Laptop shopping

[Ginsu]

Looking to buy a laptop (and port, monitor, keyboard, etc to replace my desktop at home and on the move) for school.

A friend of mine told me to get something that has mobile wireless capabilities. I have seen that the Centeno Pentiums are made for this....how does it work. Stupid question but I am out of touch with the newer computer tech.

 

[YesterdayAgain]

Originally posted by Ginsu
Looking to buy a laptop (and port, monitor, keyboard, etc to replace my desktop at home and on the move) for school.

A friend of mine told me to get something that has mobile wireless capabilities. I have seen that the Centeno Pentiums are made for this....how does it work. Stupid question but I am out of touch with the newer computer tech.

I am in a similar situation, I am looking to replace my home PC with a laptop until I can build my ultimate machine later this summer. The best deals on laptops I can find are here.

As for wireless capabilities, it depends on your use of the laptop. If you have a genuine need for a wireless capabilities, then go with a laptop centered around the Pentium Centrino technology. I don't know a whole lot about them, but as far as I do know, Centrino technology uses as minimal power as possible, helping you to achieve longer battery life. Centrino processors are also much slower then a regular P4, so you are more or less paying for convenience, not performance.

On the other hand, if you don't really give a shiat about wireless performance, then get a machine with a standard P4 or AMD XP series processor.

Are you going to do any gaming on this laptop or is it strictly for schoolwork?


BTW, someone correct me if I am wrong about anything above, I am still researching myself...:-D

 

[black96cobra]

i just bought a dell inspiron 8600. i just got it in at the beginning of this week. so far i love this thing, it has wireless internet built in, and it is so fast, i would recommend it to everyone.

 

[mambaman]

Toshiba makes some nice machines, a co-worker of mine got a 1.4GHz Centrino, 512MB RAM, CD-RW etc. with XP Pro, and it's a solid machine, i've used it a bit and i like it a lot, but it still can't compare to a desktop.

 

[YesterdayAgain]

Display

15.4" WXGA TFT LCD Display 1280x800 Pixels

Processor

Intel® Pentium®4 3.0 GHz, FSB 800 MHz with HT Technology

Graphics

128MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro 256-bit 3D graphics

accelerator

Chipset

SiS 648F Chipset support 800 MHz FSB

Memory

512 MB 200pin SO-DIMM DDR 266/333



Hard Drive

60GB 7200 RPM 2.5" 9.5mm HDD, Ultra DMA33/66/100 Support

Optical Drive

DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive


Audio

Digital S/PDIF output/input

4 analog line-level stereo inputs with 5 bit volume control

2 Speakers.

Ethernet

Integrated 10/100 Mbps Ethernet

802.11B&G Wireless LAN


Modem

56K V.90 Modem

Keyboard and Mouse

US Keyboard with Internet Quickkeys

FN Shortcuts for Brightness, Volume, suspend

Mode, LCD/External Display Switch

Touchpad with 2 Buttons, 2 Scroll

Operating System

Support:

Microsoft® Windows® XP

Microsoft® Windows® 2000

Power

Advanced Power Management ACPI Compatible

Li-Ion Battery Pack 2000mAH

AC Adapter 100-240V 50-60HZ,120W

Physical Dimension

Width: 14" (358mm)

Depth: 10.5" (267mm)

Height: 1.3" (33.8mm)

Weight: 6.39 lb (2.9 kg)

Connection Ports

1 15 pins CRT Port

1 S-Video TV out

1 Microphone-In Jack

1 Audio-Out Jack/SPDIF out

1 Line-In Jack/SPDIF in

1 FIR

1 RJ45 Jack for LAN

1 RJ11 Jack for Modem

1 DC In Jack

3 USB Ports

1 Printer Port

1 IEEE 1394 Connector

1 PCMCIA TypeII

1 Memory Card, MMC/SD/MS Card Reader

EMC Regulation

CE/ FCC/ VCCI/ BSMI

Safety Regulation

TUV/ UL/ C-UL



You can get that system above for about $1700. It would be overkill though if you are just using it for homework & such.

 

[lzr red Cobra]

Re: Re: Laptop shopping

Originally posted by Euphoric One

Centrino processors are also much slower then a regular P4, so you are more or less paying for convenience, not performance.

not true, the 1.7 pentium m which is used in conjuntion with the centrino technology actually outperforms a 2.6 pentium 4

i went to best buy and configured my own laptop with a 1.6 pentium m with centrino technology, i get about 5 hours of battery life if im not gaming, and i also have 64 mb mobile ati video card, this thing runs like a dream and outperfoms my pc.

basically centrino is better than anything out there, and mine is bluetooth enabled so all i do is find an open hot spot and bam i have a internet connection. slim, lightweight, fast, powerful and relatively cheap $1300 check this out

http://www.intel.com/products/mobiletechnology/

 

[Ginsu]

The new laptop would be mostly for school but it will be used for other stuff.