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First post...many questions...Thanks!!

post #1 of 44
6/4/04 at 6:42pm
Thread Starter 
Hello All,
OK, I’m not so up to date on laptops, heck I have never owned one. This is my first post but I have been reading as much as I could understand here for the past couple weeks. Going to get rid of my desktop and work only off a laptop because I am going over the road. I think I know what will work for me but have a few questions and your input will help me a lot!!
Please let me format this post the best way I know so you will understand where I am at, Thanks…

USE:
1. Gaming
2. Wireless Web
3. Some office apps for work
4. Moderate graphics work
5. Will not be watching DVD movies on it…

NOT A FACTOR:
1. Weight, size
2. Battery life
3. Looks

WANTS:
1. Nice display
2. Usefulness for at least 3 years with future software/games

I think I have some components picked out that would make sense, please correct me on this:
1. Pentium M (Dothan), around 1.7G
2. ATI 9700 w/128M
3. 512M (one stick so I can add one later when I can afford it)
4. 7200RPM HDD, size not so important

The screen is a mystery to me, sorry for my ignorance. SXGA, UXGA, WXGA and WUXGA are not in my vocabulary (old school CRT guy I am). I would leave this question to you to set me straight. I know the resolutions but have not seen them in person so it is a hard question on what will do the trick. And I have read some have better screens than others.

I think I have my choices narrowed down to:
1. Compal CL56
2. Mitac 8050, ????
3. ASUS M6Ne
4. ????

I have been to several sites to look, it is confusing. They call these machines different things. I looked at GamePC for a Mitac and was not sure what I was looking at. And at IbuyPower for the CL56, found it….. But some speak of the Acer there, it looks nice but I never would have known it was an Acer, ya I am new at this so please bear with me. My question is how do you know what you are buying, never mind…that must come with experience.

I know desktop…..notebook is a whole different animal indeed. I read hardware reviews since I had my 286 and OCed it, hot stuff then..LOL. But never lap stuff.

Maybe just clear the display thing up and share your excellent knowledge. Looked at Sager, don’t need camera or TV Tuner. Looked at ABS Mayhem (Tom’s Hardware gave it a good review, G2 is PM but I don’t see much ABS talk here so I wonder about them).

Thanks to anyone who helps me, you folks have enlightened me beyond and above any other discussion board on this subject.

Take care
Steve
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post #2 of 44
6/4/04 at 6:46pm
XGA SXGA UXGA WXGA WUXGA are all names for resolution sizes.

XGA- 1024 x 768
SXGA+ = 1400 1050
UXGA = 1600 x 1200
WXGA = 1280 x 768

and so forth. The higher the resolution, the smaller things will look on screen, but the more screen real estate you will have. Those with bad eyes tend to go for XGA while the youngsters seem to like UXGA.

Also, why is it that you are only looking at Pentium-M notebooks, if you want it for gaming. If you want it for gaming, you might want to go with something like the Sager 8790, which has dual channel ram, and the P4 processor. I am saying this based on the fact that you dont care about size/weight, battery life, or looks.

Better yet, maybe even a notebook equiped with an AMD 64 processor would suit you best, as in the long run it will have the most longevity.
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post #3 of 44
6/4/04 at 6:56pm
AMD 64 would be a much better bet for gaming, even over a P-4.
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post #4 of 44
6/4/04 at 7:02pm
Thread Starter 
Hi Enderet,
Thanks for the clarification on the screens, that helps a lot. How did you know I was so old ƒº. With what you said perhaps something 15¡¨ or maybe 15.4¡¨ in SXGA would suite me just fine. Yes I think your right on this, Thanks.
I am a bit concerned with heat, I live in AZ and it is hot here already, 107 today¡K... And some say it cuts down on the longevity of the machine, so much heat, but I may be all wrong. This is going to have to last me for at least 3 years. I thought about the AMD64 but it will be a year at least till software gets code for it. Games will or should I guess still be playable on 32 bit machines, but one never knows for sure.

