advice on a laptop

[mahmoudshadid]

Hello everyone My HP laptop broke down on me and I'm thinking of buying a new laptop and I need some advice .

here are some things I need in it

I study network eng so I will be running Programming languages and network simulation programs and virtual Machines at the same time, so it has to be fast enough.

I'm on the road most of the time so I need A long time Battery.

I'll travelling a fair bit so I need a good international warranty deal

and other basic stuff such as Good wireless, reliabitly and not breaking down every 3 months


Any advice

[sundaymorningstaple]

Dell. Fujitsu, Lenovo. Take your pick.

[mahmoudshadid]

Thnx for the reply, do you know if any of these have the option to buy an extra 1 or 2 years of international warranty ??

[sundaymorningstaple]

Don't know about Lenovo & Fujitsu, but Dell does. I would assume that Lenovo & Fujitsu do as well. Dell's will cost you between 350~450 SGD for an International 3 years covering everything including spilling coffee in your notebook kind of coverage.

[sampas]

Asus is a good option too.

Just make sure if you gonna go with Vista, you need 2GB ram or more.

[bLeaHz]

Thought about HP?

They're pretty good... reliable and decent after sales.
Sure they have international warranty extension.

BTW don't go for Vista, i suggest sticking with XP

[gif]

well, if u're going to run programming etc. I bet you would like to use Linux as O.S.
I no longer use it, as no longer need to run simulations, but used to be Linux user and it's muuuuch better, faster and optimised than Windows or any other O.S. I know about.
You might consider some model already optimised for Linux (right yesterday I "hit" an advertising for a laptop, very small, very light, very long lasting battery-they swear 8 hours... and some interesting charachteristics, such as cheap price. I'm not sure i can post here brand name and details, so maybe u can PM me, as I still have the advertise at home).


I'm sure u already know, and that u already know that Vista has so many problems, and that to my knowledge Microsoft is giving the chance to registered Vista users to switch back to XP...

We are anyhow purchasing Fujitsu for our offices and apparently they are quite performing.
Of course u will need to go for good processor for running simulations, and RAM, rather than aiming at hard disk.
On my personal laptop at home I'm using a 2.4 GHz Intel Core Duo and can really sense the difference.

[bigfilsing]

Heh victor,
Dont wanna jump on the new guy but this forum is to share your own opinion and share YOUR experiences. Not cut and paste from wiki or similar

I think it goes without saying tht anybody asking questions on a forum already knows how to use google

I'm interested in the "tough book" but just wonder what the compromises are for the extra resiliance.

Cheers

[sierra2469alpha]

Big - one word - weight!

The toughbook looks ok, but I had a colleague who had one for his role and man was it heavy! That was last year, though, so they may have improved.

To the OP, we've been using Dell for years and have never had too much of an issue. My wife also has an HP Tablet PC which she adores. However, HP's after-sales service is pretty horrific in our experience, and while Dell's is OK, don't rely on them for software issues.

Mr. P's big tip? ALWAYS buy as much warranty and accidental damage cover you can. I have dropped countless notebooks over the years (I haven't had a desktop for over 10 years). I also have a propensity to spill liquids on keyboards, had flight attendants drop them when retrieving from overhead lockers, etc. So while I am a klutz, having the full warranty and damage protection has been vital.

HTH, Mr. P

[Asdracles]

Hi, I'm going to buy a new laptop too but my requirements are quite different. I need mainly a light laptop, as I'm moving all day around, and even I must carry it sometimes in my days-off

I have been taking a look to the new Vaio-Z, good laptop, 1.5 Kg, around 3.1K SGD. The Vaio-TZ is really lighter 1.18 Kg, and cheaper 2.6K SGD, but specifications are much worse. Anyway, I'm in love with the weight/size of the last one.

Can you suggest me any alternative in between?? Something around 1.2 Kg but with a higher specifications? Am I too greedy??

Thanks!

[ukdesigner]

Asdracles you could consider the Apple MacBook Air.

From their site
"Just 1.9cm thin and weighing only 1.36KG, MacBook Air sets new standards for ultra-portable computing — without the usual ultra-portable compromises."

Much more robust OS and faster than a typical PC laptop. Also no viruses (as yet) and you can get office and most other apps for it too, unless you run some obscure programmes. You can even run (and god knows why although I have too ) windows on it too either by using an emulator programme or by having a dual boot system. Dead easy to set-up.

Cost is slightly more though at S$2988 and no CD so that's an extra S$150 but I'd rather buy one of those than a PC version anyday.

[Asdracles]

Much more robust OS and faster than a typical PC laptop. Also no viruses (as yet) and you can get office and most other apps for it too, unless you run some obscure programmes. You can even run (and god knows why although I have too ) windows on it too either by using an emulator programme or by having a dual boot system. Dead easy to set-up.

Mmmm, problem is that I run some of those "obscure programmes". Not sure if jumping to Mac will be a good idea, but will think about.

Thanks!

[ScoobyDoes]

I have a Toshiba Satellite U305 that i bought in HK for about the SGD1,200 range, including an additional 1GB of RAM taking it from 1 to 2GB, which is pretty much essential with Vista.

I think here they are between SGD1.5k to 1.8k but i've not looked for a few months. Even the model number is a little different here, maybe A305 or similar.

The weight is great and battery can last 2-5hrs depending on how you use hours.

[Asdracles]

That Toshiba one is 2.1 Kg as I have checked now.

That's the weight of my actual one, and when you carry the bag everywhere, and lot of documents and staff.... that 0.5 Kg that looks nothing it becomes really important difference.

Of course I would stay with my actual ASUS if it didn't have this problem, but now that I must change, weight becomes the most important parameter.

[durain]

UMPC are prefect size and weight to carry around everyday but battery life is terrible. so only option is to get a high capacity spare battery.

there are lots of new UMPC coming out, so it is worth checking them out.