I need a laptop

[matt_j]

I'm looking for a small laptop. Screen has to be 12.1 and smaller with at least 512 ram and dvdr/cdrr combod drive.

I'm outside my house 5 days at the time and need a machine that I can take with me on the ambulance. As much as I love the big 15/14 inch screens I really hate the bulk of it. After all I'm the one draging that thing around. I was looking at Sony t150s, Fujitsu 7010, Dells 700c and others. Got any preferences or ideas? I want to stay under 1500 for used or new. I will be doing general photo editing, web programming and regular junk you do on your computer. If by any chance I can steal somebodys wireless connection I will be benefiting CPF with my boring posts /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

And no I can't get mac (as much as I love them). Why? I can get all the software for pc but not for mac.

Matt

 

[paulr]

I'm pretty happy with my Thinkpad X40. It's the smallest machine (just under 3 lb) that has a full sized keyboard. It has long battery life and the 1.2 ghz Pentium M (Centrino) CPU is fast enough for me. I paid 1200 for it refurb (1 year IBM factory warranty) and you can get them for a bit less than that these days, or 1400 or so new.

 

[nethiker]

I second the x40. Great keyboard, fit and finish.

Greg

 

[Brlux]

I have an Averatec 3220 which I live. It is 4 Lbs and has a 12.1 screen. it is smaller than a text book. I just throw it in my back pack and I don't know that it is there. Averatec makes an excelent micro laptop for the price.

It is on sale at circuit city right now for $950 + $200 in rebates which brings it down to $750 and that is with 80Gb HD, 512 ram, DVD+- Burner, and Integrated wireless G.
Link
I love mine and would recomend it to anyone.

 

[sloegin]

Asus S5N. Asus M5. Sony S-360, with a 9700 GPU.

 

[lahjik]

I can say that I have my Dell 700m sitting on one side of my desktop and my wife's Fujitsu lifebook on the other. She has one of the slightly older iterations of the 7000 style, and loves it. I am very happy with my Dell 700m. Both that and the current Fujitsus are almost exactly the same (internal optical up to DVD burner, 1GB+ of RAM, SD card reader, etc. I love the wide aspect screen for both word processing and movie watching as it makes the screen seem larger. They both have a very nice screen that trades anti-glare for a much crisper picture.

I think you would be happy with either one of those two, but a more realistic price point for either would be closer to $3,000 once RAM is upped and warrenties are applied.

 

[TimAckerman]

If you want to go with a Windows Box then i would suggest you look at IBM first, they are a great company with very good products, and Sony doesn't have bad stuff either.

However if you want something MUCH better then Windows get an Apple iBook. I have a PowerBook and switching from Windows to Apple was one of the best things i have done!! You won't regret it at all, and it takes virtually no time to learn the new OS, took me a couple hours if that!

So yea, Apple iBook!!

 

[Eugene]

Apple users are the main reason I don't like Apple /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Even though he can't use an Apple yuo still insist its his best choice. The choice between Apple/Windows PC really is an apple/oranges thing, you really can't substitute one for the other, they both break standards in their own way /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
Since your going to use it as a laptop and not a desktop stay away from the consumer/retail lines such as the Inspiron, Presario, Pavilion. Those are usually made a bit cheaper, tend to have the desktop cpu's and will not have as good as support and warranty. Stick with the Latitude, Evo, etc which are the business line and designed to stand up to being carried about daily. Toshiba also has different consumer and business models but I can't remember which ones are which, I did some service on their consumer lines as we had one customer that bought a few and each one required 3-4 service calls per year.
For the $1500 price limit you may have trouble getting a Sony or IBM thought the extra you pay for either doesn't really make that much of a difference, working in a service center I didn't see either being any more reliable than the Compaq/HP/Dell for the extra you pay for them (Sony and Apple were the two worst in reliability that I have seen out of the tier 1 brands, Gateway and Winbook/Jetbook are even worse but I didn't work with many of the Tier two to tell if they were better or worse than the rest of the tier two brands).
I've had many laptops over the years (and supported/repaired many many more) and currently my picks would be either Compaq Evo and Dell Latitude, those two have the longest track record of being the most reliable and longest lasting as far as I can remember (I've been fixing laptops back to a couple 286 ones)

 

[matt_j]

[ QUOTE ]
TimAckerman said:
If you want to go with a Windows Box then i would suggest you look at IBM first, they are a great company with very good products, and Sony doesn't have bad stuff either.

