THE Laptop Thread: Configs, deals and questions.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Steeroid

the Transmeta which was supposed to kill them in the laptop segment, and so on and so forth.

Transmeta! Holy cow, I am hearing that word after many years. That was one Anti-Climax after all the hype by hiring Linus no less. Whatever happened to that company, is Linus still working for them...

Originally Posted by Steeroid

Intel still rules the market. Will do so unless something really drastic happens and turns the world on its head. Making a processor just slightly faster and more efficient isnt going to make business go AMDs way - I know very little about how these processors work, but I do know one thing for sure...it takes a lot more than just a slightly better product to overthrow a brand thats straddling the market like Intel. Its synonimous with computing.

I can tell you Intel is doing many things wrong, at least in telecom area. My company develops telecom related products using Intel Telecom boards. These products were previously from Dialogic Corp, but Intel bought them few years back. But now they are screwing around with it. Three years back they came out with a new range of line tapping boards to target call centers. The interface was not very friendly, but we figured out a way to make it work and brought out products based on them, and we have a customer base. Last year, Intel decides to drop the entire series because they are not able to sell them in the quantity they like. They couldn't sell it because most VARs couldn't make it work. Usually such actions are followed by providing alternatives so that existing customers are not put into trouble. Intel however decides do no such thing. There are no alternatives, and yeah, we are in a soup. We have a selling product based on an discontinued Intel board. Anyway, we found an alternative from an UK company and porting our product to that. Meanwhile, we have other products based on other Intel telecom boards that are still current. You think I am relaxed about it? Not really, I am busy finding non-Intel alternatives for those boards too.

[v1p3r]

So, has Sam bought a laptop?

Wow, Lambo has a laptop? Time to buy one...

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Transmeta! Holy cow, I am hearing that word after many years. That was one Anti-Climax after all the hype by hiring Linus no less. Whatever happened to that company, is Linus still working for them...

Trasmeta is still around, making laptops that run 10hours + without a recharge.

[gkrishn]

Originally Posted by tsk1979

and newer amds run cooler than intel.

I can understand when the weaker section gets some sympathy. But this is just too much... Can you substantiate this claim?

Also Steeriod, amd is not making processors which inches faster away than intel. There are in a good lead. Even architecturaly they are doing better than intel. And this didnt come in a shorter period of time too... they have been doing better, starting some where from mid of 2004 to 2005 and this might even extend to 2006. And because of this AMD as a brand is also growing. Corprorate is one area where they are yet to crack. If that happens they will have a big gain.

But lets get the fact right tsk, on the laptop front centrino is way better as a package. Even your yonah claims are questionable.

[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by gkrishn

I can understand when the weaker section gets some sympathy. But this is just too much... Can you substantiate this claim?

Also Steeriod, amd is not making processors which inches faster away than intel. There are in a good lead. Even architecturaly they are doing better than intel. And this didnt come in a shorter period of time too... they have been doing better, starting some where from mid of 2004 to 2005 and this might even extend to 2006. And because of this AMD as a brand is also growing. Corprorate is one area where they are yet to crack. If that happens they will have a big gain.

But lets get the fact right tsk, on the laptop front centrino is way better as a package. Even your yonah claims are questionable.

please read the latest wallstreet journal reports on how amd surpassed the expectations and how intel delivered below expectations.

Amd has already taken lead in N.america for desktops and servers market and also had high sales in laptops after it was found out how intel was forcing companies to not buy other cpu's.

for your claims that centrino is a way better package, I will oppose. Yes centrino was a marvel at its time and still is a really great package, Turion is outdoing centrinos. read below for comparision. for Yonah they are nothin but just dual cores pentium M's. They perform similar to normal pentium M's due to lack of multi core applications. until intel Merom core and AMD taylor core are out turion would be a better buy.

Originally Posted by khanak

Im planning to get a new laptop in a few months time and was goign through the Sony website. Theyre selling RAM pretty expensive at 1000$ for 2 x 1024. I was wondering If i could buy RAM from Lamington Road or somthing and fit it into the laptop later on to save money. Any idea on how much laptop RAM costs.

most of the companies have Ram Upgrades for pretty high prices. The best bet for Hard drives and Ram sticks is to get them from somewhere else.

Originally Posted by SLK

True, That’s what I also believe. Have owned AMDs in past, but those were the days when AMDs used to overheat, so ultimately ended up getting rid of them.

Throughout AMD has claimed its processors to be faster than corresponding intels... but never could it take lead.

