€2000 burning a hole in my pocket...

Gandalf23 · 08-04-2005 07:06PM #1

Hi all,

I'm in the market for a new laptop, and I have about €2000 to spend.

However, I was also thinking of waiting for a few months... for Longhorn even.

I would appreciate advice on this... wait or buy now, and if I buy now what makes, models, places to buy, etc.

Thanks..

Bard · 08-04-2005 07:09PM

Save another grand or so and buy a Toshiba Qosmio.

lomb · 08-04-2005 07:11PM

best buy a celeron dell check the bargain alerts, all urs for 520 big ones, save ur 1480 for an upgradeable desktop

Bard · 08-04-2005 07:12PM

Why would he 'best' buy a Celeron when he has 2 grand to spend?

Settle for nothing less than a Centrino!

lomb · 08-04-2005 07:16PM

Bard wrote:

Why would he 'best' buy a Celeron when he has 2 grand to spend?

Settle for nothing less than a Centrino!

because he would be pouring his money down a pan thats why. 99% of people dont need a high end portable machine. its just mine is biggerthan yours thats all. any laptop bought today will be worth zilch in 3 years,thats how its going.

beller b · 08-04-2005 07:20PM

If your looking for longhorn it could be a while! If it was me I'd get another few hundred, get a plasma screen & start saving again, you'll easy get 2 grand before Longhorn appears

smemon · 08-04-2005 08:07PM

you cant just keep having the attitude 'ah sure it'll be out of date in a few years, why bother spending big?'

if you have the money, want the laptop, go for it. forget about the future, you want what's hot NOW.

i myself have been hunting for months and was a few clicks away from buying a ferrari3400 . atm im holding out for a newer version (3600) with a bit of future proof in it (amd's new turion processor)

have been looking around shops for ages and laughing at prices, you'll find nearly everything cheaper on the net. dam ireland's inflated laptop prices.

Gandalf23 · 09-04-2005 12:40AM

Thanks for the advice guys... good stuff!!! However I might just be in the 1% of people who would actually use a high end portable.

I agree that it has to be centrino all the way... and dothan all the way too for that matter!!!

I have been thinking Sony, ASUS, or IBM... the Toshiba sounds good, but I wouldnt really use all the multimedia stuff... might be wasted on me.

I currently have a ThinkPad T20 (PIII, 128mb RAM, 6GB hard drive)... fantastic machine but getting old now (and might not like it if I tried to put in a Linux dual boot).

I have also been thinking komplett.ie or elara.ie to buy from.

I am doing a thesis on "Open Source Software adoption by Irish Organisations" in UCD, and ideally I would like to have a wireless powerhorse of a machine, light enough to carry around, with the ability to have a few Linux OS distros to boot from.

Infini · 09-04-2005 12:48AM

http://vaio.sony-europe.com/PageView.do?site=ite_en_GB&page=ProductTechnicalFeatures&section=Products_ITE&productmodel=%2FComputing%2FVAIO+Notebooks%2FVN+FS+Series%2FVGN-FS115Z&productcategory=%2FComputing%2FVAIO+Notebooks%2FVN+FS+Series&productsku=VGNFS115Z.CEK

This would probably be a good buy. About E1849 in town but with a 1.7 centrino and 100GB HD I find that good value. Besides the sony lappys are pretty good.

Gandalf23 · 09-04-2005 01:01AM

Infini wrote:

http://vaio.sony-europe.com/PageView.do?site=ite_en_GB&page=ProductTechnicalFeatures&section=Products_ITE&productmodel=%2FComputing%2FVAIO+Notebooks%2FVN+FS+Series%2FVGN-FS115Z&productcategory=%2FComputing%2FVAIO+Notebooks%2FVN+FS+Series&productsku=VGNFS115Z.CEK

This would probably be a good buy. About E1849 in town but with a 1.7 centrino and 100GB HD I find that good value. Besides the sony lappys are pretty good.

