Laptop recommendations needed!

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  • Ten 99
    Senior Member
    • Apr 2004
    • 133

    Laptop recommendations needed!

    Hello all.

    I (or rather my wife) is in the market for a new laptop. She has had Dell Latitudes for her last two laptops, and they have been good, but not spectacular. There have been a few probs with both of them, but nothing too horrible.

    I know that Jon recently got a new Compaq. Jon, can you tell me the pros and cons of the laptop you purchased, and what made you go after the Compaq?

    I've also seen a few Toshibas and Sonys that have looked nice. I know that IBM Thinkpads have a great reputation for durability, but not sure about other things.

    I know that if I don't specify the requirements and uses of the laptop, it will be hard to make recommendations.

    Durability - if it were going to be used by me, this wouldn't be such a big deal, because I can baby things pretty good. My wife on the other hand isn't barbaric with the laptop, just that she doesn't take quite the same care that I would. (Same goes with the car).

    Dependability - don't want a machine that has lots of glitches or problems, or pathetic service should a small problem arise. I do understand that we're talking about notebooks here.

    Screen - really wanting a widescreen, with the Xbrite type of technology here. I like the hard cover over the screen that I see on the Sony and Toshiba (but this isn't a do or die thing).

    Speed - obviously it doesn't have to blaze a trail, but it needs to be pretty decent in speed and serve her well for 2-3 years minimum. I am clueless as to whether an AMD 64 or Intel chip would be better to look at.

    Drives - I would like it if it had a minimum of 60GB, and a DVD writer would be nice for backups.

    Wireless - We have a wireless G setup at home, but she "plugs in" at the office. We also have Bluetooth capable phones, but having BT isn't a must. I have a $25 BT USB dongle on this home PC.


    Thanks for any and all suggestions. I know desktop PCs pretty good, but I'm not the most up-to-date for notebooks, nor do I know where to find good info to compare them on the net.
  • aud19
    Twin Moderator Emeritus
    • Aug 2003
    • 16706

    #2
    Sony and Toshiba Laptops are great but they are fairly $$$, still you get what you pay for right?

    The only thing I don't "like" about the Toshiba/Sony models is (the last time I checked) they didn't offer AMD processors which I personally much prefer over Intel. If that's changed, that's awesome.

    I ordered an e-Machine's laptop for my company with an AMD processor and "widescreen" about 6 months ago. It's taken some decent "abuse" as it gets shared and has worked flawlessly since day 1. Very nice machine :T I'd likely buy an e-Machine if in the market for a laptop today.
    Jason

    Comment

    • Azeke
      Super Senior Member
      • Mar 2003
      • 2123

      #3
      This URL may help:



      Good luck,

      Azeke

      Comment

      • Andrew Pratt
        Moderator Emeritus
        • Aug 2000
        • 16507

        #4
        It largely depends on what you need it for power wise. The centrino chips aren't going to offer the raw power the AMD64's do but they'll last a long time on battery power and are light and portable. My next laptop will be a centrino for that reason but there are cases where the power might be nice (video encoding or game playing etc).

        As for brands I own a Dell now and its been ok with the exception of a design problem with the CPU heatsink. That caused a host of problems that involved Dell's tech support sending their techs over numerous times replacing every part with the exception of the screen and the DVD-rom drive! Anyway although that was a long drawn out and frustrating process they did keep on it and its been fine since then. If I had the money though I'd buy an IBM. They're what we use at work and are simply in another league compared to the Toshiba's, Sonys and Dells etc.

        Comment

        • Shane Martin
          Super Senior Member
          • Apr 2001
          • 2852

          #5
          Aud,
          You are correct that Toshiba and Sony still haven't changed to the AMD64. The counterpoint to that is what Andrew brought up regarding battery life etc.

          FWIW, I own a Gateway laptop. No issues thus far. I think we paid $1k for it a little over a year ago. The only issues I have with it tend to be the loud fan and lack of ram(fixable). They don't use amd64's either though.

          That all said, My father in law and friend both have Toshibas and love them. No issues whatsoever and run fantastic.

          All my geek buddies are buying these:

          Comment

          • junior77blue
            Senior Member
            • Nov 2004
            • 635

            #6
            Apple Powerbook or iBook? Have to throw it out there, just recently making the switch last year! I've been a LONG time windows user and so far haven't regretted switching. Except for the amount of money invested...

