Looking for a Laptop

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illuminate

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Nov 24, 2007
Messages
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I'm in the market for a laptop for college/getting started. I usually don't have any issues picking out computer-related stuff, but I'm really struggling with finding the right one. Yall's help would be greatly appreciated.

1. I will be flying a lot. I am doing 1 year of school here in South Korea, then going back stateside for the last 3, but my family will stay here in Korea. So, I will be going back and forth to visit and stuff. So, I'm not sure if a 15.4/6 -> 16in -> 17in would be too big.

2. It will be running Linux with a few VM's. So 4gb of ram is a must, as well as a decent processor 2.1ghz dual core at the lowest. ( I can upgrade the ram later, which I might, so if anyone can find something with a faster CPU with 2gb of ram, or 3, I'll look at that too, and I'll just upgrade the ram myself)

What I'm kinda fighting is the size. I can find a few that I like which have fast processors and 4gb of ram, but are 16in or so, and I really don't know where to go. And in regards to that... I watch 99% of my movies and TV shows on my computer, so that's why I'm hesitant about 13in-14in, and thinking about 16in+.

My budget is, if possible, under $800, but if I see something that i _really_ like for around $1000, I think I can do that.

Thanks for any help you can give!
 
13-inch MacBook?

You could pick up VMware Fusion and run Linux very well in a VM. You'd need to upgrade to 4GB of RAM, but it'll be pretty fast (2.26GHz Core 2 Duo, GeForce 9400M video) and it'll have very long battery life of up to about 7 hours (more like 6 real-world, but still great).

Plus, the Mac environment has some Unix roots, so you can fire up a bash terminal and feel more at home than you would in Windows.
 
I really like the T400. I'm going to look into that more.

I thought about a macbook(pro) but went against it. I am going to major in Graphics Design, and I plan on getting a mac pro when I start school.

Any other ideas?
 
linux? lots of travel? 800-1000?

i say lenovo t400 or t500 from the outlet
 
Lots of Thinkpad love. I'm really liking both the T400 and the T500. Now I have to choose which one. 14.1in or 15.4in.. hmm
 
I love my T61. Still looks and works like new 2 years after I bought it (except for when I forcibly ripped out my VGA jack by accident).
 
Do you plan on gaming at all with this laptop? Because the thinkpads suggested have ok cards in them (rated above my G210m on notebookcheck.com, and it runs games fine), but they only have 256 megs of vidram, so if gaming or video editing is on your top list, you can rule them out.

The T400 and T500 (on lenovo's site anyway) come with only 2gig of ram installed.. you could easily upgrade though because they are only one dimm, so adding another would be a cheap way to hit your 4 gig mark.

Have you ever seen a 16-17 inch laptop? It is pretty big.. and they usually aren't light either. Like someone said in another topic, 14-15.6 is the sweetspot for college life. and when you are sitting right with a 15 inch screen on the table in front of you, 15 doesn't seem so small. I just came from a 15.4 incher and it was almost too big, but keep in mind i used it primarily for library / lab homework, not as a primary computer. But that being said, i dont think i would want the screen bigger even if it was my primary comp.

You will be flying alot, so obviously battery life will be important to you. With the new intel CULV chips, battery concerns are a thing of the past. They will not, however, be 2.1 ghz though, so that is not an option for you i guess. I have never used virtual machines, but i can't believe they are that taxing!

So lets look for a laptop that hits all the sweetspots above:
*Powerful, quick CPU
*4 gigs of RAM
*Long Battery life
*Decent sized screen for multimedia enjoyment
*Possiblity of gaming (or using it for graphic design, like you mentioned)
Click to expand...

Here are some options I came up with:

Sony VGN-SR590 $990 US
*Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P7450 (2.13GHz)

*320GB SATA Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)

*4GB (2GBx2) DDR2-SDRAM-800

*ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4570 Graphics (512MB VRAM)

*13.3" Screen

*~6 hours battery life
Click to expand...
Not too shabby for a Sony :) That is a great combo of Processor and Video Card (the 4570 is rated, again, above my G210m). Unfortunately, it has a small screen. It is still an option though..

Sony VPCCW190X $855 US
*Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P7450 (2.13GHz)

*320GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)

*4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1066

*NVIDIA® GeForce® GT230M GPU (512MB VRAM)

*14" Screen

*~4 Hours of Battery Life
Click to expand...

Again, not bad for a sony! (usually they are pretty overpriced). That is a great gpu too, very powerful for light gaming and video editing (with CUDA)

HP dv6t $700 US
* • Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor P7450 (2.13GHz, 3 MB L2 Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
* • 4GB DDR3 RAM (2 Dimm)
* • 500GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
* • Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
* • 15.6" Screen
~4 hours of battery life
Click to expand...

This is a pretty good deal if you are not looking for 7 hour battery life and gaming possibilties.