I think I might prefer this...
http://vaio.sony-europe.com/ShowProduct.do?site=ite_en_GB&category=VN+S+Series&product=VGN-S3VP

Or even this...
http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com/products/mobile/notebooks/lifebook_p.html

Or these from ASUS...
http://uk.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=5&l2=25&l3=0&model=413&modelmenu=1
http://uk.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=5&l2=26&l3=0&model=412&modelmenu=1
http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=1154

What do you think Infini?

(Might be lucky for under €2000 tho... makes me sick when I look here http://www.notebooksbilliger.de/)

dubdvd · 09-04-2005 09:58AM

if i was you i'd only go for the one's based on the the 915 chipset with ddr2 and that way you will get fairly decent graphics as well this one here that you picked out is nice http://uk.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=5&l2=25&l3=0&model=413&modelmenu=1 i wont bother with any of the older model without the pci-express chipset ....that and 1 gig of ddr2 so-dimm and at least you willl be futureproof for a while at least ...and then when longhorn does comes out which maybe 2 years down the road ...just do a software upgrade.and try get a removable graphics card at least then you can up grade further down the road...

Villain · 09-04-2005 10:18AM

Splash a bit more and get an IBM T42, I'm using one right now with a 1.7ghz Centrino & 1 gig ram, fantastic machine with Bluetooth and wireless.

Good selection here

jesus_thats_gre · 09-04-2005 05:28PM

Get the Dell i9300 or XPS2 if you can go to 2,300.. There is no laptops that offer anywhere near the same performance. Alienware machines that cost 500 more do not come close to the 6800 (Ultra in the XP2) GPU that is in them.

http://www.tomshardware.com/mobile/20050224/index.html

Also, just because the laptop supports PCI-Express does not gaurantee that you can upgrade the graphics card at a later date!!

dubdvd · 10-04-2005 10:29AM

[QUOTE= Also, just because the laptop supports PCI-Express does not gaurantee that you can upgrade the graphics card at a later date!![/QUOTE]

thats not what i meant ..i meant that as least there is laptops out there that have removable "changeable" gpu's and at the moment they mainly seem to be pci-e laptops ,and of course it would be down to which model and make that he picked to know if they have such a card installed ....i didnt mean to give the impression that all pci-e laptops have upgradable gpu's ..sorry if it sounded like that

Gandalf23 · 10-04-2005 09:57PM

OK, so is the BEST €2000 laptop on this list or is there better?

IBM T42
http://www.pc.ibm.com/europe/thinkpad/why/en/tseries.html?ie#chart

Sony VAIO
http://vaio.sony-europe.com/PageVie...u=VGNFS115Z.CEK
http://vaio.sony-europe.com/ShowPro...roduct=VGN-S3VP

Fujitsu Siemens
http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com/prod...lifebook_p.html

ASUS
http://uk.asus.com/products4.aspx?l...413&modelmenu=1
http://uk.asus.com/products4.aspx?l...412&modelmenu=1
http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=1154

Dell i9300 or XPS2 http://www.tomshardware.com/mobile/20050224/index.html

Is there any real difference between these laptops? I have a feeling they have almost identical performance and grunt.

Does it now come down to astethics and brand loyalty?

lomb · 10-04-2005 10:05PM

Gandalf23 wrote:

OK, so is the BEST €2000 laptop on this list or is there better?

IBM T42
http://www.pc.ibm.com/europe/thinkpad/why/en/tseries.html?ie#chart

Sony VAIO
http://vaio.sony-europe.com/PageVie...u=VGNFS115Z.CEK
http://vaio.sony-europe.com/ShowPro...roduct=VGN-S3VP

Fujitsu Siemens
http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com/prod...lifebook_p.html

ASUS
http://uk.asus.com/products4.aspx?l...413&modelmenu=1
http://uk.asus.com/products4.aspx?l...412&modelmenu=1
http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=1154

Dell i9300 or XPS2 http://www.tomshardware.com/mobile/20050224/index.html

Is there any real difference between these laptops? I have a feeling they have almost identical performance and grunt.