            Comment

            • JonMarsh
              Mad Max Moderator
              • Aug 2000
              • 15261

              #7
              I bought a Compaq R3000Z series machine which is considered by HP to be a Desknote; that is, a desktop replacement with limited mobility.

              One thing seperating it from most Desknotes (which typically use P4 or Celeron Intel processors) is that the AMD64 has pretty decent power management- better in fact than the mobile Athlons, and as a result, on the full size battery, I can run 4 hours playing back DVD's, and 5 hours or more doing normal work. (mine is a PR3000+ A64). The Sony desknote I bought my daughter recently (used) using a P4 mobile will only run about 2 hours for normal work on a full size batter, and about 1 hour playing back DVD. I gues their power managment, especially CPU throttling, isn't very good.

              I bought mine on a labor day sale at Best Buy, on sale, with rebates, and price after rebates was about $1049. I haven't seen them that inexpensive in a while. I'm something of a cheapskate, as I build all my desktop systems, and I have too many PC"s for various tasks, and have to keep the price down.

              You can custom order this model with varying levels of capabilities from Compaq, and also from some other resellers, like Computers4Sure, or CostCo. Mine has 60 GB HD, the standrard 1280X800 widescreen display, a DVD+/-RW drive, 512K of RAM, and Wireless G built in. The list price was about $1400. If I had a bit more loot sitting around and wasn't spending so much on drivers these days, I'd like to have a custom version of this laptop with the 3700+ rated processor, 1 GB of RAM, a 100GB HD, a dual layer DVD burner, wireless G and bluetooth built in, and the 1600X1050 widescreen display- that would push things up to about $1700. But that's a heck of a machine compared to what you can get from Sony or Toshiba for that kind of money. I saw a Sony desknote I liked, with a Pentium M processor, 80 GB HD, 512 MB of RAM, DVD burner (not dual layer), 17" widescreen, and it was $2700. Ouch....

              BTW, Sony's are built pretty well, especially the more expensive models. The Compaq is built a bit like a tank, too- no flexible flyer keyboards like Dell is fond of. We had been using Dell at work for a year and a half, and we've had so many reliability problems and recalls that they've switched back to IBM. IBM is good for business users, but doesn't have the features (like widescreens) that many consumers like.


              Just my $0.02.

              ~Jon
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              • Andrew Pratt
                Moderator Emeritus
                • Aug 2000
                • 16507

                #8
                The Sony desknote I bought my daughter recently (used) using a P4 mobile will only run about 2 hours for normal work on a full size batter, and about 1 hour playing back DVD. I gues their power managment, especially CPU throttling, isn't very good.
                Jon that sounds like the battery isn't holding a charge very well. My 2.53GHz P4 will last about 4 hours for normal work...not sure about watching dvd's but I'd expect it to last longer then an hour. I know it throttles back the CPU quiet a bit when on battery power so maybe its a setting that's either not working or isnt' set right in her power management settings?

                Comment

                • ThomasW
                  Moderator Emeritus
                  • Aug 2000
                  • 10934

                  #9
                  I have the same laptop as Jon (it was a steal @$1049) and give it :T :T

                  I do like the processing power of the Athlon 64.

                  I suggest avoiding the Xbrite screens. They look really cool on display, but have a tremendous problem with glare.

                  IB subwoofer FAQ page


                  "Complicated equipment and light reflectors and various other items of hardware are enough, to my mind, to prevent the birdie from coming out." ...... Henri Cartier-Bresson

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                  • aud19
                    Twin Moderator Emeritus
                    • Aug 2003
                    • 16706

                    #10
                    Thanks John for mentioning the AMD 64's relatively low power usage. Personally I'd take the AMD64's far superior processing and equivelant power usage over the Centrino any day.