I am on a budget of 2k to about 2.3k so I can¡¦t go for a 8790 now, or I sure would. 7200 RPM and 9700 are a must at this time.
Thanks much!!
Steve
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post #5 of 44
6/4/04 at 7:05pm
Thread Starter 
You guys really think the AMD 64 is the way to go?????
Man you have me wondering now...
Cool...
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post #6 of 44
6/4/04 at 7:06pm
Just because there isn’t software for the 64-bit processors, the Amd 64 still works great for gaming with 34-bit stuff. It will just work even better once the software comes out for 64 bit.
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post #7 of 44
6/4/04 at 7:08pm
I definetely agree with Tiwaz on that. Even now the 64 bit processor outdoes the other 32 bit ones in some tasks. When you look at the tests that have been done with the early release of WinXP 64, it is quite impressive. Even if things wont really take off until about 2 years, you want it for three, so that last year you could be enjoying the benefits of having a 64 bit processor. Also, expect for games to be released for 64 - bit processors and expect them to perform better than their 32 bit counterparts.
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post #8 of 44
6/4/04 at 7:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Endeavour
You guys really think the AMD 64 is the way to go?????
Man you have me wondering now...
Cool...
AMD 64 is great. Great speed and power, and even decent battery life. You don’t need to run 64-bit software to take advantage of the processor. But once there are plenty of applications for the 64 bit, you will be able to take full advantage of it. But even now, from what I read, the AMD is still the best bet if gaming is your concern.
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post #9 of 44
6/4/04 at 7:16pm
If size and battery life are not a factor, then you should look at one of the desktop replacement laptops. You wont really need a Pentium M, and you will get better performance for gaming and stuff with a hyperthreaded, dual channel p4 setup.
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post #10 of 44
6/4/04 at 7:25pm
agreed, P-M: 400mhz fsb vs. AMD64: 1600 mhz (potentially) fsb
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post #11 of 44
6/4/04 at 7:58pm
The ECS G556e is also a good laptop for you. Internetishop.com has many configurations that will fit your needs or you can further customize over the phone. The prices are great too and will most likely be under your budget. This customization matches all your needs-- http://www.internetishop.com/product...1&item=556C17W but it has 1024 MB of RAM instead of the 512 you wanted(if that bothers you, I assume you can downgrade that over the phone with a sales rep). Also, its got the 1.7 Pentium M, ATI 9700, and 60 GB 7200 RPM HD that you wanted. Its also got an SXGA and is supposed to have a crisp, bright screen.
By the way, I think there is also another version of the Mitac 8050 on internetishop, just browse around the site.

If you want more info about the g556e, check out this thread: http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=22487

Good Luck
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post #12 of 44
6/4/04 at 8:04pm
gaming is really all up to the gpu...

yes the a64 is faster, but what does this mean interms of actual performance gains? very little, compared to the larger effect that a good GPU has. theres a point where your cpu speed becomes 'overkill'

and as for dual channel mem there is little differencein actual performance right now between regular mem and dual channel, except in synthetic benchmarks,,, theres nothing out there right now that requires something like that,,,

and a64 notebook with 9700 card right now will not perform better than a p4 notebook with 9700 card right now, mainly because the gpu card in the a64 system thats coupled with a 9700 card is oddly lower clocked core/mem wise... the 1600fsb vs 800fsb or 800htt or 32bit vs 64bit doesnt even fit into the equation here for gaming... mainly coz its so insignificant compared to how good the gpu is... thats the main factor that effects gaming performance

take the p4 3.2 dell 9100 xps with 9700 128mb or sager 5690 with p4 3.2 9700 128mbs... 500/300 clocked gpu's...they perform better in gaming benchmarks if you do a lil research compared to the amd64 9700 notebook (m:860) and the amd64 9600 (m:855, mitac8335)
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post #13 of 44
6/4/04 at 8:16pm
Thread Starter 
This board is cool…and fast….
Question: are the laptop MB/Chipsets available today able to realize the potentional of the AMD64? We are on the edge of a 64bit world indeed, but…..even desktop platforms are still working on how to do this. Put software out of the picture and just look at hardware alone, we have 64bit processing in the CPU but that is about it. I do not know about 64bit laptop platforms, yet desktop platforms (chipset/memory/bios settings/ and last but not least MB manufs are still coming to grips with this.)
I could be all wrong on this. I need to look into 64bit laptops to know what they can do. Man I hope I can make a dicision in a week while I have the cash and time…
Thanks to all,
Steve
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post #14 of 44
6/4/04 at 8:18pm
Quote:
USE:
1. Gaming
2. Wireless Web
3. Some office apps for work
4. Moderate graphics work
5. Will not be watching DVD movies on it…
Quote:
NOT A FACTOR:
1. Weight, size
2. Battery life
3. Looks
Quote:
WANTS:
1. Nice display
2. Usefulness for at least 3 years with future software/games
you should be looking at the sager 5690 or 8790 or dell 9100 xps or area51m because they are the BEST performing machines right now for laptop gaming and all have the option of getting a 16" UXGA screen (the 8790 comes with a 17" widescreen which is still good)