I don't know about the latest AMDs but whatever my experience has been, they do overheat!, ... I know people say put a good quality heatsink-fan and AMD will work fine. Though I still wonder, how AMDs will perform in heavy duty computing environment over an extended period (though that’s what they claim they are made for).

From what I've heard a processor that runs hotter has a shorter life than the cooler one.

And also how many computer users are into heavy duty computing?.. that 5% extra speed AMD delivers doesn't really help most! (especially laptops where most of the time processor runs in power save mode!)

Well cars are not computers but... still a 1.5L Honda engine with 77bhp is better than a 1.5L Hyundai with 90+

not anymore buddy. half of it is myth. My friend himself owns a computer shop and says even now that amd's overheat.

leave alone a turion, my lappie has a socket 939 desktop athlon 4000 cpu. thats the most powerful cpu in a laptop AVAILABLE ANYWHERE(the fx are partially out in notebooks now though) and I swear they have BEEN AS COOL and silent as a centrino.

Originally Posted by tsk1979

amd is neither transmeta nor cyrix. In non branded PC market its already taken leading market share. In high end server market, esp in silicon design its amd lead. The reason is that amd is not alone. Both sun and ibm have started selling amd based systems. Once dell starts shipping amd intel throne will be in serious trouble.
By taking lead in 64bit space, amd has ensured itself a place in the future. 64bit was a niche till recently, but now is a must in any heavy duty computing environment.

Non-branded, server and desktop market are all almost AMD dominated now but the main computer market today lies in mobile pc's where intel is still the champ.

Hp has already issued news that it will have only amd's by 2007 and dell is also rumoured to start carrying AMD's now as they cant afford to loose sales to

2nd ranked HP/compaq and
3rd ranked acer

Originally Posted by Steeroid

No matter what happens, AMD will never come close to Intel. They know that as well and their target is to address the niche markets, which they have been doing successfully.

We've heard talk about Intel's doom for ages now...there was Cyrix which threatened to take the assembled PC market, the Transmeta which was supposed to kill them in the laptop segment, and so on and so forth.

Intel still rules the market. Will do so unless something really drastic happens and turns the world on its head. Making a processor just slightly faster and more efficient isnt going to make business go AMDs way - I know very little about how these processors work, but I do know one thing for sure...it takes a lot more than just a slightly better product to overthrow a brand thats straddling the market like Intel. Its synonimous with computing.

In fact AMD is has pretty much beaten intel in the desktop market in N.america. Amd is also gaining in the mobile pc market with their turion's and mobile athlon's which is intels main strength with Sonoma and yonah cores. I dont see AMD taking majority of the market share but my assumptions are around 30-50%.

Intel is not supposed to be doomed anytime sooner or later. But amd is not cyrix or transmeta. These companies promised more than they could deliver while AMD is on a rise beating forecasts and expectations. read the wallstreet article for more details.

intel has a larger market share becuase they forced biggies like sony and toshiba to not carry any other cpu's including cyrix,transmeta,via and AMD's or else they would lose intel business. Intel has lost the case in Japan, is about to lose in Europe and AMD has just delivered the blow in US.

while centrino is a gives better battery life,bigger L2 cache and dual channel support


turions are

cheaper
bigger fSB
bigger L1 cache (L2 is more important for speed though)
Built in memory controller
64-bit extensions which are a strict requirement for windows vista and xp-64
sse3 multimedia extensions which centrino lacks
run a lot cooler and silent than the pentium counterpart

[kpzen]

All Gadget Gurus...!!

I'm looking to pick up a laptop soon. I really dont need the high end stuff but some of the things
I'm looking for are

Good performance
CD writer(DVD writer if possible)
bluetooth if possible(not necessary)
Most importantly looks
Good battery back up
Not too heavy

My main use would be for writing my articles transferring pictures I'm not looking for any high end multimedia stuff since I have my desktop for the same..

Budget for me is 55K max.....

I did some research n manage to shortlist a few...

