(Another) Laptop Purchasing Advice Thread

M

movax

2[H]4U
Joined
Aug 12, 2005
Messages
3,679
Backstory:

My venerable Dell Latitude D600 has started dying...the first DIMM slot is defective, and requires constant pressure on the DIMM for the machine to boot, and using a piece of rubber to hold it down w/ the slot results in a laptop that will hardlock - frequently. I'm running it on a single 256MB DIMM right now.

Question here, really viable to run this machine on a single 1GB DIMM in the second slot? How much perf do I lose with single-channel? Note that 1GB would be a jump over the currently installed 2x256.

Full specs:
1.7 P-M Banias (whatever the 400FSB is)
Intel 8xx (400FSB chipset, so no pin-mod)
32MB Radeon 9000
1400x1050 Screen
160gb IDE HDD

So, now my questions/criteria about a new lappy:

Battery Life
Are there any C2D lappies that can get around 10 hours of battery life with Wi-Fi on, using a combination of regular battery slot + modular bay battery? I enjoy being able to take the D600 around anywhere and pretty much leave it on from first class of the day to the last, and then dock it all without shutting down once. Or should I be looking to purchase a used Core Duo laptop (Core Duo is two Pentium M cores squashed together, right?) for battery life? This is probably my biggest concern...

Other
Dell - preferable, I have a D-Series docking station that I would like to keep using
Dell - NOT an Inspiron/Vostro whatever. I hate the white plastic looks, and also, seems like EVERYONE has one.
Screen - nothing less than 1440x900/1050; if its another D600/D610, I can reuse my high-screen. Also, <17", 17 is waaay too big for me.
RAM - must be DDR2 (should be easy) so I can drop in 2 or 4GB of RAM.
CPU - prefer something 64-bit capable, but that might be a long shot with above reqs, since I think C2D was first 64-bit capable laptop CPU from intel's camp?
Price - ~$1100, willing to go +200 or so. Extended batteries can get expensive.

I had some other thoughts floating around in my head, I'll post as I remember 'em.
 
It is viable to run that laptop with a single 1GB DIMM. The performance loss from going with single channel is only 5% or so. Barely noticeable. So definitely get 1GB of RAM.

As for whether or not there's a C2D laptop that matches your requirements, no idea. Haven't kept up on the latest laptops. And no, a Core Duo is not two Pentium M cores squashed together. For battery life, a C2D is a better choice since they're slightly more energy efficient than the Core Duos. Also, the C2D was one of the first 64bit mobile CPUs released by Intel.
 
The simple answer is that you're looking at another Latitude, in this case the D630; it's pretty rare to find a system which has the CPU and other characteristics of a normal notebook but which can last for so long on an extended battery (Dell claims 9.4 hours). Custom-order it with the 1440x900 (WXGA+) and 9-cell battery options and you'll definitely meet your target, though I'd also be sure to add in the DVD burner as well.

If you can, opt for the dedicated graphics option, too; Vista thirsts for dedicated 3D, and it will help out even if if you don't care about gaming or pro rendering work.
 
Yeah, forgot to mention that currently I get 9 hours with Wi-Fi on active (constant RDP connection) and around 11 hours without, using the extended battery + media bay batt.

Does the D630 still have the D-Series modular bay or no? Seems like the entire formfactor of the chassis jumped between D610/D620, or is that just when they went widescreen? With the 9-cell + reusing modular batt, I'm pretty sure I could at least compromise with 7-8 hours of battery life (modular bay batts are cheap, I could buy another one).

The reason I am wary of C2D lappies is either every single one I've used/seen has bad battery life either from an abused battery, SpeedStep off, or they're like...4-cell. They all seemed to average 3 hours which seemed way off to me for technology that is 5 years newer than mine.

How much of a hit do discrete chips put on the batt? I think Lattitudes use the Quadro NVS. I remember talking to a friend who had the Vaio model which could switch between an integrated Intel & discrete nVidia, and switching to discrete knocked his batt life down around two hours. (the idea of two gfx was cool, but being Sony, it was like 2.5k :( ) *EDIT* Fixed holy wall of text
 
movax said:
Does the D630 still have the D-Series modular bay or no? Seems like the entire formfactor of the chassis jumped between D610/D620, or is that just when they went widescreen?
Click to expand...
That's when they went widescreen.
The reason I am wary of C2D lappies is either every single one I've used/seen has bad battery life either from an abused battery, SpeedStep off, or they're like...4-cell. They all seemed to average 3 hours which seemed way off to me for technology that is 5 years newer than mine.
Click to expand...
First, C2D is a lot better with power than AMD's current offerings. Second, battery technology advances at a glacial pace compared with computer technology.
 
Hmm, yeah, double checked that the modular bay battery I have (and got cheap, plentiful on Ebay) works with the D630; was thrown off because its bright silver, and I thought the lappies turned gray. Now the only question remaining is...drop coin on a new lappy, or get a 1GB stick for $50 for the one working DIMM slot in my D600... Thanks for the help Arainach & Danny Bui, much appreciated :)
 
If your current laptop is working fine for ya, then get the 1GB upgrade. If you feel thtat your current laptop will still be slow, even with a 1GB upgrade, then get a new laptop.

And Arainach is right about C2Ds and batteries. While there has been major advancements in battery technology, very few have made their way to laptops.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top