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I am currently searching for a good laptop with really long battery life, such as five hours or more. I am looking for a lpatop with at least 40 gigs of memory, 512 mbs of ram, any size screen, wireless b/g, and less than 6 pounds. So far, I have found the sony trsa and the s series which I can customize. Anyway, I was hoping somebody might be able to help me on my search for buying a laptop.
Try:
www.tigerdirect.com
www.dell.com
Give those a run and if you don't agree with what you see let me know.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...c.asp?CatId=17
Cheers,
D00dz
I would check out these web sites
www.dell.com
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/
www.tigerdirect.com
http://www.alienware.com/main_home_office.aspx
laptop buying guide
http://www.infohq.com/Computer/LaptopGuide.htm
damn u really mess things up :D, u mean space or capacity, memory is same thing as RAM ;)Quote:
40 gigs of memory
...anyways for the 5 hours lasting battery, why dont u just buy another pack and u would never have a problem as low on juice, say u get one of 5 hours lasting *2= 10 hours, way enough for a laptop
Here is one i found on bestbuy
From readings reviews, etc. the Centrino processors are supposed to use less power (1.5V vs 3.0V) which would extend your battery life. Does anyone out there use a laptop with a Centrino processor to validate this?
I can't say much about a Sager's battery life (other than they sell some powerful laptops pretty cheap) - but you might like this notebook/tablet -- http://pctorque.com/2885.php
If you get a P4 3.4GHz laptop from them, you can pretty much bet the battery won't last over an hour...
BTW, AlienWare and other manufactuers like Sony (IIRC) get their laptop chassis from the same supplier as Sager. They just cost more at other places :)
I played with a Toshiba 5100 P4m and a FujitsuSiemens Centrino, both 1800 megaherz..
the Centrino outperforms the P4m !! and takes up less power too (allmost same cap. bat.)
so if you got the chance.. go Centrino..
*Disclaimer for Retards: I am not responsible for any damages or injuries, but you deserve them if you actually do anything I tell you to do.
My roommate has a hp tc1100 which is also a tablet. They are pretty cool lightweight does everything you need. The only drawback is no built-in cd-rom. You usuallyhave to buy a docking station and cd-rom for the dockingstation. And the dockingstations arent very portable.
ActuallyI don't see a dockingstation for the one Tim_Axe suggested and they have a faster processor so I may look into one of those when I go shopping for a new computer.
Make sure to keep in mind when customizing your computer that in doing so it can add more weight.
There are several different mobile pentium processors you can find in intel laptops: P4-M or Mobile P4, Centrino, Desktop P4 (hard to find), et cetera.
If battery life is that important I would recommend as others have said, two batteries or having an additional spare to swap out when one dies.
In terms of processing power, anything will do fine, P3, centrino, P4, as long as you are not planning on gaming, I would recommend a P3 or a Centrino. If you are planning on gaming on the laptop as well, I would recommend hauling around two additional car batteries to get 5 hours.
In terms of battery life for processing power, the lower Mhz the better. I have noticed from my personal experience that the centrino configuration of notebooks works quite well. They have the ability to change the speed of the processor on the fly to throttle it back when it is not being used as intensively.
To maximize the amount of battery time you get out of your system, I would not recommend putting 512MB of ram into it, unless you have a specific reason that makes you need to do so. Hard drive size does not make too big of a difference, just make sure that it is a 2MB cache drive that only has a spindle speed of 5400 RPMs.
Screen size will also make an impact in battery life. Smaller screen will give you more battery life. Also lower resolution will make a small impact in battery life as well, so go for the lowest resolution acceptable to you. SVGA will most likely be the lowest you will be able to find today.
There are several things that will eat up your battery life once you get your laptop. Any type of 'high-end' image or video editing software that is cpu intensive, as well as any type of new first person shooter game or the like. Viewing dvd's from a disc will also use quite a bit more battery than just casual e-mail and word processor usage.
One other thing to take into consideration will be the power of the wireless card that you will be using. If you have the dB transmitting power of the card turned all the way up or are maxing out the bandwidth (transfering files, downloading from a fast internet connection) you will also notice a significant drop in battery life time.
Yeah, the one I linked to doesn't have a CD-ROM drive either...I didn't notice that at first. You'd need to get your own External one...
