Ken Robertson's Blog

Ramblings of a .NET developer

Shopping for a laptop

I'm currently in the market for new laptop, since my old IBM Thinkpad A22m died on me over the summer, and it isn't really worth enough to buy a new logic board.

I currently have 3 laptops in the running:  IBM Thinkpad T40/41/42, Dell Latitude D600, or Sony Vaio Z1.  My main requirement is that it is Centrino, SXGA display, relatively light (4-5lbs).  Builtin wireless and bluetooth is a plus, but I can buy the modules separately.  I've always liked the IBMs, and loved my old A22m, but they are fairly costly.  The Dell's are nice, but I don't know if they are as durable as the IBMs.  Plus, I just consider the IBM's flat black look pretty sexy.  I've also read reviews that say the palm rest can get hot from the hard drive below it.  The Sony Z1 is nice, but I think it has a high price tag because of its "sexy" appearance and I've heard it is a little slow and doesn't get as much battery life as the other Centrinos.

Has anybody out there used/owned one of the above ones?  Any comments on durability (since I will be on the go a lot)?  How do the Pentium M chips compare in speeds to a desktop CPU?  Mainly in terms of general OS and Visual Studio stuff.  Not quite sure how fast a processor I need for it to be comparable to my desktop (P4 2.8ghz).  Also, anyone know where you can get really good prices on the Thinkpads? :)

I've been watching Ebay, but a little wary to buy one off of there.  Many of them are refurbished, and I want something reliable.  Even though I liked my A22m, I got it off of Ebay for cheap, was out of warranty, and it died ~6months later.  Don't want a repeat.  Though many times, the new ones are getting out of my price range, since I don't want to spend that much on it.  Mainly looking for around $1800 (with cost of upgrading to 1gb ram... manufactures rip you off on ram).

Currently list in order of which I would like the most is: 1) IBM, 2) Sony, 3) Dell.

Posted: Aug 27 2004, 04:28 PM by qgyen | with 11 comment(s)
Filed under:

Comments

Pete said:

I was just checking the Dell and Sony out and something that caught my eye was the Sony only allows 1GB ram; while the Dell allows a max of 2GB. This might not seem like a big deal now, but I'm always running VPC images and I need as much memory as possible. Also, I would hate to be limited by only 1GB--you never know what you will need in the future.
# August 27, 2004 7:59 PM

Muntedhar Alhakim said:

Iv got a Dell D600 sitting here, its a really good laptop. Iv tried a Toshiba and a HP (I forget which ones, but they were roughly the same spec), and the Dell wins it for me (Toshiba looks ugly, and HP's battery failed after a few months) - and Dell here (in the UK) provided me with 3 years next business day international warranty, which is a bonus.

What ever one you get, make sure you hvae at least 512mb, as vs.net2003 kinda struggles with 256
# August 27, 2004 8:13 PM

Adrian Anttila said:

I also have a D600 at work, and I really like it. The size, weight, and performance are pretty good.
# August 27, 2004 9:30 PM

Julie Lerman said:

eh, no tablet on the horizon? :-)
# August 27, 2004 9:37 PM

VG said:

I agree that the IBMs are a bit expensive, but they definitely are the best. If you have a friend working at IBM, you might wanna try buying through them as they get a pretty good discount (although not sure how much).
# August 27, 2004 9:51 PM

Jeff Atwood said:

You should seriously consider an Athlon 64 based laptop.

Like the centrino, it runs at a lower clock speed, but does more work per clock. It's also quite a bit faster, due to the integrated memory controller, than Intel chips.

And not so coincidentally, one computer task that benefits enormously from lower memory latency is, you guessed it, compiling code...

http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000029.html

... to the tune of 30-50% faster than an "equivalent" P4. Eg the Athlon 3400+ is 30% faster at compiling .NET code than the P4 3400mhz.
# August 28, 2004 12:08 AM

Steve Schoon said:

I just received my Thinkpad T42p 2327 KTU today - and all I can say is "wow, wow, wow..." This thing is just incredible. I bought it on eBay ,and I had an absolutely wonderful experience with the seller. Here's the auction I won:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=6702218275&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

I would definitely recommend purchasing from this person.
# August 28, 2004 12:10 AM

Stefano Demiliani said:

My personal experience with these models: IBM is like a tractor, really robust, good display. Sony Vaio is wonderful for your eyes, the best display compared to the others, great keyboard, really light and built with good materials. Dell has a good display, but I don't like too much the keyboard touch. It's totally configurable at your needs and has a great price.
My rank: 1) Sony 2) IBM 3) Dell
Recommendation? If the Dell has a sensible advantage of price compared to the other models, take it.
# August 28, 2004 9:25 AM

Derick Bailey said:

in the last year i've switched from a Dell c610 to an IBM r50 laptop. Of the two, I'd recommend an IBM for development purposes. My r50 has a pentium-M in it, which is one of the fastest laptop chips that i've ever used. all my coworkers have Centrinos in their r50s (cause they got them after me) and while the spead of the processor has dropped slightly, the lack of a large battery bulge in the back of the laptop has significantly reduced the weight of it.

i run pretty much the same software on my ibm as i did on my dell... VS2003, SQL Server, a thousand other tools and small services, IIS, etc. Overall, they both perform equally well, though I do have more RAM in my IBM, which gives me an easier time having it all open at once, when i need to swith back and forth.

one of the things that i really like about the ibm, is the docking station. with the laptop plugged into it, i can have a second monitor plugged into the station and have dual monitor mode on the ibm. Dell didn't allow this on my older model, but may on newer models.

on the other hand, the dells seem to have a better set of ports built into the laptop itself. with the ibm, i have a hard time using it without the docking station, because it only has 2 USB ports to plug in a mouse and keyboard.... and i don't have a USB keyboard.

in the end, either system will perform well. but for my developer money, i'd go with the IBM right now... i do love Dell, though. i'd had 3 dell computers in the last 3 years, and my wife still has a dell laptop that we both love.
# August 28, 2004 11:09 AM

Josh Robinson said:

I have the Dell D600, and I am not very happy with it. I moved from an older Dell Inspiron 4100, and this new one just feels more cheaply made all around. As Stefano mentioned above, the keyboard is just "not right". I even tried unsuccessfully to see if I could swap the keyboard with the old Dell (no chance!). Another major problem that I have with my D600 is that it gets so hot under my left hand that it is almost too uncomfortable to use. The bottom also gets so hot that I can put my hand on the underside of my desk and it is warmed all the way through. That's a pretty thick desk too.

I would definitely keep the Dell 3rd on your list, even though I normally like Dell myself.
# August 28, 2004 11:13 AM

Wally said:

I would suggest against Dell. I have one and I have been very unhappy with the service that I have recieved from Dell. I feel that they are unresponsive and do not have a commitment to quality.

Wally
# August 28, 2004 11:20 AM
Leave a Comment

(required) 

(required) 

(optional)

(required)