Compaq V2000 series

Compaq Presario V2324TU(ED127PA)
Features:
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home; Intel® Pentium® M Processor 725 (#) supports Enhanced Intel® SpeedStep Technology (1.6GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 400MHz FSB); 14" colour TFT WXGA (1280 x 768 resolution) High-definition BrightView 15:9 Widescreen; 256MB (1 x 256MB) DDR SDRAM (333MHz); 40GB (4200 rpm); DVD/CD-RW combo; Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900 (up to 64MB Shared Memory)
Price:47k (Approx)

Compaq Presario V2374AP
Features:
Intel® Celeron® M Processor 360 (#) (1.4GHz, 1MB L2 cache, 400MHz FSB); 14" colour TFT WXGA (1280 x 768 resolution) BrightView; 256MB (1 x 256MB) DDR SDRAM (333MHz); 40GB (4200 rpm); DVD/CD-RW combo; Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900 (with up to 64MB shared video memory)
Price: 33K (approx)

HP dv 1000 series

HP Pavilion dv1379TU(EL153PA)
Features:
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home; Intel® Celeron® M Processor 380 (#) (1.6GHz, 1MB L2 cache, 400MHz FSB); 14" colour WXGA (1280 x 768 resolution) Bright View; 256MB (1 x 256MB) DDR SDRAM (333MHz); 40GB (4200 rpm); Dual Layer DVD±RW/±R; Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900 (up to 128MB shared with 512MB system memory)
Price : 45K (approx)


Please suggest any other models which are in my range.....

Doubts:
Whats the difference between celeron/pentium/centrino??
The Sony VIAO notebooks start from 70K...is it true??

[SLK]

I have a Compaq M2000...
very similar to the V2000 you mentioned.
but a bit bulky
slow... 256 mb RAM is not enough
slow... Hardrive
looks ok.. but not something very good.

I don't believe in these widescreens .. i mean they are not actually wide! they just chopp off the top .. and thats why the 14" (Mine is not wide)


Lookwise I like Toshibas... or maybe Acers.
Toshiba even has 3 yr warranty..... comes in handy at times. (I got an official toshiba).

[Dippy]

Got myself an IBM Thinkpad R51 a month ago. Though nothing great in looks its a real tough one. Mine is Centrino with 256 MB RAM DVD Combo/CDRW Drive 40 GB HDD and gives me a battery life of 3 hours atleast

Cost me 51,500/- inclusive of 3 year global warranty

I use the laptop for exactly the same purpose you ae buying it for and its serving well.

Hope this helps

[jkdas]

Celeron should be fine for you.

Try to make it 512MB (upgrade to 512MB from 256MB). DVD R/RW capability will increase price but worth now a days.

Shared memory eats up your basic memory and hence I suggest 512. Intel Graphics should be enough as you dont need high end graphics.

Bluetooth module can be added in most laps and soem even comes with it. Also see if it has 802.11a/b or even g support (wifi)

Sony should be costly.

Celerons can be a bit bulky compared to Centrinos ( Centrino laps are slimmer, less power hungry and has wifi as default) .Pentium laps are powr hungry too but can be poweful

I suggest a centrino one if you travel a lot. Centrinos are powerful too thanks to the 2mb cache.

and lastly, get a licensed XP pack.

did i confuse you?

[jkdas]

Originally Posted by Dippy

Got myself an IBM Thinkpad R51 a month ago. Though nothing great in looks its a real tough one. Mine is Centrino with 256 MB RAM DVD Combo/CDRW Drive 40 GB HDD and gives me a battery life of 3 hours atleast

Cost me 51,500/- inclusive of 3 year global warranty

now its a Lenovo Thinkpad. If you like black color, sturdy machine, and rough use and superb backup and best keyboard....its got to be thinkpad!

I use one

[devarshi84]

Hey I heard that Sahara computers has launched a turion notebook for 48K with many goodies.

How is this laptop?

[ritik123]

Pentium processors operate faster than celeron. Centrino is nothing but a brand name: a intel processor + intel specified wi fi cards.

you may also consider AMD processors. I just picked up a compaq v2424nr mainly for its looks and the turion processor. AMD's are much faster than pentiums and the turions are 64 bit processors unlike the intels which can only run 32 bit applications.

All next gen O/S, apps will be 64 bit, meaning they will not be able to run on a 32 bit machine.

go for atleast 512 mb of ram. 256 is way to less for todays applications.

[devarshi84]

Originally Posted by ritik123

Pentium processors operate faster than celeron. Centrino is nothing but a brand name: a intel processor + intel specified wi fi cards.

you may also consider AMD processors. I just picked up a compaq v2424nr mainly for its looks and the turion processor. AMD's are much faster than pentiums and the turions are 64 bit processors unlike the intels which can only run 32 bit applications.

All next gen O/S, apps will be 64 bit, meaning they will not be able to run on a 32 bit machine.

go for atleast 512 mb of ram. 256 is way to less for todays applications.

centrino is not just the package of processor+wi-fi It alsoincludes the chipset and intel speedstep technology(similar to amd powernow).