I pointed out Sagers because AlienWare was mentioned. Generally, their laptops are the same because they get their chassis from the same suppliers. Sager's market is geared towards the mobile professional, and their laptops are generally Desktop-Replacements. The battery life isn't the greatest when you have a P4 3.4GHz EE w/ Mobility Radeon 9700 video card w/ TV Tuner and 7200RPM HDDs. ( http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/n...oductType=8790 ) Note: PC Torque generally has better prices.
Since most of their laptops use the Mobility Radeon 9600 and above, and only a couple use Centrino processors, I doubt they'll last 5 hours even with a second battery...maybe a third/fourth battery? :)
The3ntropy has some good tips to improve battery life for your purchase. Check them out :)
I'm very happy with my Dell Inspiron 9100. It's a bit heavy though, about 4.5Kg. But it's a killer, P4 (HT) 3.2GHz, 1GB ram, 80GB hdd, 15 inch 1920x1600 display, ATI 9700 dual monitor support (VGA+DVI+TV-out), firewire, lots of usb ports, dvd-burner, wifi optional, bluetooth optional. Basicly a big desktop in a laptop housing.
You can remove the standard battery pack (which includes a subwoofer) and replace it with a bigger one (more capacity, no subwoofer).
I use it for my other hobby: VJ'ing :D
I have a Compaq Evo n600c, Its a P3 1200Mhz ....
OK so far I dropped it in the snow, had it overheat multiple times (till it shuts itself) by installing gentoo ( an acpi problem, which i got solved now ), I spilled a glass of wine over it ( after 3 days of drying it was ok again ) and some few minor bangs from my hand on it ....
So you see this one is pretty solid and had to endure pretty much. I must say this is one compaq that really surprised me. For me it seems unbreakable. Heck I'll even email this thread to my nast ict-admin. I bet he'll be pleased .... :D
Cheers
In its latest edition, Consumer Reports has a report on desktops and laptops.
Here's a little rundown:
Reliability
Based on 57,000 laptops purchased between 1999 and 2003. Percentages shown are laptops that ever had a repair or a serious problem.
Apple 17%
Toshiba 18%
Sony 18%
IBM 19%
HP 20%
Dell 21%
Compaq 22%
Gateway 23%
Tech support
Based on "solved problems", "support staff" and "waiting on phone"
Apple 82%
IBM 69%
Gateway 64%
Dell 60%
Toshiba 59%
HP 55%
Sony 52%
Compaq 49%
The ratings
Budget
1. Compaq Presario 2100Z 2500+ Athlon XP-M - $1,000 - Battery Life: 3.5hrs
2. Dell Inspiron 1150 2.6GHz Celeron - $850 - Battery Life: 4.25hrs
3. IBM Thinkpad G40, 2.4GHz Pentium 4 - $1,367 - Battery Life: 3.75hrs
4. HP Pavilion ze5700 2.8GHz Celeron - $974 - Battery Life: 2.25
The Dell Inspiron is the top choice for CR (price/quality).
Workhorse
1. Gateway M350X, 2.8GHz Mobile P4M - $1,500 - Battery Life: 4hrs
2. Compay Presario R3000T 2.8GHz Mobile P4M - $1,574 - Battery Life: 3.75hrs
3. HP Pavilion zx5000 2.8GHz Mobile P4M - $1,424 - Battery Life: 3.75hrs
4. Dell Inspiron 5150 2.8GHz Mobile P4M - $1,576 - Battery Life: 3.5hrs
The HP is the top choice.
Slim and Light
1. Sony Vaio PCG-V505 1.4GHz Pentium M - $1,750 - Battery Life: 4.25hrs
2. Toshiba Portege M205-S810 1.5GHz Pentium M - $2,400 - Battery Life: 4hrs
3. Dell Inspiron 300m 1.2GHz Pentium M - $1,537 - Battery Life: 2.5hrs
4. IBM Thinkpad X31 1.4GHz Pentium M - $2,283 - Battery Life: 4.25hrs
The Sony is the top choice.
5hrs or more is going to be difficult unless you buy a second battery pack... all of these laptops have at least a 40GB hard disk... the only ones less than 6 pounds are the Slim and Light ones.
Hope this helps a little.