Good place to buy a laptop?

[tycanadian]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for a place/website to buy a high quality laptop. A customizable laptop would be ideal, and I don't want to pay Voodoo or Alienware prices :).

I do live in Canada, but most US websites ship to Canada so that's not an issue most of the time. If anyone could share their experiences (good or bad) with me, or any suggestions, I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

[Slackfumasta]

http://www.sagernotebooks.com
http://www.dell.com

[tycanadian]

After doing a bit of research, I have found little in regard to CPU comparison in notebooks. If I want to do some gaming (World of Warcraft) as well as run some backtests in my stock market simulation software (database), what would be the ideal chip? I know a lot about P4 vs. A64, but not too clear on how Centrino fits into the picture, although I have heard a lot of good things about it. Please try not to post any Intel/AMD biased suggestions. As my sig suggests, I have an AMD based PC (which I love) but I'm not brand-loyal, I just want whatever will suit my needs the best. If there's anything you think I should know or any good reviews I should look at, please let me know!

P.S. This is my first laptop, but I'm very experienced in building/overclocking desktop PC's, so you don't have to dumb generic geek terms down for me.

P.P.S. I will also be using this laptop in Switzerland (where I'm going for a year), so it would be ideal to get international support.

[Speed_Mechanic2]

Check out Anand's recent write-up for a more detailed picture on how Intel's Pentium-M fits in the overall CPU performance picture.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2342

Basically, in many gaming situations, a 2GHz Pentium-M 755 will perform on-par with a 2GHz Athlon 64 3200+. The Pentium-M is tested on a i855GME platform (Single-Channel DDR-333, Quad-pumped 100MHz FSB, AGP 4X) which might hinder it's performance compared to the newer i915PM platform (DC DDR/DDR2, 4x133MHz FSB, PCI-Express).

Might want to check out Acer's 8100-series notebooks (Centrino 2). It features a Mobility Radeon X700, so it's probably one of the fastest laptops out there (with the exception of the 15lb DTR notebooks w/ Intel's desktop i915 chipset and a Mobility Radeon X800/nVidia Go6800). They cost around $2,000 and came out just in the past few weeks.

[Slackfumasta]

Look at it this way; if you are going to be mobile with this laptop, get a Centrino or a Pentium M. If you are going to be using this like a desktop and want as much power as you can get, go for the P4.

Either way, get a good graphics adapter in it and you'll be fine with WoW.

[ozzlo]

Look at it this way; if you are going to be mobile with this laptop, get a Centrino or a Pentium M. If you are going to be using this like a desktop and want as much power as you can get, go for the P4.
.


Centrino is the name for an entire platform, which contains low power consuming products (wifi, chipset, and the pentium-m). The sonoma name is just centrino 2 and it contains (533mhz low voltage DDR2, 533mhz fsb and a pentium-m designed for a 533mhz fsb and wifi)



A64 and centrino are evenly matched in performance (if you get the sonoma version) but the centrino platform consumes about half the power).

also if you want ddr 2 and pci express together then u need look no further than sonoma.

[Slackfumasta]

Sorry for the confusion. . .I have never quite been sure about that. My 8600 at work has a "Intel Centrino" sticker, while my boss's 8600, which is newer, has a 'Pentium-M' sticker on it. I just figured the Pentium-M was the new version of the Centrino.

[tycanadian]

Thanks for all the information guys!

Thinking about it further, I realize that while I will be traveling with it the odd time, it will primarily be a desktop replacement. I just can't take my desktop PC with me from Canada to Switzerland because it weighs about 100 pounds :(. So yes, I'll have it on the plane with me, but pretty much just to take it there. So, assuming I want a desktop replacement system, and assuming it will be either Athlon64- or P4-based, are there any easy answers to these questions?:

1. Is comparing A64 and P4 for the purposes of a desktop replacement "notebook" the same as comparing the two for desktop usage, or are there other factors (i.e. platform, heat/power, hardware compatibilities)?
2. Assuming I'll need to buy this before April, is there any chance of getting mobile PCI-Express support from the A64?
3. I know notebooks have batteries, but if I leave it plugged in all the time, is that alright? I know if I leave things like my cell phone plugged in all the time, it kills the battery (sorry if this is a silly question, I have never owned a laptop before).

Thanks again guys, OC Forums have helped me out so many times I can't keep track. I try to help out when I can but I haven't done much "meddling" since last summer so I'm a bit behind.

[Dylruss]

If you are going for a desktop replacement and will keep it plugged in all the time, then it doesn't matter to pay the higher price for the "centrino" platform. You have more options opened up, mainly you can now get any A64, P4, or Pm out their with more performance for your $$.

I doubt the pci-e for the A64 laptops before April unfortunatly. And depending on the chipsets, you would be pretty close to the differences between the desktop p4's and A64's.

So find your budget and look for basically anything in that. What were you planning on spending? If it were around $2000 or so, then basically anything would work.

EDIT: you may want to look into the Dell Inspiron 6000, it has the i915 chipset, possible P-M, with possible Ati x700 graphics.