Laptop advice please

[Jumbo Jockey]

Can any experienced laptoppers out there help me with some advice for my first one? I'm looking at high-end stuff with loads of RAM and a big hard drive, so that as well as the routine word-processing stuff I can have a go at video-editing.

1. Any comments on the relative merits of Pentium versus AMD (Athlon) processors in the 1Ghz area?

2. Choice probably narrowing down to Sony Vaio/Toshiba. Anybody got any horror stories about either, or any definite "don't buy one of these" recommendations for any particular brand/model? (Or, indeed, any "don't buy anything else" recommendations either?!)

3. Anybody had any crashing experiences with XP yet, or is it really as stable as MS would like us to believe?

4. Any horror stories about buying abroad (USA/Hong Kong) and importing?

Thanks all.

JJ

[TOT]

I purchased a Sony Vaio in November1999,14.1 inch screen,C/W WINDOWS 98 worked absolutley faultless until August 2001 when it was permanently borrowed without my permission from Fairoaks.Replaced it same day with Sony 205, WINDOWS 2000, 15.0 screen, Think they are great.

[Evo7]

OK. IMHO....

1. No - as far as I can tell people can use benchmarks to show just about anything. Search hard enough and you'll find that one might be 5% faster than the other in some contrived benchmark, but how much does that matter to you? They'll both be damn fast - applications will be waiting for you, not the other way around - so either is fine.

2. I own a Vaio and I've been very happy with it. Very well made and reliable. Not so convinced by Toshiba, but I know people who are.

3. I've not run XP on a laptop, but on my desktop machine it is completely solid. IE dies from time to time but doesn't cause the OS to die in sympathy. This is progress.

4. I wouldn't buy overseas. It is a saving if nothing goes wrong with the laptop, but otherwise it may cause severe grief. Ask yourself if the risk of being left with a dead laptop is worth a couple of hundred quid saving to you. Also, make sure you try before you buy, even if it is trying at PC World and buying from someone with sane prices.

[Tinstaafl]

Divide the hardware specs. into categories, choose what is important to you & then shop around.

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Screen: TFT or Passive/HPA/dual scan.
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TFT is best but needs a little more current. The passive has ghosting so not good for video/games BUT not as quite so high a current draw.

Screen size can vary from 10" for ulraportables to about 15" for desktop replacements. Common resolutions varying from 800x600, 1024x768, 1260(?)x1024 or even 1600x1400 (mmmmm. Dell has it.....I want it!).

I find 1024x768 on a 13.3" screen perfectly readable. Better than a 15" CRT. LCD screens are only really useable at their native resolution. Anything else & the image looks odd.

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Processor: P3, P4, Athlon, Celeron or Duron
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Generally AMD's Athlon competes against Intel's P3 & P4, AMD's Duron against Intel's Celeron.

Make sure you get a mobile version of the processor & not a standard desktop version. The mobile versions require less power.

According to various PC magazines Athlon is faster than P3 & P4 (even thought the P4 may have greater clock speed) and is much cheaper. P4 is new & very expensive. Not sure if there is a mobile version available yet (I *don't* mean a standard P4 used in a laptop).

Ditto Duron against Celeron

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Memory: Usually SDRAM in 168 pin SO-DIMM format
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Typically there are only two memory slots. To provide for future memory upgrades make sure that you get memory on as few modules as possible eg 128Mb on a single SO-DIMM, not 2 x 64Mb SO-DIMMs.

Also make sure you get 133MHz memory. This will work with a machine that requires 66 or 100MHz memory the slower memory won't work with a machine that requires the faster.

Having faster memory may let you use it in your follow on machine whereas a slower type is almost guaranteed to have been superceded.

Common SO-DIMMS are 32, 64, 128, 256Mb. 512Mb is just becoming/about to become available.

Notebook memory is more expensive than for a desktop.

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Battery: Lithium Polymer, Lithium Ion, Nickel Metal Hydride, Nickel Cadmium.
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These are listed in highest to lowest preference for charge capacity.

NB: Lion can't be recharged quite as often as NiMH but isn't supposed to have the memory effect & can carry a greater charge.

NiMH has a smaller memory effect than NiCad & carries a greater charge.

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Hard Disk: Notebook HD are a 2.5" form factor with heights of 8, 9.5, 12.5 or even 19mm (very old, the 19mm ones).
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8mm HD go up to about 20Gb
9.5 to about 30 Gb
12.5 to about 48 Gb

All laptop drives are more expensive, Gb for Gb, than desktop equivalents.

Make sure you check what height drive your laptop can take eg mine can only use 8 or 9.5 mm height drives.

Upgrading is usually very easy: Remove the the HD tray, swap new for old & re-insert tray.

The old HD can be installed in a caddy that can be accessed via the PC-Card slot. All self contained & powered via the slot. It's great for back ups.

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I/O ports: Serial, parallel, USB, Firewire/i-Link, PC-Card/PCMCIA (+ one card slot with Zoomed Video ability), RJ11 (modem) & RJ45 (ethernet), PS/2 mouse/keyboard
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Serial: Not really needed anymore so not too great a problem if it isn't fitted.

Parallel: Again, becoming less important now that printers are being released with USB interfaces.

USB: Very important. Consider getting a laptop with the newer USB 2.0 specification to provide a margin of future proofing. Also consider how many USB ports are fitted. I consider two to be the minimum.

