Getting a new laptop computer
t has been
almost 4 years since I bought my last computer. A while ago, I decided not
to give into the hype of Pentiums 3s and 4s or 1GHz processessors, or 1.2GHz
or even 1.6GHz. My last computer was a PII 300 MHz computer with all the standard components: 10 GB hard drive, 120 MB of RAM (I added a 256 MB stick for good measure), a 17" monitor, I added a CD-RW drive which I paid too much for at the time. All in all it was a great machine and served me well throughout the years. That machine could run anything I threw at it: IDE, datbase servers, web servers, web browsers, etc. In fact, it now belongs to my brother and is still keeps on going.
My other computer
When at Kickstarts (Startup I worked with in 2000), went out of business, we ended up with a few computers and they were going to be sold. I bought one. A 700 MHz Celeron, with 10 GB hard disk, a CD-ROM drive and a standard video card together with a 17" monitor. This became my work computer and I passed my old one to my brother.
With the comming of the new millenium, new machines came out with unimaginable amounts of disk space and processor speed - Unimaginable at the time, the truth be told, you can't never be too rich or have too much computing power or enough RAM space.
My experience with laptops
In 1998 I bought my first laptop, a Fujitsu 735DX. Great machine at the time. It had a PII MX 133 MHz, a 1.2 GB hardrive, 16 MB of RAM, a 12" 800x600 TFT display. Needles too say I still use the machine (albeit, limited use) and it is still running strong.
Why a new machine?
My current desktop started rebooting once in while (I think overcloacking the Celeron CPU my have contributed to it, but, who knows) and I knew it's time had come to say goodbye. I tried to ignore the fact that I may need a new computer, but, it was on the back of my mind to purchase a new system.
Why a laptop?
I've been contracting at CIBC since December of 2002, and I've been using a company provided laptop. It is a Dell Inspiron 4000. Good machine, light, but, not a lot of power under hood. I also work on a couple of other projects and I had been required to look at some code while away from home. This was not posible since I didnt' have the code with me and I haven't set up any remote access into my desktop.
Hence, I decided to purchase a new laptop.
This sounds easier than done, as there are literally hundreds of laptops available from dozens of vendors. The following is a set of questions I went through, before deciding on which machine to purchase:
- CPU speed - I'm only human, so I bought into the MHz and
GHz hype. Anything with a 2GHz CPU or better.
- Hard drive space - Speed of the hard drive was not a very
big issue, but size was.
- RAM - How much is enough (Infinity + 1?)
- Upgradeability - Will I want to upgrade anything in my computer
(CPU, hard drive, RAM, video card).
- Display quality - I'm not a big gamer, but, do look at a
cumputer screen for a long time during the day, so screen type and size
was important.
- Video card - Not so important to me. I'm not a big gamer,
but, I like the sound of 32 MB video RAM.
- Weight - The weight of the computer is important to me,
though, not so much to go with a very light computer. Ligther computer
have smaller screens (Well, the G4 is kind of the exception - More on
this later).
- Battery- The battery life was secondary. If I need longer
battery life, I'd buy 2, right? Anything with a 2 hour battery life
is good enough.
- Look and feel - This machine would become my tool and I
do look at it a lot, so I it has to be pleasing to eye (at least to
me).
- Multimedia support - This covers a few things
a. Sound - I'm not too concerned about this. It's a laptop after all, if I want good sound, I buy speakers, but, it should come with something already.
b. Movies - DVD players are so cheap now (Under $100). So, my laptop should have a descent DVD player.
- CD-RW - I did want to get a CD-RW drive. What if I need
to make a copy of source code for one my projects on the spot?
- Operating System - This is a key point for me. I do software
development and this means that I install a lot of software in my machine.
I'm quite realistic with the fact that Microsoft won the OS war (If there was ever one) and that other OS are secondary (At least in the desktop setting).
Would I like to see this change? Sure, but, computers are tools and MS made them useful and gave me the opportunity to develop lots of software. Needles to say, I use Window 2000 (The best of all) and I can run anything I want in it (VMWare is the greatest invention after Web Services).
If the OS wasn't so important, I would go with an Apple G4. That is one great looking machine.
- Cost - Last, but, not least is cost. You can spend up to
$6000.00 for a new laptop and as little as $800.00 (I should mention
that I'm in Canada and our dollar is a bit devaluated compared to the
US dollar and $6000.00 CAD are about $1000.00 USD - Ok, it's not, but
it sure feels like it).
Of course, somewhere in the middle there is the right combination of power, hardware, weight and vendor. Free enterprise economies are great. There are many choices.
As you can see, there are many questions and each answer leads you to limit your choices. Of course, this were my questions. Everyone is different, but, I think this is a very comprehensive list of questions a buyer needs to check, and the more you know about what you need, the better equiped you will be to make a descition when buying.
What's out for me
Apple computers are out for me. Again, the G4 is a good looking machine, but, it runs on Mac hardware and Mac software (OS X, is based on Linux, but, so what).
Thin and light are out. The screen tends to be too small.
The most expensive ones are out also. My needs don't require the toppest of the line. At least not now, but, prices will come down and I will take advantage of it, then.
Mom and pop vendors are out for me, also. I use my computer to work and cannot afford to be out of commision for servicing. So a reputable vendor with a descent guarantee plan is a plus.
