Need a laptop, which one?

[schultzey11]

This laptop will spend 80% of its life on a desk and the other 20% in vehicle application doing data logging. I think I am looking for something with a large screen but haven't totaly made up my mind. Here are three models I have researched;

HP zd8000 series

IBM-T43

ABS G3

I will probably get 1 gb ram, 5400rpm hard drive and dvd burner (if possible).

These laptops range in components and specs but the dollar amount is ballpark. It seems to me the hp and abs offer the best bang for the buck. I'm not really worried about weight as I don't anticipate doing extensive travel with it.

How about reliability? What brand (any) offers good longevity? Have you heard anything bad/good about these units.

Last, Intel or AMD? Don't know if anyone offers amd 64 in with 17".

 

[fbrdphreak]

If weight doesn't matter, the zd8000 is a great value that is well built with an awesome screen, full size keyboard, AND full-size number keypad. It will do okay in games with the P4 and X600 graphics, but the P4 will run very hot.

The T43 is an all-out awesome road warrior/DTR, well built with powerful options; but is expensive. If you want the option of portability, the T43 will do anything & everything for a price.

The G3 is the inbetween with 15.4" & A64, but IMO is not worth it. You are buying old technology; an A64 with AGP MR 9700 graphics.

A Turion notebook might be a good balance for you, especially with cost. Check out the HP business nx6125; 15" SXGA+, ~6lbs, standard biometrics/bluetooth/3 year warranty; starting at $1000. I don't know if the nx6125 has an option for a DVDRW, but an external unit is always an option.

If you clarify your needs based on what I said, we can help you go from there.

 

[schultzey11]

Mainly surfing the web, micorsoft word, excell and plc programing software.

What would it take to do some light video editing on a machine such as this? Hp offers a 5400 rpm drive for their zd8000.

How hot do you anticipate the machine will get? Like I said I don't plan on traveling extensively with this unit but also do not want to be obligated to wear shorts when resting the unit on my lap to aid in heat disapation.

What is the performance difference between this p4 2.8ghz-3.0ghz to a pentium M?

 

[fbrdphreak]

Mainly surfing the web, micorsoft word, excell and plc programing software.

What would it take to do some light video editing on a machine such as this? Hp offers a 5400 rpm drive for their zd8000.

A 5400RPM drive would be a must for the necessary disk access.
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2342&p=13
You can see at that link video creation performance of the previous generation Pentium M on a desktop system. Its not quite mindblowing.
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2342&p=14
If you are more referring to actual video encoding, then the above link shows that the Pentium M really drags there.
The current generation Pentium M has improved in that regards, with a big jump in memory bandwidth and an increase in FSB speed; but architectually the P4 would probably be a better choice.

I had a buddy that got a P4EE zd8000 and he said it didn't get too hot. I don't know what he was smoking. The P4's available in th zd8000 are full desktop chips and do not underclock. I would expect it to be at least 50-60C during idle usage; for comparison most P-M notebooks idle around 40C or less. Personally I wouldn't use the zd8000 on my lap, I would use it on a desk.

What is the performance difference between this p4 2.8ghz-3.0ghz to a pentium M?

As a general rule of thumb, you can multiply a P-M by 1.5/1.75 to get its "equivalent" clockspeed in comparison to a P4. Depending on your budget, a 1.73 or 1.86 P-M is the best bang for the buck in performance; with a 2.0 or 2.13 being the best performers obviously.

As you probly saw from the benchmarks, the A64's do very well in most of those tests. A Turion is basically a power-binned mobile A64 and should run very close to what you see in those benchies. The Turion ML-37 runs at 2GHz with 1MB L2 Cache and should be a strong performer in that regard. Look for a Turion vs P-M article from the website in my sig soon

 

[schultzey11]

I am currently using a ibm a21p. How do the new choices compare to this?

 

[fbrdphreak]

According to a google, the A21p has a Pentium III 850MHz. These were great CPU's in their day, but you should notice a general performance boost. In fact, I would say that a Pentium M running at its "idle" speed (600-800MHz) will outperfom your system in general. And then when needed, these systems run at their full clock speeds (1.6-2.13GHz)