laptop suggestions for $1600 budget?

[bozack]

My brother in law is looking at getting a new laptop to replace his aging desktop system and is looking for advice. Everything I seem to recommend costs upwards of $3K so that is out...he wants to spend about $1600 or less, emphasis on the less.

So far he has looked at HP, Sony, Toshiba and IBM....

The models he is most interested in are as follows:

http://www.officedepot.com/ddS...7_SC_1702012_SK_714896

IBM® ThinkPad® R51SMB Notebook Computer With Intel® Centrino? Mobile Technology And Intel® Pentium® M Processor 1.6GHz

http://www.officedepot.com/ddS...7_SC_1702012_SK_714920

IBM® ThinkPad® T42SMB Notebook Computer With Intel® Centrino? Mobile Technology And Intel® Pentium® M Processor 1.5GHz

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...01174&type=product

Hewlett-Packard Pavilion Photosmart Notebook with Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 3.0GHz

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...01174&type=product

Sony VAIO Notebook with Mobile Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 3.06GHz

Any opinions/alternative suggestions would be very appreciated...I also mentioned dell but he seems to not like the company due to past negative experiences...thanks

 

[iamme]

wow, i had no idea OfficeDepot sold THinkpads.....

what are his computing needs?

basic MS office? gaming? burning cd's?

 

[bozack]

I don't even think that much gaming will come into play....more like net surfing, maybe light gaming if that and office stuff....burning capabilities would be good as well. Thanks

 

[fbrdphreak]

Like I tell everyone, "what laptop is for me" can be broken down very easily: do you need something portable w/good batt life or a desktop replacement?

If you need something light and portable, you mainly have two options: Centrino (Pentium M) or Athlon-XP-M based system. The Centrino's are definitely the better performance/batt life, but are clearly more expensive.

If you need a desktop replacement system, then you're looking at a Pentium 4 or Athlon 64 based system. My personal preference is towards an Athlon 64, as they tend to be better on battery life for the times that you will use it on battery; and IMO they perform better as well!

If you're looking for a Centrino, I would definitely go with an IBM. The T-series is excellent for portability, but it looks like the R-series would be a better value. I DEFINITELY like the better screen on the R-series. I have a 15" SXGA+ and I couldn't imagine living with a 15" XGA, not to mention a 14.1" XGA.

As far as a desktop replacement, look at the eMachines M6811. DVDRW, Athlon 64 3400+, wireless b/g, Radeon 9600 64MB, 80GB, for ~$1600 before rebates. If you like the P4 better, then either of those options you posted will do well.

If either of you are by chance a student, check out what kind of educational discount you can get through IBM. GL and please respond if you have any more questions.

 

[jvarszegi]

fbrdphreak, you don't know what you're talking about. The Pentium M is a perfect processor for a desktop replacement-- the Dothan 755 is faster than most desktop processors. If what you're after is a portable gaming rig, it still does fine. Its other characteristics (battery life and heat) far outweigh any speed differences between it and the Athlon 64 etc. for anyone except for a high-end media creator or a gamer with more money than sense.

Another area where you're wrong is when you talk about the T42's screen in relation to that of the R series:
If you're looking for a Centrino, I would definitely go with an IBM. The T-series is excellent for portability, but it looks like the R-series would be a better value. I DEFINITELY like the better screen on the R-series. I have a 15" SXGA+ and I couldn't imagine living with a 15" XGA, not to mention a 14.1" XGA.

You're sort of saying that the T42 is weak in the screen are, when it's not at all. You can have a 15" UXGA if you like on the T42. My preference would be the 14" SXGA+, though.

 

[DainBrammage]

Anything but a Dell. HP, or Compaq.

Tell him to go Toshiba or not at all

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: jvarszegi
fbrdphreak, you don't know what you're talking about. The Pentium M is a perfect processor for a desktop replacement-- the Dothan 755 is faster than most desktop processors. If what you're after is a portable gaming rig, it still does fine. Its other characteristics (battery life and heat) far outweigh any speed differences between it and the Athlon 64 etc. for anyone except for a high-end media creator or a gamer with more money than sense.

Another area where you're wrong is when you talk about the T42's screen in relation to that of the R series:
If you're looking for a Centrino, I would definitely go with an IBM. The T-series is excellent for portability, but it looks like the R-series would be a better value. I DEFINITELY like the better screen on the R-series. I have a 15" SXGA+ and I couldn't imagine living with a 15" XGA, not to mention a 14.1" XGA.

You're sort of saying that the T42 is weak in the screen are, when it's not at all. You can have a 15" UXGA if you like on the T42. My preference would be the 14" SXGA+, though.

Okay dipsh!t, get ready for ownage. First of all, if you just want a deskto replacement: why would you pay MORE money for a Pentium M when a much less expensive A64/P4 would do just as good of a job? Not EVERYONE is made out of money. I agree, the Dothan processor in general is EXCELLENT. I LOVE IT, I FVCKING HAVE ONE. The improved branch prediction, larger L2 cache, and shorter pipeline allow it to perform exceptionally well at the lower clockspeeds. However, if you DON'T need portability/batt life, tell me HOW it makes sense to spend +$1700 on a Dothan notebook ($2000+ for a 755) when you can get an eMachines/HP A64/P4 for ~$1500-$1600?
As far as the screen, HELL NO THE T42s DO NOT HAVE A WEAK SCREEN. Because I said that THE R SERIES HE LISTED had a better screen than the T SERIES HE LISTED, that means I think the T series has a weaker screen? NO, it means that an XGA screen sucks compared to an SXGA+ screen. Again, if you read my fvcking sig, I HAVE a T42 w/15" SXGA+; so I think I know the difference between the screens.
BUT, I don't know what I'm talking about. Gee, Computer & Electrical Engineering major who sells computers as his part time job doesn't know what he's talking about......buh-bye dousch

 

[jvarszegi]

buy-bye dousch

You are to be commended for your, er, innovative spelling and usage. Hope you don't write your term papers that way. I HAVE a degree in computer science, not that it means anything. I guess even a part-time notebook sales "professional" at CompUSA can feel like an expert on a site like this one.

Your biggest mistake is when you pushed for the Athlon64, blatherskite. Somehow you equated "new laptop to replace his aging desktop" with a need for a processor that makes sense for almost nobody. The danger with giving bad advice is that people will sometimes take it, so you should be careful about what you say. If you're saying that you can't find a Pentium M for $1600, you're obviously wrong; if you can, it's the best choice.

 

[fbrdphreak]

CSC major? Hahahahahahahahaha

Oh, I guess I should correct you again. Well, I guess the first question would be is do you know anything about the Athlon 64 processor? How about pretty much the BEST bang for the buck performance in a CPU these days? How about top-notch 32-bit performance while providing room to grow into 64-bit if that is your flavor? Why do you think AT recommends it in a majority of their builders' guides?
And of COURSE I would be wrong had I ever said that you can't find a Pentium M based notebook for $1600. But, then again, I never said that. No, indeed what I said is that for the money you can get more features in an A64/P4 based notebook. How about an 80GB HDD & DVDRW for starters? eMachines M6811: A64 3400+ 512MB 80GB DVDRW Radeon 9600 64MB 15.4" WXGA b/g. All for the retail price of $1599, not including mail-in-rebates which usually bring it under $1500. Wow, a notebook for UNDER $1500 that has MORE features and MORE than equivalent power. ALL for someone who doesn't need the portable processing power of a Centrino based notebook at a higher premium.
Wow, I wish they taught CSC blatherskites (I REALLY hope you didn't spend too much time looking up that rather ridiculous word) to read. Not only did I say none of what you think I did, but you don't even know the first thing about anything except the advertising for a Pentium M. Leave hardware to the big boys and go play with the Java API

Oh, and thank you for turning a simple recommendation into a flame war that you clearly just lost.

 

[jvarszegi]

Once more, you fail to give common-sense advice. I forgive your insignificant assaults, but you shouldn't tell someone who wants the best laptop they can buy to go for an Athlon64. It's just not the best choice.

See, although you and your fellow sales professionals may meet on the weekends to play Doom or whatever, and ooh and aah at the latest Athlon64 processors, that stuff doesn't have mainstream appeal. I notice you're conveniently not mentioning the abysmal battery performance of all Athlon64 notebooks, bar none. If you find one that has even four-hour battery life, it'll probably weigh ten pounds or more. This goes against why people buy laptops.

Your attitude is amusing, although I bet that if you talk that way to people face-to-face, you're missing a few teeth. No, I didn't have to look up "blatherskite"-- did you look up "dousch"?

Once again, your advice sucks. You're supposed to be helping someone choose a decent laptop. Also, it bugs me that I still haven't achieved ownage! Can you give me closure and/or ownage?

 

[Grailyn]

Sorry fbrdphreak but you just really come off sounding like an arrogent child. Nothing personal and I"m sure your are very good at what you do. Think about what someone is going to think when they read your post. Is your goal OMG I R0X0RD H1Z L4M3 AZ or do you want people to think you have a brain and a clue and know what your talking about?

jvarszegi was just trying to correct you when you said you can not get those options. You may well know that they do exist, but the way you said it in your post would make a casual non-expert think that it was not possible. It is impossible for someone else to know what you know. They can only know what you have said.

As for the AMD-Centrino thing, that is more debatable. I personally think the the centrino class cpus have enough advantages to make them a better choice in almost any configuration, unless as you stated it's a pure dekstop replacment that will rarly if ever move much and is always plugged into a wall, sitting on a desk. If your really worried about game perfomance the video chipset and vram total will affect it more than that cpu choice ever will.

 

[pirred908]

hahahahahahahahah. that was awsome.

 

[MuffD]

Thinkpad all the way!!

 

[theblackbox]

Here is my two cents.
I had an emachines 68xx with the 3000+ amd64. Got it and messed around with it for two weeks before taking uit back. While it was awesome while it was plugged in, as soon as you used it as a mobile, the chip cut down to half it's speed and would not run any faster. I masde it run faster by installing w2k power mode and amd drivers, but on battery it was a dog after that.
I now have a winbook w360 i bought for 1599 from microcenter. It's a dothan 735 1.7 with 80 gig hd and 9600 (46mb). Put a gig of ram ion it and i use it for gaming, and everything. Extremely happy with it.

You may want to have him look at any notebook based off the mitac 8050, like the winbook, hypersonic, voodoo, etc..
It's a nice liilte chasis with a fair amount of power and battery life.

The amd 64 is okay, but if they haven't fixed the issues with the set chip speed, it's not worth it. If you want info, just go out to amd chip forum and you can read about the power issues. (sweet case though)

It seems to me with ibm you pay for the name, just like sony.

 

[bigal40]

as said before go with the emachines m68xx. You can get close to 3 hours of battery life with the screen brightness turned down and the wireless etherent turned off.

 

[Flashbeagle]

How does an emachines M6811 grab ya? I have a new one to sell. It comes with the Best Buy 3 year parts and labor warrantee and a good Targus laptop case.



Thanks,
Flashbeagle