Buying a new laptop

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by Adam Shapiro

A number of people I know with Dell machines have issues with excessive heat. One friend even has to go so far as to keep his on a fan-cooled stand almost all of the time so it doesn't overheat. Dell does have some very nice deals pricewise though.

Were they desktop replacement notebooks, like the XPS? Those are probably your worst offenders in the heat department.

I currently have a Dell Inspiron 2200 that I got two years ago, and I've never had any problems with it in regards to excessive heat. Then again there's only so much heat that a 1.4 Ghz Celeron can make...

If you're looking at a mid-range laptop, I have a few friends who have Dell Inspiron 1420's, and are satisfied with them. And if you're into Ubuntu, you can purchase them with Ubuntu instead of Windows and save $25.

Originally Posted by Billfred

I wouldn't be so fast to rule out Apple. Even if you completely ignore Mac OS X and its included software, their hardware is rock-solid and reviewed several times over as great for running Windows through Boot Camp. Right now, a refurbished MacBook almost like mine (the difference being that it carries only 1 GB of RAM, which can be upgraded through a user-accessible slot) for $1,099, and it's still eligible for AppleCare.

Apple doesn't make cheap hardware, but it's worth the investment.

When you find Windows computers with more or less the same specs as Apple computers, they usually aren't that far apart in cost nowadays, especially when you factor in the cost of equivalent Windows software to iLife.

Plus, if you're eligible for their Education discount, that knocks another $100 off the price.

[Adam Shapiro]

Originally Posted by artdutra04

Were they desktop replacement notebooks, like the XPS? Those are probably your worst offenders in the heat department.

Yea, as a matter of fact it is. It weighs about 10 lbs...

Actually, the worst heat offender I've ever known was my friend's old Gateway. It literally melted to his desk! Not only that, he got it replaced by Gateway and the replacement did the same thing about a month later. That was pretty terrible.

Originally Posted by artdutra04

When you find Windows computers with more or less the same specs as Apple computers, they usually aren't that far apart in cost nowadays, especially when you factor in the cost of equivalent Windows software to iLife.

Plus, if you're eligible for their Education discount, that knocks another $100 off the price.

I actually use a MacBook Pro when I'm not at work. I love it, though it is really nice to hop on the ThinkPad and get over 5 hours over battery life. I really wish Apple would release a tablet, that would be amazing.

[Lil' Lavery]

If you do opt for an Apple, I would recommend waiting for the new OSX update, "Leopard". Especially if you want to run windows, as the full version of Boot Camp will come pre-installed. But even if you like OSX, waiting the week for the new features will be well worth your time.

[John Gutmann]

Ok well after reading all the posts there isn't much information given tome other then what brand to buy. I was looking basically for the cheapest good running thing I could buy. Almost the cheapest. I ended up buying a laptop like 30 mins after making the post because of how good of a deal I felt it was. I got a toshiba satellite that in my opinion is a REALLY good deal for what I am getting. The total price after tax comes to 705$ and this is the laptop I bought

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/...02&coid=-33935

Go ahead and bash Toshiba all you want but probally about half of my dorm building last year had cheap toshiba's and i never heard of one problem with them. I am getting out of hp because their service is HORRIBLE and with toshiba there is a local service center.

I abuse my electronics, a lot. my current laptop has been pretty much thrown across a room from stepping on the power cord, and dropped countless times, and is just starting to die now. after having it a year I feel it has had a good run for me being the owner. Right now it has only half the screen working and should fetch a good 200$ on ebay still so I am pretty happy with the deal.

Also when I receive the new laptop I will be wiping vista from it and loading XP Pro on to it.

-John Gutmann

[John Wanninger]

I'm not a huge Dell fan, but we've been looking to buy two laptops with WinXP and finally bit when we found the following deal here from Dell for $649 w/ shipping:

Dell Vostro 1500 15.4" laptop/ 1.4GHz Core 2 Duo/ 2GB Ram
120 GB HD/ NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS Graphics Card
8X DVD Burner/ 9 cell battery/ Intel PRO Wireless 3945 802.11a/g wi-fi card
Win XP home

For $215 more ($864 total) we upped the CPU to the 2.0GHz/2MB L2cache/800Mhz FSB (T7250) CPU, added Bluetooth and a 1440 x 900 display.

