New Laptop Needed - Any good reviews?
Discussion
Well I'm very pleased (inasmuchas it's possible to be pleased with a laptop) with my Lenovo (IBM) ThinkPad T43.
However that's the last of the old 'IBM' line - I gather the T60 isn't quite in the same league?
Get something with a Core 2 Duo processor and it'll fly. I think laptops are much of muchness now.
Bear in mind that the business focused machines usually come with a 3 yr warranty, which wil save some money if you would have paid extra for that.
However that's the last of the old 'IBM' line - I gather the T60 isn't quite in the same league?
Get something with a Core 2 Duo processor and it'll fly. I think laptops are much of muchness now.
Bear in mind that the business focused machines usually come with a 3 yr warranty, which wil save some money if you would have paid extra for that.
Picking up on my T43 recommendation, I noticed that Insight (maybe others too) are selling the last T43's: http://uk.insight.com/apps/productpre
For £700 (inc VAT) that's a cracking machine, with a 3 yr warranty. Mine cost twice that only a year ago, and it's several steps worse spec.
My only (personal) hesitation would be that the 1400x1050 screen resolution on the 'p' versions would be too small for me on 14". But I'm old and younger people would probably prefer that to 1024 x 768.
I'm not sure how it would get on with Vista - I imagine no problem at all, but I wouldn't want to go near that for a while anyway.
For £700 (inc VAT) that's a cracking machine, with a 3 yr warranty. Mine cost twice that only a year ago, and it's several steps worse spec.
My only (personal) hesitation would be that the 1400x1050 screen resolution on the 'p' versions would be too small for me on 14". But I'm old and younger people would probably prefer that to 1024 x 768.
I'm not sure how it would get on with Vista - I imagine no problem at all, but I wouldn't want to go near that for a while anyway.
Edited by deva link on Thursday 8th March 16:20
deva link said:
Picking up on my T43 recommendation, I noticed that Insight (maybe others too) are selling the last T43's: http://uk.insight.com/apps/productpre
For £700 (inc VAT) that's a cracking machine, with a 3 yr warranty. Mine cost twice that only a year ago, and it's several steps worse spec.
My only (personal) hesitation would be that the 1400x1050 screen resolution on the 'p' versions would be too small for me on 14". But I'm old and younger people would probably prefer that to 1024 x 768.
I'm not sure how it would get on with Vista - I imagine no problem at all, but I wouldn't want to go near that for a while anyway.
For £700 (inc VAT) that's a cracking machine, with a 3 yr warranty. Mine cost twice that only a year ago, and it's several steps worse spec.
My only (personal) hesitation would be that the 1400x1050 screen resolution on the 'p' versions would be too small for me on 14". But I'm old and younger people would probably prefer that to 1024 x 768.
I'm not sure how it would get on with Vista - I imagine no problem at all, but I wouldn't want to go near that for a while anyway.
Edited by deva link on Thursday 8th March 16:20
why would you want T43 with a single CPU when you can get a dual core for less than £500? T43 is old now. T60 is waay better and dual core.
www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4CFJ&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=n100&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0
Muncher said:
Sorry, to clear things up...
17" Display with a decent resolution
2GB RAM
Have had lots of Dells before, the Acer ones looked good at PC World today too.
No Apple ones either.
17" Display with a decent resolution
2GB RAM
Have had lots of Dells before, the Acer ones looked good at PC World today too.
No Apple ones either.
Muncher,
get this 1680x1050 widescreen display, not 17" but high res, 256MB nVidia graphcis cars and core duo processor, also made by Lenovo (IBM) so the build quality is way ahead of any dell or acer sh!te. get it with 2G of ram for less than £600
www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4CFJ&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=n100&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0
you don't need to get the lenovo ram
wouldn't bother with vista yet unless you think you need it for any reason.
madras said:
why would you want T43 with a single CPU when you can get a dual core for less than £500? T43 is old now. T60 is waay better and dual core.
www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4CFJ&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=n100&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0
Core 2 Duo would be even better, but it depends what you're doing. For normal Office type stuff and surfing then almost anything will be OK (as long as it's not running Norton AV).
