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Isn't this the WORST time to buy a laptop? - Page 2

post #21 of 35
4/21/04 at 11:41pm
I guess I'm showing my age here, but I remember a time when people bought new hardware to keep up with the demands of software. Hardware is soo far ahead of software right now its not funny, and I really dont foresee anything changing that. So why wouldn't it be a great time to buy?

Yeah sure, Dothans are coming out but they will command a high price. 1.7 PMs will come down in price, but are they that much faster than 1.6s? Nvidia will soon release its 6800 video cards (haven't seen one for sale yet), but how long before we see anything like it in a notebook? P4-Ms and A64s will continue to get faster, but what on earth will demand all that horsepower?
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post #22 of 35
4/22/04 at 12:30am
All of the reasonings being thrown out to not buy in my mind apply more to desktops than to portables. Most of this tech will take a bit to filter down.

I will be ready for another system by then.
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post #23 of 35
4/22/04 at 12:37am
My reasoning once again is that....

This guy has already been waiting for months (I dont think he specified how many exactly)... but months. The new technologies wont see full implementation with fewer faults and that stuff till around the time Marquis pointed out he would be purchasing his new notebook... Jan 2005. This guy could have bought a notebook before he ever waited for months, and could have ditched it and gone for the new ones early next year.

In my book there is no such thing as waiting for about a whole year to buy a notebook, just because I want to wait for new tech. This guy Anacardo says that by 2006-2007 he could probably be through 3 notebooks already. That seems to me like a 1 notebook per year type of cycle.
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post #24 of 35
4/22/04 at 4:48am
Definitely, waiting a year is waiting way, way too long. If you are going to wait over a year to get a machine you either don't want one or you don't need one or you are never going to make a decision. As Enderet points out, had Anacardo bought within a couple of months of starting his search, he would have been using it for all this time and as noted, by the time most of this new tech is solidly in place, it would be nearly time for replacement.

I would never wait that long for anything. I've gotten into a two year cycle on purchasing machines. This gives me a framework to work within while staying reasonably close to the edge. True, stuff is happening so fast these days, that cycle is starting to lag. But I am hoping this big changeover will make laptops more upgradeable so it won't be necessary to replace machines so often.
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post #25 of 35
4/22/04 at 9:23am
Thread Starter 
sniff... the forum ate my answer.. sniff... it was way too long... I'll write it again... maybe later, I have to go back to work right now.
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post #26 of 35
4/22/04 at 7:06pm
I'm sure by January there will be new, equally revolutionary changes "just around the corner" too...
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post #27 of 35
4/22/04 at 7:10pm
There's something I've wondered for a little while: is that a picture of Leon Trotsky in your avatar?
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post #28 of 35
4/22/04 at 7:12pm
Quote:
I guess I'm showing my age here, but I remember a time when people bought new hardware to keep up with the demands of software. Hardware is soo far ahead of software right now its not funny, and I really dont foresee anything changing that.
For the most part, that's true... however, if you're talking about gaming laptops, the gap isn't as big as if you're talking about, say, machines people just use to run office apps. There are games out there that will tax even the very fastest laptops, and if you don't keep your hardware up-to-date, before long you're not going to be able to play with the big boys anymore -- at least not with anything near top-of-the-line performance.

Times haven't changed that much, really.
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post #29 of 35
4/22/04 at 7:45pm
It is to late to get a new 32bit system now...
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post #30 of 35
4/22/04 at 7:55pm
Why? Where is this huge profileration of 64 bit chips?

Intel hasn't shipped any (other than Itaniums, but that's a different market) and AMD hasn't been selling that many compared to moving XP's.
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post #31 of 35
4/22/04 at 8:05pm
Besides that, I've been around a while, and I'm skeptical. People talk about "64-bit" like it's some magic speed bullet. It's most definitely not. I think a lot of us who watched the 8-bit to 16-bit migration, then the 16-bit to 32-bit change, already know this, but it's been a while since those happened.

The fact is, 64-bitness in itself isn't going to cause any speed increases. In fact, there's a lot of overhead in 64-bit operations, and some thing will happen *slower* at 64 bits than they do at 32.

Those of us who work with Sun machines a lot (and probably other systems that have been 64-bit for years) know this stuff first-hand. There are reasons Linux and Solaris, for example, are all still 32-bit except where the kernel and some other hardware-related stuff are involved. 32 bits require less bandwith to push around than 64, and in most cases will run faster.

Running 64-bit does gain you *some* things, like access to more memory without having to use weird paging schemes and such, but speed increases? Nope.

I'm not saying we won't all be running 64-bit machines in the nearish future, but why? I'd be willing to bet the majority of people looking forward to it have no idea why, and are expecting things 64-bitness in itself can't deliver.
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post #32 of 35
4/23/04 at 11:19am
Thread Starter 
Here I'm back. SOrry I've been quite busy.
Answers:
1) No the avatar is not trosky.. (how in the world... you have quite a photographic memory...awesome!) IT'S ME!!!!! (actually is a photo of me in venice, made by my girl back two years ago)

2) I've been waiting since November. HELL! that's quite a long time indeed! I realize it right now!!

3) First I wanted a Compaq x1000 (good WSXGA screen but bad graphic chip). Then an inspiron 8600 (good screen and graphic card but really BAD price (in europe) and size/weight). Then I would have opted for an Asus 6800/6700 (but again not enough mem on the graphic card and INCREDIBLE ISSUES with screen... 15.1 sucks and WXGA has not enough res) Then I looked at the Clevo M375E (good size decent graphic good screen full of goodies BUT UNAVAILABLE!!! Only now shippin under EUROCOM for ton$ of buck$) And now I'm waiting for the ARIMA k8 (which is the Voodoo m860 but again ton$ of buck$) which is more or less unavailable in here (europe)...
summarizing: which come first at a decent price will be it. But again... I have to wait.

4) reading all your comments I found someone who expressed my same feelings on the subject.
WE SHOULD HAVE THE POSSIBILITY TO BUILD OUR OWN LAPTOPS OURSELVES.
Choose your favorite brand of motherboard, the chip you like most, the screen you really want, and all the rest accordingly. Just as we do with our desktops. It's not impossible, it's just a matter of standards (that should be designed that is). Sure we have barebones and BTO, but if you call that customization... well... I want to buy a graphic card in a store and replace the one I had, same as the processor and the rest. I think the times are mature enough for something like this...
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post #33 of 35
4/23/04 at 11:40am
i dont think that'll be a reality until pci-express comes out where u can just pop in and out the vid card u want

until then alot of these video cards are soldered onto the motherboard
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post #34 of 35
4/23/04 at 4:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by rincewind
i dont think that'll be a reality until pci-express comes out where u can just pop in and out the vid card u want
Not even that possibility with PC-i express has been confirmed. Therefore... so far... it might not ever happen.

But cheers to it really happening with pci-express.
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post #35 of 35
4/23/04 at 4:42pm
Thread Starter 
urm.. that's really baaad.. well, let's hope. Maybe in a few years.. NO!!! I WON'T wait for that!!!!!
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