Firewire/I-Link: Mandatory for your video intentions!

Note: Firewire cards are available in PC-Card format for about 80 to 100 quid so you could always buy a PC-Card to provide Firewire ability. You will need a laptop with PC-Card & not PCMCIA slots.

PC-Card/PCMCIA: PCMCIA is the older variant. It's a 16 bit/8MHz ISA bus interface ie the same as a legacy ISA slot in a desktop. PC-Card is the newer version. It's a 32 bit/32MHz PCI bus interfaceie the same as the PCI slots in a modern desktop.

A PC-Card slot is backwards compatible with PCMCIA cards but a PCMCIA slot can't use PC-Cards. PC-Cards operate at 3.3V, PCMCIA at 5V. The PC-Card slot can recognise the type of card & provide the correct power & interface.

Just about every adapter card that is available for a desktop is available for laptops in the PC-Card or PCMCIA interface, albeit at a higher cost.

Some things are available for laptops that aren't available for desktops (without a PC-Card adapter) eg GPS cards, combined networking/fax/modems.

Note: You will need a PC-Card (not PCMCIA) slot to get full 100Mbit networking speed if you use a PC-Card networking card.

Zoomed Video: Usually a capability built into one of the PC-Card slots (not PCMCIA). A zoomed video card takes the video processing load off the processor & has direct access to memory so speeds the processing up a bit. Makes playing DVDs smoother at higher frame rates.

RJ11: Will be built in if the laptop has it's own internal modem. This plug is the US/Oz/Canada/other advanced countries standard telephone plug. UK uses a different plug but no laptop or modem uses it. Instead the cable is terminated at one end with a UK specific plug. Or you can buy an adapter.

Note: Some internal modems are 'Winmodems' ie they aren't really modems. They use the laptop processor + Windows software to emulate a real modem. These types usually can only be used under the Windows operating system.

RJ45: This is the standard ethernet plug for twisted pair wires although there are some ethernet standards that uses coaxial cabling. If your laptop has one then it has an internal ethernet card in it. 100Mbit ethernet is faster than the older 10Mbit ethernet standard.
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Spindles: Refers to the number of spinning storage device compartments ie Floppy disk, CD-ROM/DVD, HD.
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Mine is a 3 spindle machine with 3 separate places for floppy, DVD & HD.

Some machines require you to swap floppy with CD-ROM, or use one via an external interface.

Your optical storage options can include CD-ROM, DVD, CD-RW or combined DVD/CD-RW.

Some machines have provision for a versatile bay that can take some combination (in turn) of additional battery, optical device, Zip drive, additional HD etc etc.

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Pointing device: Only really two options built in --> Touch pad &/or pointing stick/nipple. Some older types or oddities may use a track ball but they're rare now.

IBM & Toshiba only seem to use the pointing stick/nipple.

Most others use a touch pad. Dell have a model that uses both.

A touch pad is my much, much preferred device although there are times when a pointing stick would have been good.


Hope this helps.

[Heliport]

This topic was dealt with extensively a few weeks ago under "Entry Level Laptop Recommendations."
Browse back a few weeks and you'll find it.

I've used Dell laptops for years and think they are excellent, and reasonably good value for money.
I tried an IBM ThinkPad and was pleased with it - but IBM are not good value for money.

[T_richard]

Jumbo

Check out Walt Mossbergs column archives at WSJ.com ( Wall Street Journal)middle of home page click on "personal technology" then "column archives" see "smart machines" This guy sees all the newest stuff first and reports to a large audience. He is very tough on the industry so his advice is held in high regard. Good luck

[BayAreaLondoner]

I've used an old Vaio 505 for a few years and it has worked well - other than its appalling battery life. I believe that this has been fixed on newer machines.
I've also used Toshibas extensively and would never spend my own money on one. Yes I know this is subjective but there you have it
Currently use a Tosh Tecra 8100. Had one hard drive failure and the keyboard is prone to self-destruct. Used to have a Portege 3110CT and it had a low res screen and a dodgy hard drive. Used to use a Tecra 900, which was terrible. You get the picture. I'm sure others love them but I don't.
Concerning XP, go for it - if you don't need Win9x for compatibility reasons, there is no reason for an end-user to pick Win NT or 2000 over XP. It is solid and as long as the machine has a decent spec should run OK. Also it handles wireless networks well.
As is usually the case with computers, go for the best that you can afford - it will be next year's entry level model but at least you'll be able to next year's software acceptably.

[BahrainLad]

The new VAIO's with Windows XP and the Jog Dial in front of the touchpad are spanking - in fact, I'm seriously tempted to upgrade from my current Dell Inspiron (which has also given me 2 years of fault-free mobile computing, BTW.). I think the 'Daddy' is the P1.13ghz, 256MB RAM and a DVD/CD-RW combo which retails in the UK for about £2500.

If you are going abroad, why not buy it in Dixons or PC World, ask for a VAT reclaim form WHEN PURCHASING, and then when you go through customs on the way out claim the VAT back. Have done this twice now and have knocked £300-400 off the price of a laptop each time! (which has then been blown in the Duty Free...c'est la vie!)

[Jumbo Jockey]

Thanks all - lots of excellent info all round, much appreciated. Thanks also for the ref to the earlier topic Heliport, there's good info there too.

All the best & compliments of the season to you all.

JJ