IBM's T-series user experiences. HP nc8000? $2600.. What would you get and why?

Ralphing

Senior member
Oct 7, 2001
598
0
76
I'd really appreciate any input you have that comes from first hand experience with IBM's T-series or the HP nc8000/nc6000 (or whatever else you think warrants my attention).

The laptop I'm going to buy will ideally have 3 hours or more of battery life, a sxga or higher res screen that's no larger than 15", be portable (no tanks), have good overall build quality, decent wireless capabilities, a dvd burner, a 5200rpm or faster hdd, a centrino proccy, be capable of 2 gigs of ram, and have 64 megs or more of dedicated vid mem (this is not crucial as I wont be gaming much).

$2600.. What would you get and why?
I"m throwing this question out there in case there are any oddball contenders I left out.

No I don't want an Alienware.

MUCHOS GRACIAS :beer: :)

 

RichieZ

Diamond Member
Jun 1, 2000
6,549
37
91
ThinkPad T41
23739FU

Your price
$2,574.65*
IBM Web Price
$3,029.00*
Within 2 weeks**

Intel® Pentium® M processor 1.70GHz
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
512 MB
60 GB
14.1"
1400x1050
32MB ATI Mobility RADEON 9000
4.5-5.0
CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo
Three years parts and labor (system battery: one year)
Integrated Intel PRO/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
56KV.92 designed modem
IBM 11a/b/g Wi-Fi Wireless and Bluetooth
IBM Embedded Security Subsystem 2.0

or for quite a bit less:
ThinkPad T40 (IBM Think Express Program)
2379D6U
Your price
$1,664.10*
IBM Web Price
$1,849.00*
CALL
Intel® Pentium® M processor 1.40GHz
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
256 MB
40 GB
14.1"
1400x1050
32MB ATI Mobility RADEON 9000
4.5-5.01
CD-RW/DVD-ROM Combo
Three years parts and labor (system battery: one year)
Integrated Intel PRO/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
56KV.92 designed modem
Intel PRO/Wireless Network Connection 802.11b
IBM Embedded Security Subsystem 2.0
 

Ralphing

Senior member
Oct 7, 2001
598
0
76
I appreciate the responses.
Shady,
Possibly you could elaborate? I cant see much of a reason to go with an Apple. They do have style but in terms of functionality and price/performance it seems like it's not the best route. However I may not know what the hell I'm talking about.

RichieZ,
Do you have experience with the T-series? I've read great things about their performance, build quality, and battery life but I need more input.
 

RichieZ

Diamond Member
Jun 1, 2000
6,549
37
91
Originally posted by: Ralphing
I appreciate the responses.
Shady,
Possibly you could elaborate? I cant see much of a reason to go with an Apple. They do have style but in terms of functionality and price/performance it seems like it's not the best route. However I may not know what the hell I'm talking about.

RichieZ,
Do you have experience withe the T-series? I've read great things about there performance and build quality but I need more input.

many many experiences, i personally owned a t20, and a t30, had a t40 at work this summer. Excellent laptops with wonderful build quality, the best warranty service hands down (they send airborne box on monday, get laptop back on thurs with new screen). I now have an X31 and IBM laptops are my favorites.
 
Apr 17, 2003
37,622
0
76
Originally posted by: Ralphing
I appreciate the responses.
Shady,
Possibly you could elaborate? I cant see much of a reason to go with an Apple. They do have style but in terms of functionality and price/performance it seems like it's not the best route. However I may not know what the hell I'm talking about.

RichieZ,
Do you have experience with the T-series? I've read great things about their performance, build quality, and battery life but I need more input.

i'm in the same position as you are, lookin for a new laptop. i decided i wouldnt get anything but a powerbook because they are soooo damn good in holding their resell value. old @$$ 667 G4 still sell for $1200+ assuming they are in good condition...

 

Ralphing

Senior member
Oct 7, 2001
598
0
76
RichieZ
I haven't heard much about there warranty service, that's good news and thanks again.
 

ceo2b

Member
Apr 22, 2003
158
0
0
I think your comparable choices are

T4x vs. nc6000 - tough decision, I think it really comes down to a choices of branding; who do you like/trust most?

or

R50p vs. nc8000 - in this case you probably get more bang for the buck and an extra multibay slot with the nc8000
 

Ralphing

Senior member
Oct 7, 2001
598
0
76
I just ordered a loaded nc8000.

Specs:

1.7ghz centrino
512mb ram (one stick, will get another for cheap)
Bluetooth chip as well as the 802.11 a,b,g mini pc card
60gig hdd 5200rpm
sxga+ wva screen
CD-RW / DVD-ROM combo
64 meg radeon 9600 (I dont play games much, just some hl mods which will run fine)
xp pro
etc.

If there's enough interest I'll certainly post pictures and a review when it arrives.
Btw I got it for an insane deal.... 2100 shipped.
 

Flashram

Diamond Member
Apr 11, 2000
3,968
0
76
Originally posted by: Ralphing
I just ordered a loaded nc8000.

Specs:

1.7ghz centrino
512mb ram (one stick, will get another for cheap)
Bluetooth chip as well as the 802.11 a,b,g mini pc card
60gig hdd 5200rpm
sxga+ wva screen
CD-RW / DVD-ROM combo
64 meg radeon 9600 (I dont play games much, just some hl mods which will run fine)
xp pro
5+ hrs battery life, almost double that with 2nd battery
etc.

If there's enough interest I'll certainly post pictures and a review when it arrives.
Btw I got it for an insane deal.... 2100 shipped.

Let us know when you get it. I just ordered one also, $1699 ($525 off instantly).

