Shopping for Notebook...really need input.

kimbahpnam · 10-26-04, 12:36 AM

Hey fellas, I've never owned a notebook and so I don't know what to look for in terms of brand name and such. nor do i know what the price ranges are for Notebooks

I'm going to use it for 'general' use, nothing graphics intensive like games or video editing....Mostly just school work, Internet and Music Editing. I want something more stable than powerful. Something about a 15'' screen will be fine....Maybe my only concern would be to have a bigger sized HD...something around 80GB (which probably isn't even that big these days).

note: my roommate has a function next to the mouse pad where i can scroll up and down the page rolling my finger up and down the special pad..I'd like to have one with that.

one last question, is it worth trying to build a notebook? i've done a PC...no experience on a notebook. Would I save enough to try it?

Thanks in advance,
Pat

XWRed1 · 10-26-04, 03:25 AM

Get a Centrino. You will get crazy battery life that way.

Biggest laptop hd right now is 80gb I think.

David · 10-26-04, 04:13 AM

I wouldn't try to build one - its probably easier and cheaper to buy one.

As XWRed1 mentioned, Centrino based laptops are pretty powerful (with the Pentium-M) and get good battery life if you are on the move a lot.

Scroller pads (not sure exactly what they are called) vary depending on the laptop brand. My Acer has a small thing for moving up and down a page. I know some Packard Bell laptops have a small pad down the side for scrolling.

Ebola · 10-26-04, 08:43 AM

I've had three bad lcd screens from dell. You could say I'm not a real fan anymore. Anyways if you do get a dell I recommend buying a hard drive from new egg or somewhere else because dell puts crappy 5400rpm or slower drives in almost all of their notebooks.

XWRed1 · 10-26-04, 01:03 PM

5400rpm has been the fastest in the laptop world for a while, until recently with a handful of 7200rpm drives. The norm is 4200 rpm.

kimbahpnam · 10-26-04, 06:55 PM

what are prices running at? anything under $8-900?

XWRed1 · 10-26-04, 09:11 PM

Probably not much anything that cheap which is also new or remotely cutting edge.

kimbahpnam · 10-26-04, 11:49 PM

are there any sites that will let me pick and choose my parts and they will give me a final price?..something like dell.com, but not dell..

btw what is the UXGA/WSXGA/etc.? and what is the diff b/t desknote and notebook?

This is what i want in a nutshell:
15-16 in. monitor
60-80GB HD
CPU...2.0+ghz
512 MB Ram
Vid Card..good enough for dvds, no games
wireless card
No OS (have my own)
CD/DVD
easy internet scrolling pad..?

XWRed1 · 10-27-04, 03:07 AM

UXGA/WXGA are screen resolutions.

Notebook vs. Desknote is about the class of the laptop. A notebook is a real laptop, a Desknote is desktop parts stuck into a BIG laptop. Desknotes usually aren't too portable, but are marginally more powerful.

kimbahpnam · 10-27-04, 01:34 PM

can you elaborate on what you mean by they're screen resolutions? they represent different classes of resolutions? so wxga is better because..? and so on

SewerBeing · 10-27-04, 01:57 PM

I would recommend you get a second battery also, it is well worth it. My friend just got a new laptop and he got a second battery he gets 7 hours and 15 minutes (centrino, 7200rpm harddrive good memory, etc).

10-26-04, 12:36 AM	Thread Starter #1
kimbahpnam Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Seattle	Shopping for Notebook...really need input. Hey fellas, I've never owned a notebook and so I don't know what to look for in terms of brand name and such. nor do i know what the price ranges are for Notebooks I'm going to use it for 'general' use, nothing graphics intensive like games or video editing....Mostly just school work, Internet and Music Editing. I want something more stable than powerful. Something about a 15'' screen will be fine....Maybe my only concern would be to have a bigger sized HD...something around 80GB (which probably isn't even that big these days). note: my roommate has a function next to the mouse pad where i can scroll up and down the page rolling my finger up and down the special pad..I'd like to have one with that. one last question, is it worth trying to build a notebook? i've done a PC...no experience on a notebook. Would I save enough to try it? Thanks in advance, Pat __________________ Macbook Pro 2.16ghz 3GB DDR2 Last edited by kimbahpnam; 10-26-04 at 03:44 AM.
	QUOTE Thanks

10-26-04, 03:25 AM	#2
XWRed1 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001	Get a Centrino. You will get crazy battery life that way. Biggest laptop hd right now is 80gb I think.
	QUOTE Thanks

