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Please advise me about this notebook

K

KidViciou$

Diamond Member
Sorry, coupon expires soon i think, says midnight on 12/12. does that mean today after 11:59PM?

I added it after 2:00 EST and it still works


Inspiron 8600
P-M 1.5 GHz
15.4 in WSXGA+
M$ WinXP Home (Soon To Be WinXP Pro)
256MB RAM (Soon To Be Upgarded)
60GB HDD 7200RPM
4x DVD+R/+RW
RADEON 9600 PRO Turbo 128MB
802.11b/g
1 Yrs Basic Warranty + 1 Year thanks to Amex

$1986 - 15% = $1686 shipped

edit: Damn it, can't use 15% off with -200. ihave to look for a coupon that is "stackable" i guess

 
btw, is that your real machine Xiety? i asked it in another thread but didn't read if you responded


edit: saw that you said "My Christmas Wish" 🙂. Looks like my christmas is coming with this laptop!!
 
Originally posted by: KidViciou$
btw, is that your real machine Xiety? i asked it in another thread but didn't read if you responded


edit: saw that you said "My Christmas Wish" 🙂. Looks like my christmas is coming with this laptop!!
Click to expand...

Sorry man, I must have missed your question in that other thread. As you figured already, it's just my wish 😛
 
yup! standard on the 8600. thanks, didnt think about the firewire connection!


as for the processor, it's the equivalent of a 2.2 GHz P4, right? isn't that good enough? would the extra 400MHz make that much of a difference? i know it would on my pocket
 
i have decided to hold off on the laptop until i really need it. hopefully i will be able to get a DVD burner then as well as well as good deals.

the reason i am holding off is because i won't "need" it for 1 month since i am not taking winter classes. that is time for the hardware to depreciate
 
If you can wait til after FEB. then the prices will surely fall/
As the new Pentium M (Dothan) is to be released then.
 
This may be out of your price range but I wanted to make sure you did not get it.

Stay away from the Toshiba P25-S509 and all similar models. It has a beautiful 17" screen, P4 2.8 w/ Hyper Threading, 512MB RAM, an 80GB drive, 64MB dedicated nVidia video, and built-in wireless (bluetooth and 802.11g).

The body is nice and wide so you do not have to crunch your knees together to avoid the feeling of the laptop "slipping through" and the screen is just "wow". 🙂

The keyboard layout is non-standard (some keys are missing and others are in the weirdest places). There was plenty of room to put a full-size standard keyboard but for some reason they did not.

The DVD drive is also facing forward so anytime you want to work with the drive you have to turn the laptop to the side. This is really awkward and certainly opens you up for the chance of the laptop falling off ? especially if a lot of people are walking by you (e.g. on a train or bus).

I purchased a Sony PCG-FRV31 (Celeron 2.4, 512MB, 40GB, and ATi video w/ 64mb shared video) for my wife at the same time I purchased the Toshiba and I am so glad that I did.

Having both systems sitting idle for 5 minutes and then selecting either to start Windows Media Player or just do a right-click on the desktop to bring up the shortcut menu, the Sony would beat the Toshiba every time. Thinking that perhaps a background item was the cause, I disabled all startup items via msconfig and re-ran the same test with the Sony still winning (and it had all of it's startup items still enabled).

The kicker part for me was that I have a Samsung SCH-A310 mobile phone through Verizon that I use to connect to the web while traveling (which happens a lot). The software installed fine on the Sony but would lock up the Toshiba every time to the point that I had to remove all power (AC cable and battery) to do anything. All startup items had been disabled but still no joy.

Watching Finding Nemo and LoTR:TTT Extended Edition did look great on that screen but I now have a Sony PCG-GRT260G (same specs as the Toshiba but a 16" screen, not Hyper Threaded, and no Bluetooth) and I love it. Plus it kicks the crap out of my wife?s Sony. 😉

This all started when the screen on my Dell Inspiron 2500 that was a little under 2 years old went out. If you get a Dell and plan to have it for a while, definitely get the extended warranty. 😉

I hope that some of the above is of some use to someone.
 
Thanks for the advice.

i like to avoid the toshiba's like the plague. thye look pretty nice, but my experience with them is they have all kinds of trouble. i used to work for Desktop Support for my university, and a few people had the toshiba satellites. they SUCKED!

all kinds of problems. we use Dell on campus for all computers (we prefer i should say ), and my friend has an Inspiron 8100. i have never had any problems with them.
 
Have you by chance taken a look at the Alienware Mobile Gaming Systems?

For a few hundred dollars more than my Sony you can have an awesome system. I just found out about these from reading another thread in this forum. I love this place! 🙂

Of course, that is only if you are truly interested in gaming but then again a gaming system will run all the other software so much better as well.
 
they have some pretty nice systems, but my budget is originally $1300. i was stretching it by going up to $1800.


if i was working full time again, i might just go in for that alienware, but now i gotta go for cost/performance. also, it seems like they are about 10 lbs, and last at most 2 hours

they use P4's, aren't the centrinos better even though it's 800 MHz FSB?
 
Well you obviously know more about them than I do. LOL 🙂

I could not find a weight specification but I also was not really looking. I am still recovering from the 128MB ATI Radeon 9600 upgradeble video chip. :Q

Anything based on the Pentium 4 is only going to last 2 hours and I am willing to bet that if you were gaming that system would likely last an hour possibly less.

If you need the longer battery life then Centrino is definitely your only choice. The lowest you should go is a PM1.5 but get as fast as you can afford. Splurge on CPU first and then video (if you get the option). The Pentium-M's are better in most cases to the Mobile Pentium 4s.

Have you taken a look at the IBM T-40? It is an excellent system that I believe is within your budget.

What is the main purpose of this laptop (development, games, email while traveling, etc.)?
 
i haven't looked at the IBM's.

I should reiterate that i will be waiting until January for the new breed of CPU's to come out. why spend close to $2000 on a cpu that will be worth $1200 in a month, right? 🙂


the main purpose of this laptop is development ( projects that will be developed in linux ), development of games, and just plain gaming goodness 😀

 
i peeped the IBM's but there's a couple of things about them

-It's cheaper if i go with Dell as the T series starts at 1699
-I get the widescreen with Dell
-I would get the DVD burner with Dell
-I get the 60 GB 7200 RPM with Dell
-I like the IBM styling, but i still feel like it's an OLD laptop. We have some OOOOLLLDDD IBM laptops, and they look exactly the same
 
If you are referring to the Dorthan (sp?) CPU's, I think they are not scheduled to be released until February. If that is the case, then systems (more than 1 or 2 anyway - enough to bring down the price) will most likely not be available until around May.

Take the Centrino systems for example. When the technology was first released there were only 3 systems to choose from. It was not until 3-4 months later that all of the vendors had Centrino systems available.

If that is the case, then this discussion is pretty much moot since the system specifications will likely be much different at that time.

If you are involved in gaming (developing and playing) you certainly need a decent system. If you are also doing the compiles and debugging you will certainly need a lot of RAM and a strong CPU.

Are you a game developer (professionally) or just interested in it for learning and possibly to pursue as a career?
 
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