Notebook question for best longevity

[Tiamat]

I am having trouble finding any X1400 128 vs X700 128 comparisons for gaming. Most people say the X1400 "sucks" but is that likely to change with drivers?

I need something that will last at least 3 years.

Looking at 15.4" screen,
minimum WSXGA+ resolution

Main question is:

Is the dell loaded for 1400$ after 750$ coupon (dual core max'd, ram max'd, gpu max'd) gonna spank the ASUS Z70Va @ 1700$ with 2ghz Intel 760, 2GB ram, X700?

Both systems have 60GB 7200RPM Harddrive. The Asus guarantees no bright pixels which, to me, is more important than gaming performance when it comes down to it.

When i say "spank" I mean in terms of gaming (oblivion, CS:S). I don't really care about synthetics, or 4 second wins in SuperPI 32M.

Thanks for your help guys!

 

[BladeVenom]

Originally posted by: Tiamat
Most people say the X1400 "sucks" but is that likely to change with drivers?

I don't think newer drivers are going to make that much of a difference. Try notebookreview.com I think they'll should have some benchmarks.

 

[halfadder]

Before you buy, give Sager a look. Sager tends to have the best price to performance ratio, and they're built like russian tanks.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: halfadder
Before you buy, give Sager a look. Sager tends to have the best price to performance ratio, and they're built like russian tanks.

Yeah, unfortunately, i need the laptop to be remotely mobile. Anything greater than 6lb is pushing it (i know the dell is like 6.3lb)

 

[Ionizer86]

You want 15.4" and 6lb or under? You demand a lot; I think your only choice just might be the Macbook pro. Almost all 15.4"'s are at least 6.5lb.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: Ionizer86
You want 15.4" and 6lb or under? You demand a lot; I think your only choice just might be the Macbook pro. Almost all 15.4"'s are at least 6.5lb.

Yeah, I know

Its not the 15.4" that I really care about, its the resolution. If a 12" notebook could have WSXGA+ or better, Id pay the price. I need a mobile computer, however I work with huge spreadsheets in the lab that I need to constantly record data in. Right now, I am writting it all on a piece of paper then transfering it onto my desktop with a 2405 (which has a resolution high enough to grant me enough rows and columns with only a little room to spare).

The ASUS is 5.6 lbs, as is the Apple Intel book. The only reason why I placed the dell in the mix is because of its inexpensive price for a lot of processing power.

I guess my priorities are:
1. WSXGA+ or better
2. 4lbs would be nice, 6lbs at the worst
3. Dependable
4. Price
5. Gaming (itd be nice, but I can always game on my desktop)

Perhaps getting an Apple is the next step, although I have never considered it before. Then again if I can wipe it and install windows, I should be fine if there are no compatibility issues with the software I use in the lab...

 

[lazybum131]

Just a heads up about the Z70Va, it actually weighs closer to 6.5lb with the main battery and optical drive. I haven't weighed mine on any decent scale, but I've compared the weight of it to a 15.4" Acer that's spec'ed at 6.3lb and the Z70Va was definitely heavier.

The only way Asus could get 5.6lb without optical drive and 6lb with optical drive is if they were measuring with a smaller capacity battery.

The MacBook Pro is quite a bit thinner, smaller and lighter than the Z70Va.

 

[halfadder]

I'm using my MacBookPro as I type this. It's a nice notebook overall and yes, very thin and quite light, but it's still wide because of the size of the screen.

Don't buy a MacBookPro if you're not going to be using Mac OS X at least part of the time. Several reasons for this:
1. Don't support Apple, support a company who's dedicated to your OS of choice.
2. Most people will probably use a wireless bluetooth mouse, but the lack of a second trackpad button will still annoy most Windows users who aren't used to CTRL-Click.
3. The current Windows drivers for MacBookPro don't support all of the features. There are still no drivers for the some of the special keys (volume, brightness) so you have to use sliders down on your taskbar/systemtray. There currently are no drivers for the built-in webcam, nor for the included remote control. The automatic screen brightness control doesn't work in Windows, nor does the keyboard backlight.

That said, I'm really liking my MacBookPro. I use Mac OS X most of the time. Many of the projects I do are Linux/Unix based, so I love the real unix underpinnings, X11, and the command line. I have Win2K and WinXP running inside of Mac OS X via Parallels and the performance is literally 95% of native performance thanks to the Intel VT-x virtual machine extensions. I also have WinXP on a second partition (thanks to the BootCamp utility) so I can reboot into Windows to play games like Oblivion. Most of my time is spent in Mac OS X because that's where I do most of my work, web/email, chat (yay for Adium and Proteus -- like Trillian), photos/video/dvd-burning/music (yay iLife).

But, at the end of the day, it's still a Mac. You're better off with a Dell, Sager, or Asus if you're going to run Windows most of the time.

 

[Tiamat]

Thanks for the advice halfadder.

While the mobility of the apple is quite promising, you bring up a good point about the OS. I don't feel I have sufficient time to learn a new OS, much less the funds to buy Office and Photoshop again for the Mac OS.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a notebook capable of doing simplistic tasks that I require. Portability with high resolution just doesnt seem to be a goal for any of the companies that are manufacturing notebooks at this moment in time.

 

[Pneumothorax]

you could probably drop at least $200-300 off if you decide instead to buy your memory and hard drive upgrades from 3rd party. Dell charges way too much for upgrades.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: Pneumothorax
you could probably drop at least $200-300 off if you decide instead to buy your memory and hard drive upgrades from 3rd party. Dell charges way too much for upgrades.

Definately what I intend to do for the ram. The harddrive is a "might as well" since I don't have the time to ATFS/FT the crappy baseline 40GB 4200rpm drive. I will be fine with the 120$ charge incurred for the 60GB 7200 rpm upgrade.

Seems like I might end up with a dell since 1400$ gets everything. Being a grad student, I guess i shouldnt be very picky ;p

 

[Tiamat]

For my first notebook to own, I ended up going with a dell because it was much cheaper.

Inspiron E1505, Intel Core Duoprocessor T2300 (2MB/1.66GHz/667MHz)
15.4 Inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WSXGA+
1GB, DDR2, 533MHz 1 Dimm
256MB ATI MOBILITY RADEON X1400 HyperMemory
60GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
Integrated 10/100 Network Cardand Modem
8X DVD+/-RW Drive
Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11a/g Mini Card (54Mbps)
53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
2 Year (Limited Warranty, At Home, Hardware)
Total Damage: $1,168.64 incl tax

I didn't really care about battery life since I would just plug it in. Hopefully it serves me well when it arrives end of first week of May.

 

[AmigaMan]

well it looks like a decent laptop. I don't think you'll be doing too much gaming, but hopefully it'll last you a while. My last Dell, an Inspiron 9200 I bought early in 2005, already has LCD problems. So that's why I'm typing this on my Macbookpro. But I see you got the 2 year warranty which is good. Have fun.

 

[Tiamat]

Originally posted by: AmigaMan
well it looks like a decent laptop. I don't think you'll be doing too much gaming, but hopefully it'll last you a while. My last Dell, an Inspiron 9200 I bought early in 2005, already has LCD problems. So that's why I'm typing this on my Macbookpro. But I see you got the 2 year warranty which is good. Have fun.

Yeah, Minimal gaming. I plan to use the "saved" money towards building a new system. I pretty much needed only decent resolution so I could fit a good size excel spreadsheet on the display without needing to scroll too much.

Congrats on the Macbook Pro!