Need advice on notebook choice

Published 06 June 04 11:49 AM | alexcampbell

I need advice on choosing a new notebook computer.  If anyone has any suggestions, feelings, ideas etc, please please please post them to the “Feedback“ section of this post.

My choice in notebook vendors has been somewhat informed by my last post.  Even though I'm really pissed off at Dell tech support right now, I am still considering getting a mid-range Latitude or Inspiron.  I hold an irrational view that the more corporate aimed Latitude's probably have higher quality parts (thus reducing my chances of destroying the machine within the first 3 months).

One notebook that really caught my attention was the Toshiba Tecra M2.  Harris Technology can sell me a beautiful M2 for $3300.  There are a couple of things I like about this:

  • It comes with 3 years extended warrantee
  • It has a beautiful magnesium alloy case that looks like it would be a lot harder to break than my current plastic Tecra 8100
  • It is a bargain - $3300AUD for Pentium M 1.6, wireless, DVD-R, 60GB hard drive, 512MB RAM.
  • It is really light - 2.2kg... which is a bonus for me as I will carry the thing around everywhere I go (and I will walk to work and back every day with it)
  • Toshiba reckon 4 hours battery life and it seems as though that figure would be pretty accurate

There are a couple of things that worry me about it:

  • Its 60GB hard drive is only 4200RPM, which is a big problem for me when I'm building large C# projects.  My current desktop at work has awesome SATA hard drives so this would be a major step backwards for me (it's worth noting here that Dell is selling Inspiron notebooks with 7200RPM hard drives, but I guess this would have a pretty major effect on the battery life)
  • It only had a 14.1“ 1024*728 screen.  This is a major drawback compared to the Dell WUSXGA screens that Inspirons are shipping with now.
  • I currently have a Tecra 8100 notebook from Toshiba and it is crap (but it is three years old and has had a pretty rough life)

Am I wrong about the harddrive speed having a big effect on build speed?  I have an awful habit of building the solution after I type every line of code.  This is not a problem on a high-end desktop with SATA hard drives but on a light weight notebook could really slow me down.  I just need to lose this habit.

Has anyone had any really good or bad experiences with recent Toshiba Tecras?  Or Dell Inspirons?  Or Dell Latitudes?

Comments

# denny said on June 5, 2004 09:51 PM:

most notebooks have slower rpm drives ...
less power, less crash issues, cooler and quiter....

get the specs on the amount of cache in the drive they use that makes a big diff.

if you reaaly want some power go look at alienware.... :-)

# brad said on June 5, 2004 10:21 PM:

I know it's not what you asked, but I recently had opportunity to work w/ an HP NC8000 for a couple of months, and I am in love. I had to give it back, but have absolutely added to top of my list for when business gets running. A little clunky looking, but absolutely magnificent disply, pretty good keyboard and outstanding battery life. I need ....

# Brian Desmond said on June 6, 2004 12:51 AM:

I would seriously look at Acer (they're formerly Texas Instruments). Their Travelmates perform very well (typing on one now), and I can vouch that they hold up very well. There are about 300 of them deployed in a high school classroom setting which I deal with day-to-day. I would guess that perhaps five or ten of them need physical repairs, per school-year, and that's almost always from abuse.

# TrackBack said on June 6, 2004 09:17 AM:
# Robert Scoble said on June 6, 2004 04:11 PM:

http://radio.weblogs.com/0001011/2004/06/06.html#a7704

Why aren't you considering a Tablet PC?

# Adam Hill said on June 6, 2004 07:04 PM:

Take the 4200 RPM drive out and replace it with a 7200, use the 4200 in an external caddy and backup to it.

IBM's are tanks *and* they honor their warrantees, I was out on an *oil rig* in the Gulf of Mexico and they got a tech out there.

# Christopher Coulter said on June 6, 2004 07:08 PM:

Return rates, to me, are key. Sony and Dell among the highest, ASUS among lowest. ThinkPad in middle. Personally I’d go for a Tablet (me being me) but if a pure notebook, ASUS (L5GM, M3N, M5N, M6N, S5N) it is. Think “A” and not “D”. As “D” is the grade I would give Dell laptops, both models. Dell makes some great desktops (sorta hard to screw that up anymore) but their laptop tech leaves MUCH to be desired, sorry. Cheap, but then get what pay for. Tecras are hecko nice, but then Toshiba build quality is an uneven thing, I am tempted, but then been burnt in things CIO with Toshiba, always wary. But Acers get fairly good reports. In a nutshell: Asus, Acer, IBM = yes. Toshiba = maybe. Dell = no. Tablets = yes! :)

# Don Campbell said on June 7, 2004 02:06 PM:

I had a Tecra 9100 and it was sooo bad that I would not consider another. Many design flaws a poor performance.

I traded it for a Dell Latitude D600 and it is a great notebook. The only problem or "design flaw" that I've seen is that it gets very very hot on the left front part of the notebook (which is just above the 5400rpm hard drive) and is where you rest your left palm when typing.

Also, have you considered a Tablet PC? I've used the Toshiba convertible (and liked it) and now have a Motion M1400 and it is sweet!