Looking for the best deal on Centrino...

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Avatar26

Golden Member
Mar 9, 2001
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I am very interested in getting a small Centrino laptop, and I have a few things I REALLY want out of it. I need some suggestions.
1) Less than 1.3 inches thick
2) Less than 5.4 lbs.
3) 512 MB RAM
4) CD-RW/DVD Combo drive
5) Durable case
The speed of the CPU and the HD size/speed are not important to me, they will be improvements over my current Dell 8000 Inspiron.
I know that's a lot to think about, which is why I am looking for suggestions!
Thanks in advance for your help, folks!
 
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GizmoFreak

Golden Member
May 20, 2002
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If you're looking for the best VALUE, it's got to be the Inspiron 600m right now. With all the promotions and coupons, it'll be far cheaper than anything else you find. It also meets all your requirements except there seems to be some doubt about #5.
 
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dkcs

Senior member
Oct 9, 1999
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Dell 600M is the only one out that's reasonably priced... If you have $3000+ to spend go for the IBM T40

 
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Avatar26

Golden Member
Mar 9, 2001
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I am concerned about battery life on the Dell, they have never been stellar in that area. I have heard great things about the IBM, but I plan to finance this, and I don't think they do consumer financing, just business leases. Anyone out there have a Centrino laptop that can offer suggestions?
 
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WarmAndSCSI

Banned
Jun 4, 2001
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I can vouch for the Inspiron 600m. In fact, I'm posting this message from it. This laptop is awesome. The performance is unparalleled in any laptop. The 3D performance is exceptional and so is general performance. Battery life is about 3.5 hours.
 
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Braxus

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
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Only complaint I have on Dell laptops is that their build quality overall seems to be a tad shotty compared to some of the other manufacturers out there.
 
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GizmoFreak

Golden Member
May 20, 2002
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Have to agree wtih Braxus. Build quality is subpar. But you can't beat the price performance ratio at Dell.
 
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WarmAndSCSI

Banned
Jun 4, 2001
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Originally posted by: Braxus
Only complaint I have on Dell laptops is that their build quality overall seems to be a tad shotty compared to some of the other manufacturers out there.
Click to expand...

Have you even seen a new Dell? They are much more sturdy when compared with previous models. The build feels much more metallic and the case is not near as flimsy. If you're talking about case construction, that is.

 
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BaconTastesGood

Member
Jun 30, 2001
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The Acer Travelmate 800LCi is $1850 after rebate, and overeall is a very good notebook. You can also play with one at CompUSA before buying. The biggest downside to the unit is that the external monitor output is faulty. For some reason when the signal is split the video quality plummets. I called them about this and they're aware of the problem and claim that they're talking to ATI about this problem.
 
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Derango

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2002
3,113
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Yea, the 600m's case is VERY solid (Its sitting on my lap right now ;) )
Very, very nice notebook
 
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dkcs

Senior member
Oct 9, 1999
245
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Originally posted by: Avatar26
I am concerned about battery life on the Dell, they have never been stellar in that area. I have heard great things about the IBM, but I plan to finance this, and I don't think they do consumer financing, just business leases. Anyone out there have a Centrino laptop that can offer suggestions?
Click to expand...


600M is still the best choice IMHO... You can add a second battery to the hot swapable bay giving you 7 hours of run time if needed. If you are concerned about case quality then go for the Dell D600 which is essentially a 600M with a better case design.

darren


 
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GizmoFreak

Golden Member
May 20, 2002
1,007
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Yup, for the price, the Dell Inspiron 600m is the best choice out there. Everything but the build quality is great. It's a tad sturdier than the older Dell laptops, but it still is lacking. I would say IBM ThinkPads are much better built and a better long term investment, as they tend to maintain a better resale value. But they are quite pricey.

 
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Armoth

Senior member
Jan 22, 2003
663
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Anybody heard anything good or bad about the Sony Centrino laptop(s)? I have a Sony R series right now and have been very happy with it. The new Sony sure looks sweet, but I'm just curious on performance, durability, etc.
 
