would put any mainstream laptop to shame speed-wise. Also, your laptop would likely not get as much wear if you had a desktop to use at home.

~bex0rs

 

[Vinny N]

Originally posted by: Semidevil
How long does a laptop usually last?

....anybody stayed w/ one throughout their WHOLE entire college life(all 4 plus years)??

I can't speak personally as a laptop owner but I worked tech support for a year and a half at my university and got to see a lot of laptops. There were PLENTY of seniors who still had the same laptop from their freshmen year.

The biggest problems they had were usually that their laptop was still loaded up with just about everything from when they got it plus four years worth of mp3s, proggies, spyware, viruses, etc, etc.

So if you take good physical care of your laptop and stay on top of keeping it virus free and unbloated software-wise. It should definitely last you 4 years if not more.

 

[Semidevil]

Originally posted by: bex0rs
With the slower laptop, you are paying for the smaller size. You can probably find a similary configured, albiet larger, machine for just over $1000.

If I were making the decision, I would go with the smaller laptop just because 1Ghz is more than enough to handle school related stuff. To me, the upgrade to 2Ghz would not be worth the extra size, unless it came with a really killer bright screen surrounded by a thin bezel and non-integrated videol. But even then, the extra speed would really only be useful for gaming and IMO it is pretty dumb to be using your laptop in public to play the kind of games that would benefit from that speed increase.



~bex0rs

see, that's the problem here. it's like I"m already spending thousands of dollars on a laptop, and just for a few hundred more dollars, I can double everything. Sure, I probably don't need it, but there is that greed factor.

It's like buying a meal at McDonalds, and supersizing for only 39 cents more....................

 

[bjc112]

Supersize away... you thinking in the right direction...

Its just like harddrives now days... for 30 bucs more you get like 15-20 more Gigs

 

[Aboroth]

Just remember that battery life is issue #1 if you can't use AC power most of the time. It doesn't matter how powerful your computer is if it won't turn on. I would consider that if it is an issue.

 

[RalfHutter]

I just sold my NEC P100 circa 1995. It still works fine. My dad has my Toshiba PII 300 from 1998. It's working fine also, but needed a new battery this year.

 

[Soccerman]

ya how long a lifetime do todays Laptop batteries last anyway? do they degrade in performance as the months (years?) go by?

 

[Narse]

I have an IBM Thinkpad T23 and I love it, battery life is about 2.5 hours its a 1.13ghz P3 with 512 RAM and 30gb HDD, its video is not that good, its a S3 Savage but it plays quake 3 16bit color at 800x600 at more than 50fps witch is not bad for a lappy IMO. It has a DVD and a CDRW and its nice and small. I love it. I would say pick a smaller lappy if you are going to be toting it around. You would not believe how heavy they get when you do alot of walking. I don't think you will be seeing the faster proc much on a lappy due to HDD speed witch is still 5200rpm on most lappys. I am very very happy with a 1.13 and I have a 2100+ for my system at home.

 

[Siddhartha]

If you have the cash, spending $200 more for a big jump in performance and features sounds like a good deal to me.

I bought an IBM Thinkpad 600E on ebay last year. I am not sure but I think it was produced in 1999. Except for having to replace the LCD, under warranty, two months after I got it. It is working great. I bought it for running MS Office, playing mp3s and videos, emails, ebooks, and surfing the net. while I am on the road.

 

[anthrax]

A super slim type notebook typically doesn't last so long.........
The last thing to belive is there battery life quoted on there website...
A Sony PCG-Z505 Series last about 60 mins
A Sony PCG-R505 Series last about 80 mins
A Fujitsu LifeBook S series 5462 last about 110 mins

However, a laptop is useless if you can't be #@%@! to carry it and for many people
A 9 pound Laptop becomes a pain to carry around after a while..

 

[Vinny N]

Originally posted by: Soccerman
ya how long a lifetime do todays Laptop batteries last anyway? do they degrade in performance as the months (years?) go by?

A lot of older laptops I've seen (400mhz or slower of various brands, mostly IBM, Toshiba, Compaq) usually started at 2-3 hours of power for their battery. After 3-4 years on lease, these same laptops come back and the battery life varies from 30 minutes to 2.5 hours.

Can't really comment on newer laptops, haven't seen enough of them.

 

[SteelCityFan]

With typical Use, I get about 2.5 hours out of mine.. 1Ghz, 32MB GeForce2Go, 15in UXGA. My laptop scores a 2300 on 3dmark 2001 SE. Before I upgraded my desktop, I used this to play Nascar 2002 and it ran it at about 40fps with settings at about the middle. It plays Wolfenstein etc great.

Some laptops can be upgraded as far as Video and CPU...Dell is one of those companies...


It is hard to tell someone which laptop to get because it really depends on what you plan on doing with it. If you plan on toteing it to all of your classes and using while in class (on a small desk usually), than lightweight and compact is the way to go... knowing a lightweight is probably not going to game as well. Getting something large and heavy will become a pain in the arse to carry around and you will most likely leave it at home most of the time. My 8100 is quite beefy. One negative about small lightweight laptops is they generally only have one device bay. You can't have 2 batteries or have a floppy and CDROM plugged in at the same time etc. The heavyweight Dell's have a Fixed CDROM bay, and 2 removeable bays for batteries, floppies, cdroms, zips, etc.

If you are basically going to be using it in a dorm room, or at a friends place for a study session.. and not tote it to every class, I would get the heavyweight. Not so much for performance, but the screen. Get something with at least SXGA if you choose this route.


As far as longevity of a laptop... I think they last quite a long time. Of course they won't play the latest games for quite the same length of time as a state of the art desktop, but laptops are still more geared towards office/school/work use. If you already have a fast desktop witth a good video card, I would probably go for mobility if you plan on taking this witth you most of the time.

 

[RalfHutter]

Originally posted by: Soccerman
ya how long a lifetime do todays Laptop batteries last anyway? do they degrade in performance as the months (years?) go by?

I've always treated my laptop batteries with care. I followed all the recommended procedures for making them last but I've never been satified with the results. They always last fine at first, but as the years go by they run down faster and faster. I've tried running them all the way down to dead and recharging, I tried a utility from Dell called "batrcal" that claims to run the battery down to "0" and then recharge it over and over again. None of this seems to have made any difference. Sooner or later I end up having to get a new battery.

 

[jacksco]

No doubt buy the best if you're expecting to keep it through 4 (or in my case 5 years) of college. Think back 4 years at what the technology was then, imagine you were making the decision then? I think in retrospect you'd be very glad you purchased the better equipment. All the MP3's movies etc. now. You need the storage, processing powe etc. Make sure you find out if your campus has some wireless hot spot's (802.11), wireless is very nice and more and more campus's are headed that way.

just my 2cents. . . .

graduated college kid wanting to go back. . .