posted
I plan to buy a laptop within the next week or so, but I haven't really been paying attention to the technology changes, so for those in the know,
Is an AMD Turion 64 X 2 better than the Intel Duo? Does that even matter or does it depend more on the 2 GB of RAM?
Also, how important is it to have a good network card (i.e. bluetooth), when eventually I plan to go with Verizon or Sprint for my wireless internet provider?
Posts: 137 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
A Core 2 Duo is better than a Turion right now, generally.
What do you mean with Verizon or Sprint for your wireless internet provider? Do you mean you would be using a device to connect to the Verizon or Sprint cell networks for your internet, that you would be using hot spots they have in place (hopefully including near your house) for your internet, or that you would be buying a DSL package including a wireless router for your internet?
Any way except the first, and likely including the first, bluetooth is a completely irrelevant consideration. Bluetooth is for short range device networking -- such as if you wanted to use your laptop to dial up through a bluetooth cell phone. The wireless that people almost always mean when they talk about wireless internet is 802.11 a/b/g . I don't know when the last time I saw a general-use laptop for sale without at least two of those was.
2GB of RAM is a good investment. However, you'd be okay with 1GB if price is an object.
What do you want your laptop to do for you? What will you be using your laptop for? (edit: and, less important, what price range are you looking at).
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
As far as I know, Verizon and Sprint broadbands need their own adapter cards, which are either standard PCI or "PCI Express" adapters. I don't know of any machine that has support for those services natively and internally.
First off, what is going to be your main purpose for the laptop? Business or pleasure?
Posts: 3486 | Registered: Sep 2002
| IP: Logged |
posted
KPC: The Core 2 Duo is better than the Turion 64 X2 by quite a bit. I wouldn't buy any system with less than 2GB of RAM nowadays.
As to your second question: if you intend to use your cellphone as a modem and connect your laptop to it over Bluetooth (which, just as a warning, will be very expensive; you'll have to purchase an unlimited data plan from your cell provider in addition to your voice plan, making this a bad idea for all but the most dedicated Road Warriors), you will indeed want good Bluetooth functionality. For almost everyone else, though, Bluetooth is completely irrelevant, and far more important is the type of wireless network card in the computer (801.11b is the current standard; 801.11g soon will be.)
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
b/g or b/g/a already is the standard for chipsets, though there are still a lot of older b only chipsets in use, and a lot of routers in use are still b only.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
*nod* And "n" is sneaking up, but I wouldn't expect to find a lot of wireless-n routers in coffeeshops for a few years yet.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
Yeah, though that standard still isn't official, so it doesn't have much penetration except in macs (where all new cards, which are in virtually every mac, including desktops, are apple's implementation of 802.11n).
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Some laptops have "built in" Wwan capabilities. They are really a card for wireless wide area networks meaning basically cell service. That may be what he means. Either that or a PCMCIA card(pc card slot) Wwan card which may also be what he means.
If you just want regular wireless b/g or b/g/n is all that you really need. 'n' is still barely out so whether or not it is the completely final version of n is hard to say.
Posts: 35 | Registered: Dec 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
He's at a conference and won't see this until he comes home, but I can give some information on what he wants:
This will be primarily for pleasure (going online without having to compete with three other people, playing games, watching movies); he may be using it for some work at some point, but not much. However, he would like to be able to work on it if he needs to, of course. He is very excited about the fact that he's getting a fingerprint scanner so that the kids can't go on his computer and mess up the settings and stuff(he says, "Number one rule: no children touching my computer!") This is what his graduation gift money is going toward. He hardly ever does anything to treat himself, so this is something I wholeheartedly support. Especially 'cause then he can set the kids up on the computer while I'm watching tv (or vice versa) and still get to have something he can watch movies or play games or stuff on.
I'm not sure exactly what kind of internet service he's planning on, but not using a cell phone. His cell isn't bluetooth capable, anyway.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
*nod* Then he doesn't care about Bluetooth support unless he intends to use a wireless mouse or something.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
Heh, I wouldn't worry too much about the fingerprint authentication thing. He can set up password authentication on any laptop just fine.
What games does he want to be able to play? What they are and how much that matters will be the single biggest determining factor in how much he needs to spend to get a laptop meeting his requirements.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I don't think he wants to play the latest games so much; he just has a lot of games (mostly 5 or more years old) that he NEVER gets to play because there are three girls vying with him for the computer.
And yeah, he just thinks the fingerprint scanner is cool. Especially because Emma will probably be able to crack all his passwords in about three years.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
posted
*snort* well, she won't, but the fingerprint scanners are fairly cool.
I don't know what his cost target is, but given its a treat, I'll assume he's willing to spend a bit on something better, and also that he wants it to be useful for a while.
I'm also assuming he values portability a decent bit. If he wants a 'desktop replacement' that he can occasionally move with him, my recommendation makes less sense.
