Laptop recommendations

[ddm at pizzashack.org (Derek Martin)]

On Mon, Sep 03, 2001 at 11:53:43AM -0400, Robert L Krawitz wrote:

> I'd ideally like a bigger screen than that; I'm in the habit of
> running multiple emacs windows at 6x10 and I like getting 80 some odd
> lines of text in.

You should be aware that you'll pay a hefty premium for such a
screen...  I think what you're looking for is the Dell Inspiron 8100
with the 15.1" 1400x1050 (they call it Super XGA+).  I have an older
model with this display, and it's really, really nice.  I ended up
buying a Toshiba with a smaller screen just so that I could play 3D
games on it (for toting around to LAN parties -- I saved on the
smaller screen to get better performance from the graphics and CPU),
but for development/work type stuff, I still prefer my Dell, mainly
because it has the larger screen.

They now also sell what they call Ultra XGA, which is 1600x1200.

And I think the newer models come with newer revisions of the ATI Rage
Mobility that have supported 3D acceleration under XFree86 too, if you
care about such things.  They also have xvideo support, which helps
for playing DVDs.  You may also be able to get them with the NVidia
GeForce2go chip, which is fairly well supported under XFree86 and has
superior 3D, but I haven't looked at Dell's site in a while.  

O.k. I just looked (having piqued my own curiosity), and they do have
such a beast.  In fact, they only come with NVidia graphics now. I
configured it out thusly:

1GHz pentium III
256 MB RAM
30GB Ultra ATA disk
32 MB NVidia GeForce2go
15.1" Ultra XGA (1600x1200) display
CDRW/DVD-ROM combo
Modular floppy drive
56k internal modem
NO Network card

With the exception of the large display, this is configured as closely
to my Toshiba as possible.  I paid $2300 for the Toshiba, and this is
$3006 as configured.  The toshiba comes with an internal eepro NIC,
whereas you can only get the Dell with wireless LAN adapters, so
you'll have to buy your own seperately if you want ethernet.

If you can get buy with minimum options (i.e. less RAM, video RAM,
smaller hard drive, slower CPU, etc.), you can get away with this:

Dell Inspiron 8100 Notebooks: Intel Pentium III Processor 866 MHz-M
15in UltraXGA TFT Display (1600x1200)

Memory: 128MB,SDRAM,133M,2DIMM

Video Card: 16MB DDR 4X AGP NVIDIA GeForce2 Go^(TM)Vid

Primary Hard Drive: 10GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive

Operating System Software: Microsoft Windows Millenium Edition
w/WinXP Home Upgrade Coupon

Modem: 56K Internal Modem

Fixed CD/DVD Drives: 24X Max Variable CD-ROM Drive 

Bundled Software: Microsoft Works Suite 2001 with Money 2001
Standard

Anti-virus: Norton Antivirus 2001, 90 day trial version

Service and Support Options: 1 Yr Ltd. Warranty-1 Yr Mail-in

Internet Access Options: 6 Month Dellnet by MSN Internet Access

Digital Imaging Software: Image Expert 2000, Dell Edition ($0)

$1799
-----


-- 
---------------------------------------------------
Derek Martin          |   Unix/Linux geek
ddm at pizzashack.org    |   GnuPG Key ID: 0x81CFE75D
Retrieve my public key at http://pgp.mit.edu

-
Subcription/unsubscription/info requests: send e-mail with
"subscribe", "unsubscribe", or "info" on the first line of the
message body to discuss-request at blu.org (Subject line is ignored).