Notebook Question(s): HP vs Toshiba vs Acer

No. The Best buy unit was an amd turion. The newegg one is a core duo. Don't know much about Toshiba either. It was the only one that really came up with your price range and monitor size.

Truth be told, you wil be fine with an AMD. They are still good machines. If you can find something in your pricerange with the features you want, get an AMD. I would just read up customer reviews on the ones your looking at, to see about heat, and battery life. Those would be the main things, imo.

Later,
Jason
 
No, check it out...right here: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...ategoryId=pcmcat103700050015&id=1166236115763

It's the Core Duo unit, same model as NewEgg, but slightly cheaper. I imagine most of my work will be writing anyway, so it won't matter. And when I do any editing, it will be short film stuff (20 minutes or less) or photo montages (which I do occasionally for a wedding videographer I know). So, I am sure either processor will serve my needs. My only concern is my lack of knowledge regarding the Toshiba units (life span, battery quality, screen quality, etc)

When I get to the point where it really matters that much, I'll hopefully be hiring other people to do the editing / FX work anyway :)

Thanks for your help.

Peace,
Larry
 
(sharing my experiences in rolling out laptops to government agencies and corporates in New Zealand as well as being a hardware reviewer :) )

Acer are affordable - but they are just a little more worthwile than an old Dell with an exploding battery. I'd recommend avoiding them unless you are super desperate! :Drogar-Sick(DBG):

HP are good - solid, have decent support (Care pack warranties are well worth it) and easy to use.

Toshiba are one of the best out there though in my opinion - They are the last company that actually designs and manufactures their own core parts (as opposed to buying OEM motherboards, cases, LCD's and coolers - rebadging as their own) They offer advantages in things like drive shock protection, better and more efficient cooling (important when you're rendering!!) good battery milage (depends on the model) and little other things like drainable keyboard trays for when you spill your coffee :)
They are built to last and are extraordinarily reliable. :)

As far as the spec goes - If you can get a core 2 duo - go for it - there's no AMD equivalent that can touch it's raw data crunching power as yet (probably for the next couple of years)

The only advantages that AMD x2's demonstrate is in better memory bandwidth and lower heat output.
 
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Larry, if you are going to use the lappy for video playback, you may want to rethink the Intel graphics card. I struggled with this issue when buying mine , ending up with what they on the site classify as a "low end" rather than an Integrated" card. I saw you mentioned you might want do a little editing on it. I pulled this off of www.notebookreview.com which was a valuable resource when I was looking. search for a model number of a computerand someone on there has had it. Note even in the Integrated space, they rate the Intel card the lowest.

Jim

Section 1 :GHIJUZ:

A.Integrated Graphics Processors :HTRBJL:

What are Integrated Graphics Processors (IGPs)? They are a simple graphics controller located on the motherboard. IGPs (with few exceptions) do not have their own memory and cannot play complex 3D games. Integrated graphics cards are not for gaming – office work, DVD watching, and web surfing is near the limit of their capabilities. They can be found in almost any size notebook, from those with a 10.6” screen to 17”. Advantages of an IGP include low power consumption and virtually no heat.

Although IGP performance is for the most part irrelevant, they are rated below from lowest-performing to highest:

Quote:
Intel GMA900
Intel GMA950
ATI Radeon Xpress 200M
Nvidia GeForce Go6150
ATI Radeon Xpress 1150

Intel always has the worst IGPs performance-wise. The GeForce Go6150 and Radeon X200M are very similar in performance, while the X1150 improves on them by about 30% in terms of overall performance.
IGPs have no memory of their own – they borrow it from the main system memory. Some IGPs, such as the Radeon X200M/X1150 can have some dedicated memory (64-128MB max.), but that is not common.

B.Low-end Video Cards :FDOPIT:

Even if you are a non-gamer, it is probably in your best interest to get a notebook that has a low-end video card. The reasoning behind this is because:
A. They have their own dedicated memory to use, and will not share with your main system RAM as a standard integrated card will.
B. Low-end video cards have technologies that smooth out video playback and DVDs.