1.4 ghz centrino
512mb ram (Have another 256 MB stick to add)
802.11b wifi (Will swap with a g card I have)
40 GB 5400 RPM (Adding 60 GB 7200 rpm)
sxga+ wva screen
CD-RW / DVD-ROM combo
64 meg radeon 9600
5+ hrs battery life (almost double that w/ 2nd battery)
xp pro
etc.

 

Ralphing

Senior member
Oct 7, 2001
598
0
76
Originally posted by: Flashram

Let us know when you get it. I just ordered one also, $1699 ($525 off instantly).

1.4 ghz centrino
512mb ram (Have another 256 MB stick to add)
802.11b wifi (Will swap with a g card I have)
40 GB 5400 RPM (Adding 60 GB 7200 rpm)
sxga+ wva screen
CD-RW / DVD-ROM combo
64 meg radeon 9600
5+ hrs battery life (almost double that w/ 2nd battery)
xp pro
etc.

It will be here by the end of the day. You got a killer deal my friend :) Have you priced the hitachi drive yet?
 

AmigaMan

Diamond Member
Oct 12, 1999
3,644
1
0
Originally posted by: Ralphing
I just ordered a loaded nc8000.

Specs:

1.7ghz centrino
512mb ram (one stick, will get another for cheap)
Bluetooth chip as well as the 802.11 a,b,g mini pc card
60gig hdd 5200rpm
sxga+ wva screen
CD-RW / DVD-ROM combo
64 meg radeon 9600 (I dont play games much, just some hl mods which will run fine)
xp pro
etc.

If there's enough interest I'll certainly post pictures and a review when it arrives.
Btw I got it for an insane deal.... 2100 shipped.


Wow thats a great price. I have the exact same thing except an extra gig of RAM. Of course my boss paid for it (~$3000) and I'm VERY SATISFIED. I'm coming off a 1year old Dell Latitude P4M 1.8Ghz, nVidia Go440, 1GB RAM. The build quality of the Dell sucks monkey balls compared to the HP. The only bad thing is I couldn't get the HP at the UXGA res which my dell has, I had to settle for SXGA+.
But for what I do at work, the HP seems to be faster in compiling code and in general quicker than the Dell. I partitioned the HP drive so I could have 20GB to re-install XP onto so I can play games at home without touching my work partition. I love this thing compared to my Dell. The latitude would struggle through Call of Duty while the HP FLYS!
 

Ralphing

Senior member
Oct 7, 2001
598
0
76
Got mine in the mail yesterday, here's some initial impressions:

-I find the sxga lcd to be just about the right size. I use 1280x1024 on my crt monitor so it the text size is very similar. I do have very good vision, not sure if that makes a difference.
-Battery life has been awesome. I haven't let it run all the way down but it appears I'll be getting right around 5 hours.
-I'm not big into gaming but I've tried 3 games on it so far. Half-life ran at 100fps at high res, perfect. Max Payne 2 was completely playable (looked fantastic) with high detail settings at native res. I only noticed a couple spots where framerates dropped slightly bit, but it was still completely playable. I noticed absolutely no ghosting in either of the first person shooters and the clarity and color looked great.
The only other game I've tried so far was Rise of Nations, and strangely I did notice some ghosting with RoN when panning with the keyboard. Not sure why since I dont see any at all in the first person shooters, they looked fantastic.
-The sound is above average for a laptop and was definitely better than the 2 other laptops I've used. I'm sure some of the larger desktop replacements have better sound and of course it pales in comparison to a home theatre or good headphones.
Point stick seems fine to me despite the horror stories I've heard. I've only used one other (thinkpad) and it's only slighty stiffer.

Pros:
Speed. This thing hums!
Battery life is fantastic
Feels sturdy
Gigabit lan, 802.11g, bluetooth
9600 mobility
Relatively portable
Some great power user software included
3 year warranty
Dual pointing devices
has usb and firewire
Nice keyboard
It's black

Cons:
A little thick (doesn't bother me)
Touchpad buttons a little stiff (the pointer seems fine though)
CD combo drive is a little loud
Could be a little more stylish (ie: powerbook)


 

MaxQc

Junior Member
Sep 12, 2001
10
0
0
Originally posted by: Flashram
Originally posted by: Ralphing
I just ordered a loaded nc8000.

Specs:

1.7ghz centrino
512mb ram (one stick, will get another for cheap)
Bluetooth chip as well as the 802.11 a,b,g mini pc card
60gig hdd 5200rpm
sxga+ wva screen
CD-RW / DVD-ROM combo
64 meg radeon 9600 (I dont play games much, just some hl mods which will run fine)
xp pro
5+ hrs battery life, almost double that with 2nd battery
etc.

If there's enough interest I'll certainly post pictures and a review when it arrives.
Btw I got it for an insane deal.... 2100 shipped.

Let us know when you get it. I just ordered one also, $1699 ($525 off instantly).


1.4 ghz centrino
512mb ram (Have another 256 MB stick to add)
802.11b wifi (Will swap with a g card I have)
40 GB 5400 RPM (Adding 60 GB 7200 rpm)
sxga+ wva screen
CD-RW / DVD-ROM combo
64 meg radeon 9600
5+ hrs battery life (almost double that w/ 2nd battery)
xp pro
etc.





Is it the DV107U model ?? The NC8000 LE ( Limited Edition) ?? I was considering the one with 1.5ghz + 60go but this LE is about $500.00 CAN cheaper ... so it sounds like a really big deal ...

You says you are adding a 60go one... will it share the same bay as the CD/DVD reader or this NC8000 has one empty bay ??

As soon as you get is, please post your impressions

thank you

 

MaxQc

Junior Member
Sep 12, 2001
10
0
0
BTW ... About the RADEON on those NC8000 .. 64 or 128bits ?? I haven't found the info yet ..