Laptops (Part 2)
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After putting a few weeks of searching into play, it finally comes down to a decision between a Fujitsu-Siemens and a Dell. Both are P4 2.4 GHz, 512 Ram, 40GB HDD, DVD/CDRW, LAN & Modem, 15.1" monitor, one weighs 3.6Kg, the other 3.67Kg. The difference? £9. So, two seemingly equal systems, one made by Dell (my personal fav, but only because I enjoy working on one - a desktop - at work) and Fujitsu-Siemens, which I have no experience of, but Siemens German engineering can only be good news. What do you guys think? :confused: Thanks for the help :)
Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator. - Marc Clifton
I'm typing this on my Dell Inspiron 4100 which I'm more than happy with, except I think I may have a flaky hard drive, but I'm not going to blame Dell for that. I purchased the 3 year extended warranty, which I'll probably put to the test soon. Neville Franks, Author of ED for Windows. www.getsoft.com
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Hey Megan, I went through this ad neauseum a couple of weeks back. I needed something light, affordable, power and feature packed, that had credibility and it came down to: Toshiba 5105 - power packed, seriously cool, but heavy with poor battery life IBM T30 - light, nice, powerful, fully specced but so-so battery and expensive DELL 4150 - powerful, missing some features, light, cheap, but dull Compaq 28xx - powerful, specced, light, medium priced, with long battery life. I ended up going for the compaq because it's super thin, 2.5 kgs, has a 4hr battery life, CD-RW/DVD, magnesium shell, a 15" screen and the option of a 2nd battery. Inbuilt WiFi or bluetooth plus IR, USB 2.0. Only has 1 PCMCIA card, external floppy and no firewire). My laptop goes everywhere with me so the weight (and size) was important. I have a DELL and I love it, but it's become very noisy, is heavy and is a little too thick (I carry it in a backpack and it's surprising what an extra 1/2" of room means). I totally abuse this laptop and so I was all ready to get a 4150 as replacement when I saw the compaq. The option of the 15" screen in a thinner, smaller and lighter chassis with all the go-fast bits at a reasonable price, plus bits like the 4-way scroll pad under the touch pad sealed the decision for me. I never use my floppy drive (in fact it's in storage back in Australia) so not having one built in made sense to me. Anyway, you may want to at least consider them. If you don't mind weight, size and poor battery life get the Toshiba 5105! It's sweeet! cheers, Chris Maunder
Thanks! If only I was a couple of notches higher on the salary question of your survey a Compaq it would be! :-D I have gone off Toshiba's since my old one overheated so much I had to stand it on a DVD case on each side just to get air flow going underneath it.
Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator. - Marc Clifton
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I'm not sure where you are from, but here in UK I found that DELL really suck. {We are now owned by an American Company, and have been forced to buy DELL). Siemens laptops are excellent - well engineered, and induced envy in all the DELL users when I trialled a couple of the Siemene-Fujitsu LifeBook series.
Hmmm... Geek objects of desire hey? ;P :-D I thought this may be the case Siemens being German and all. Still, besides the early ones, I have yet to find another Dell user who has been unhappy. Perhaps you got a "bad batch"?
Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator. - Marc Clifton
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I'm typing this on my Dell Inspiron 4100 which I'm more than happy with, except I think I may have a flaky hard drive, but I'm not going to blame Dell for that. I purchased the 3 year extended warranty, which I'll probably put to the test soon. Neville Franks, Author of ED for Windows. www.getsoft.com
Those 3 year warrenty's seem like brilliant value to me, although PC World guys trying to sell the 5 year ones to poor sods who know no better really annoy me. I know one thing - if I am still using the same pc in 5 years time that I buy now, something somewhere in my life will have gone seriously and sadly wrong! :cool:
Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator. - Marc Clifton
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Fujitsu-Siemens! Right now I'm typing this post on a two years old FS Lifebook C6555! It's a very reliable and stylish machine! Cheers, stefan b:)
Thanks - the decision seems to be swinging that way! :-D Damn, I can't wait to get my grubby paws on the new baby!
Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator. - Marc Clifton
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After putting a few weeks of searching into play, it finally comes down to a decision between a Fujitsu-Siemens and a Dell. Both are P4 2.4 GHz, 512 Ram, 40GB HDD, DVD/CDRW, LAN & Modem, 15.1" monitor, one weighs 3.6Kg, the other 3.67Kg. The difference? £9. So, two seemingly equal systems, one made by Dell (my personal fav, but only because I enjoy working on one - a desktop - at work) and Fujitsu-Siemens, which I have no experience of, but Siemens German engineering can only be good news. What do you guys think? :confused: Thanks for the help :)
Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator. - Marc Clifton
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Those 3 year warrenty's seem like brilliant value to me, although PC World guys trying to sell the 5 year ones to poor sods who know no better really annoy me. I know one thing - if I am still using the same pc in 5 years time that I buy now, something somewhere in my life will have gone seriously and sadly wrong! :cool:
Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator. - Marc Clifton
Yep I figured that in the scheme of things it was money well spent. You can spill coffee on it, drop it, whatever, and not have to worry. A friend of mine with a 4100 had a problem with his LCD screen which Dell promptly replaced. This was right near the end of his 12 month warranty, and the service guy said he was very lucky it was still under warranty as a new LCD screen cost almost as much as the 4100 did in the fist place.:eek: Neville Franks, Author of ED for Windows. www.getsoft.com
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yeah, have you seen those 16.1" monitors some Sony laptops come with? (There is no emoticon for what I feel when I look at those!) Unfortunately slightly beyond my budget :) I think the same spec's I want to get on the Sony is about £1000 more than on the Dell / FujitsuSiemens. Can't really justify that to my accountant husband just because the "screen looks cooler" :((
Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator. - Marc Clifton
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Michael Dunn wrote: I totally forgot the subect was laptops. Never mind what I said about form factors. :laugh: an ATX laptop. :laugh: :-D
Atlantys wrote: an ATX laptop. Less chance of it getting stolen.. :laugh: Elaine (fluffy tigress emoticon) Would you like to meet my teddy bear ?