10-26-04, 04:13 AM	#3
David Forums Super Moderator Overclockers.com Lead Editor Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Hiding from Americans and making pretty colours in a drybox in St Andrews	I wouldn't try to build one - its probably easier and cheaper to buy one. As XWRed1 mentioned, Centrino based laptops are pretty powerful (with the Pentium-M) and get good battery life if you are on the move a lot. Scroller pads (not sure exactly what they are called) vary depending on the laptop brand. My Acer has a small thing for moving up and down a page. I know some Packard Bell laptops have a small pad down the side for scrolling. __________________ David J. Nelson MChem(Edin) PhD(Strath) AMRSC [Academia Profile] OC Forums Super Moderator // Overclockers.com Editor The Workhorse: [Lenovo W510] Intel Core i7-720QM / 8 GB DDR3 / nVidia Quadro FX880M / Crucial M4 256 GB SSD / Windows 7 The HTPC/Server: AMD Phenom X4 9650 / 6 GB DDR2 / nVidia 8300 / 5 TB of HDDs / Antec Solo II Case / Windows 7 The Gaming Rig: AMD Llano A6-3650 / 4 GB DDR3 / nVidia GTX260 / 2x 500 GB HDD in RAID0 / Antec Dark Fleet DF-85 Case / Windows 7 The Benchmarking Setup: Various LGA775 chips / Asus Rampage Formula / 2 GB OCZ 1066 MHz DDR2 / nVidia Quadro NVS 285 / 320 GB HDD / Windows 7 My research fellowship is eating all my time, so I may be slow to reply to emails and private messages.
	QUOTE Thanks

10-26-04, 08:43 AM	#4
Ebola Senior Toilet Scrubber Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Rosemount, MN	I've had three bad lcd screens from dell. You could say I'm not a real fan anymore. Anyways if you do get a dell I recommend buying a hard drive from new egg or somewhere else because dell puts crappy 5400rpm or slower drives in almost all of their notebooks. __________________ [Cythraul Design]
	QUOTE Thanks

10-26-04, 01:03 PM	#5
XWRed1 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001	5400rpm has been the fastest in the laptop world for a while, until recently with a handful of 7200rpm drives. The norm is 4200 rpm.
	QUOTE Thanks

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10-26-04, 06:55 PM	Thread Starter #6
kimbahpnam Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Seattle	what are prices running at? anything under $8-900? __________________ Macbook Pro 2.16ghz 3GB DDR2
	QUOTE Thanks

10-26-04, 09:11 PM	#7
XWRed1 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001	Probably not much anything that cheap which is also new or remotely cutting edge.
	QUOTE Thanks

10-26-04, 11:49 PM	Thread Starter #8
kimbahpnam Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Seattle	are there any sites that will let me pick and choose my parts and they will give me a final price?..something like dell.com, but not dell.. btw what is the UXGA/WSXGA/etc.? and what is the diff b/t desknote and notebook? This is what i want in a nutshell: 15-16 in. monitor 60-80GB HD CPU...2.0+ghz 512 MB Ram Vid Card..good enough for dvds, no games wireless card No OS (have my own) CD/DVD easy internet scrolling pad..? __________________ Macbook Pro 2.16ghz 3GB DDR2 Last edited by kimbahpnam; 10-27-04 at 12:10 AM.
	QUOTE Thanks

10-27-04, 03:07 AM	#9
XWRed1 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2001	UXGA/WXGA are screen resolutions. Notebook vs. Desknote is about the class of the laptop. A notebook is a real laptop, a Desknote is desktop parts stuck into a BIG laptop. Desknotes usually aren't too portable, but are marginally more powerful.
	QUOTE Thanks

10-27-04, 01:34 PM	Thread Starter #10
kimbahpnam Member Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Seattle	can you elaborate on what you mean by they're screen resolutions? they represent different classes of resolutions? so wxga is better because..? and so on __________________ Macbook Pro 2.16ghz 3GB DDR2
	QUOTE Thanks

10-27-04, 01:57 PM	#11
SewerBeing Grasshoppa Senior Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: The truth?? You can't handle the truth!!	I would recommend you get a second battery also, it is well worth it. My friend just got a new laptop and he got a second battery he gets 7 hours and 15 minutes (centrino, 7200rpm harddrive good memory, etc). __________________ "Unlike Windows, Linux tries to happily coexist with other OS's. It's not like Windows which will go out of its way to break other installs." MRD "On the second day of the seventh month, in the third year of the new milenium, Wedo looked down and saw new pow-ah join team 32, and it was good." Wedo "I switch Oses like most people change pants. :)" rogerdugans "Always be sure to flash your bios during lightning storms!" MRD Please Fold for team 32! portage > apt > source > rpm > windows update Gautam is a water buffalo
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