HP dv6t Quad Series $1000 US
* • Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-720QM Processor (1.6GHz, 6MB L2 Cache, 1333MHz FSB)
* • 4GB DDR3 Ram
* •320GB 7200RPM Hard Drive
* • 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 230M
* • 15.6"screen
~3 hours battery life maybe?
Click to expand...

Great option here if you are looking for raw horsepower :) That i7 cpu will blaze a trail through linux on the VM's :) and the gpu is great for casual gaming! Not the best battery life (i assume), but i didn't find any numbers on hp's site after a quick glance.

Dell Studio XPS 16 $1079 US
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P7450 (3MB cache/2.13GHz/1066Mhz FSB)
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1067MHz (2 Dimms)
250GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
ATI Mobility RADEON® HD 3670 - 512MB
84 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
15.6" Screen
~6 hours with bigger battery?
Click to expand...

A great offering from dell. Powerful computer with the extra 3 cells the9 cell battery offers. The Price is a little high though..

Dell Studio 15 $884 US
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P7450 (2.13GHz/1066Mhz FSB/3MB cache)
4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 800MHz
Size: 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
512MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570
15.6” screen
~5 hours Battery life
Click to expand...

Not bad, a little cheaper :)

A couple great deals from Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834157061&Tpk=34-157-061
-Great price for a decent laptop!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146613
-Powerhouse! battery life might not be great though.

Check out this search:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&Order=RATING

and browse!

The laptops i listed above are just a scraping off the top of what is out there! Do lots of research! Make sure to check out Asus. They really came through for me, and their warranty is pretty much unbeatable (free 1 year accidental + 2 year parts, labor, and shipping).

The best part of doing all these crazy amounts of research is that when you get the right one, you know it, and when you get it, its a great feeling!

Hope that helps :)
 
The only gaming I do/intend on doing is CS:S and TF2. I checked different sites, and the card in the T400 will play both fine.

Yes, that is something i really liked about the T400/500: The 1DIMM instead of 1gb x2. That will be a really simple upgrade if I go with it.

Yes, I have seen and used a 16-17in laptop. They are rather large. I currently have a 15.4in Dell B130, and my mother has a Toshiba Quosmio 15.4in.Both are beasts. I also sued my friends 17in Toshiba for about a week and was sick of it, it's just too heavy.
Like i mentioned above, I have a Dell B130 with a 15.4in screen, So, if I _really_ want a bigger screen, I can use that.

Yes, battery life is a must. At the minimum, 3-4 hours. I was thinking, if i get the T400, of getting the 9cell with it.

And VM's are rather taxing on the battery. My mother has a 13.3in mbp @ 2.53ghz. She usually gets 4-5 hours on battery, but with a vm running it goes down under 2 hours.


I really like the first 2 choices from Sony. I've looked at their stuff, but the CPU speed is the _only_ thing pushing me away currently. Oh, and with that first one, 13.3in is okay with me.
I actually contemplated the 12in Thinkpad X200 (non-tablet) but decided not to.

15.6in is just too big. With traveling + Classes, I would prefer small(er).

How does the CPU in the laptop in this thread compare? http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1471899

I seem to have missed something with the new cpu line or something. Last i heard/read, there were the Atom processors for netbooks, and then Dualcore stuff for desktops and higher-end laptops.

Oh, and I might add, the computer will be running Linux 99% of the time, and as the main OS. The VM's that I will be running will be Windows 7, and some light photoshop work. (gimp just don't quite cut it, but that's for another thread, another time)

Thanks for your help and that ULTRA informative post.
 
That Cpu you referenced is the one i have in my ul80vt from asus. While it is super snappy for me, i don't know if it is suited to your particular situation. It is quite noticably faster than the atom offerings (ancient!) but has nothing except the power draw on the t and p series core 2 duo's. It will get you longer battery life, but you won't get the performance in the vm's like you want.

The cpu on the both the sony's is definitely upgradable

same model as the first one, only a little boost in the cpu department :

Sony VGN-SR590 $1050 US
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor P8700 (2.53GHz)

320GB SATA Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)

4GB (2GBx2) DDR2-SDRAM-800

ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4570 Graphics (512MB VRAM)

13.3" screen

~6 hours Battery life
Click to expand...

Within your price range (borrow the 50 bucks if you have too)


That being said, if you are set on the T400, Go for it! just make sure you are sure :)
 
The right choice imo would be the t400, mainly because of the international warranty, you should check to see if Lenovo offer repairs in South Korea. I know they are all over North America.
 
illuminate said:
hm, I like that Sony.

What do you think about this dell:
http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/note.../pd.aspx?refid=laptop-inspiron-14&s=dhs&cs=19

The 3rd one? I did a build on there, and got pretty much everything i want for $869ish. Thoughts?
(4gb ram, wireless n, 320gb hdd, 2.53ghz)
Click to expand...

Well, i couldn't find a video card listing on that one, so you would be working with the Intel 4500hd. I don't think that could handle tf2, but css would be fine.

I would spend a little more on the video card so if a game came out you really wanted to try (even in a year or 2) you could. Just my 2 cents though.
 
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