Intel Centrino-based laptop...

[MasterHoss]

Guys...

I'm helping my dad look for a laptop for work. I'm looking at only Centrino-based laptops and I'm trying to find a laptop with a ridiculous battery life (3.5hrs +). We're talking basically a number crunching laptop (insurance purposes).

I have ruled out the Gateway laptops and Sony laptops. I'm looking at the Dell Inspiron 600m, the Compaq Evo N620c, and the Toshiba Satellite Pro M10. Now my dad will probably need and, atleast, a modular floppy drive (no external) to keep things very portable.

Of the mentioned laptops, which gets the best battery life? Reliability? How has one of those laptops had has had problems with it?

Thanks a lot for the input guys.

 

[nortexoid]

the asus S-series and M-series centrino based notebooks are very nice...very thin and light, though i do believe modularity is a no-go...they've externally attached devices.

check out the fujitsu based books too - they're generally a little pricey however, but they are nice.

 

[Ryu]

if money is no object ibm x31 or t40p would be the best they both last about 4 hours. Check the link from anand link

 

[MercenaryForHire]

These guys would know a lot more, I'm betting.

- M4H

 

[GoSharks]

Originally posted by: Ryu
if money is no object ibm x31 or t40p would be the best they both last about 4 hours. Check the link from anand link

the t40p lasts 6.5 hours by that link

 

[jteef]

not sure how much size means to you but the dell latitude d800 has a big battery and is centrino based so the battery should last a really long time.

 

[MasterHoss]

Thanks for the input guys...

I forgot about the Anandtech article concerning the IBM laptops... the only thing I do not like about those laptops is that they only have a 12.1" screen (at very high resolutions but still just a 12 inch screen). The 2nd reason why I don't like the IBM is that my dad actually is using an IBM laptop and complains about the "pointstick" mouse. I guess he prefers the "touchpad" mouse.

Have the Compaq business laptops gone to sh*t since the HP/Compaq merger?

Price is a factor, battery life is another, pointing device is a third, and obviously, quality.

I'm leaning toward recommending the Dell or Compaq... any more thoughts?

 

[GoSharks]

t40p - touchpad and "pointstick" (trackpoint), 14" screen, excellent keyboard, excellent build quality

 

[MasterHoss]

The IBM is very nice indeed; however, it's probably too expensive. I'm trying to keep it under $2,000 with a responsive HD...

 

[MasterHoss]

**buying tomorrow**

OK... it's going to be either the Compaq Evo N620c (1.3GHz Pentium M, 256MB RAM, 14.1" SXVGA+, 40GB 5400RPM HD, 24/8 CD-RW/DVD-ROM) or the Dell Inspiron 600m (1.3GHz Pentium M, 256MB RAM, 14.1" SXVGA+, 40GB 5400RPM HD, 24/8 CD-RW/DVD-ROM).

The Dell comes in $100 cheaper than the Compaq and Dell's promotional free 2nd battery is very nice. The Compaq laptop has only 1 SODIMM slot populated while the Dell uses 2x128 sticks which sucks when upgrading later on.

The Dell looks so cheap now while the Compaq looks more aesthetically pleasing. I need some input on owners of either laptop. I REALLY NEED TO KNOW how long each laptop runs on the battery!! I know the Dell laptops with the wide screen monitor kill the battery but know nothing about the battery life on these 2.