But Turion is newer, better performer,cheaper and more loaded option. Turion is not a technology but a processor(A amd athlon processor which draws less power). If not Turion then look at Centrino DUO which has already replaced centrino.

why you should choose Turion

1. 64-bit enabled. the new Xp proffessional is already 64-bit. The upcoming vista is in reality 64-bit with a 32-bit crippled version for the 32-bit cpu's.
2. 1600mhz FSB with hypertransport removes all the memory bottlenecks of a FSB like in centrino. The latest centrino duo is still stuck at 667MHZ
3. Cheaper to buy. A similarly speced Turion based notebook is much cheaper than the centrino notebook.
4. Lightweight and cooler. A Turion notebooks runs cooler and is lighter than the centrino counterpart(Not taking the ULV centrino and Pentium M's into comparision)
5. SSE3 multimedia extensions are absent in pentium M based notebooks.Helps in multimedia programs, video editing,encoding, playback, 3d applications and games.
6. Nothing beats AMD in games. I.e. if you get an AMD notebook with a respectable GPU.
7. Twice the L1 istructions cache memory than the centrino at 128kb. centrino has 64kb.
8. Intgrated onboard memory controller.

Drawbacks

1. Any Turion processor is stuck at 2.5-3.0 hours of battery life. IF you buy the most powerful Turion than it is infact an advantage. my amd athlon 4000+ socket 939 Desktop cpu is also stuck at 3.0 hours and has also gone once to give an amazing 5 hours of battery life.. but still I will consider that a drawback. Centrino cpu's clock 3hours and above.
2. Not many chipset designs are available like in Intel. And the chipset designs that are available are not efficient enough. the best chipset to buy would be the ATI xpress 200 chipset.
3. L2 data cache memory is half of centrino's L2 cache which is 2mb.
4. Dual-channel mode not available. Helps in increasing performance but also saps power. Over recommended but Turions dont have dual channel.
5. Not all manufacturers have Turion notebooks. HP/Compaq, Acer and ASUS and Fujitsu are some reputed manufacturers. DEll,sony,TOshiba,IBM etc dont carry AMD.
6. Dual core AMD's still some time away.
7. ML CPu's consume more power at 35W. 25W MT's are rarely available.


Some myths about AMD I have heard in India

1. AMD based systems hang a lot.
2. AMD based systems heat up a lot. This was the AMD k6 architecture that has been a thing of the past.
3. AMD's are some locally made processors which are no match for intel.
4. AMD is in financial trouble hence a risky buy. AMD infact has higher profits year on year and has taken a large market share from intel. intel still remains the leader though.


Even if someone wants to go for Intel then the cpu to go for would be The yonah core centrino duo

1. Dual core pentium M''s.
2. based on 60nm architecture against 90nm Turion and centrino.
3. 667mhz FSB is faster than 533mhz centrino
4 THough priced higher they are pretty affordable.
5. SSE3 multimedia extensions included.
6. better power management than pentium M's.
7. 2X2mb Monsterous L2 cache memory.

drawbacks

1. YOnah's have been foud to have power leaks through USB's hence low battery life. Problem will be solved soon.
2. Still 32-bit
3. Performance gain is very slight and not really worth the price.
4. expensive for what you get.
5. Soon to be replaced by Merom 64-bit intel cpu's this summer.
6. Power consumption is now 31W instead of previous 27W.

Decide on the cpu first then the options would be clear. Dont go for a dedicated GPU as it affects battery life.

My preference would be to go for a Turion or else Centrino DUO.

Look for the acer aspire 5002Wlmi for basic computing. Its costing 800$CAD so it should be around 40K in India.
it doesnt have bluetooth but has dvd-riter,is good looking,lightweight at 2.8-3.0kgs. 2.5-3.0 hours battery life.

[navin]

i'd suggest a thinkpad. they are lovely. esp that blue button which has got me out of many a mess.

[Rtech]

Our company just bought 3 of these:
Compaq Presario V2402 UP
Features:
Intel® Celeron® M Processor 360 (#) (1.5GHz, 1MB L2 cache, 400MHz FSB); 14" colour TFT WXGA (1280 x 768 resolution) BrightView; 256MB (1 x 256MB) DDR SDRAM (333MHz); 40GB (4200 rpm); DVD/CD-RW combo; Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900 (with up to 64MB shared video memory), 6-1 card reader, built-in wifi, XP Home.

paid Rs.39,500 for these.