I have been lurking around here for a while, researching and trying to find the right notebook to me, but I'm really conflicted. 
Can you please help me decide?
My basic situation: I need a laptop for everyday use sitting on my desk, and possible occasional mobile use (taking it to the library for research or for working on a group project). I will be doing lots of graphics and 3d rendering. Not so much gaming. And also writing papers, email, and other college student type stuff all the time.
I was all set to get an acer travelmate 8000 - perfect mix of speed, large screen, good graphics card, and portability. But then I looked into Dothan a little more and found that it really falls behind pentium 4's in terms of graphics-intensive processor activity. This put me back at square one.
Then I was thinking about getting a p4 notebook. But then my logic goes: Well, I can't get a p4 with a big screen that's light enough to be really portable, so i might as well go nuts and get a lot of bang for my buck. So then I was enamoured with the acer aspire 1712. But then I went, "hang on. do I really want a 14 pound laptop!?" And then I was back at square one.
I will most likely be selling whatever I get about a year from now when i move back to japan and will need a superportable, so I can't see spending more than $2k on this one now, if that. But I really need a good computer for the projects I'll be working on at school. I've looked at the HPzd7000 and some sagers, but it always comes down to "If I'm going to get an 11 pound monster, why not get a 14 pound acer and get more computer and an even bigger screen??" I guess whenever I get excited about a big computer, I flash forward to the one day I need to haul it all over campus and I'm cursing my stupidity and naive processor speed greed. But i really dont see myself carrying around very much at all.
So what do you all think? Will the shortfalls of a pentium M come back to haunt me? Or is the light weight and long battery life worth letting things render during the night instead of during dinner? Are there other machines I maybe have missed considering, something like the travelmate 8000 series, but with a p4? Am I so wrong to be thinking that if I'm going to be looking at 11 pounds, it makes sense to make the jump to 14? Also, how about the 64 bit AMD in the new ferrari? I've heard a lot of mixed messages.
Thanks so much. I've been asking people i know these questions, but I want the opinions of the knowledgable people i always see posting here.
Can you please help me decide?My basic situation: I need a laptop for everyday use sitting on my desk, and possible occasional mobile use (taking it to the library for research or for working on a group project). I will be doing lots of graphics and 3d rendering. Not so much gaming. And also writing papers, email, and other college student type stuff all the time.
I was all set to get an acer travelmate 8000 - perfect mix of speed, large screen, good graphics card, and portability. But then I looked into Dothan a little more and found that it really falls behind pentium 4's in terms of graphics-intensive processor activity. This put me back at square one.
Then I was thinking about getting a p4 notebook. But then my logic goes: Well, I can't get a p4 with a big screen that's light enough to be really portable, so i might as well go nuts and get a lot of bang for my buck. So then I was enamoured with the acer aspire 1712. But then I went, "hang on. do I really want a 14 pound laptop!?" And then I was back at square one.
I will most likely be selling whatever I get about a year from now when i move back to japan and will need a superportable, so I can't see spending more than $2k on this one now, if that. But I really need a good computer for the projects I'll be working on at school. I've looked at the HPzd7000 and some sagers, but it always comes down to "If I'm going to get an 11 pound monster, why not get a 14 pound acer and get more computer and an even bigger screen??" I guess whenever I get excited about a big computer, I flash forward to the one day I need to haul it all over campus and I'm cursing my stupidity and naive processor speed greed. But i really dont see myself carrying around very much at all.
So what do you all think? Will the shortfalls of a pentium M come back to haunt me? Or is the light weight and long battery life worth letting things render during the night instead of during dinner? Are there other machines I maybe have missed considering, something like the travelmate 8000 series, but with a p4? Am I so wrong to be thinking that if I'm going to be looking at 11 pounds, it makes sense to make the jump to 14? Also, how about the 64 bit AMD in the new ferrari? I've heard a lot of mixed messages.
Thanks so much. I've been asking people i know these questions, but I want the opinions of the knowledgable people i always see posting here.