Does it now come down to astethics and brand loyalty?

comes down to battery life..............

Rew · 10-04-2005 10:05PM

Forget Dothan. Waith a month or two and get a Sonoma system. You would be mad to buy Dothan stuff when the next greatest thing is just around the corner.

For Example:

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000200028393/

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000367038714/

Gandalf23 · 10-04-2005 10:28PM

Rew wrote:

Forget Dothan. Waith a month or two and get a Sonoma system. You would be mad to buy Dothan stuff when the next greatest thing is just around the corner.

For Example:

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000200028393/

http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000367038714/

Apologies in advance for my total stupidity, but I thought dothan and sonoma were the same thing?

What is the difference? Is sonoma the next generation of dothan?

Rew · 10-04-2005 10:37PM

Yup, should be on sale by the summer. Dothan is the existing one and Banias is the pne before (1st Centrino). Make sure you get a laptop that has either the ATI or Nvidia replaceable gfx card. AFAIK they arnt compatible (ie you cannt go from ATI to Nvidia or vice versa) but at least you can upgrade and get more life out of the laptop.

jesus_thats_gre · 10-04-2005 11:42PM

The XPS2 main attraction is not its looks or battery life... The main attraction is the GPU. It is by far the most powerful in ANY laptop and would easily surpass every single laptop you have listed.

Rew · 11-04-2005 12:18AM

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

The XPS2 main attraction is not its looks or battery life... The main attraction is the GPU. It is by far the most powerful in ANY laptop and would easily surpass every single laptop you have listed.

Yeah its the best now but what about 6 months or a year? Thats why id prefer to have an upgrade path. I think most of the new Sonnomas will have the upgradeable GPU's. Depends alot on what you want the laptop for but the way I see it is its not any one feature its the collective package.

jesus_thats_gre · 11-04-2005 12:39PM

The XPS2 uses the new version of the intel mobile processor doesnt it?

EDIT: Uses the Dothan. Not sure whether that is a bad thing.. I would be surprised whether any companies are offering the sonama yet if Dell are not..

Just some benchmarks comparing the x800xt mobility against the 6800 Ultra Go..

http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=75201

Rew · 11-04-2005 12:44PM

Sonoma stuff is due but not on sale AFAIK. Don't know who will be first. ATI will bring out a new GPU then so will Nvidia and so on. Point is if you can upgrade it your not stuck with an older one even though the rest of the gear can keep up.

jesus_thats_gre · 11-04-2005 12:45PM

Rew wrote:

Yeah its the best now but what about 6 months or a year? Thats why id prefer to have an upgrade path. I think most of the new Sonnomas will have the upgradeable GPU's. Depends alot on what you want the laptop for but the way I see it is its not any one feature its the collective package.

Just to address what you said directly. I agree that newer processors are a consideration but it is a never ending thing.. The 6800 Ultra in the XPS2 for 2,300 is alot of bang for your buck and I am pretty confident that there wont be a better offer for sometime yet. The Centrino processor low power consumption and low running tempature allows the notebook to be relatively light for its size and feature list while also offering between 2 and 3 hours of battery life..

Compare this with the offerings from Alienware and other manufacturers and you will be hard pressed to find any of the above plus points.

The laptop offers comparable performance as high end, non SLI, desktops.

Rew · 11-04-2005 02:02PM

Dell has never equated to bang for buck so if they do an XPS for €2300 then shop around and you will get a better deal. I looked at the XPS on the dell site yesterday. €2300 only gets you the base system...

Also the Dothan XPS should drop in price once the Sonoma systems are launched and if the 6800 is the greastest GPU since sliced bread you should have no problem picking up a better deal with that included.

jesus_thats_gre · 11-04-2005 03:39PM

The Ultra is exclusive to Dell at the moment so thats a no go.. What benefits does the Sonoma offer over the Dothan?