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Avatar26

Golden Member
Mar 9, 2001
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Good luck trying to find one of those Sony Centinos to play with before you buy, no one has them on the shelf in my area. Does anyone know for sure that the Dell Latitude D600 has a different internal structure that makes it more sturdy? It was my impression the outer case is just different colors, not actually a different material.
 
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crzylgs

Member
Apr 6, 2003
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I'm a big fan of the dell D-series, i just put down 2300 for a D800 and have heard nothing but good things about them. awsome performance and if u get another battery u can get a good 7-8 hours out of em.
 
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pyc103

Junior Member
Oct 10, 2002
20
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I'm interested in a Centrino as well, but my only concern with the Dell's are that the batteries only last 3.5hours. I know, only 3.5 hrs, but I mean other Centrino laptops last a proclaimed 6 hours! I'm not sure what to get at this point. Maybe I'll hold out a little longer.
 
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Schnieds

Senior member
Jul 18, 2002
518
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pyc103,

The other Pentium M based laptops that are lasting 6+ hours are using much larger batteries, there is more juice in the battery so they last longer. This is not a result of superior design or any other magic inside the laptop. All of the Centrino laptops are using the same chipset, memory, and procs right now. The only component that really makes a difference is the video card, different video cards can draw different amounts of power.

Depending on the Dell laptop you purchase, you can get a larger battery in addition to the standard one. For the price/performance/quality ratio Dell is definately the way to go IMHO.

Good luck in deciding. ;)
 
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nicowju

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2001
3,880
0
76
i just got my t40 2373-92U on Wednesday. It's an AMAZING laptop... 5.5+ hours of battery life, 1-inch thick and less than 5lbs, built-in Wifi, amazing build quality, terrific keyboard, fast... definitely recommending an IBM. I got mine from Bill at www.thinkpads.com for a pretty good price, and I'm really happy with it :)
Only thing is that the 9-cell battery sticks out the back a bit, but that's a small price to pay for such terrific battery life
 
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Shivatron

Senior member
Apr 9, 2003
342
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Originally posted by: nicowju
i just got my t40 2373-92U on Wednesday. It's an AMAZING laptop... 5.5+ hours of battery life, 1-inch thick and less than 5lbs, built-in Wifi, amazing build quality, terrific keyboard, fast... definitely recommending an IBM. I got mine from Bill at www.thinkpads.com for a pretty good price, and I'm really happy with it :)
Only thing is that the 9-cell battery sticks out the back a bit, but that's a small price to pay for such terrific battery life
Click to expand...

Hey, nicowju, do you feel up to posting your initial impressions and some pics, if possible?

Thanks! :)

 
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nicowju

Diamond Member
Jan 30, 2001
3,880
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76
I'll get the pics up tomorrow, but as for my initial impressions...
Great keyboard, great mouse (UltraNav is amazing), it's quite light, the construction is nothing short of amazing (so much better than those dell's... i used to have a 4000... felt SO flimsy with that plastic construction), and it fits in regular laptop bags. I like the light (at the top, there's a light that can be turned on for low light situations)... not for its functionality, but because it's really cool :) The screen is great; haven't really tried playing games, but I've run a couple of pretty demanding opengl screensavers and some stuff i've programmed and there's no ghosting. Um... what else... it's really slim: when I first removed the UltraBay CDRW/DVD combo drive, I was simply floored by it's thin-ness (9.5mm!). I don't think I'll ever use all of the 80GB HD, but it's still nice to have. The BIOS thing is accessed by a really slick menu that you access by pressing the AccessIBM button... it allows you to choose the boot device, set some preferences, and it has mouse support. Booted Knoppix 3.2 off a CD, and everything worked. The wireless reception is terrific all over campus (library, dorm room, etc), and very responsive. The software that comes with the system is great; it lets you do everything from a centralized place; the volume buttons are great (convenience).
Sorry for the rather big, blocky passage; kind of late now. I'll try to organize this mess tomorrow and get some pics up.

:)
 
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