Thinking about buying a notebook...

K

KimB

Legend
...for the first time. Hard to believe for some, maybe?

Anyway, here's what I want:
1. Inexpensive (not much more than ~$1000).
2. Decent nVidia 3D graphics (for Linux)
3. Dual-core (for work)

I've been looking around a bit, but I wondered if anybody here had any opinions.

I did find this one:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...vilion/dv8000_series&storeName=computer_store
...at about $1100 (after a couple of additions).

Anyway, what do you guys think? Who's good with relatively inexpensive notebooks these days?
 
Chalnoth said:
...for the first time. Hard to believe for some, maybe?

Anyway, here's what I want:
1. Inexpensive (not much more than ~$1000).
2. Decent nVidia 3D graphics (for Linux)
3. Dual-core (for work)

I've been looking around a bit, but I wondered if anybody here had any opinions.

I did find this one:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_series.do?series_name=dv8000t_series&catLevel=3&category=notebooks/hp_pavilion/dv8000_series&storeName=computer_store
...at about $1100 (after a couple of additions).

Anyway, what do you guys think? Who's good with relatively inexpensive notebooks these days?
Click to expand...

I just recently got a MacBook, and I must say that I love it, it's just the best notebook I've ever used.
But it crearly is not in line with what you are looking for.
It is cheap, dual core, but it's got a intel G950.
 
Yeah, tons of people are getting those, but I just really don't like Mac's OS setup. But going with a fairly decent PC notebook with 3D graphics, I can instead do Linux and GLX, and get all the benefits of a 3D desktop, while still being able to play 3D games from time to time, and without changing my OS usage habits ;)
 
Well, I did some more looking, and apparently the display's a bit subpar, so I upgraded to the UltraBrite. I figure that if I'm going to have a slightly subpar display, I should at least have a bright subpar display!

I just couldn't find any other notebooks in this price range that have a GeForce 7xxx Go.

Anyway, one really nice thing about the notebook is that it actually has a numpad. It's going to be a bit big, I'm sure, so I got a backpack to carry it around in.

Also, got a 12 months no payments, no interest deal on it. But damn, am I glad I read the fine print. If you don't pay it off before the 12 months are up, finance charges are applied from the date of purchase. At 22% interest, that'd be an immediate 25% balance increase after a year! I am so paying this thing off in full before then...
 
Skrying said:
They do not have EM64T in current Core Duo.
Click to expand...
Alrighty, thanks. I guess it wouldn't have affected performance anyway. But it prevents me from burning the wrong Linux distribution :)
 
Yep.

In order to get 64bit capability/Dual-Core in a notebook your best choice would be either a Turion64 X2 Dual-Core (still rare and slightly more power hungry than a Core Duo), or to wait until August for a Core 2 Duo "Mobile" model (a.k.a. "Merom").
 
INKster said:
Yep.

In order to get 64bit capability/Dual-Core in a notebook your best choice would be either a Turion64 X2 Dual-Core (still rare and slightly more power hungry than a Core Duo), or to wait until August for a Core 2 Duo "Mobile" model (a.k.a. "Merom").
Click to expand...
Aye, well, I didn't really care about it that much for a notebook. My primary concerns were dual-core and decent nVidia 3D graphics (ATI still sucks for Linux). I doubt I could have found a Turion 64 X2 notebook for about $1400 shipped (with accessories, tax, etc.).
 
I always recommend checking out www.discountlaptops.com first by default. I've never seen anyone cheaper given the performance of the hardware you're getting. For example, they had SLI laptops months before anyone else. They've already got multipule full lines of Yonah based laptops as well.

On the other hand, if you want a tablet I can personally recommend the Toshiba Tecra M4 with the Geforce 6600, although that may be out of your price range. I got mine on ebay for about $2000 (fully loaded with 4 year accidental damage) if that helps.
 
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Yeah, those are some pretty nice deals there, and actually a fair selection of laptops that fit my criteria :)

But, I already ordered the HP one, and I don't think I did poorly by comparison. The one I got has a bigger display than those in the same price range there, has more memory, and has a keyboard with a numpad. It'll be big and bulky, sure, but I don't think I'll mind that so much.
 
Well, the laptop came today :)

My first impressions are that it's a really great one.

The display is quite good, actually (though I haven't yet tried to play any 3D games). It's very bright, and has great-looking colors. But does anybody know of a good website for testing color reproduction?

I really like the construction of the laptop. It's almost completely silent, and not too warm.

Anyway, got SLED10 up and running (took a while, unfortunately....the stupid bootloader didn't install properly the first time around), dual-booting with Windows. Running XGL and all that right now :)
 
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