CL56 vs 3790--> and the winner is...

CL56. just placed my order with DL. i know, another convert? let me present my rationale, you be the judge.

well, i had been waffling between these two excellent systems for the past thee weeks. my decision came down to one simple factor in the end: battery life. while the 3790's batt life might be very good on the 12-cell, the 6-cell looks to be pretty terrible, at least from what i've read. i'm pretty confident that the cl56 will double up a 3790 with a 6-cell in this department.

i was still debating on whether i could deal with the 3790 12-cell, shown here:


but then i showed the picture to one of my friends to ask him what he thought of it. he said, 'man that's a cool looking laptop. but uh what's that tumor growing out of its butt?' haha, i had to agree. no thanks, 12-cell.

well, even if the 12-cell didn't do it for me, i could still make do with a couple 6-cells to approach cl56-like functionality-- albeit at additional cost. then i started thinking about what i'd have to do every day to bring the 2 batts to school... first, make room somewhere for the extra 6-cell in my minimalist-style backpack, then worry about charging the extra battery when i got home. not that big a deal i guess, but having just one battery would be a nice luxury.

so, what would i be losing going with the cl56. most obviously, the beautiful screen on the 3790. viewing angles are definitely better and you get true-black. i decided that since i would be plugging into my external 19'' viewsonic when i got home anyway, this wasn't *too* big of a deal, for me. what else would i be losing... an integrated vga camera. big loss there, heh.

ok so what would i gain going with the cl56? lots of things, surprisingly.
1) no need to mess with a 2nd battery
2) a little thinner, lighter
3) runs quieter, cooler [i live in FL ]
4) no pegs on the bottom [annoying when in your lap? maybe.]
5) ports on the back rather than the sides
6) parallel port [3790 lacks this]
7) costs about $150 less [than a 3790 with 2 batts]
8) 2 yr warranty, lifetime service included [discountlaptops]
9) no lcd issue upon screen poke [undetermined whether this is a 3790 QoS concern or defect]

with just some of the extra money i saved, i upgraded to a 7200 rpm drive i think that the cl56 is a good choice for me, given my concept of what a laptop should be--> mobile computing, period. this is probably different than others' needs/wants. if the best screen, performance, and looks were my priority and i could be guaranteed a power socket whereever i went, i'd go with something like a 5690 / 8890. i couldn't justify all the advantages of the cl56 for basically, widescreen.

thanks man. i listed all the stuff and tried to make an objective decision, but sometimes i still think i'm crazy when i look at how the 3790 screen is. it's good to hear someone else say, 'you're not that crazy.' haha

yeah, my decision was based on really not liking the 12-cell. draw doesn't have a problem with larger batt, but i'd venture to say that if he had to use a 6-cell he'd at least put some reservation in his conclusions.

na dude, you're biasing it without even realizing it. it's no big deal, but your facts are really opinions to those who think:
1) sxga+ screens are fine
2) the cl56 looks great
3) the cl56 performance is quite good
-- typically 100 point difference in 3dmark03 usually equates to anywhere from 1 to 2 fps difference depending on the visual benchmark
-- ill get my hands on a copy of doom3 when i get the laptop to see how it does in reality

if you scroll up to my first post, you'll see a bunch of facts--> not opinions.

edit: by the way from all indications the cl56 will get 2-2.5 hrs more than the 3790's 6-cell.