The cheapest computer is out. They are ok, but, you get what you pay for and they tend to be on the smaller and minimum hardware requirements end of the spectrum. Also, something I've learned in my short life, cheapest doesn't mean the best deal.
So which one, already!
If you are still with me, let me tell you that getting a computer is no easy task.
I did limit my choices to two vendors: IBM and Dell. Both of these companies are known for their computers. Dell is a newer company, but, this Dell guy really knows what he's doing. IBM, droped the ball on the consumer end of things a while back, but, they started to make up some road again, plus IBM's ThinkPad line of laptops is legendary.
Now, both companies offer many type of laptops. How do you know which one to choose? I'll break this into both companies and then I'll merge again into one thread to reveal why and how I made my choice after I had picked "the one" for each company. Of course, using my list of question above.
My ideal machine (today)
1 GB RAM
40/60 GB Hard drive
32 or 64 MB video card
CD-RW drive
DVD drive
15"+ screen size with the highest resolution viewable by me
IBM
IBM offers a wide range of laptops which cover my list of question above, except the last one. Cost. IBM laptops tend to be quite pricey (Price is relative remember, expensive in the sence of ROI and cheap for me, my not be cheap for X guy somewhere else).
I guess you can say IBM laptops are the BMWs of laptops. They have the same functionality and some of the same components as other computers, but, they are priced differently. Is it name recognition that we pay for? Is it marketing? Who knows, everyone makes their choices on the things one uses on their own. Sure, there is some suggestion from advertisement, but, at the end it's a personal choice.
"The one" from IBM, for me, is the ThinkPad T30. A colleague of mine calls them the "armour tanks of laptops." You could literatelly drive a tank of top of it and chances are the laptop will still work fine. The inside can be customized to your liking and the outside of the T30 is the most attractive thing of all. The shell is made out of Titatium which makes them very light and strong. The only thing it doesn't have for me from my ideal machine, is the screen. The biggest possible is 14.1" with a resolution of 1400x1050. With the configuration above (minus the 15" screen and only a 16 MB video card), I priced one at around $4000.00. Minus the 1GB RAM. You should look into buying your RAM separetely if you ever get a laptop. You could save a lot. I did this time around (I bouth 1 GB of RAM at www.crucial.com).
Great machine, but, there was another option for me...
Dell
Dell has a great variety of laptops available. These guys don't invent anything (Like IBM), they don't manufacture anything. What they do is put the computer together (Malasya actually) with off-the-shelf components and sell it to the public, together with a warranty and they pay many people to do tech support (Some tech support stories are good, some are bad - Mine have been good so far).
Like I said, Dell offers many type of laptops with many cool sounding names: Lattitude, Inspiron. They have many types: skinny, and cheap, to the thick and expensive (Again, price is relative). They cater to the big companies, the small business and home user demographic. If dogs used computers, I bet you Michael Dell would put one together and sell it to them (or its owners).
I chose the Inspiron 8200. This computer came recomended to me by a couple of colleagues. I looked into the reviews, the specifications, the cost and liked it. Another plus, I guess, is that is has been out for a while and it is tried and tested technology. Most of the people who own one of this machines, really like it. I have to mention here, that the one I got, were one of the last ones available. The week after I got mine Dell release a new line of computers and the i8200 replacement: Inspiron 8500 (Some like the new Ispiron, some don't - There are mix reviews about it).
The specs on my machine are:
Pentium 4 Mobile clocked at 2.0 GHz
1 GB of RAM from crucial - Originally it came with 2x128 MB sticks.
60 GB Hard drive @ 4200 rpms
15" UltraSharp display (Great to look at)
CD-RW/DVD drive
2 USB ports (Not 2.0 specs - Not a big deal yet)
1 Serial Port
1 Infrared port
1 parallel port
1 Firewire connector
2 PCMCIA card slots
S type connector to TV out
1 battery (Lasts around 2 hours)
1 set of dolby headphones (Free if you get the DVD player combo)
3 year warranty with next business day servicing (Great investment - I had my screen changed twice - More on this later).
The exact cost of my machines was $3379.00 CAD dollars. Including 15% sales tax (I know, it's a lot) and free shipping and handling.
All and all a great machine. I'd recomend Dell for your computing needs.
The comparison
Both machines in my short list were comparable, but, the 15" UltraSharp won and the price had a bit to do with it also. All and all a great computer.
Conclusion
This was my thinking process while getting this machine. Hopefully it will help someone make the right choice.
Note that there are other vendors with similar configured computers and price ranges. Sony, Toshiba, Gateway, they all have great machines, BUT, I went with word of mouth marketing.
Vendors, take note here. If I were in a position of say in one of this computer compnanies I'd hire "cool commandoes," like Nike did in the early 80's. Pick consultants in different industries and give them the top of the line computers to work with. Chances are, these consultants come into contact with many other consultants which use and will require new laptops.
I volunteer if you want to take me up on this offer. IBM, Dell, Sony - anyone out there? I'll use your product to do cool computing (as I will call it).
So what now?
Since this is my work horse, really, I will try to document it's existence.
Why, you may ask. The question I'd llike to ask is, why not?
This may not be interesting to all, but, I will write about my experience with the machine and my experiences with the people who fix it and the people who sold it to me. Specially tech support interaction and technicians fixing dead or faulty parts.
If you are interested in following the saga of my new Inspiron 8200, follow this link »