Low-end video cards can be found in notebooks ranging from 12” to 17”. If you are looking for an ultraportable (12” and less), then you probably won't get a dedicated card. It is not a huge deal if you don't have a dedicated card, it is simply a nice feature to have.

From lowest to highest performance:

Quote:
Nvidia GeForce Go6200
ATI Mobility Radeon X300
Nvidia GeForce Go7200
Nvidia GeForce Go7300
ATI Mobility Radeon X1300

Newer notebooks with dual-core processors will have the Radeon X1300 and GeForce Go7300; the X300 and Go6200 are previous-generation parts and were replaced by them.
 
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Hp has a "Cover- All" Warrenty that i think is a pretty good deal, its 140 or so, and it covers Spills, Drops, and just about everything and anything else that could happen to your laptop in its first year of life.
 
Yo yo...

Just thought i'd add my 2 cents, since this is my kind of topic...

Honestly, if you're going to go PC, go ASUS. The build quality of these machines is just, IMO, unmatcheable by any other manufacturer that i have seen yet. I've been around a lot of Dells, HPs, Toshibas, Acers, etc, and ASUS just stands out. I would definitely give them a serious look.

BUT, if you're really sticking to your 1200 budget, ASUS may not be the one for you, SO.

I'm actually writing this on my Acer Aspire 2000. Incredible machine. Build quality is excellent. Barely any of that stupid scratchy plastic that Dell and HP us so much. I've had this machine for more than 3 years now i believe, and i still use it as my everyday machine. Believe it or not this thing has been dropped, kicked, stepped on... and still goin strong. Never a dead pixel or a broken anything.

Battery life when it was new was astonishing at almost 5 hours - but obviously not anymore. I can still squeeze about 2 out of it though. It is a Centrino machine, so it runs VERY cool and VERY quiet.

I would if i were you - go Intel (sorry AMD) and go Acer (for that price range). Does Acer still do intel?

Again, Acer for less than 1500, Asus for anything other than that. And of course, those Macbook Pros are VERY nice. (Asus actually builds a lot of them in their factory, so build quality is very similar) Asus also has a zero dead pixel policy on some of their laptops which is unmatched as far as i know.

I hope my rambling has helped, i'd be glad to answer any more questions you may have.

Also, buy at Newegg - they're freakin AWESOME, if you didn't already know...
 
How much regret would I have if I went for a 15" widescreen rather than a 17"? I really want the larger 17", but I can get a better overall system if I drop down to a 15"
 
Well, I think the diff between a 15in" and 17in" is very nominal. I went with a souped up laptop and opted for the 15in" screen so I could get a better everything else and I don't regret it one bit. I'm always photoshopping, after effectsing and adobe premiering on my laptop without any regrets.

A 15in laptop screen is almost as big as a 17in CRT screen so its all in where you want to cut corners...

If you can swing the bigger screen real estate by all means, do it. But if you want more portability and more machine you wont hate yourself for getting the 15inch monitor.
 
I'd definitely go with the 15". It really depends on how you use the laptop. I love 15 because i can take it wherever without much of a problem - a 17" is just such a hoss. So portability is a plus with the 15 - big enough to be very usable and small enough to carry around.

and if it's your desktop replacement and you won't really take it around much, you can always just get a 19" lcd monitor for your house for 200 bucks...
 
15" screen will be just fine. My MBP C2D is 15 inch and if i needed to do something id just connect my 26" to it via DVI or VGA.

In anycase, 15 inch widescreen is more than ample for working at 1280 x 720 in my CS3 or in FCP.

ANd if it hasnt been answered yet:

Core Duo = 32 Bit

Core 2 Duo = 64 bit

Thats one of the main reasons besides my need to have the newest stuff no matter what, when i sold my Macbook pro Core Duo for a new Core 2 Duo. When 10.5 comes out and if i ever have to use vista, its a free speed bump from the 32 bit operating system to the 64 bit.

woot.
 
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