Laptop Question

[ndlancer95 0]

I have an acer mini notebook, which is great. It's portable, and i believe near 350 dollars. The machine is very reliable, but the screen is only about 10 inches, just to let you kow, but you get adjusted to it easily.

[furlanitalia 1]

It was a sale at futureshop. Probably still have something comparable

[MLSman 22]

You just can't compare a netbook to a robust laptop. It's almost like comparing an HP thin client to a workstation.

Most laptops today are on par with many of the workstations out in the market, with notable exceptions being video performance. You just can't get SLI or any other high PCI-e bus technology into such a small footprint without having a laptop with watercooling or 3 heatsinks...and that would make it the loudest notebook in the industry. From a commercial viability standpoint, it just doesn't make financial sense to put a $5,000 laptop in today's market. Laptops are different from desktops as there are very few components: CPU, memory, motherboard, hard drive, battery, monitor, enclosure. Whereas a motherboard in a desktop will have the ability for mods and expansion, the main cost to your laptop has to do with the integrated motherboard that includes the video card, sound card, and all external ports.

With that said, 45nm technology has pushed the envelope on processors today...thus the ability to get 2.53 GHz dual core laptops that do not produce a lot of heat, as they drop the wattage to save battery life and create less heat. Memory is such a cheap commodity today compared to just 2 years ago that it is MUCH easier to find laptops that are both in and are breaking the 4GB barrier. Hell, for example I just priced a workstation for home with a Q series quad core Intel proc, Intel mobo, and 8 GB memory for under $500. I am amazed at how cheap things have gotten these days. For laptops, IBM, HP and Dell now have laptops that support 8GB memory...real nice for those that use VMware and need mobility.

I guess I digressed on a Dennis Miller technology rant...but a keen observation from a CTO of a publicly traded company on laptop innovation describing where we are today. To answer your specific question: you should be able to find a considerable amount of choices with at least a dual core proc and 2GB memory in the $500 range. The only advice I would give would be to do your research before buying to make sure the laptop supports XP if you are planning to run Windows. Vista is not a real operating system: just ask anyone that works for Microsoft. The 7 project started faster after Vista than the XP project started after Millenium...which anyone in the IT realm can tell you was one of the largest disasters I can remember. I have been running 7 for some time, and I can tell you that it is a considerable step forward for the desktop and mobile environment, but stick to XP until 7 SP1

[furlanitalia 1]

I'll second that - been on seven since the beta and it is a whole different story then vista. Made sure it went on my moms new laptop before she even got to use it. Even if you aren't comfortable downloading and installing 7 from Microsoft, any laptop you buy now is eligible for the free upgrade anyway, just keep your receipt. And I you are going to through the windows 7 rc on there, throw me a pm if you have any questions.

[Bender 0]

You just can't compare a netbook to a robust laptop. It's almost like comparing an HP thin client to a workstation.

Most laptops today are on par with many of the workstations out in the market, with notable exceptions being video performance. You just can't get SLI or any other high PCI-e bus technology into such a small footprint without having a laptop with watercooling or 3 heatsinks...and that would make it the loudest notebook in the industry. From a commercial viability standpoint, it just doesn't make financial sense to put a $5,000 laptop in today's market. Laptops are different from desktops as there are very few components: CPU, memory, motherboard, hard drive, battery, monitor, enclosure. Whereas a motherboard in a desktop will have the ability for mods and expansion, the main cost to your laptop has to do with the integrated motherboard that includes the video card, sound card, and all external ports.

First: +1 to that.

Second: There are laptops with SLI'd laptop graphics cards and also the high end stuff like the Nvidia GTX280m will put most standered desktops to shame. But that's high end (aka very expensive stuff) so it doesn't really count :lol: