AMD Athlon 64 Notebook Elimination

Hello all, i'm new here and am buying a laptop in october... I know it is too soon to start debating over what to get now but i am very anxious..

I need a laptop that will stay with me for 3 or 4 years and thus i went towards the Athlon 64..

I will now make a small opinion of each laptop i considered... if there are any other laptops that carry the MOBILE (1MB L2 Cache, 62w power consumption, 1.4V) Athlon 64 please let me know.. Also if any of the laptops reviewed carry the normal 85w consuming athlon 64 then please tell me.. I don't mind the DTR versions as long as they have a battery life of more than 2 hours..

Oh, and dont mention emachines or ASUS as they have no dealers where im buying..

Thanks

First Contender:

Acer Ferrari 3200..

Pros: ATI® Mobility Radeon® 9700 with dedicated 128MB of video memory, DVD-Super Multi drive, Light, 4 × USB 2.0 ports, 80GB HDD, 1400 x 1050 resolution (tho i dont care that much)..

Cons: Pricey for its calibur, Carries the low power AMD Athlon 64 2800+ (outdated) and also has poor battery life, VIA chipset (slower than SIS), it's RED!!!

If this laptop had a normal Mobile A64 (3200+ maybe) it would have been great, also does anyone know what the RPM on the HDD is??

here are a few benchmarks and the complete specs:

Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP

Processor & chipset

Low-power Mobile AMD Athlon™ 64 processor 2800+
VIA ProSavage™ K8T800 chipset

Memory

512MB (2*256) DDR333 SDRAM, upgradeable to 2048MB with dual soDIMM modules

HDD 80GB ATA-100 hard disc

Storage

Slot-load DVD-Super Multi drive
Read: 4X DVD-R, 4X DVD-RW, 4X DVD+R, 4X DVD+RW, 8X DVD-ROM, 2X DVD-RAM, 24X CD-ROM
Write: 2.4X DVD+R, 2.4X DVD+RW, 4X DVD-R, 2X DVD-RW, 2X DVD-RAM, 16X CD-R, 8X CD-RW
4-in-1 card reader supporting Secure Digital, SmartMedia, MultiMediaCard, and Memory Stick formats

Display

15.0" SXGA+ TFT LCD with 1400 x 1050 pixel resolution, 16.7 million colours, 200 nit high brightness

Graphics

ATI® Mobility Radeon® 9700 with dedicated 128MB of video memory
MPEG-2/DVD hardware assisted capability
ATI® POWERPLAY™ 4.0 feature
Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 support
DualView™ support
External display resolution up to 2048 x 1536, 75Hz, via non-interlaced CRT display
Simultaneous external display at 1400 x 1050 pixel resolution, 60 Hz

Multimedia

Audio system with built-in speakers
MS-Sound compatible
Built-in microphone
Realtek AC97 Codec ALC202A

Communication

Integrated 10/100/1000 Mbps Fast Ethernet, Wake-on-LAN ready
Integrated 56K V.92 data/fax software modem (with international PTT approval), Wake-on-Ring ready
Wireless LAN: Acer InviLink™ IEEE 802.11g, Wi-Fi CERTIFIED, supporting Acer SignalUp wireless technology
Wireless PAN: Integrated Bluetooth™

I/O Interfaces

4 × USB 2.0 ports
1 × IEEE 1394 port
1 × S-video-out (NTSC/PAL) port
1 × FIR port
1 × ECP/EPP-compliant parallel port
1 × RJ-11 jack for modem
1 × RJ-45 jack for Ethernet
1 × external VGA port
1 × speaker/ headphone/ line-out jack
1 × microphone/ line-in jack
1 × CardBus type II slot
1 × DC-in jack for AC adapter

Power supply and battery

ACPI power management standard supports Standby and Hibernation power saving modes
3-pin 90W AC adapter
8-cell Li-Ion battery pack
2.5 hours battery life (actual battery life might vary, depending on usage and configuration);
4.5 hours charge-in-use

Keyboard & Pointing Device

Acer FineTouch keyboard: with a 5° curve, 84/85- key keyboard, inverted "T" cursor layout, 3mm (min.) key travel.
Built-in touchpad pointing device with ergonomic buttons and four-way integrated scroll key
4 launch keys, including Internet browser, email and 2 user-programmable keys
Embedded numeric keypad
Wireless on/off button
Bluetooth™ on/off button

Weight 3.0kg for 15.0” LCD model

Benchmarks:

http://www.trustedreviews.com/articl...d=36&page=1442

Second Contender:

Acer Aspire 1511LMi

Pros:NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5700 (supports Linux), DVD Dual, Cheap

Cons: Only 64MB of VRAM, a bit Heavy (7.7 lbs or 3.6 kgs), 2-hour battery life, 85w power consumption


Operating System

Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition

Processor & Core Logic

AMD Athlon™ 64 processor with 1 MB L2 cache, supporting AMD HyperTransport technology
NVIDIA nForce3 Go150

System Memory
DDR333 memory, upgradeable to 2GB using dual soDIMM modules

Storage

ATA/100 hard disc drive
1.44 MB floppy disc drive, weight saver or 4-in-1 card reader
Integrated DVD Dual drive

