Best laptops/processors?

[OrangeHair]

The wife's laptop died a few weeks back and we're looking to get her a new one soon. Based on my family and friends experiences with Dell laptops I'm thinking about going with an IBM thinkpad. Obviously that's going to cost a bit more than a Dell but that's ok. We're probably looking to spend $1500 or less. It's important to my wife to get a lightweight laptop with a long battery life but not at the expense of poor performance.

I guess my real question is whether I should go with a Pentium 4 or Pentium M processor? I know the Pentium M is specifically designed to use less power (and therefore uses a smaller battery leading to a smaller lighter laptop). I also know the slower clock speed on the pentium M doesn't tell the whole story (cache, bus speed also factor in). Does anyone have any experience with the Pentium M? Who else makes a good laptop. I hear AMD has a 64bit laptop chip as well.

 

[YChang]

Lenovo...er IBM R series

I wouldn't worry too much about not getting enough power from a Pentium M processor. Dell uses pentium M chips for their gaming laptop. Just make sure you get tons of memory.

 

[Ags_EE]

You can get a Dell 700m for about 750 if you're willing to check for deals on a regular basis. Add a 3 year warrantee and you're out about 1000. Much cheaper alternative than going with a Thinkpad. IBM's getting bought out by Lenovo anyways, so the famed IBM quality and service may not be around for much longer.

If you insist on avoiding Dell though, I'd probably go with a Sony or Fujitsu. They both have a lot of nice notebooks in the thin and light segment. Fujitsu's also supposed to be the most reliable notebook manufacturer. Avoid HP/Compaqs like the plague.

As for processor choice, if you care about battery life, the Pentium M is really the only choice. P4's and A64's are faster, but they eat more power and make more heat, which will decrease battery life and increase notebook weight. Celeron M's would be my next choice. They're as fast as an equivalently clocked Pentium M, but have somewhat (around 30 minutes on a 3 hour battery) less battery life.

Get 512 MB of memory. Do not get any less. More is fine, but not needed for most purposes.

 

[dustin_c1]

Get a Dell 700m with a coupon code for $600/$750 off:The Link

The 700m is a pretty slim and lightweight notebook and you can upgrade to the more powerful battery for pretty cheap.

As for laptop processors, stay the hell away from Pentium 4s. They consume battery power like nobody's business. They also run very hot. They'll burn your lap.

AMD's 64-bit Turion sounds intriguing, but the Turions out now don't outperform the Pentium-M (which is actually a pretty badass processor).

 

[Agent007]

Buy a Lenovo (IBM) R or better yet T series. You will not regret it. Focus on the RAM as mentioned above. Thats more important than processor speed.

 

[wildman]

I second the IBM T series. I have a t42 and it flies. I have had no issues whatsoever with it in the 9 months I have had it. The word on the street is that while AMD's chips smoke intels in desktopsl, the Pentium M is still the top chip for notebooks. Hope this helps.

 

[OrangeHair]

Thanks for all the responses. Pretty hard to pass up those dell discounts. Anyone have specific complaints about the 700m?

 

[Ags_EE]

It has a cutdown keyboard. It's mildly irritating when your used to a fullsized and have to move to the one on the 700m. The touchpad buttons are also a little chintzy and have a bit of play in them. The base model Intel Wireless B card sucks, spend the extra money on the BG or ABG models.

Other than those minor complaints, nothing. 700m quality is really heads and shoulders above the Dell offerings that came before it, e.g. the 600m.