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Hey Megan, I went through this ad neauseum a couple of weeks back. I needed something light, affordable, power and feature packed, that had credibility and it came down to: Toshiba 5105 - power packed, seriously cool, but heavy with poor battery life IBM T30 - light, nice, powerful, fully specced but so-so battery and expensive DELL 4150 - powerful, missing some features, light, cheap, but dull Compaq 28xx - powerful, specced, light, medium priced, with long battery life. I ended up going for the compaq because it's super thin, 2.5 kgs, has a 4hr battery life, CD-RW/DVD, magnesium shell, a 15" screen and the option of a 2nd battery. Inbuilt WiFi or bluetooth plus IR, USB 2.0. Only has 1 PCMCIA card, external floppy and no firewire). My laptop goes everywhere with me so the weight (and size) was important. I have a DELL and I love it, but it's become very noisy, is heavy and is a little too thick (I carry it in a backpack and it's surprising what an extra 1/2" of room means). I totally abuse this laptop and so I was all ready to get a 4150 as replacement when I saw the compaq. The option of the 15" screen in a thinner, smaller and lighter chassis with all the go-fast bits at a reasonable price, plus bits like the 4-way scroll pad under the touch pad sealed the decision for me. I never use my floppy drive (in fact it's in storage back in Australia) so not having one built in made sense to me. Anyway, you may want to at least consider them. If you don't mind weight, size and poor battery life get the Toshiba 5105! It's sweeet! cheers, Chris Maunder
What model did you get? I got a Evo N800c a couple of weeks ago, and I really loves it :) - Anders Money talks, but all mine ever says is "Goodbye!"
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yeah, have you seen those 16.1" monitors some Sony laptops come with? (There is no emoticon for what I feel when I look at those!) Unfortunately slightly beyond my budget :) I think the same spec's I want to get on the Sony is about £1000 more than on the Dell / FujitsuSiemens. Can't really justify that to my accountant husband just because the "screen looks cooler" :((
Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator. - Marc Clifton
Megan Forbes wrote: have you seen those 16.1" monitors some Sony laptops come with Lauren have one of those... ;) - Anders Money talks, but all mine ever says is "Goodbye!"
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You never get tired talking about your new laptop? ;P - Anders Money talks, but all mine ever says is "Goodbye!"
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What model did you get? I got a Evo N800c a couple of weeks ago, and I really loves it :) - Anders Money talks, but all mine ever says is "Goodbye!"
I've started the ordering process but Compaq Canada are having difficulties taking my money. You never know - I may yet go back to a Dell. The model I'm after is a Presario 2811. I was thinking about the Evo 800 but it's $800 more for essentially the same machine (thought it does have a splash proof keyboard - hmmm). 15", 512Mb, 1.7GHz, 30Gb. Canadians get lame equipment. In the US you can customise things totally, but in Canada you get what you're given and the specs are always a little substandard (same with Toshiba and IBM - Dell is the exception). I'm heading to Seattle on tuesday so I may just pick one up there instead. cheers, Chris Maunder
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I've started the ordering process but Compaq Canada are having difficulties taking my money. You never know - I may yet go back to a Dell. The model I'm after is a Presario 2811. I was thinking about the Evo 800 but it's $800 more for essentially the same machine (thought it does have a splash proof keyboard - hmmm). 15", 512Mb, 1.7GHz, 30Gb. Canadians get lame equipment. In the US you can customise things totally, but in Canada you get what you're given and the specs are always a little substandard (same with Toshiba and IBM - Dell is the exception). I'm heading to Seattle on tuesday so I may just pick one up there instead. cheers, Chris Maunder
That is one cool thing about Dell- each one built to your personal specs. The idea of your own custom built machine rocks! :-D
Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator. - Marc Clifton
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Megan Forbes wrote: have you seen those 16.1" monitors some Sony laptops come with Lauren have one of those... ;) - Anders Money talks, but all mine ever says is "Goodbye!"
Does life get any better than that? Apparently she isn't married to an accountant then... ;P
Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator. - Marc Clifton
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Atlantys wrote: an ATX laptop. Less chance of it getting stolen.. :laugh: Elaine (fluffy tigress emoticon) Would you like to meet my teddy bear ?
Trollslayer wrote: Less chance of it getting stolen.. Thats one way of looking at it!!! Regards, Brian Dela :-)
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After putting a few weeks of searching into play, it finally comes down to a decision between a Fujitsu-Siemens and a Dell. Both are P4 2.4 GHz, 512 Ram, 40GB HDD, DVD/CDRW, LAN & Modem, 15.1" monitor, one weighs 3.6Kg, the other 3.67Kg. The difference? £9. So, two seemingly equal systems, one made by Dell (my personal fav, but only because I enjoy working on one - a desktop - at work) and Fujitsu-Siemens, which I have no experience of, but Siemens German engineering can only be good news. What do you guys think? :confused: Thanks for the help :)
Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator. - Marc Clifton
I've only ever heard good things about Dell laptops. The only Siemens I used was a very very old one so unfortunatly there's probably no point in commenting on it. Regards, Brian Dela :-)