Another Laptop Recommendation Thread

[Outrager]

Right now I'm looking for a laptop to use with my desktop. I'm in college and have a pretty decent desktop to play the new games coming out so I'm looking for a nice portable laptop to compliment it. It will make it easier to bring my work from my dorm and home on the weekends.

I would like at least 4 hours of battery life (would the Athlon XP Mobiles give good battery life?) and at least a 4" screen with over 1024x768 resolution.

I'm looking for one that's light and has enough power to play at least Warcraft III.
I've been looking at the Dell 600m, but the short battery life, lack of firewire, and heat issues I'm hearing about is making me shy away.

I'm also looking at the PROSTAR 3742, but I can't find the battery life for it and I don't know if 6.6lbs is too heavy. (<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.xtremenotebooks.com/index.php?section=specs&model_id=739)
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My budget is around $1600.
Any recommendations would be great.

 

[Abhi]

Athlon XP mobiles wont give you 4 hrs of battery life... Stick with the pentium M

and you can get a 600 M with 2 batteries... I personally havent heard of any heat issues with the 600 m...

6.6 lbs is not TOO heavy ... (i have a 7lb laptop) but then it does get a little bothersome when you add the charger's wieght, bags weight etc. Its about personal prefererences, try one at a store for wieght before you buy.

 

[Outrager]

My cousin is telling me to wait a month since they're coming out with some new features like Intel Extreme Graphics 3, 5.1 audio, 802.11 a/b/g Centrino, and new intel processors with 2MB cache.

 

[radiocore]

if you already have a machine for gaming, I'd recommend a powerbook for your daily use. =)

 

[Outrager]

I would rather not use a Mac since I do a lot of programming for classes and I already have PC programs I'm comfortable using.

 

[radiocore]

fair enough

 

[Frightcrawler]

Yeah, its nice not seeing people post useless flame crap about macs. They're good for their purposes.
I recommend any IBM thinkpad (they are the best of the best). The only problem is gaming. Maybe some IBM owners could enlighten us on if you can play Wc3?

Oh, yeah, wait for the new thinkpad models. The advantage is twofold if you wait. See if you can figure out what I mean.

 

[Outrager]

Do they fold up twice? How does that work? IBMs are pretty expensive though, but I hear you get what you pay for.

 

[aphex]

Originally posted by: Frightcrawler
Yeah, its nice not seeing people post useless flame crap about macs. They're good for their purposes.

I recommend any IBM thinkpad (they are the best of the best). The only problem is gaming. Maybe some IBM owners could enlighten us on if you can play Wc3?



Oh, yeah, wait for the new thinkpad models. The advantage is twofold if you wait. See if you can figure out what I mean.

Any idea when they are coming out?

 

[Frightcrawler]

Originally posted by: Outrager
Do they fold up twice? How does that work? IBMs are pretty expensive though, but I hear you get what you pay for.

No The advantage is twofold because existing IBM prices will probably drop with the addition of new models. The second advantage is just the fact that a Dothan IBM is coming out.

 

[KevinH]

Dude, whatever you do, DON'T GET A MAC! J/K . Had to...you guys just left it out there.

That said, how much "gaming" do you really intend on doing? If Warcraft is all that matters, than even an older book with a ATI 7500 class video card and up can run it decently. Your cousin is probably right about holding off. I know you can say that until your face turns blue when it comes to computer components but the 2nd iteration of the Centrino...Dothan is coming out in a few weeks. If you're "this" close to buying one, hold off for a week or so.

As for weight issues, I have an Dell 8600. With battery and loaded to go, it's probably ~ 7.5 pounds or so. Now don't get me wrong, the notebook is not heavy but it isn't exactly something I feel I can just grab and go without thinking about it. IF that's your idea of portability, I'd suggest the Dell 600M or the IBM T41. Personally, I'd take the IBM T41 although it's a few hundred bucks more....In fact, here's a link of a GREAT price on a T41...

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/messageview.php?catid=18&amp;threadid=304576&amp;highlight_key=y&amp;keyword1=t41

 

[Abhi]

Grab a T41 AFTER dothan is released....
The price should fall... a LOT.

That is.... unless u wanna spend 2000$ on a T42...

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: Abhi
Grab a T41 AFTER dothan is released....
The price should fall... a LOT.

That is.... unless u wanna spend 2000$ on a T42...

It's not like X31 prices took a drastic dive when X40 came out.

Linky

Unless you're buying a 1.7, I doubt you'd save more than $100 off current price.

 

[Kaylya]

The only problem is gaming. Maybe some IBM owners could enlighten us on if you can play Wc3?

I know for a fact that the following will run on an IBM R31 with Intel Extreme Graphics (82830M). (256 MB Ram, 1.06GHz Celeron. It's a 2 year old model).

WarCraft 3
CounterStrike
EverQuest
Diablo II
Morrowind
Neverwinter Nights
Age of Mythology
Dark Age of Camelot
Black & White

It will even run Unreal 2k4; although it's really only playable on smaller maps, and then only barely.

If you've got questions about other games, I may be able to find out (My laptop is through school; everyone has the same laptop; so I know what games other people can run too).

It will not, however, load anything that requires Geforce2 or better.

 

[Outrager]

What kind of resolution and quality setting can I expect from those games?

 

[Kaylya]

Most of them are games that I know other people play, or I've played but haven't tinkered with the settings.

WCIII: Can handle high settings (my monitor caps out at 1024x768 though)
EverQuest: Very low settings (I've played in large raid settings just fine; I just keep settings low, most new models off, etc. That's partly due to the laptop only having 256mb ram, and it's shared with the video card)

 

[pche]

Hrm...I just got my T41 recently (over spring break at the beginning of April)...I sure hope prices don't drop THAT significantly. I'd be pissed. =/. Ah well, I like it. Runs for bout 4 hrs on the standard battery with "power saving settings", screen is easy to read and it's wireless radio is pretty powerful too. my2cents.

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: virtuamike

Originally posted by: Abhi
Grab a T41 AFTER dothan is released....
The price should fall... a LOT.

That is.... unless u wanna spend 2000$ on a T42...

It's not like X31 prices took a drastic dive when X40 came out.

That's because the X40 does not replace the X31. The X31 is continuing as a valid and marketed product by IBM -- and that's not just because of the workhorse models.

The x31 represents same battery life, faster proc (up to 1.7), firewire, larger drives, discreet ATI graphics, and CF slot where as the x40 represents ultra low voltage proc (up to 1.2), no firewire, Smaller but more durable drives, intel integrated graphics, and SD slot.

Of course the x40 is a tad thinner and lighter.

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: Frightcrawler
Yeah, its nice not seeing people post useless flame crap about macs. They're good for their purposes.

I recommend any IBM thinkpad (they are the best of the best). The only problem is gaming. Maybe some IBM owners could enlighten us on if you can play Wc3?



Oh, yeah, wait for the new thinkpad models. The advantage is twofold if you wait. See if you can figure out what I mean.

IBM's are fine for gaming.... Just get the ThinkPad with the right video offering.