Laptops As Desktop Replacements

[Shantanu]

I've never been interested in laptops before, but I have been thinking about them a lot recently. I have to haul my computer back and forth from college; it's a bitch. That and I have to invest money in buying a second desk every year at my dorm, which I throw out when summer comes, since it costs about the same to store the desk as to buy a new one... But enough of those details.

I hear they have GeForce's and Radeons on laptops these days. Pentium 4's are also making their debut this summer. Of course, you can build a much better desktop for any given amount of money, but I don't play as many games anymore. I just watch a lot of movies and do web surfing now. I still do like the occasional game though... I plan to spend about $2000 this summer. Recommendations?

 

[Utterman]

For a desktop replacement, I would get a Dell Inspiron 8100 with an ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 video card. This video card is powerful enough to run most games and is currently performs better than what Nvidia has for mobile video.

 

[ojai00]

<< For a desktop replacement, I would get a Dell Inspiron 8100 with an ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 video card. This video card is powerful enough to run most games and is currently performs better than what Nvidia has for mobile video. >>



The Inspiron is a very good laptop. Like Utterman said, it can do basically almost everything that you can do on your desktop. PC World's Top 15 Notebooks Try that link. The Inspiron 8100 comes out on top, but there are a few other laptops worth looking at. Hope this helps.

 

[desy]

eurocom already has a P4 laptop
Which according to an article I read actually has decent battery life!

 

[chaddeus]

For me, a notebook should not be a desktop replacemnet. It should be something light, portable weighing lower than maybe 3-4lb rather than powerful that weight something like 10lb

- Chalres

 

[Shantanu]

Yeah, it's definitely going to be Dell. There's no question about that. I've tried to price some of the other ones, like Gateway, and I've checked out Sony, Compaq, etc., and they're total rip offs. Some of them are definitely more portable, but I'm only going to be moving this thing once in a while.

 

[Daovonnaex]

<< eurocom already has a P4 laptop
Which according to an article I read actually has decent battery life! >>

Get this from my thread? Well, additionally, it's available with the Radeon 7500 Mobility and PC2100 DDR SDRAM. Furthermore, its P4 is the .13u Northwood, not the .18u Willamette that the P4-M is.

 

[quantide]

p4 to debut THIS SUMMER!? I heard next month! i'll be damned if i have to wait that long, since i sold my desktop already to finance the laptop

 

[apoppin]

I have been living in Hawaii with my Inspiron 4100 laptop as my only computer for almost 6 weeks now.

It's fine. I have no problem with gaming, web surfing, office apps . . . anything. A 14" screen is fine but I still miss my 19" Flat Screen Samsung CRT and faster graphics card.

I really think the Dell Inspiron 8100 comes closest as a desktop replacement . . . and well under $2000. Go for it.

 

[hans007]

the toshiba satelite 5005 s507 will give the dell a run for its money.

its cheaper, but it uses a 1.1 ghz desktop tualatin chip. thats not as bad as it sounds, as the dells use a 1.7 volt tualitin mobile, and the tualtin desktop is also 1.7 volts.

but it has a gf4go mx440 (this is comparable to radeon 7500). and its about $300 cheaper.

both are pretty cheesy feeling, i wish companies would go to the all magnesium casing and more expensive build that the subnotes have with their desktop replacements. you pay more for desktop replacements it should feel like you did . if you dont game much there are plenty of laptops for you.

toshiba has a p4 already also, northwood 1.6 , in the satelite 1900. there is even a door so you can pull out the chip and upgrade it. but its only got an 8mb radeon so crappy gaming and cpu put to waste

 

[SteelCityFan]

check out www.tomshardwareguide.com He did a comparison of the latest Mobile Video Cards.

I have the Dell 8100 with the 32MB GeForce2Go. I get about 2200 in 3dmark2001 which is higher than my desktop.. so I have been using the laptop to play the more intensive games (Wolfenstein, Nascar 2002, etc) until I upgrade.

The ATI 7500 on a 1.0Ghz+ laptop has been scoring around 3700 in 3dmark.. pretty impressive. NVidia is set to begin shipping their new mobile chip, but only time will tell if it will be able to touch the large lead ATI has.. in speed and power consumption. I only expect them to pull even... or pass them at the cost of less battery life.

The current P4 laptops you may see are actually using the regular P4 chip.. not a mobile version. I consider these a hack job, and would never consider buying one.

If you get a 8100, there is a chance you will even be able to upgrade... If Dell comes out with a new Video card for the 8100 series, they will release a BIOS update for the 8100 to allow for the new card. If the next NVidia chip is only available in a 8200 or whatever (I think unlikely since the 8200 will be the P4.. and people will still want the P3)... you will be able to order the board from Dell Spare Parts and swap them. People have been swapping out the GeForce in favor of the ATI since they came out. People have also swapped CPU's. Dell has an online guide to go about digging in to the laptop...

http://docs.us.dell.com/docs/systems/ins8100/remove.htm


You still can't get high end desktop performance in a laptop.. especially when the Hard Drives max at 5400 with most drives being 4200, but you can get something close.. close enough to play the current games, but maybe not games 2-3 years from now.

 

[dcdomain]

How far away do you live? And why not try to find a buyer for the tables instead of throwing them away? I don't think I'll ever get used to a laptop as a full fledged desktop replacement. Can't stand carrying around one of them big bulky 10 pound laptops. Although I have found them useful. Personally, I'd go for portability, not power. Because by the way you worded your criteria, you really don't need a power laptop at all. You'll find yourself using a more portable laptop more frequently than one of the bulkier ones. My friend has an Inspirion 8100 and he never really takes that anywhere. Maybe downstairs when going to work, but that's it. It's just too heavy to carry around to class.

I have a Portege 3020ct, 3lbs and I carry this sucker around wherever I go because it really doesn't take up too much space or weigh that much. Of course the campus wireless helps =D. If it was the Inspirion, I would definitely think about it more whether or not I should take it with me wherever I go.

I bring up my computer every year, a 5-6 hour trip, I used to run dual monitors, but it got a little hard trying to find space for two 19" monitors so I just left one of them home. Unless you don't have a reliable ride or something, I don't see how hard it can be to bring the computer to and from. Have you thought about getting an apartment off campus? That way you won't have to move your stuff every year.

For portable laptops, check out the Sony's, Toshiba's and the Fujitsu... Toshiba has a .73 inch one out right now, around the same size as mine. Most of the Sony's are one inch, and I think Fujitsu has one just as small as the Toshiba... if not smaller.

 

[hans007]

im a portability guy too , i got tired of not having a computer when i go to my parents house every other weekend, and my deskspace problem. i have a 21" monitor my dad is letting me use and well it uses up a lot of the desk, besides i needed something for campus. i buy almost exclusivly subnotebooks, but i use normal keyboards and monitors and mice on them unless i'm on campus or at someone's place etc. get one with a good keyboard. is one thing i'd say. i have a portege 3480ct until tommorrow when i get a new HP (much more standard layout) and if you had the portege 3480ct, you'd hate how all the non letter keys are wierd sized or in the wrong spots especially if you do programming since you need all those special keys