Display & Graphics

15.0" XGA TFT LCD with 1024 × 768 pixels resolution, 16.7 million colours
NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5700 with 64 MB of video memory
External display at up to 2048 x 1536 pixel resolution, 75 Hz refresh
Simultaneous external display at 1280 x 1024 pixel resolution, 75 Hz
DualView™ Support

Audio

MS DirectSound-compatible
Audio system with stereo speakers

Dimensions & Weight

3.7kg with 15.0” display and DVD-ROM

Networking & Communication

56K ITU V.92 modem (with international PTT certification), Wake-on-Ring ready
10/100/1000 Mbps Fast Ethernet, Wake-on-LAN ready
Integrated Acer InviLink™ 802.11g1 Wi-Fi CERTIFIED solution; supporting Acer SignalUp wireless technology
Integrated Bluetooth™

I/O Ports

1 x S-video-out (NTSC/PAL) port
1 x IEEE 1394 port
4 x USB 2.0 ports
1 x Type III or 1 x Type II CardBus PCMCIA slot
1 x RJ-11 jack for modem
1 x RJ-45 jack for Ethernet
1 x external VGA port
1 x microphone-in jack
1 x headphone-out jack
1 x DC-in jack for AC adapter
1 x Infrared (FIR) port
1 x Parallel port

Power Subsystem

ACPI 1.0b power management standard supporting standby and hibernation power-saving modes
3-pin 135 AC adapter
63Wh Li-Ion battery pack
2-hour battery life (actual battery life might vary, depending on usage and configuration)

Keyboard & Pointing Device

85/86-key keyboard; inverted "T" cursor layout; 3 mm (minimum) key travel; four cursor keys: PgUp, PgDn, Home and End
Built-in touchpad pointing device with left and right click buttons, center scroll button
4 launch keys, including Internet browser, e-mail and 2 user-programmable keys
Embedded numeric keypad

Benchmarks:

Not Available.. If you have it, send it to me..

Third Contender:

Compaq R3240US

Pros: Fast CPU, JBL Speakers, DVD-Dual Drive, Widescreen, Good Price..

Cons: Short Battery Life? 4200RPM HDD, Outdated Video Card, A bit Heavy

Features an AMD Athlon 64 processor 3200+
A 15.4 inch high-definition widescreen display.
L2 Cache - 1MB
512MB of PC2700 333MHz DDR SDRAM (expandable to 1.2GB)
1 User Accessible RAM Slot (not available)
LCD Native Resolution - 1280x800
NVIDIA GeForce 4 440 Go with 64MB of DDR memory
60GB 4200RPM Hard Drive
DVD+R/RW and CD-RW Combo Drive
Integrated V.92 56KB Data/fax Modem
Integrated 802.11g 54Mbps Wi-Fi Wireless LAN Adapter (SpeedBooster support)
Integrated Audio with 2 JBL Pro Performance Speakers
PC Card Slot - 1 Type I/II 32-Bit Cardbus (also supports 16-bit)
5-in-1 Integrated Memory Card Reader - Secure Digital (SD), MultiMedia Cards (MMC), Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, and SmartMedia
Ports: 10/100 Ethernet, 3 USB 2.0, 1 FireWire, 1 Parallel, 1 VGA, 1 S-Video Out, 1 Notebook Expansion Port, 1 Microphone In, & 1 Headphone Out
Kensington MicroSaver Lock Slot


There are two variations of this model.. two similarly priced (200$ more than this one).. One of them is the Compaq R3260US that has a 3400+ CPU and an 80 GB HDD and the HP pavillion zv5255us that sports the 3500+ CPU (FX) and is prettier.. Which one do you think i should get?

This is the Compaq

And this is the HP

Benchmarks:

Unavailable, if you have them, send them to me..

Fourth and Final Contender:

Also my personal favourite...

The Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo a1630..

Also known to some people as UNIWILL N258KA0 and Mwave N258KA0.. this laptop is one beautifull peice of art.. Adequately priced for all the specs it has (which i will be getting to in a second).. It boasts the powerful AMD Athlon 64 3400+ with the SiS 755 chipset (faster than the VIA alternative). it's battery life is a decent 2+ hours.. both RAM slots are available for customization.. it has a 4x DVD+R that can write CDs at 16x, but what i love most about this piece of hardware is its ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 with 128MB of DDR VRAm.. Another plus is the 5.1-channel output which will enable me to turn it into a media paradise.. I know the resolution 1,200 x 800 bugs some of you but i don't mind..

Unfortunately, the downside is the very slow 4200RPM HDD and the 7.7lbs weight..

Benchmarks and Pics:



















As you can see these are very impressive numbers for a laptop.. Thanks to the Mobility 9700..

As for pics of this beauty..




Beautiful aint it??

Now please tell me which one of the four wins??

Thanks

take in mind that i have a max of 1700$ to spend

I've made the righ choice in choosing the AMD 64 platform right?

ok. so which one of the four lappies should i get? also, what case to go with it (widescreen compatible and ability to hold a few books)..

if the fujitsu has a mobile 62w CPU, ill probably get it..

Neone able to confirm that??