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Subject:RE: Laptop for graphics, writing and fun From:"Pinkham, Jim" <Jim -dot- Pinkham -at- voith -dot- com> To:"Edgar D' Souza" <edgar -dot- b -dot- dsouza -at- gmail -dot- com>, "Sean Brierley" <sbrierley -at- accu-time -dot- com> Date:Tue, 25 Nov 2008 10:32:24 -0600
Good points, all, Ed.
* Re: battery -- some notebooks do come with 8-cell standard;
several come with 12-cell optional.
* Re: hard drive protection -- some notebooks include an
accelerometer that locks the hard drive if motion is detected that
indicates the unit is starting to fall. I've heard, but cannot verify,
that some Toshiba units have an accelerometer that detects in two
dimensions; I know there are HP notebooks that have what they call
"ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection," where the motion detection is even
more sophisticated. The point, of course, is protecting the user against
data loss if the notebook falls off the table or slips on the ice. The
extended warranty may complement this: Just because your data is
protected does not mean your computer is undamaged and ready to roll.
* Depending on how mission-critical your notebook is for you, you
might want to consider the plans some manufacturers offer where you can
be overnighted a replacement in the event you have a warranty issue.
Jim
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[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jim -dot- pinkham=voith -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
<mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jim -dot- pinkham=voith -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> ] On
Behalf Of Edgar D' Souza
Sent: Tuesday, November 25, 2008 8:54 AM
To: Sean Brierley
Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Laptop for graphics, writing and fun
On Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 7:43 PM, Sean Brierley
<sbrierley -at- accu-time -dot- com> wrote:
> Also, would you not want to look for a laptop with a graphics
card and
> onboard RAM, rather than integrated graphics that might share
system
> RAM?
An onboard X3100 is more than capable of running Compiz/Aero
(first-hand experience) and any later-model onboard chipset from Intel
should be able to handle those with aplomb. Even though that means using
system RAM, if Kevin buys 4 GB of RAM, the memory going to the onboard
display chipset doesn't make too much of an impact.
A discrete graphics card with dedicated VRAM is not only more
expensive, it also increases heat levels in the laptop, and chews
battery faster than the onboard models. This isn't important if the
laptop is a DTR (desk-top replacement), but is a big factor if it is
going to be used a lot while travelling. I remember reading about some
new laptop models that can switch between the discrete and the onboard
card, withdrawing power to the discrete GPU when using the onboard, to
save battery - though I don't remember brand and model, or whether it
was on-the-fly switching, or needed a reboot. Google should help :)
My criteria for my (still planned, though not executed... sighh)
laptop purchase:
- L2 cache should be 3 MB or more; 2 MB for a dual-core CPU
isn't such a great idea, IMO. The more L2 cache you have, the better
your system performs...
- 3 GB of RAM - I'm currently quite happy with a meagre 768 MB
;-P and having to go to a 64-bit OS, with the consequent problems of
finding 64-bit versions of apps and plugins that I use... not worth it,
I feel. And I don't really run so many heavy programs that I would be
able to fill 3 GB of RAM most of the time - a lot of it would simply go
as disk/system cache
- I intended to buy a laptop with a discrete GPU because I
wanted the ability to play some older games like UT or Warzone 2100 etc
(there are a ton of enjoyable Free/Open-Source games for Linux) and the
X3100 and successors have far fewer stream processors than do even older
cards like the ATI HD 3650, for example. Another point - I specified ATI
after the recent wide recalls of failing NVidia GPUs - heating problems,
cards dying early, I believe. There's info all over the news feeds
around a month or two back...
- Higher-resolution display (1440x900 minimum) for more screen
real estate (though this should be on at least a 15" display, preferably
a
17")
- HDD - as Jim P says, external storage is widely available, as
well as cheaper than buying it in the laptop, as far as I can see. I
planned on getting a 160 GB hard drive, though if the difference wasn't
much for an upgrade to 250, would take that.
- If you work outdoors or in brightly-lit environments, then of
course the display should not be the glossy variants, which reflect all
that light instead of giving you a good picture :-( That itself reduces
the number of laptops to consider quite a bit :)
- Must have a three-year warranty (I prefer Dell's three-year
accidental damage cover - piece of mind in case I damage the screen, or
the GPU goes bust, or I drop the laptop and have large-scale
damage...)
- I plan on going for the standard 6-cell battery, but anyone
using the laptop on battery for extended periods of time should
investigate the 9-cell battery options...
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