$338 more gets you a three year onsite warranty w/ drop/spill/surge protection and a $150 Dell store credit - this might be worth considering with many student (and mentor) handlers. This is pretty cheap compared to other abuse insurance offered, so perhaps Dell feels these will hold up ( or maybe they're just cheap to repair/replace)

The Vostro is fairly heavy, but from what I hear is built somewhat studier than Dell's earlier Inspiron offerings with a magnesium frame and sealed keyboard, and can be ordered minus the usual shovelware (pre-installed unwanted programs).

[synth3tk]

Well, you didn't tell us what you wanted. There's literally thousands of options out there, but it depends on what the usage would be. Regardless, glad you finally made a decision, specifically one that didn't include HP.

[John Gutmann]

Originally Posted by blakcheez

Well, you didn't tell us what you wanted. There's literally thousands of options out there, but it depends on what the usage would be. Regardless, glad you finally made a decision, specifically one that didn't include HP.

I never asked about a laptop, I asked about dual core processors and suppliers. Mainly About dual core processors. I also did say the usage...I recommend (in a nice way) You go back and re-read my original post.

Thanks,
John Gutmann

[synth3tk]

meh, sorry. I was tired when I read that.

[vivek16]

What would you guys recommend for a laptop that I will use for running inventor? What would be the minimum dual core processor speed I would want? I know that the recommended is 2.2ghz but could you get away with less with dual core?

thanks, vivek

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by vivek16

What would you guys recommend for a laptop that I will use for running inventor? What would be the minimum dual core processor speed I would want? I know that the recommended is 2.2ghz but could you get away with less with dual core?

thanks, vivek

If you avoid using the latest version of Inventor, you can get by with a computer with lower specs.

I've run Inventor 7 on my laptop (1.4Ghz Celeron, 1.25G RAM, Intel 950 integrated graphics) and it works relatively well up, on assemblies with up to a few dozen parts. It's great for being able to quickly CAD ideas for a few parts, but not suited for CADing entire projects.

[Cory]

I'm not too familiar with how much faster the new Dual Core Centrino processors are over their single core predecessors, but I have a 2.0 ghz Dothan processor, 1 gig of ram, and a mobile 128 mb Radeon 9700 Pro graphics card, and I can run Solidworks, Inventor, MasterCAM, etc with no speed issues.

Based on that, I'd imagine anything from 1.8 ghz up would work just fine, with 2 gigs of ram being optimal. With CAD work, RAM is much more important than processor speed.

If CAD is going to be the primary function of this laptop (ie: not games), check out the Dell Precision M4300. For $1500 you get a base laptop of a 1.8 ghz core 2 duo, 2 gigs of RAM, 80 gig HD, and a Nvidia mobile workstation graphics card.

For about $200 more you can upgrade that to a 2.2 ghz core 2 duo and 120 gig 7200 rpm hd.

[vivek16]

could i get the old vresions of inventor somewhere? is the new inventor the only version thats given to teams for free from autodesk?

I was actually hoping for something under 1000 dollars.... guess thats not going to happen...

[Cory]

Originally Posted by vivek16

could i get the old vresions of inventor somewhere? is the new inventor the only version thats given to teams for free from autodesk?

I was actually hoping for something under 1000 dollars.... guess thats not going to happen...

For $993 you can get a Dell Vostro laptop with a 2.0 ghz Core 2 Duo, 2 gigs of ram, 160 gb hd CD/DVD burner, and 128 mb GeForce 8400M GS graphics card

[vivek16]

link me?

thanks, vivek

I would greatly prefer xp pro to vista or xp home

[EHaskins]

Originally Posted by vivek16

link me?

thanks, vivek

I would greatly prefer xp pro to vista or xp home

I know Gateway offers XP as an option on most models, but I haven't looked to see where else it is offered.