Desktop replacement

[Hawk45]

Glad to find this forum…would love to get some recommendations on a new desktop replacement. Background…. I recently began doing web development and am looking for a laptop for work and play. I am not a gammer but do use my computer for creating music and run some pretty intensive programs. I am looking for something of decent size that can support my a multitude of programs from business to play… Here is what I have been researching …. Size is not an issue, actually the bigger the better (please hold all jokes..). I am looking for something with very good resolution and good battery life…after-all what is the use of portability if you have a cord following you? Wireless networking is also something I want to take advantage of… I have been reading about the Centrino technology with the M-processor. I like the 15.4” Compaq/HP wide-screen books and the resolution…..I have also been looking at the newer 17” Toshibas and HP’s.
I have heard some good and bad things about Sony 16” laptops. Now I have a few questions…what is more important after reading all this? The 1gig of cache the M laptops with the have compared to the 512 of the P4’s? The longer battery life of the M’s? The processor speed? Brand? Or am I answering my own question? BTW I would like to keep the price at around $1800 - $1500 US. Experiences and opinions would be appreciated?

Thanks,
John

[John Prophet]

Welcome to the forums! Id say the thing to do would be to try to find some reviews. Of the laptops..but also of the applications you are going to use....and benchmarks of the processors in question as far as office type performance etc. And for that type of budget, I am sure you'll spring for a second battery so maybe that isnt the top priority.

I know all that is general info, but thats all I know! lol. I dont know too much about laptops etc.

Good Luck, JP

[nerdly]

I've been using a Toshiba Satellite Pro M15-S405 for 3 months now and find it a very suitable replacement for my desktop system (a P4 2.4, which I sold to my boss). Just make sure you have 512 ram or higher.

I'm not doing any heavy graphics design, but it runs multiple applications (office, browser, etc.) without blinking. I've been very pleased with this one. CDR burning will be slower, but it does get the job done.

The office I work in has four Toshiba Laptops of various models and not one of them has failed in anyway. Hope this helps.

[omalleytrading]

Hawk - Welcome to TechIMO.

I just purchased as Dell 5150, and I love it. 15" SVGA+, 3Ghz P4, 512Mb RAM, 40GB HD, 802.11g WiFi and a Nvidia Go5200 graphics card. Got the whole thing for around $1,500 thanks to a combination of deals they were offering and coupons.

It's heavy, but what desktop replacement isn't?

I'd recommend that you check them out.

[burgerd]

I recently purchased a Dell Inspiron 8600 and I am very pleased. I use this machine for gaming and as my primary machine at work. It is very quick, has a 1920x1200 WUXGA screen, built in Wi-Fi, 60GB 7200RPM drive. It gives my desktop at home (2000XP+, 1GB RAM, 8MB cache 80GB HDD, Radeon 9600Pro 128MB) a run for its money. The video is on par if not a bit faster than my desktop (I have a 128MB ATI 9600 Pro Turbo in the laptop) and the applications run at about the same speed. Battery is good for about 4 hours with moderate power saving enabled while using office apps (I never game on the batteries other than solitaire so I don't know about gaming battery life).

All in all, I would recommend this system to anyone looking for a desktop replacement for gaming or other apps. However, if you want raw CPU power, the Dell Inspiron 5150 can handle a 3+Ghz Hyper Threading P4. It doesn't have as good of graphics options though. Another reason I would recommend Dell is the warranty and support. I have only had one problem with Dell support (it was a misunderstanding regarding a replacement WiFi antena which was resolved within 1 week) and I have owned three Dell laptops (I5000, I8200, I8600). I purchased the 4 year warranty with complete care so even if I spill coffee into the machine (not that I haven't done THAT before ) it is covered.

Just my 2 cents. Your mileage may vary.

[SeanC]

I'd recommend the Toshiba Satellite A20. It's a very capable system. It comes with a P4 2.5 processor, 512MB RAM, maximum 1GB, 40GB HDD, CD-RW/DVD-ROM.

Sean

[thegladiatorgy]

One of the best desktop replacement notebooks is the Sager. It has everything you can think of and is fully customisable. We buy these for our office.

www.powernotebooks.com

Originally posted by thegladiatorgy
One of the best desktop replacement notebooks is the Sager. It has everything you can think of and is fully customisable. We buy these for our office.

www.powernotebooks.com

from what i heard those use desktop processors and are not very good with battery life. Is that true or what?

[SeanC]

Using a desktop processor in a laptop will pull more power but if it's a desktop replacement it will be plugged in 99% of the time though right? I haven't had any cooling issues with mine (P4 2.53 desktop processor). In fact most of the time the exhaust air feels cool even after hours of use. Of course it could be that it's like 16C in here (Landlord keeps the heat at 20C and it's -25C out right now).

Sean.

[thegladiatorgy]

Frankly speaking mine does struggle alot with battery life. Some of our Dell's go for about 3 hrs and our Sager only go for 1 1/2 max. But that is not a prob with us because we are mostly on AC.