Laptop Options

[Hauskaz]

I've pretty much decided that I need a laptop for many various reasons. I've provided myself with the following options below. If you have anything interesting to suggest, please do so.

Lenovo ThinkPad SL500

Intel Core 2 Duo T5670 @ 1.8 GHz, 800 MHz FSB
15.4" WXGA display
Intel GMA X4500
2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2
160 GB 5400 RPM hard drive
314 minutes of battery life (5:14:00, 9-cell battery)

$814.00

Pros
- Solid laptop
- Amazing keyboard
- TrackPoint
- Webcam
- Slick looks
- No one who cares about fashion steals a ThinkPad
- Large screen
- Battery life is amazing

Cons
- Vista preinstalled
- Larger size might make carrying odd
- Glossy back gets dirty easily

Apple MacBook (White)

Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.1 GHz, 800 MHz FSB
13.3" WXGA display
Intel GMA X3100
2 GB 667 MHz DDR2
120 GB 5400 RPM hard drive
270 minutes of battery life (4:30:00)

$1,149.00

Pros
- Nice small size
- Awesome keyboard
- iSight
- OS X, which also means Final Cut, Logic and all sorts of other awesome shit
- Can also run XP, Linux and pretty much everything else
- Slick looks
- 802.11n Wi-Fi
- Small yet very sharp screen
- Battery life is good

Cons
- Pretty expensive
- Probably not very durable
- Gigantic thief magnet

Apple MacBook (Aluminum)

Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.0 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB
13.3" glass WXGA display
NVIDIA GeForce 9400M
2 GB 1066 MHz DDR3
160 GB 5400 RPM hard drive
300 minutes of battery life (5:00:00)

$1,399.00

Pros
- Nice small size
- Goddamn awesome backlit keyboard
- iSight
- OS X, which also means Final Cut, Logic and all sorts of other awesome shit
- Can also run XP, Linux and pretty much everything else
- So ridiculously fucking sexy
- 802.11n Wi-Fi
- Small yet very sharp screen
- Brilliantly-designed track pad
- Battery life is amazing

Cons
- Pretty expensive
- Probably not very durable
- Gigantic thief magnet

Mohamdu's Toshiba Satellite A210

AMD Athlon 64 X2 TK-57 @ 1.90 GHz
15.4" glossy WXGA display
ATI Radeon X1200
2 GB 667 MHz DDR2
200 GB 5400 RPM hard drive
75 minutes of battery life (1:15:00, 6-cell battery)

$500.00

Pros
- I could buy it pretty conveniently
- Nice deal on it
- Nice screen
- Good size and weight for working
- Webcam
- Wireless rips along

Cons
- Keyboard feel and layout is lame
- Glossy side gets dirty easily
- Large and awkward to carry
- Other options have better battery life
- Gets hot enough to burn me and my future daughter
- Speakers absorb
- Glossy screen is hard to use outside

ASUS Eee PC 2G Surf

Intel Celeron M ULV 353 @ 571 MHz, 400 MHz FSB
7" 800x480 display
Intel GMA 900
512 MB 400 MHz DDR2
2 GB solid-state drive
165 minutes of battery life (2:45:00, 4-cell battery)

$289.99

Pros
- Really small
- Fairly inexpensive
- Doesn't come with Windows

Cons
- Keyboard, trackpad and screen are all really small
- Specs are very low end
- Will definitely not replace the Blackbox
- 2 GB SSD is ridiculously small

ASUS Eee PC 900

Intel Celeron M ULV 353 @ 630 MHz, 400 MHz FSB
8.9" 1024x600 display
Intel GMA 900
1 GB 533/667 MHz DDR2
16 GB solid-state drive
210 minutes of battery life (3:30:00, 4-cell battery)

$399.99

Pros
- Really small
- Fairly inexpensive
- Doesn't come with Windows
- Webcam

Cons
- Keyboard and screen are still pretty small
- Specs are still pretty lowly
- Will definitely not replace the Blackbox
- 16 GB SSD is still really small

Lenovo IdeaPad S10 - 1208Uw

Intel Atom N270 @ 1.60 GHz, 533 MHz FSB
10.2" WSVGA display (1024x600)
Intel GMA 950
512 GB 667 MHz DDR2
80 GB 5,400 RPM hard drive
133 minutes of battery life (2:13:00, 3-cell battery)

$487.99

Pros
- Small size
- Real hard drive
- Webcam
- Better CPU than the Eee PCs
- Usable keyboard, as is Lenovo fashion

Cons
- A netbook still won't replace the Blackbox
- Battery life doesn't hold up to other netbooks

[hellomeow]

Dude, my laptop is a piece of shit. Don't even mention it. Buy the ThinkPad. BUY THE FUCKING THINKPAD AND BRING IT TO SCHOOL EVERY SINGLE GODDAMN DAY.

EDIT: Will add specs for my laptop soon enough. It is basically a garbagey laptop that I have burned through tons of Linux Live CDs with, typically sticking with either Sabayon, Ubuntu, Gentoo, Arch Linux, or something else. I would sell it for about $550 seeing as I bought it for about $710, got it used, and it is pretty much in mint condition outside of about 9 months of varying frequencies of usage. Come to think of it, I don't think I have ever used Windows even once on this laptop...

[Daryl]

How much money do you actually have?

Look around for coupons and stuff before purchasing.

[Hauskaz]

I am starting at zero. As such, anything cheap is attractive. The ThinkPad is indeed looking like a winner though. I would never use any school computer ever again once I have it. The only thing is that 1280x800 will feel pretty small after using 1440x900 for so long. It would be nice if it had a WSXGA screen on it.

Lenovo always seems to be having some kind of sale on their site, which is odd.

[Hauskaz]

lol, I forgot about Eee PCs. I'm really looking at something that will replace my constant usage of the Blackbox, although they're still neat little things.

[Hauskaz]

So I've updated this list with new found information.

[solocityElectricCyan]

Aug 30, 2008 16:10:02 GMT -5 Hauskaz said:

Pros
- Good size and weight

Cons
- Large and awkward to carry

[Hauskaz]

It's a good size for resting on your lap and using it, but the shape of it is bulky and awkward to lift and carry.

[solocityElectricCyan]

oh, ok

[Hauskaz]

A ThinkPad would be much easier to carry around despite being the same size, thanks to the pizza box shape, rather than sporting any curves on it. The MacBook's small and thin profile makes it like carrying a small binder. Those ASUS Eee PCs could simply be thrown in a bag or carried effortlessly, although I don't really want to get one.