                    FYI the model we got 6-8months ago was the eMachines M5313:
                    Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
                    Mobile AMD Athlonâ„¢ XP-M 2500+ Processor
                    Quantispeedâ„¢ Architecture operates at 1.87GHz
                    266 MHz Front Side Bus and 512K L2 Cache
                    512 MB DDR PC 2100 SO-DIMM
                    8-cell Lithium-ion
                    60 GB
                    CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive
                    15.4" Widescreen TFT LCD WXGA (1280 x 800 max. resolution)
                    ATI® Mobility RADEON™ 320M
                    64 MB DDR shared video memory
                    PC2001 Compliant AC '97 Audio
                    Built-in Stereo Speakers
                    802.11g wireless (up to 54Mbps); 10/100Mbps Ethernet
                    56K* ITU V.92 Fax/Modem
                    Synaptics with vertical scroll zone
                    3 USB 2.0 ports, 1 IEEE 1394, 1 VGA connector, 1 S-Video Out, 1 Parallel, Microphone In, Headphone/Audio Out, 1 PCMCIA Slot (Type I, II, CardBus)
                    1.36"h x 14.0"w x 10.0"d
                    6.6 lbs. (7.75 total travel weight)

                    We paid about $1400 Canadian 6-8 months ago. I'd imagine you could easily pick one up for +/- $1000 US now if you could find one. Though I would recommend spending the extra money for the AMD64 if you can fit it in your budget.
                    Jason

                    Comment

                    • Evil Twin
                      Super Senior Member
                      • Nov 2004
                      • 1531

                      #11
                      Originally posted by Andrew Pratt
                      Jon that sounds like the battery isn't holding a charge very well. My 2.53GHz P4 will last about 4 hours for normal work...not sure about watching dvd's but I'd expect it to last longer then an hour. I know it throttles back the CPU quiet a bit when on battery power so maybe its a setting that's either not working or isnt' set right in her power management settings?

                      Her GR 680V has two batteries, one we bought brand new for it; both behave the same. I used it a couple of weeks to suss out the power management for her; Sony uses a custom program interface besides the normal Windows setting; you can tweak display brightness settings for batter, HD spin up/spin down, all kinds of things- but nothing to affect CPU speed or power. In fact, you have to be careful to keep this series clean because if any dust gets in they overheat quickly. Also, Sony warns, and I verified by trying some SPICE simulations and Windows Media 9 HD playback, that they won't run at full CPU speed or power for very long- the fan maxes out, then after a few minutes, it shuts down. The bottom of the case was always very warm after running a while, due to power dissipation from the Intel CPU.

                      The eMachines standard mobile Athlon would get moderately warm on the bottom, though not nearly as hot as the P4 in the Sony.

                      The A64 hardly ever gets discernably warm- usually the bottom is just room temperature. Quite a difference. MA hour ratings of the batteries in the Sony, eMachines, and the "full size" battery for the Compaq are very similar, in the 4000 mAhour rating region.

                      For anyone getting one of these Presario's, the larger battery should be ordered with the laptop as an upgrade; only $25 difference, whereas a new batter lists for $250.
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                      Comment

                      • JonMarsh
                        Mad Max Moderator
                        • Aug 2000
                        • 15261

                        #12
                        Originally posted by aud19
                        Thanks John for mentioning the AMD 64's relatively low power usage. Personally I'd take the AMD64's far superior processing and equivelant power usage over the Centrino any day.

                        FYI the model we got 6-8months ago was the eMachines M5313:
                        Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition
                        Mobile AMD Athlonâ„¢ XP-M 2500+ Processor
                        Quantispeedâ„¢ Architecture operates at 1.87GHz
                        266 MHz Front Side Bus and 512K L2 Cache
                        512 MB DDR PC 2100 SO-DIMM
                        8-cell Lithium-ion
                        60 GB
                        CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive
                        15.4" Widescreen TFT LCD WXGA (1280 x 800 max. resolution)
                        ATI® Mobility RADEON™ 320M
                        64 MB DDR shared video memory
                        PC2001 Compliant AC '97 Audio
                        Built-in Stereo Speakers
                        802.11g wireless (up to 54Mbps); 10/100Mbps Ethernet
                        56K* ITU V.92 Fax/Modem
                        Synaptics with vertical scroll zone
                        3 USB 2.0 ports, 1 IEEE 1394, 1 VGA connector, 1 S-Video Out, 1 Parallel, Microphone In, Headphone/Audio Out, 1 PCMCIA Slot (Type I, II, CardBus)
                        1.36"h x 14.0"w x 10.0"d
                        6.6 lbs. (7.75 total travel weight)

                        We paid about $1400 Canadian 6-8 months ago. I'd imagine you could easily pick one up for +/- $1000 US now if you could find one. Though I would recommend spending the extra money for the AMD64 if you can fit it in your budget.