I just think the T43 is a class act - a nice size, sooo well made and beautiful to use. It looks much more professional in customer meetings than crappy silver machines. I gather the T60 (Lenovo rather than IBM designed) isn't in the same league, build-wise.
deva link said:
madras said:
why would you want T43 with a single CPU when you can get a dual core for less than £500? T43 is old now. T60 is waay better and dual core.
www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=4CFJ&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=n100&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0
Core 2 Duo would be even better, but it depends what you're doing. For normal Office type stuff and surfing then almost anything will be OK (as long as it's not running Norton AV).
I just think the T43 is a class act - a nice size, sooo well made and beautiful to use. It looks much more professional in customer meetings than crappy silver machines. I gather the T60 (Lenovo rather than IBM designed) isn't in the same league, build-wise.
T60 is still an IBM Thinkpad so it is.
The N100 is Lenovo
Only (real) difference between Core duo and Core Duo 2 is 64 bit o/s compatibility, which you don;t really need. so I'd suggest saving the extra money.
Yes if you want too go to meeting and look flash get a thinkpad, if you want to do graphics design etc get the 1680x1050 screen of the N100. I have both, I think build quality is the same btw. T series has titanium case, but they are both gonna break if you drop them, or crakc the LCD anel if you pick them up at the edge with two fingers
Edited by madras on Thursday 8th March 20:42
The insurers have offered me the following as a direct replacement:
Insiron 6400, 1.66Ghz Core 2 Duo, 512mb, 60gb, dvdrw, 15.4" Vista Business
or a Lenovoa 3000 of similar spec which I'm not interested in.
I'm thinking of asking for this and paying the difference:
Dell Inspiron 9400
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7200 (2.0 GHz, 4 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz
17" UltraSharp™ Wide Screen WUXGA (1920x1200) TFT Display with TrueLife™
2048MB 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x512)
160GB (5,400 rpm) Sata Hard Drive
Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive
256MB DDR3 nVidia® GeForce™ Go 7900 graphics card
9 Cell, 80Whr Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth 2.0 Module
Thoughts?
Insiron 6400, 1.66Ghz Core 2 Duo, 512mb, 60gb, dvdrw, 15.4" Vista Business
or a Lenovoa 3000 of similar spec which I'm not interested in.
I'm thinking of asking for this and paying the difference:
Dell Inspiron 9400
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7200 (2.0 GHz, 4 MB L2 cache, 667 MHz
17" UltraSharp™ Wide Screen WUXGA (1920x1200) TFT Display with TrueLife™
2048MB 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x512)
160GB (5,400 rpm) Sata Hard Drive
Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive
256MB DDR3 nVidia® GeForce™ Go 7900 graphics card
9 Cell, 80Whr Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth 2.0 Module
Thoughts?
Edited by Muncher on Tuesday 13th March 18:30
Just to clear up any 'confusion' regarding IBM and Lenovo ThinkPads ......
There is no "old" school or "new" school ThinkPads. They are still the same machines, being made in the same factory with the same components, by the same people, as they have been for the past 7-odd years (give or take).
The only thing that has essentially changed is that Lenovo owns it, and not IBM (although IBM does have a financial stake in Lenovo).
Even though Lenovo took over the ThinkPad, etc, 2 years ago, the IBM logo remained for some time and will slowly migrate to Lenovo branding.
The other range of notebooks - the Lenovo 3000 C, N and V series are brand new Lenovo machines, and are not a carry-over from IBM.
K
There is no "old" school or "new" school ThinkPads. They are still the same machines, being made in the same factory with the same components, by the same people, as they have been for the past 7-odd years (give or take).
The only thing that has essentially changed is that Lenovo owns it, and not IBM (although IBM does have a financial stake in Lenovo).
Even though Lenovo took over the ThinkPad, etc, 2 years ago, the IBM logo remained for some time and will slowly migrate to Lenovo branding.
The other range of notebooks - the Lenovo 3000 C, N and V series are brand new Lenovo machines, and are not a carry-over from IBM.
K
Edited by Kinky on Tuesday 13th March 18:44
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