widescreen notebook?

[jkresh]

Currently have a vpr matrix 200A5 which is effectively dead (battery fried and no way to replace it, plus when charging in standby it gets to about 120 degrees). Want to replace it with a quality machine, already have a pretty powerful desktop
(p4 2.26 at 2.6, 512 ddr, 320gig Sata (200wdjd, 120wdjb), radeon9700, sgi 1600sw, tdk840g 8x) so wont be gaming that much on the notebook, but I will be running some intensive programming simulations. Definitely want to stick with widescreen, so I am currently leaning towards the 8600. Will be ordering this week as I am heading back to school on the 14th and need something shortly thereafter. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

this is what i am looking at
8600
sxga+
pm 1.6
60gig 7200 rpm
radeon 9600 (not sure if it is necessary as not sure about gaiming but might be doing some rendering so may be worth it, plus it would let me use easy share)
dvd burner (why not its free)
true mobile 1400
3 year onsite
total cost about $2000 (possibly a bit less as i have someone who is an authorised reseller, will talk to him about pricing this week, should be about 15-20% off whatever dell is showing)

 

[jpeyton]

Compaq X1000, HP ZT3000, Gateway M505 are three others I'd look at. I prefer the HP because it looks the best, has the best dimensions, weighs less than the Dell, and costs less too. Plus scroll pads rock!

 

[jkresh]

in terms of cost i can get about 15% maybe 20% off the dell, and probably will come in cheaper then the hp, was looking at the zt3000 and x1000, but dell has a better waranty, and beter graphics (having the 9600 would be nice). Gateways m505 would be a lot more interesting if i could actualy configure it, but with gateway not allowing for that i am worried as to how much time they have left, so i am not sure if i would want to buy one. thanks for the suggestions though.

 

[GnomeCop]

the build quality of the HP ZT3000 is much better than the dell inspiron 8600 if that matters at all.

 

[Soybomb]

I love my 8600 if that matters at all too

 

[BargainSeeker]

The Dell 9600, Compaq X1000 and HP zt3000 are all made by Compal and have similar build quality. The Gateway M505 is made by Wistron who also makes the X- and R-series ThinkPads for IBM. In my opinion, the build quality of the Wistron made M505 is significantly better then the Compal models.

 

[SKC]

I've had hands on experience with the dell 600m, 8600 and the compaq x1000. Though they may all have been made by the same manufacturer, the build quality is much, much better on the x1000, from the feel of the keyboard to the screen hinge to the overall sturdiness of the notebook. Dell's quality control has also seemed to suffer recently, at least for its notebooks-- the 600m (I actually had two different units shipped to me before I lost patience and got a refund) crashed constantly with both solid freezes and bsods, and my roomate's 8600 had similar problems (to the point where he is returning his, as well). I haven't had problems with the x1000 (the zt3000 is the same notebook in a different housing; it's also available with factory-installed 802.11g), and it is aesthetically much more pleasing than the 8600.

Whichever you choose, good luck!

 

[jkresh]

still looking at the hp/compaq but with the radeon 9200 and lesser waranty plus slower hard drive, just not sure. Also thinking about the dell m60 (if i can get the price to something reasonable), as it is likley to have much higher build quality then the 8600

 

[GnomeCop]

I have used the M60 for a week or so and overall it seems much better than the 8600, bad thing is it still doesn't feel as solid as the HP and Compaq. My coweorker bought it because of his frequent use of Maya 5, he wanted a quadro.
Lets just say after owning it for a month, the thing he complains the most about it is, that even for a metal chassis (I think the lid only) it creaks and is somewhat flimsy.

 

[jkresh]

now i am leaning toward the t41, I realise i am droping to 14 from 15.4 and loosing widescreen, but with the reliability issues i am hearing about with the dell, and warranty options with the hp/compaq, just not sure if it is worth it not to go with an ibm. Also it is likley to be my main notebook for only 1 year, as spring next year i will be starting my phd and in all likelyhood going 64bit for desktop and notebook (phd will be in bioinformatics/computational molecular biology). After that my dad will take it, so i want something that will last for a long time (meaning durable) and he wont realy miss the widescreen or 9600.

 

[pcimaging]

Well if you want a wide screen (17inch) at 1440 by 900 and you are not too concerned about wieght, 9.3 lbs you may want to look into a new HP Pavillion zd7000 series. I ordered one and am still waiting for it to get here. It has alot of different configuration options to choose from. Upto a 3.2 Ghz desktop processor running a 800Mhz FSB. They offer a 5400 rpm HD at upto 80 Gigs. 128 megs of video RAM using the Nvidia 5600GO. You can get the 2X or 4X DVD+RW/CDRW drive. 2 Gigs of DD RAM, Bluetooth, Firewire and 4 USB 2.0 ports are standard.This thing is really more of a desktop system inside a notebook case. It is said to run fairly hot although you have a good cooling system built in. It is one of these deals wher you can easily take it with you if necessary but it is more at home on a desk somewhere. I ordered one largely because I want to be able to eliminate my need for a desktop and compact portable and be able to have it all in one. I do want to take it with me on occasion but not regularly. And it will not be out dated anytime too soon. There are plenty of expandibility options including adding an additional Gig of RAM bringing it upto 2 Gigs. If need be at some point the HD can be replaced I believe with a 7200 rpm. I do nopt know if thats necessary. Anyone know how much improvement I might get in what area if I had a 7200 instead of the 5400? I do not know if this is a biggie or not. What do you all think.

 

[jkresh]

7200 rpm is a big improvement especially for games and video work. As the notebook will be used in class, for my thesis and while I am in my office (for office hours), and I already have a desktop the big machines are not what I am looking for, want something with solid battery life and reasonable portability, don?t really care about the weight, but battery life just isn?t good enough on the 17 inch ones (except for the power book which is out of my price range anyway).