                        I bought one of those around March last year; it was pretty nice, was quite happy with the value. I had some occasional quirky behavior from the USB ports; some peripherals required more power than it could handle, and I had trouble getting external USB 2 drives to work at times.

                        I sold it last December to a friend, once I got all the data and software back off the drive. Physically, the Compaq is built better, runs cooler, and quite a bit longer on one battery; but it's also heavier, and somewhat deeper. It will fit in pretty much the same size bag in most cases.

                        You see what I mean about having a 12 step problem with laptops?

                        I've looked at PowerBooks, too, and I like them, but GEEZ, are they EXPENSIVE! And they don't run LSPCAD! :cry:
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                        • aud19
                          Twin Moderator Emeritus
                          • Aug 2003
                          • 16706

                          #13
                          Those Compaq PRESARIO 3000 SERIES do look pretty nice Jon :T Also just went on e-Machines web page and they only have one laptop model...? I wonder if they're getting out of the laptop business....?
                          Jason

                          Comment

                          • JonMarsh
                            Mad Max Moderator
                            • Aug 2000
                            • 15261

                            #14
                            Yeah, ever since eMachines and Gateway merged, their model support has been a bit strange. They dropped the desktop AMD64 PC. So now they only have a single laptop, with an AMD Semperon mobile CPU? This is a relatively new model. An SIS system chip with shared graphics memory, instead of a seperate ATI Radeon adapter? Looks like they're going for lowest possible cost.

                            The AMD 64 models are gone... this new model looks like the same basic chasis as the original Athlon laptops from them. Disappointing, for a while, it looked like they were going to offer some nice bang for the buck systems; now, it seems the Gateway disease has spread to them.
                            the AudioWorx
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                            M8ta
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                            Modula Xtreme
                            Isiris
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                            SMJ
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                            Calliope
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                            In Development...
                            Isiris Mk II updates- in final test stage!
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                            Modula PWB
                            Calliope CC Supreme
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                            Resistance is not futile, it is Volts divided by Amperes...
                            Just ask Mr. Ohm....

                            Comment

                            • junior77blue
                              Senior Member
                              • Nov 2004
                              • 635

                              #15
                              Powerbooks are equivalent in price to upscale Dells. Definatley not cheap by any means.

                              Comment

                              • Ten 99
                                Senior Member
                                • Apr 2004
                                • 133

                                #16
                                Wow!

                                I have gotten some really great information in here. Thanks for all of the input. I know that right now IBM has the T42 (Stink er uh) Thinkpads on the IBM website at sixteen hundred and some odd dollars. I know they are extremely well made, and I've tried to get her to think about that point. She says that they are "ugly" and she's not hip on that.

                                Anyyyyyway. I like that price point that Thomas and Jon paid for the their Compaq R3000 units! Now if I could score that on one of them, it'd be a done deal. I think we're gonna go looking this weekend to get a feel for some of them (build quality, etc) to get some ideas, and so I can see how she reacts to them. I'm definitely going to seek out the R3000 series Compaq, as well as a few others. I'm sure we'll hit Best Buy, Circuit City, Fry's, CompUSA, OfficeDepot, OfficeMaxx, and whoever else I can think of local to browse.

                                A few Q's have come up right away though:

                                What exactly is the "Xbrite" technology that so many are touting? Is it simply a reflective screen with some type of filtering to give an appearance of more contrast, or is there some actual technology with the LCD that is being used?

                                For those in the know - whate is the casing material used on the Compaq R3000 series?

                                Thanks for all the good information,

                                Chris.

                                Comment

                                • ThomasW
                                  Moderator Emeritus
                                  • Aug 2000
                                  • 10934

                                  #17
                                  Xbrite is just removing the matte mask on the front of the LCD screen. It looks really cool in the store, but would be a nightmare to use in the real world due to the glare. This can be easily seen with the store demo units.

                                  The case of the Compaq 3000 is a fairly tough plastic. Parts of it are painted to look like aluminium but they aren't.

                                  The deal that Jon and I got was a function of 2 rebates overlaping. There was both a $250 rebate from HP/Compaq, and a $30 Best Buy rebate.

