Want to get a laptop, need help..

[PrimoTurbo]

I’m in University and use paper/binders to keep notes. For people who use laptops to keep notes are you generally productive? Do you keep up with the whole lecture?

I’m in Toronto, never had a laptop before what are my options? Good brands/companies to buy from? My budget is $600-700 CAD if necessary I can go up to $1000+, and I’m planning to buy in August/September. I want a new PC laptop, Dell comes to mind since so many people use it. Suggestions?

I’m planning to use the laptop for notes, internet, video/music, gaming (I want it to run Half-Life2/CS:S at least) I don’t want a very big laptop, don’t want a widescreen, really important that it has decent battery time. Also is it possible to upgrade laptops and is it worth it? Any ideas?

[lkn4deals]

I find that I am more productive with my 710m in class...I can type faster than I can write...

I wouldn't restrict yourself to new notebooks only; you can always find deals on here for used notebooks that still have warranty coverage...

I have a Dell 710m with an extended battery...it weighs a shade over 4lbs and the battery lasts close to 5 hours...I would highly recommend this (or the earlier version, 700m)...My primary considerations were weight and battery life...

[PrimoTurbo]

I understand your point but I don’t want to deal with used equipment, I’d rather go with new.

I also noticed that Mhz/Ghz on laptops are far less then desktops, how do they compare? Are laptops much slower/weaker machines then regular desktops? Is it even possible to play games on them, what is considered good battery life and does the batter diminish after a period of time? Is it replaceable and how much does it cost?

[lkn4deals]

Sure, everyone wants new, but if you look around you can find notebooks here (and elsewhere) that look brand new and are in perfect condition...especially with your limited budget, I can't comprehend why you wouldn't consider them...In fact some people are selling notebooks that are only a few weeks (or less) old at great prices...

If you stick to your guns and buy new, you'll just end up with a heavy clunker with crappy specs and battery life.

[SergesPlace]

Frodox has an Asus for 1200 but i'm sure if you're nice to him he'll let you have it for a grand. It's mint and it has a yr left on warranty

[lkn4deals]

Frodox has an Asus for 1200 but i'm sure if you're nice to him he'll let you have it for a grand. It's mint and it has a yr left on warranty

he dropped the price to 1000 today...but the OP isn't looking to buy until the end of the summer

[SergesPlace]

he dropped the price to 1000 today...but the OP isn't looking to buy until the end of the summer

In that case, come back at the end of August and save a bit more cash :)

[PrimoTurbo]

It doesn't look bad but I want a new laptop because I want the complete warranty, I would defintley want something better then 60gb @ 5400rpm, are laptop hard drives really expensive? Battery 3.5hrs :( I really want more then that, what is considered really good battery lifetime? Yeah I'm also not planning to buy anything at the moment simply getting some ideas and planning what I should expect 5-6 months from now. I am correct to assume the smaller the screen the better the battery life?

[PrimoTurbo]

but the OP isn't looking to buy until the end of the summer

What do you mean by OP?

[bembol]

What do you mean by OP?


You...Original Poster...!!!

[PrimoTurbo]

That makes sense, I thought he was using an irc term and confused me for an admin.

[ProfessorChaos]

It doesn't look bad but I want a new laptop because I want the complete warranty, I would defintley want something better then 60gb @ 5400rpm, are laptop hard drives really expensive? Battery 3.5hrs :( I really want more then that, what is considered really good battery lifetime? Yeah I'm also not planning to buy anything at the moment simply getting some ideas and planning what I should expect 5-6 months from now. I am correct to assume the smaller the screen the better the battery life?

maybe you should purchase in 2007 then when the Intel "Merom" Core for notebooks is released...

According to Intel, Merom's design places emphasis on both high performance and low power consumption. On a performance per watt basis, Intel claims Merom will outperform Yonah(Current Intel Core series) by a 2-1 margin. Ultra low voltage Merom chips will consume as little as 0.5 watts of power, enabling ultra portable laptops to have battery lives in the tens of hours. Intel expects to launch the Merom core in the fourth quarter of 2006 as the successor to Yonah.