However if you want something MUCH better then Windows get an Apple iBook. I have a PowerBook and switching from Windows to Apple was one of the best things i have done!! You won't regret it at all, and it takes virtually no time to learn the new OS, took me a couple hours if that!

So yea, Apple iBook!!

[/ QUOTE ]

I have about $3000 worth of software for windows but none of that stuff would work on mac so I'm kinda stuck with windows machine.

 

[James S]

Eugene, I don't know what to say /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif I'm an Apple user who was also going to suggest that he look into the IBM's...

And anyway, since you brought it up /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif, besides an investment in software you most certainly can exchange the 2 as far as functionality. Most companies offer sideways upgrades too to get the Mac version of their software for minimal costs, and most Mac software companies offer a competitive upgrade price for those coming from other software on the PC.

So it isn't free to switch, but it's hardly like coughing up all the cash for all your software all over again.

I'm sure that Matt has paid for all his software, but it's true that it's much easier to get pirate copies of windows software than Mac software. I often hear this as a reason why someone doesn't want to try something new.

I agree the Latitude is getting good press, my personal experience backs that up, but I've only ever used the larger ones and not the smaller screened models. I have a friend who has carried his older Mac powerbook on the ambulance with him constantly for years borrowing wireless connections wherever he finds them. My main advise you probably know /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Get a really good case! He also rigged up a passive repeater system with an antenna outside the cab and another inside. Otherwise the metal box of the vehicle made getting a decent signal a real pain.

 

[Saaby]

Sorry, another sideways Apple comment since we're a little off on that subject..

If you do end up looking at Apples, the iBooks are pretty powerful and have much better battery life as well as better wireless reception.


Back to the PC side of things, we just got my brother-in-law a Dell Latitude for Christmas. In looking for a PC laptop I found out that, unfortunately (Because of cost) the IBM X40 is about the only PC sub-laptop worth owning. The Dell one has a crappy keyboard, although it's been 3 months so that may have changed.

With PC, I'd stick with a Pentium "M" processor, but don't think you have to get Centrino. Centrino just means Pentium M + Intel Wireless Chipset. The Dell wireless chipset is cheaper and actually funcitons better, but you do loose that "Centrino" sticker.

 

[KevinL]

Based on your requirements you probably want an ultralight laptop. Most of these come with external optical drive (DVD/CDRW/DVD writer, etc.etc.) that you can leave behind or take with you depending on your needs. They are generally around 3 pounds.

If you do go for a Dell, get their Latitude D400 series. I have had much better experiences with the Latitudes, not least of all I get priority support, which has enabled me to bypass extremely long hold times and get someone who knows what they're doing in just 2 rings (couldn't believe it either, thought it was their IVR system at first!)

The IBM X-series ultralight laptops are very nice as well.

Just a word of caution about wireless hotspots - treat them as insecure. Don't do anything sensitive or enter passwords over them because it is trivial for someone else to pick them up. Boring CPF folks is ok /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif Email may or may not be ok depending on whether your connection is SSL-secured, and how sensitive you deem your email to be.

 

[matt_j]

So after some thinking I went with dell 700m. 12 inch screen, 512 of ram and dvd write 40 gig HD. It came up to be $1150 with dells $300 instant discount but I searched the web and found coupon for additional $200 so this laptop came out to be $949 including shipping. I guess it is a good deal. Thank you all for your help.

 

[Nitroz]

A Panasonic toughbook would have been good for getting bang around the ambulance. This is what they use in the ambulance at CHOA.

 

[matt_j]

We have those too but money is always an issue for civil servant's private purchases.

 

[Nitroz]

I understand. But you guys are golden and worth every penny. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/happy14.gif Imagine what life would be like without people like you to perform such duties.

 

[KevinL]

[ QUOTE ]
matt_j said:
So after some thinking I went with dell 700m. 12 inch screen, 512 of ram and dvd write 40 gig HD. It came up to be $1150 with dells $300 instant discount but I searched the web and found coupon for additional $200 so this laptop came out to be $949 including shipping. I guess it is a good deal. Thank you all for your help.

[/ QUOTE ]

Congratulations, well done! The Latitude D400 was $1300+ on their website, and that's after a $100 rebate and before you add on all the nice extras like RAM and optical drives.

 

[tech]

Congrats, my wife travels for work a lot, so her Dell 300 or 400 is perfect for her...
It's late now, but I would avoid IBM just because no one knows if they are going to stay in the laptop business or not... they just sold the PC business to a Chinese company, and laptops might go with it.

 

[Eugene]

Uh, Oh, the 700m is an Inspiron, cancel that order, it won't hold up to what you want, get the latitude.