get a p-m or amd64 notebook with 9700 if you want some mobility (p-m givin you 4-5 hours, and amd64 with 3+ hours), but since they arent factors, go with the P4 9700 setup...

however you said u want "Usefulness for at least 3 years for future games" ? than you might want to look specficially at the area51m or wait until a pci-express notebook comes out because the GPU is the most important factor in determining your gaming performance... and these types of machine will allow you to upgrade its GPU, unlike all other notebooks which have soldered GPUS and cant be easily upgraded
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post #15 of 44
6/4/04 at 8:29pm
64-bit right now cannot be fully realized in desktops or laptops

it is an unknown and no one can say for sure how much performance gain you will get.

it is a work in progress. you need to wait until you have a 64-bit operating system, 64-bit software, 64-bit drivers, 64-bit applications, etc... get the point? the market has not "matured" to fully support 64-bit yet and it wont for at least another year. and even then, the performance gains are unknown, some speculate it could yield a 30% increase in overall performance, but right now it doesnt mean a thing

if you'd like some additional info, the folks over at anandtech have attempted 2 times to show to us the performance gains of a 64-bit system over an identical 32-bit system (the difference only being 32-bit and 64-bit) and the results show that it actually performs worst than existing 32-bit... this is, as it states, a result of premature testing. they are using a beta copy of windows xp 64 and beta drivers of graphic drivers and other components

so.. that leaves us with the big unknwn again for the momment
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post #16 of 44
6/4/04 at 8:31pm
After reading this thread, I am hearing that the AMD/9700 match may not be the way to go for now and the forseeable future.

May be thats why it hasnt been released yet (AX7), and my first thought of going with the GX7 is where I need to go.

Any comments appreciated.
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post #17 of 44
6/4/04 at 8:36pm
Thread Starter 
Man you folks are posting faster than I can post back...
I have to go to work now, will read complete carefully when I get home in the morning.
All of you have given me much to think on now, Thank you all very much.
Got to keep this machine in the 2k to the 2.3k range or my puppy and I will be dining together for a while.....we usually do but she is accustom to eating my stuff...
Thanks much!!!!!!
Steve (future lappy)
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post #18 of 44
6/4/04 at 8:36pm
right now my laptop does everything i need it to do

it is a good mix of gaming power combined with the best portability/mobility available...

although not good as an a64 with 9700, or p4 9700 (which performs the best) it is still the most mobile/portabile and that is important to me... it is a laptop afterall

just to give you an idea of what i mean i can play farcry in 1024x768 with graphic settings all turned on high and get 35-40fps outdoors and 60+ fps indoors. neverwinter nights @ 1024x768... constant 50fps with AA fully turned on...etc

http://notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=25763

check that out .. its gaming pics from playing on my laptop...
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post #19 of 44
6/5/04 at 2:55pm
Thread Starter 
Just wanted to thank all of you again for taking the time to help me out here.
I am looking at A64's and P4 platforms now as per your sugestions.
RahulK, thanks for the heads up on that G556e, man that looks very tempting at this time, the price is sweet and it has everything that I was looking for and more..
Back to the quest...
Thank you
Steve
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post #20 of 44
6/6/04 at 2:13am
when exactly do you need it by?

if you need one by september, leave the idea of three years of gaming behind as has been mentioned. however, once the new upgradable options come out of course you will have more options. just keep in mind that (at least from what ive heard) there is no scheduled release date for any such laptops, so dont count on getting one before possibly october or november, especially a throughly tested/reviewed one.

the area 51 however will be tough to configure for under 2300
i think i hit about 2450 w/a 9700, 40gig 7200rpm hdd and wireless (internal)

also, the future of alienwares gpu upgrade system seems not terribly wonderful, but that is something youll have to try to research (unless someone else reading this knows more about the situation than i do, which is pretty likely)
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