I, for one am going to be buying an ASUS A8Jm in the summer-ish, going to be around $1600-1800CAD I'm guessing but it's definately going to be worth it. 4-5Hours battery life, GF Go7600, T2400 CPU(Customizable), and 2GB of DDR2 in a 14" WXGA display....unless something new rolls around before school starts.

Oh and don't be scared of a smaller brand like ASUS, they make great laptops...infact most of the laptops you see on the market (HP,Sony,Lenovo,Apple, etc.) are outsourcing their notebook manufacturing to ASUS. And they are usually much cheaper and more customizeable than the bigger brands while customer support is top-notch.

So those big named companies just take a model by a company, and sell it as their own, as the research, the design, the construction and testing is done by the ODM. They just sell their name and service to consumers like you and I, along with the notebook.

But don't take my word for it...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=25849

[ericssonboi]

In regards to your note taking question..
If your productive in class... and not surfing on wifi..
Then yes.. it will be productive.
Also.. its only productive if your classes don't have lots of diagrams, or equations you have to copy off.

Ex. Lots of graphs or several Calculus questions...
In those situations... paper > laptop.

In other situations.. say in a Powerpoint presentation by prof..
If you can type fast enough (given lectures are provided)
Note taking is much easier as you type just as fast as what the prof is saying..
Where as writting on paper takes a bit more time and sometimes you miss stuff.

[PrimoTurbo]

Very good information, I will look into it thanks. Any more ideas from anyone?

[x86asm]

The Pentium M's are based heavily on the Pentium 3 architecture. The P3 although being an old architecture is in many ways architecturally superior to the P4.

Any Pentium M say over 1.4 or 1.5Ghz should do you fine :cheesygri

[PrimoTurbo]

In regards to your note taking question..
If your productive in class... and not surfing on wifi..
Then yes.. it will be productive.
Also.. its only productive if your classes don't have lots of diagrams, or equations you have to copy off.

Ex. Lots of graphs or several Calculus questions...
In those situations... paper > laptop.

In other situations.. say in a Powerpoint presentation by prof..
If you can type fast enough (given lectures are provided)
Note taking is much easier as you type just as fast as what the prof is saying..
Where as writting on paper takes a bit more time and sometimes you miss stuff.

None of my classes have diagrams or any equations, I'm a political science major. Some profs have powerpoint stuff, but a lot just talk and take note of key terms on the blackboard.

[ericssonboi]

None of my classes have diagrams or any equations, I'm a political science major. Some profs have powerpoint stuff, but a lot just talk and take note of key terms on the blackboard.

I think you'll be fine then..
If profs post the Powerpoints ahead of time, copy them into M$Word and write notes under each point..

Its easier that way rather than referring to the printout powerpoints and your own notes in M$Word.

[JoKeRr]

maybe you should purchase in 2007 then when the Intel "Merom" Core for notebooks is released...

According to Intel, Merom's design places emphasis on both high performance and low power consumption. On a performance per watt basis, Intel claims Merom will outperform Yonah(Current Intel Core series) by a 2-1 margin. Ultra low voltage Merom chips will consume as little as 0.5 watts of power, enabling ultra portable laptops to have battery lives in the tens of hours. Intel expects to launch the Merom core in the fourth quarter of 2006 as the successor to Yonah.

Some minor corrections & additions
:
1. Merom performs roughly 20% better than Yonah clock for clock
2. Merom uses no more power than Yonah
3. Biggest difference between Merom & Yonah is 4mb L2 Vs. 2mb, and 64bit support, also Merom might have macrofusion like Conroe does.
4. Merom is PIN-Capatible (and perfectly upgradable) from Yonah based laptops.

[PrimoTurbo]

Thanks for the help, anyone have any more ideas for what to expect by that time?

[wbastien]

how about just wait until the end of july to ask? its way to early to give you the details you are looking for.

[ericssonboi]

Yea.. its better to wait until you actually NEED a laptop...
The transition from Duo Core / 64 bit turns the release of new laptops into a waiting game this year.