- Dec 27, 2001
- 6,801
- 581
- 126
Well, first exactly what I'm looking for:
Usage: light school / word processing / internet use, on the go desktop publishing in InDesign / Photoshop without pissing me off, and light gaming (prob just like civ 4 and D3 when it's out), in that order.
Budget: Flexible, prefer to keep it around $1500 or less.
Features:
* 14.1" or 13.3" screen, I would really really really prefer 1440x900 resolution w/ LED backlighting here.
* Around 4lbs, willing to go up to 5 if it's a 14" and has EVERYTHING I want plus discrete graphics.
* Long battery life -- minimum 3 full hours of school / word processing / internet.
* Discrete graphics preferred, but honestly at this point I'm willing to completely sacrifice this to get everything else I want.
* Cool running - I really don't want to deal with a hot running laptop just to get a little more performance. It all comes back and bites you anyway with discomfort, premature failures, crashes, etc.
Laptops I've considered so far:
Asus W7 -- this one looked good except the battery life is beyond atrocious.
Lenovo T61s -- a tad heavy at 5lbs, discrete graphics is only a Quadro which kind of eliminates any point of having it afaik, everything else looks really good and for something so simple I absolutely love the trackpoint feature, awesome price (rumors of crappy panels going into these though?).
Sony SZ Series -- no improved display option, very expensive, upgrades are expensive.
Panasonic Y7 -- I absolutely love the design of this thing, but there's no way I'm spending an extra grand for for that "semi-tough" designation.
Battery question: How often do extended life batteries significantly increase the weight of the notebook or are implemented so they protrude making the notebook bigger? Manufacturers seem really bad about letting you know this in advance and it doesn't seem consistent from notebook to notebook.
Anyone have any other suggestions or is there anything on the horizon I should wait for? This isn't really a pressing purchase, I don't NEED it to get things done, but it's a convenience for school and independent design work. I can hold out until November if I had to. Thanks for your input.
Usage: light school / word processing / internet use, on the go desktop publishing in InDesign / Photoshop without pissing me off, and light gaming (prob just like civ 4 and D3 when it's out), in that order.
Budget: Flexible, prefer to keep it around $1500 or less.
Features:
* 14.1" or 13.3" screen, I would really really really prefer 1440x900 resolution w/ LED backlighting here.
* Around 4lbs, willing to go up to 5 if it's a 14" and has EVERYTHING I want plus discrete graphics.
* Long battery life -- minimum 3 full hours of school / word processing / internet.
* Discrete graphics preferred, but honestly at this point I'm willing to completely sacrifice this to get everything else I want.
* Cool running - I really don't want to deal with a hot running laptop just to get a little more performance. It all comes back and bites you anyway with discomfort, premature failures, crashes, etc.
Laptops I've considered so far:
Asus W7 -- this one looked good except the battery life is beyond atrocious.
Lenovo T61s -- a tad heavy at 5lbs, discrete graphics is only a Quadro which kind of eliminates any point of having it afaik, everything else looks really good and for something so simple I absolutely love the trackpoint feature, awesome price (rumors of crappy panels going into these though?).
Sony SZ Series -- no improved display option, very expensive, upgrades are expensive.
Panasonic Y7 -- I absolutely love the design of this thing, but there's no way I'm spending an extra grand for for that "semi-tough" designation.
Battery question: How often do extended life batteries significantly increase the weight of the notebook or are implemented so they protrude making the notebook bigger? Manufacturers seem really bad about letting you know this in advance and it doesn't seem consistent from notebook to notebook.
Anyone have any other suggestions or is there anything on the horizon I should wait for? This isn't really a pressing purchase, I don't NEED it to get things done, but it's a convenience for school and independent design work. I can hold out until November if I had to. Thanks for your input.
Facebook
Twitter