My vote, then, is for the Lenovo X61. It is an ultraportable tablet PC, with fingerprint authentication. It has a very capable low voltage core 2 duo in it (high performance, very nice battery life). You can get one with 2 Gigs of RAM and an 8 cell battery (about twice the basic battery life) for about $1600, before tax. It can be fitted with a cingular WWAN card, 802.11N card (it comes with ABG, you can upgrade it to AGN), or various other upgrades for fairly cheaply.
It does not have an optical drive in it (it is an ultraportable), but I would not recommend buying the dock that can have one. Instead, just buy an external CD burner or somesuch; they're cheap.
A coworker of mine recently obtained one (he installed Ubuntu, which works really nicely with the tablet mode), and the laptop is a really nice piece of hardware.
The price has recently dropped, too.
The video is onboard video, but its one of the best recent chipsets, so it will be more than adequate for the sorts of games you've mentioned (and even more recent games, or some new games with the graphics turned down a lot); it can run Vista's fanciest interface without problem.
If he isn't intending to move his laptop much from a desk, or if he wants to spend less, I'd have different recommendations.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
If he wants to play games, I think investing in a machine with an onboard optical drive is probably a good idea.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
What I hear is that Intel's dual-core chipsets tend to outperform AMD's dual-core chipsets. AMD still often leads on price, however, and while their absorption of ATi means that many AMD laptops have some version of Radeon graphics, many Intel notebooks are still burdened with Intel's (rather lousy) integrated video.
In either case, any dual-core system (while plugged in and running at optimal, rather than power-saving, clock speeds) ought to be able to play most modern games, and easily play games of five years ago. The bigger question with regard to games is the nature of the video card/integrated video, compatability within Vista, and the amount of RAM (though 1 GB ought to be enough for most purposes, and 2 should be enough to run them well.)
I personally recommend getting something with a decent number of USB ports, and possibly even a Firewire port if there's the possibility of wanting to use a digital camcorder at some point in the future. And I will note that there are USB-compatible fingerprint readers, if integration into the laptop itself isn't a sticking point.
And Wireless a/b/g ought to be fine; I've been hearing that n is going to be the hot thing for more than two years now, and I'm not sure I believe it anymore.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Thanks for everyone's advice. My budget is up to $1100. I am planning on getting the card from Verizon or Sprint so I won't have to find hotspots and can access it pretty much anywhere.
Posts: 137 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
posted
Tom: the sort of games an interest has been expressed in, not so much. Also, this is what disc images are for
However, given the budget, an ultraportable isn't in the cards.
I recommend, at that price range, with your desires, the Lenovo R61 or R61i. Either can be configured with what you want for about $1000 (including 2 gigs of RAM, a core 2 duo, and a fingerprint reader), and can be bumped up to an 8 cell battery for $80.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
Bear in mind that getting the card from Verizon or Sprint commits you to about $60 a month on top of any other voice plan you may already have.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
| IP: Logged |
posted
Yep, the main deficiencies are in being bulky and heavy. Otherwise, the laptop has most of the features you'd want (excepting a fingerprint reader, and maybe a bit faster processor).
Nowadays, a lot of the cost difference in laptops is based around bulk, weight, battery life, and processor (the last, least).
Are you intending to take your laptop other places a lot?
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
While I like the tablets a lot, I'd still avoid the low end tablets; I've heard of too many problems with them.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: In retrospect, I just realized you should really wait for Black Friday.
That's known in our house as "Buy Nothing Day."
And he's been waiting more than a year now. He really would like to have it before Thanksgiving, and I don't really blame him.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by TomDavidson: KPC: The Core 2 Duo is better than the Turion 64 X2 by quite a bit. I wouldn't buy any system with less than 2GB of RAM nowadays.
As to your second question: if you intend to use your cellphone as a modem and connect your laptop to it over Bluetooth (which, just as a warning, will be very expensive; you'll have to purchase an unlimited data plan from your cell provider in addition to your voice plan, making this a bad idea for all but the most dedicated Road Warriors), you will indeed want good Bluetooth functionality. For almost everyone else, though, Bluetooth is completely irrelevant, and far more important is the type of wireless network card in the computer (801.11b is the current standard; 801.11g soon will be.)
This isn't really relevant to KPC's needs, but could you set this system up in such a way that you use the cell phone to act as a modem for a cheap or free dialup service instead, thus just using minutes?
Posts: 1466 | Registered: Jan 2003
| IP: Logged |
posted
Funny: it depends on the phone and the carrier. In my experience, every carrier will tell you that you can't do this, when usually you can. The quality of the connection is generally quite poor, though.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
| IP: Logged |
Geez, that's a nice machine for that price. I'm a little envious.
(Of course, as always... If you wait long enough, you can always get a more powerful machine for less money... (sigh) )
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