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                                  Comment

                                  • Ten 99
                                    Senior Member
                                    • Apr 2004
                                    • 133

                                    #18
                                    Well, I just got home from window shopping some laptops. I actually found the same laptop that Thomas and Jon have at Fry's. They have it for $1050 (imagine that), including a $30 or $50 MIR. Not too bad of a rebate. This one includes the Xbrite screen, however. It seems that locally, the best selection of laptops was at both Fry's and Best Buy. I didn't get a chance to swing by CompUSA though. I also found (while out wandering around) that we got a Tweeter's store recently. Didn't even know it. It was okay, but not really that impressive.

                                    Comment

                                    • soundhound
                                      Senior Member
                                      • Mar 2004
                                      • 815

                                      #19
                                      I have a Toshiba Satellite, have had it for a year and a half problem free. My next one will be another Toshiba. My brother in law owns a locating company and all of his field techs use Toshibas, they get abused, and take it. I owned one Compaq Presario, wouldn't have thrown it @ my worst enemy, and have been stuck on Toshiba's every since.

                                      Comment

                                      • Ten 99
                                        Senior Member
                                        • Apr 2004
                                        • 133

                                        #20
                                        Soundhound, I'm hearing what you're saying. I think I was a bit biased against the Compaq HP products too, based on past experience and reputation and cheapness. I do have to tell you though, this is a different level of product than they used to put out. These guys (from what I've been reading) are using good level components in their computers, and the build quality and reputation are moving up. Hard to believe it, but this last Dell of my wife's will be 4 years old in April.

                                        I do agree that the Toshibas are well made machines. They are also high on my list. Hard to pass up on the features of this Compaq for the price. $1050 is buying a lot of machine. My wife and I are fixing to go run a boatload of errands this afternoon, and hopefully I can get her into Fry's so she can poke around the laptops and I can get some feedback from her on what she's thinking. I had also seen a really nice Fujitsu in Fry's at around $1700 that I liked. In that price range, it was hard to find a good competitor for the Fujitsu, but truthfully, there's a big price gap between $1050 and $1700. At $1050, if it can go 2-3 years, I'll be very happy. I wind up getting the old laptops as hand-me-downs to tinker with.

                                        Just as a comparison, the last Dell Latitude she had (almost 4 years old now) went for nearly $3000. I'm happy that it seems the price for performance has come down a lot.

                                        Comment

                                        • Nick M
                                          Ultra Senior Member
                                          • Nov 2004
                                          • 5959

                                          #21
                                          I bought a cheap no-name laptop from Micro-Express 4 years ago.

                                          14.1" XGA Active
                                          600MHz P3
                                          256MB Ram
                                          20GB HDD
                                          8x DVD-ROM

                                          Still does everything I need it to do. Only thing I wish I had was a burner, but alas no upgrade is available. Watching movies, typing letters, surfing the net, basic image editing, spreadsheet work, music. I've never used a laptop with good battery life except a centrino with all power features enabled just punching numbers in excel. I think of laptops more as portable desktops rather than mobile computers.

                                          Only problem I had was a crashed hard drive. It was a toshiba, since replaced with an IBM.

                                          Also have no use for handheld PCs. Had an HP Journada for awhile. Used it for awhile, then went back to pen/paper. I do have a liking for the high-capacity USB thumb-drives though!
                                          ~Nick

                                          Comment

                                          • Ten 99
                                            Senior Member
                                            • Apr 2004
                                            • 133

                                            #22
                                            Well, there's no doubt about it. My wife uses a laptop as a DTR (desk top replacement). She does travel some, but it's probably less than 5% of the time. Weight and battery life are not deal killers for her.

                                            We did get a chance to stop at Fry's, and I had her punch around on some of the laptops. At first (before going to Fry's), she was kind of against the 17" widescreen notebooks. After she played with a few of the ones there, she quickly found that she preferred the 17" to the 15.4" screens. I think this has to do with giving better real estate for the eyes to work with, and it being the main computer she'll use, no other monitor to hook into at work.

                                            She really like the Fujitsu's screen, as well as the keyboard layout and feel. She did not (however) like the shiny lacquer white finish. I told her that with that much, I had to agree. I wish they would have used a black keyboard and done a shiny black lacquer finish. Other than that, the build quality seemed very nice on the Fujitsu, complete with ATI 9700 graphics processor, etc.

