Okey, so I have been trying to compare these two notebooks from Fujitsu-Siemens, Amilo M3438G and Amilo M4438G, to try to find out which one would suit me better. Ever since my number one DTR-notebook-choice, Acer TM8104, got out of the way after I heard F-S was releasing these kinds of noteoooks, I have been really looking forward fot these new Amilos. I need a notebook for 50% typing and surfing, 35% dvds and games, and 15% for music and photo editiing, and Amilo M3438/4438 certainly have all the features I need.
The only problem is which model to choose. The main difference between M3438G and M4438G is the display. M3438G has a WXGA+ display (1440x900) and M4438G has a WUXGA display (1920x1200) and apparently HDTV-ready. Today, I found out that M3438G has a response time of 16ms, and M4438G 25ms.
If we look at gaming, M3438G seems to be the better choice. While I know that long resonse time like 25ms (M4438G) does not necessarily mean that the display has ghosting and other effects that ruin gaming experiences, 25ms is still 25ms. Adding to that, with M4438G you won't be able to play newest games in its native WUXGA resolution. You must scale down which has an effect to the picture making it worse. When you combine the long response time and the fact that you have to run programs in a non-native resolution, you have to ask yourself whether M4438G is really worth it.
This problem could be solved just by comparing the two notebooks. Easier said than done. In my country of Finland they probably won't be even selling the M4438G at all. I could buy it from Sweden or Germany, but why go through that extra trouble if the display isn't that good. If I bought M4438G I'd also have to buy an OS as well since the language is country-specific.
On the other hand, I read a display-shootout review a year ago where they were testing 19" lcd-monitors for gaming purposes. They all cost like 300-600 dollars and all featured 12ms response time. The winner of this test was Samsung. However, the reviewer had included a more expensive Eizo lcd-display to the test for comparison-purposes. This Eizo featured 25ms (or was it 20ms) response time and cost a little under 1000 dollars. The reviewer said that he'd choose Eizo for gaming purposes because while there were a little less ghosting in Samsung due to low response time, Eizo had a way better picture and ghosting was almost non-existant.
Okay, but let's think again. M3438G and M4438G have displays from the same manufacturer. So while M4438G with its WUXGA is more high-end you can't compare the two like Samsung and Eizo. WUXGA is more sharper than WXGA+ but does this mean that WUXGA is better in other areas. So couldn't you say that if F-S M3438G has a response time of 16ms and M4438G 25ms, then M4438G features probably more ghosting than M3438G.
I leave you with this question: If you were me which one would you choose, M3438G or M4438G. Bare in mind the following facts: 1) I won't be buying another computer until 5-8 years from now 2) I'd game 1-3 hours a week 3) I might be buying an external HD-DVD or Blue-Ray Drive in the future 4) M4438G is not available in my country, so I'd have to buy 200-400 dollars extra so that I can buy it from another country (a new OS, shipping costs, taxes) 5) M3438G is sold in my country and is easy to get.
And the end of the day, the main question is this: Is WUXGA so unreplaceable that you can't watch dvds, hd-dvds or blue-rays with anything less (WXGA+)? Because if the answer is yes then maybe I have to just do with the long response time and effects to games...
The only problem is which model to choose. The main difference between M3438G and M4438G is the display. M3438G has a WXGA+ display (1440x900) and M4438G has a WUXGA display (1920x1200) and apparently HDTV-ready. Today, I found out that M3438G has a response time of 16ms, and M4438G 25ms.
If we look at gaming, M3438G seems to be the better choice. While I know that long resonse time like 25ms (M4438G) does not necessarily mean that the display has ghosting and other effects that ruin gaming experiences, 25ms is still 25ms. Adding to that, with M4438G you won't be able to play newest games in its native WUXGA resolution. You must scale down which has an effect to the picture making it worse. When you combine the long response time and the fact that you have to run programs in a non-native resolution, you have to ask yourself whether M4438G is really worth it.
This problem could be solved just by comparing the two notebooks. Easier said than done. In my country of Finland they probably won't be even selling the M4438G at all. I could buy it from Sweden or Germany, but why go through that extra trouble if the display isn't that good. If I bought M4438G I'd also have to buy an OS as well since the language is country-specific.
On the other hand, I read a display-shootout review a year ago where they were testing 19" lcd-monitors for gaming purposes. They all cost like 300-600 dollars and all featured 12ms response time. The winner of this test was Samsung. However, the reviewer had included a more expensive Eizo lcd-display to the test for comparison-purposes. This Eizo featured 25ms (or was it 20ms) response time and cost a little under 1000 dollars. The reviewer said that he'd choose Eizo for gaming purposes because while there were a little less ghosting in Samsung due to low response time, Eizo had a way better picture and ghosting was almost non-existant.
Okay, but let's think again. M3438G and M4438G have displays from the same manufacturer. So while M4438G with its WUXGA is more high-end you can't compare the two like Samsung and Eizo. WUXGA is more sharper than WXGA+ but does this mean that WUXGA is better in other areas. So couldn't you say that if F-S M3438G has a response time of 16ms and M4438G 25ms, then M4438G features probably more ghosting than M3438G.
I leave you with this question: If you were me which one would you choose, M3438G or M4438G. Bare in mind the following facts: 1) I won't be buying another computer until 5-8 years from now 2) I'd game 1-3 hours a week 3) I might be buying an external HD-DVD or Blue-Ray Drive in the future 4) M4438G is not available in my country, so I'd have to buy 200-400 dollars extra so that I can buy it from another country (a new OS, shipping costs, taxes) 5) M3438G is sold in my country and is easy to get.
And the end of the day, the main question is this: Is WUXGA so unreplaceable that you can't watch dvds, hd-dvds or blue-rays with anything less (WXGA+)? Because if the answer is yes then maybe I have to just do with the long response time and effects to games...
I am also considering buying the FS but in my country they dont offer the M4438, ther is only the M3438 model with WXGA - so my problem is solved 
