Eurocom, Alienware, or IBM?

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jodathmorr

Weaksauce
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Jul 2, 2004
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Well I'm a month and a half into my college career as a journalism major/politics minor and one thing I have learned thus far is that I want a laptop! Right now I have a very snazzy desktop which I built and upgraded some and I figured I would be happy with a desktop, but I find it very limiting since I must be in my room to use it. I am hopping from place to place and I find myself in my room less and less and I think a laptop would be a very good investment. I am however not a huge fan of laptops because they can be bulky, expensive, and aren't the greatest for the types of things I like to do such as game, do graphics and web design, program, and make music. Therefore I have started to look at some systems that can do the types of things I want it to do and still be portible. My criteria are as follows:

Must have a 12"-13" screen, no bigger (this is my biggest concern)
Must have atleast a 2ghz processor (2nd biggest)
Must be 1.5" or under thick
Must weigh between 2-6 lbs
Price is not a big deal (within reason obviously)
Must look snappy : )
Must be solidly built
Must have a good sized, comfortible keyboard

I think I have narrowed my search down to the following:

#1. IBM T42 ($2,400ish)
#2. Eurocomm Voyager ($2,300ish)
#3. Alienware Sentia ($2,300ish)

I am very keen on the IBM T42 because of it's full sized keyboard, the look and feel of the machine, and the fact that IBM makes some very good products. The only things I don't like is the fact that it is a 1.7ghz processor, the price is way more than another brand with the same configuration, and the screen is 14" which is much bigger than what I want (12" preferably). I can probably get the price down some more but I like how I configured it with the $2,400 pricetag. The Eurocomm is a close second because it has a 12" screen, 2ghz processor, and also looks nice but it does pale in comparison to the IBM and IBM makes some good good computers.

I need help with this decision!

Should I wait a few more months? WIll there be some new 12"-13" laptops comming up, maybe one I could pass off as a holiday gift? Idealy I want the following machine that can do the following things:

Pentium 4 2.5Ghz, 512MB RAM, 40GB Hard Drive, 12" Screen, DVD Burner, Wireless, Solid construction and good looking

I want a computer where I can do the above tasks (graphics and music) and a computer on which I can do some pretty good 3d gaming when I have the urge. I don't care if it can't run Doom3 but some GTA3 or UT2004 would be nice.

Anyway I am rambling. I want to know if I should wait or look into purchasing a laptop like this soon. Can I expect newer laptops with better specs in the near future or are they still a few years off? Whats IBM up to in the 12"-14" department? Help!
 
IBM has 12in laptops in their X-Series, the only drawbacks of that compared to the T-Series is that you're prolly gonna have a ULV or LV Dothan that is significantly weaker than a regular one, no optical drive, and pretty shitty graphics (the X31 has a 16mb Mobility Radeon, an M6 i think, and the X40 which is smaller has integrated graphics). I don't think you understand what the Pentium M line is all about. The Pentium M is as fast/faster than a much higher clocked P4/P4-M and use alot less power. A very general rule of thumb is that a you would multiply the clockspeed of a P-M by 1.5 to get an equivalent performing P4-M. So that P-M 1.7 would perform as well as a 2.6ghz P4-M.
 
Oh snap! Your kidding me! I feel stupid now :). I knew they were low voltage and better performance but I didn't know by that much! That makes me feel a little better about getting a laptop now, but I still need a good "desktop replacement" laptop but at the same time have it be portible and have a small screen. I could live with a thicker laptop with all the good stuff mushed in there, I just really want a small screen because I am paranoid about my work on my laptop and I want it to be portible. I want to be able to take "my life" anywhere.
 
jodathmorr said:
Oh snap! Your kidding me! I feel stupid now :). I knew they were low voltage and better performance but I didn't know by that much! That makes me feel a little better about getting a laptop now, but I still need a good "desktop replacement" laptop but at the same time have it be portible and have a small screen. I could live with a thicker laptop with all the good stuff mushed in there, I just really want a small screen because I am paranoid about my work on my laptop and I want it to be portible. I want to be able to take "my life" anywhere.
Click to expand...
I have a 14" T42p, and it is the "textbook that gets used the most." It is lighter than my calculus textbook, and really fits well just about anywhere. I have seen some students here that have the X40, and I think that it is just way too small to really do anything on, I'd kill anyone if they tried to mess with my keyboard its that good.