                                            She liked the price on the Compaq R3000Z series AMD 64 machine. She even liked the machine, but then she got it into her head that she really wanted the 17" widescreen. Sigh. Unfortunately, Compaq only offers the X6000 series with Pentium 4 processors, no AMD 64's. I have to admit that I'm an AMD fan myself, and that I haven't followed much of Intel's chip design or "naming" scheme over the past year or two. They seem to have a bunch of different names that they use, and I'm not certain of the pecking order or features. Means I've got more reading to do. Mobile Celeron, Celeron M, Pentium 4 Processor-M, Pentium 4 Processor, Pentium 4 w/ Hyper Threading, Pentium M, Centrino... Oy Vey! Where is the asprin already?

                                            I keep coming back to the build quality of the Toshiba. The only thing I find with the layout of the Toshiba that I don't like, is the fact that they could have fit a numeric keypad to the right of the keyboard, and missed this opportunity. May not be much to most of us, but if you're punching numbers like my wife does at times, it would have been nice. It's okay though, because she has a USB keypad that she can hook up when needed. Looks like more research for me.

                                            Chris

                                            Comment

                                            • Ten 99
                                              Senior Member
                                              • Apr 2004
                                              • 133

                                              #23
                                              I forgot to update on this. We ordered a HP Pavilian zd8060, and it is due to be built on the 24th of this month. I'm under the impression that it'll be here within a week of it's build date. I'll keep you posted, and maybe give my impressions once it has arrived. This, BTW, was her decision, not mine. I was trying to persuade her to get a 15.4" laptop with an A64 based processor, and then purchase a seperate 19" LCD and setup to keep in her office. This would have been cheaper, and probably a better setup to boot. Trying to reason with a woman is damn near next to impossible at times.

                                              Comment

                                              • Andrew Pratt
                                                Moderator Emeritus
                                                • Aug 2000
                                                • 16507

                                                #24
                                                I'm now going to be in the same boat as you Ten so I'll be interested to hear what you have to say. It'll be a couple of months before I bite but its going to be fun looking.

                                                Comment

                                                • Andrew Pratt
                                                  Moderator Emeritus
                                                  • Aug 2000
                                                  • 16507

                                                  #25
                                                  It looks like the Dell Inspiron 6000 is the laptop I'll most likely end up ordering. As much as I'd like to get a different brand this time the complaints I had with my current Dell seem to have been addressed with this new model...namely a better keyboard and the P4 chip. I did take a look at the Compaq's but I didn't like the feel of the keyboards and to be honest they're rather ugly (IMO). I did like the toshiba's and one of the Sony's looked nice but none of them offter the sonoma chip that the 6000 has which offers a 533 Mhz bus vs the older 400 Mhz bus on the older Centrino's. I'll likely order a fairly base model and beef it up with aftermarket ram to save money there.

                                                  So now for the fun bit I'll be ordering a custom top for it to make it look a little nicer and to provide a little more protection for the LCD screen...so which of these do you guys like most? I think I know what Bing's going to say already :lol:

                                                  Comment

                                                  • Ten 99
                                                    Senior Member
                                                    • Apr 2004
                                                    • 133

                                                    #26
                                                    Well, she got her new HP 8060 yesterday. She hasn't used it too much, but I'll get to play with it this weekend. It's a nice laptop, but it sure is big. I think that if it were my computer, and my choice, I would have gone with one of the 15.4" models and not the 17" model. Smaller size, and cheaper too. I would have probably gone with one of the AMD 64 setups, probably the 3400+, and then spent $350 on a 19" LCD to have in the office to hook it up to while at work. Then, I'd have used the built in 15.4" when necessary and mobile. In the end, it was her decision, her computer. I was just trying to be the conduit for her to have the most information to make a better decision.

                                                    The laptop is very nice though, and the screen is really beautiful. Seems pretty potent. She got the P4 540 processor. It has built in "g" wireless, bluetoofus , dual layer dvd writer, etc.

                                                    Comment

                                                    • Spearmint
                                                      Senior Member
                                                      • Sep 2004
                                                      • 333

                                                      #27
                                                      I use a Toshiba PIII 1.1ghz purely because it has 2ch line in & 2ch line out. I have yet to find a replacement; all the ones I have looked at have line out & mono microphone in.

                                                      I have also bought a Sound Blaster USB Audigy sound device which has all the lines in /out one could ever want just a pain in the behind when trying to connect up in the field. I.e. more gear and cables to contend with.

                                                      Has anyone that has bought a new notebook got 2ch line/out included?
                                                      Richard

                                                      "Sometimes it is easier to ask forgiveness than to get permission... "

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