Chris Leckness

They are all phased off Dell's website

I have the

• Inspiron 700m ( replaced by 710m )
• Latitude 810
• Latitude D600 ( replaced by D610 )

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Chris Leckness, Administrator
Microsoft MVP - Mobile Devices

Grentz

I have a few laptops, but none are made by a top company or even a known one for that matter.

Most are made by companies that make them for other companies

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swhoutx035

My home PC/Laptop is a Dell Latitude C640... maybe it's time for a new one...

Jordan Wigley

Originally Posted by Chris

They are all phased off Dell's website I have the Inspiron 700m ( replaced by 710m ) Latitude 810 Latitude D600 ( replaced by D610 )

I'm in the same boat....

I have a 1st-Gen Dell Inspiron 8600. After at least a 2nd-Gen version of the 8600, Dell has since phased it out. I believe it was replaced by the Inspiron 6000 series.

But for my everyday use, it's still working strong. I actually use it for about 90% of my computing now (well, except at work b/c I can't use a personal laptop there). I think it's the widescreen that draws me to it, though the fact I can be lazy and sit on the couch doesn't hurt things either. I'm sure I'd use my desktops more often if I had one of those 20" Dell Widescreens on my desk.

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Jordan M. Wigley

RICOUK

I have never had a laptop purely because there performance has never met a PC (they are getting closer) and their battery time is terrible. Also, they are big to carry around when all that is needed is a PDA. I don't think I could do everything I do on my PC with a laptop.

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My "My PDA" now updated with hints and tips including a ROM fix for the RX3700 series and installing Transport Tycoon onto your PDA.

Jordan Wigley

Originally Posted by RICOUK

I have never had a laptop purely because there performance has never met a PC (they are getting closer) and their battery time is terrible. Also, they are big to carry around when all that is needed is a PDA. I don't think I could do everything I do on my PC with a laptop.

That's why we never get rid of our regular workstations, or PDAs for that matter.

Just like clothes, it's nice to have different devices to use for different needs. I use my workstations if I'm going to be working for lengthy amounts of time, doing any video editing/encoding, etc. If I'm travelling, or if I just want to lounge around the house, my laptop is the convenient device. If I'm going on a short trip, and want a little flexibility I'll carry my PocketPC. For continuous daily use I always have my SmartPhone on me.

Oh yeah, and even after almost 2 years of use, I still get about 4 hours of battery per charge with WiFi turned on. It's not often that you're going to be away from a plug longer than 4 hours. Even airports usually have somewhere you can plug in. The ones with the horrible battery life are the "desktop replacements" that use high-end videocards for gaming, power-sucking 7200rpm hard drives, and non-mobile processors. Those features are great if you're just looking for a portable workstation, but the battery gets drained in about 30 minutes. For my average uses for my laptop, it performs fairly well.... the longer battery life was the selling point for me.

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Jordan M. Wigley

Grentz

And thanks to centrino, you get better performance and battery time

Even though they are usually like a 1.7ghz or 1.8, they perform like a 2.8 or 3.0 desktop processor most of the time

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Jordan Wigley

Originally Posted by Gray Rentz

And thanks to centrino, you get better performance and battery time Even though they are usually like a 1.7ghz or 1.8, they perform like a 2.8 or 3.0 desktop processor most of the time

Yep, that's most of the reason mine gets good battery life. It uses Centrino technology:
1.5GHz Pentium-M CPU, Intel WLAN, Intel chipset

I was really amazed back when I first got it, as it outperformed my desktop at the time which was around a 2GHz machine.

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Jordan M. Wigley

RICOUK

It sounds like you all like Centrino!! and that battery life is good using them, the trouble is, I hate Intel and so use AMD in all of my computers, AMD are also better chips. I still class 4 hours pretty rubbish considering a PDA can last a good part of a day maybe half a day with wifi enabled. (My PDA is constantly on with no external power).

I still can't get past the size of them, you need to carry them in a seperate bag and that just isn't practical most of the time, plus the loading times are terrible. A PDA is truly a portable computer, laptops are just mini computers without the power of one.

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My "My PDA" now updated with hints and tips including a ROM fix for the RX3700 series and installing Transport Tycoon onto your PDA.

Grentz

How can you compare a PDA and a laptop?

A PDA has to power:
3.5" Screen
Usually 400Mhz MOBILE Processor
CFIO when in use
SDIO when in use

A Laptop has to power:
Hard Drive
15" or bigger screen
USB IO Devices
PCMCIA Devices
Processors around 1.8GHZ
Cooling Fans
CDROM/DVDROM
Mainboard Addons

Also, I see we have another AMD lover.....dont be for laptops...AMD is horrible for laptops...even AMD freaks acknowledge that the Centrino is far superior (I have used both and there is no comparison, intel wins)

You obviously do not have a job where you need to travel or have that kind of power mobile as well....some dont, i respect that, but there are many that require that type of power on the go that PDAs cannot come close to.

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RICOUK

That is kind of my point, you can't compare them, PDAs are just that much better, in my mind, for portability, laptops are just too big and slow.

I know AMD is not the best for laptops which is another reason I don't have a laptop. If I ever need one then I will get one but as of now I don't need one and so there is little point in getting one, I would rather spend it on my desktop computer.

P.S. I'm a student!, I just don't have a job!!

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My "My PDA" now updated with hints and tips including a ROM fix for the RX3700 series and installing Transport Tycoon onto your PDA.

Justin Noland

Traded my WORKING hx4700 and accessories for a broken thinkpad R31 (1.3 ghz, 512 RAM, 30 gig HDD, 14.4 inch LCD, etc) and fixed it, kinda. The ROM CMOS battery is bad, and needs replacing, but I just KNOW IBM is going to charge me like $30.00+ for a 25 cent part. ALso, thinking about upping the RAM to 1 gig, because the 512 it came with stock was bad, and it has 128 temprarily. Ever tried running Windows XP pro on 128 megs? I have seen molases go faster. LMAO. Oh well, the laptop suits my needs better than my hx did.

kungfufyter

with my pda and keyboard, that's all i need (ok, i need my desktop too). but i would consider a laptop if i needed full-functionality and speeeeeed.

billpool

Originally Posted by Gray Rentz

Also, I see we have another AMD lover.....dont be for laptops...AMD is horrible for laptops...even AMD freaks acknowledge that the Centrino is far superior (I have used both and there is no comparison, intel wins)

hUh? My laptop is a eMachines M6807 (an 1.80 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64) which I enjoy very much. So much so that I have used it as my main home PC for several years now and I am very irregular 'bout turning on any of the other 3 monsters I have at home lately.
355.41 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity for the MS part of this system and 50G for the Linux part of the 'dual boot' system. Place is like a 'snake pit' with all the USB cables going to powered USB hubs....but it works for me...