I have researched notebook prices to death at this stage and have not been able to find any system that comes close to Dell's offering. It may be a first for Dell but...

The 2,300 includes their warranty crap. Remove that and add a DVD-RW and a 7,200rpm hard drive. Admitedly, what they charge to upgrade to a gig of Ram is a disgrace but you can buy additional Ram from a third party.

My invoice:

Inspiron XPS-2 Pentium M 760 ( 2.0GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)

17" UltraSharp Wide Screen WUXGA (1920 x 1200) Display with TrueLife

Inspiron XPS Gen 2 clear LCD Backcover with 3x colour Inserts

512MB 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2x256)

60GB (7,200rpm) IDE Hard Drive

Fixed Internal 8X DVD+/-RW Drive with Software

Inspiron XPS Gen 2 Nylon Backpack

NVIDIA Geforce Go 6800 ULTRA with 256MB DDR video memory

Integrated 5 Watt subwoofer

Internal 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet NIC

Intel ProWireless 2200 802.11b/g Mini PCI Wireless LAN Card

1Y NBD (Next Business Day) On-site

All for €2,338.00

I challenge anyone to find a laptop with comparable spec and performance for anywhere near that price.

dubstub · 12-04-2005 06:19PM

Hi, don't know if you've anyone that could do this for you but I've a mate bringing me back a shiny new HP zd8000 next week from the states.
I do some pretty heavy development work and try to buy high-end equipment so that it'll last me 4-5 years. My current laptop is a Dell and while I like Dells, I find the finish on them can be a little plasticty (albeit the XPS2 is an exception to this). Also the Dell machine similarly configured was a *lot* more.
My spec is

3.4Ghz Pentium 4 (650, I think)
2Gb RAM
256mb X600 ATI Mobility
DVD/CD rewriter combo
Dual TV tuner (to record and rewind live tv)
Windows XP Media Center edition
17" widescreen monitor
80Gb 5,400 rpm hard drive
Integrated LAN, bluetooth, wireless, firewire
Laptop carry case.

All for the princly sum of about €2000.

I only play games occasionally (though I am looking forward to putting Half Life 2 on it!) so the x600 didn't bother me too much and I don't care about portability / battery life (once I can move it from room to room and put it away if people are over) so this laptop was perfect for me. The Dell was in the running for a while but just wasn't offering enough for the cost.

jesus_thats_gre · 12-04-2005 06:42PM

After a little bit of being messed around by Dell, they are offering me a 15% refuned..

The means it is gonna come in at a little under 2000 euro. I am delighted with that.

Rew · 12-04-2005 07:26PM

2k is a nice price, iv been doing a bit of reading and the XPS2 mabe be a Sonoma machine. Details are a bit confusing atm and im a bit busy in work.

Also the Ultra looks like its upgradable and that the ATI and Nvidia offering are the same standard so you can pick and choose.

How come 15% off?

jesus_thats_gre · 12-04-2005 08:53PM

Yeah noticed today there were based on the Sonama but I am getting conflicting info from different websites...

I got them to commit to a delivery date (tomorrow as it happens) and they cannot honour it. I was also promised call backs regarding another issue and no one called me.. Through their screwing around, this is actually my third order blah blah blah..

Sort of sick explaining it at the moment

Rew · 12-04-2005 09:17PM

LOL, there idiots. I used to do the purcahsing in work but havn't had anything to do with it in at least 2 years. All of a sudden about a month ago they started shipping everything in my name instead of the new guy...

Took em ages to pick up stuff that was wrong even though we were refusing to pay up (10k+) till they sorted it. We have huge probs getting quotes for gear half the time. Nice one hammering the discount out of them.

I tried to read up on the sonoma stuff but it looks like the most low key chip launch ever and there is alot of conflicting info, I was under the impresion that the first machines would be may/june.

€2000 burning a hole in my pocket...

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