As far as build quality and looks, I know some people think the thinkpads look bland and ugly, but I disagree. I love the simplicity of it, its unobtrusive in class or really any environment, not like the "hay look at me" alienware. The case is made of a magnesium alloy, which just feels much stronger than plastic, and the hinges are metal (I'm pretty discriminating, and I can feel the difference in the hinges versus some of the plastic dells Ive used).

As AsianFury said, the general rule of thumb is 1.5x for banias and 1.65x for Dothans, so you are getting significantly more power than the Eurocom.

Plus, battery life. I have the 9 cell battery, and I was able to watch the first 2 LOTR on a plane ride up to montana this summer on a single charge... I have yet to hear of a P4M chip do that.
 
inc said:
I have a 14" T42p, and it is the "textbook that gets used the most." It is lighter than my calculus textbook, and really fits well just about anywhere. I have seen some students here that have the X40, and I think that it is just way too small to really do anything on, I'd kill anyone if they tried to mess with my keyboard its that good.

As far as build quality and looks, I know some people think the thinkpads look bland and ugly, but I disagree. I love the simplicity of it, its unobtrusive in class or really any environment, not like the "hay look at me" alienware. The case is made of a magnesium alloy, which just feels much stronger than plastic, and the hinges are metal (I'm pretty discriminating, and I can feel the difference in the hinges versus some of the plastic dells Ive used).

As AsianFury said, the general rule of thumb is 1.5x for banias and 1.65x for Dothans, so you are getting significantly more power than the Eurocom.

Plus, battery life. I have the 9 cell battery, and I was able to watch the first 2 LOTR on a plane ride up to montana this summer on a single charge... I have yet to hear of a P4M chip do that.
Click to expand...

QFT

<3 my T42 w/ 9 cell
 
Well, then here is a question. Would you be able to call the T42 a serious desktop replacement? This is what I am concerned about (other than screen size), that I will be happy with my purchase and not long for a desktop while I'm using my laptop. Remember I plan to get rid of my desktop in order to purchase one of these laptops so I really want to make the right decision before I commit myself. Are there things the T42 is weak on?
 
Take a look at the Sony Vaio S170. You can customize it on their site, and then phone in to see if your school gets an educational discount. I ordered a machine for roughly $1700 configured with:

Celeron-M 1.4ghz
256mb Ram
40gb HDD
Mobility Radeon 9700 w/ xbrite screen
802.11g/bluetooth
DVD-CDRW

And then I spent some money to upgrade it:

$129 for an additional 512mb of ram to bring the total to 768
$130 for a Hitachi 60GB 7200 RPM 8mb cache hdd (best laptop hdd you can buy).

Eventually, I will be spending roughly $250 to upgrade to a Dothan 1.7ghz chip (yes, this can be done). It's much cheaper to do it yourself, but if you're not comfortable working on a laptop you can always configure it from Sony.

The laptop weighs about 4.2 pounds with a 13.3'' wxga screen. It looks amazing...very stylish. I highly recommend that you take a look at it.
 
I don't think a Celeron would be the best choice for me for the things I want to do with my computer (again an almost desktop replacement). I also hear that the Vaios don't give the best bang for their buck out there. I think I'm pretty set on an IBM at the moment however. Does anyone know if there is a good alternative to getting an IBM? I mean I don't want to go through IBM to buy it. Can I find them preconfigured for cheap on any good reputible distributors online?
 
well if you don't mind building, you can get some sweet deals on barebones systems and then get exactly what you want...for less
 
jodathmorr said:
I don't think a Celeron would be the best choice for me for the things I want to do with my computer (again an almost desktop replacement). I also hear that the Vaios don't give the best bang for their buck out there. I think I'm pretty set on an IBM at the moment however. Does anyone know if there is a good alternative to getting an IBM? I mean I don't want to go through IBM to buy it. Can I find them preconfigured for cheap on any good reputible distributors online?
Click to expand...

No, vaio's don't give you the best bang for your buck at all. You said price wasn't too much of a concern though. You can configure/upgrade the vaio up to a 2.0 dothan chip.
 
Czar, I've looked around at building my own system but I can't find a good place to get a barebones laptop. I've only seen one Asus one and it was 15". Where do you suggest I look for some?
 
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