I am thinking of purchasing a laptop for my son. It is a Toshiba A60/200 Notebook. I am just wondering if their is anything better than it for around the $1600 price range. This Toshiba has Intel Pentium 4 532 3.06ghz with Hyper-Threading technology, 1 MB L2 cache, 15'' XGA display, 256 MB RAM, 30gb hard drive, Built in burner CD-RW - DVD-R, Windows XP Home and Microsoft OneNote software.

Any help will be appreciated.

Cheers
Michael

 

L&L at that price you won't get anything too powerful and too well built. If that's your budget probably best to not get a Toshiba and instead get a lesser known brand so you can get better specs.

Try www.whirlpool.net.au you'll get some good answers there

 

Try the Dell Australia site if you need a price comparison.
http://www.dell.com.au

I bought a Latitude D800 from them recently (factory prebuilt) - got a good deal.
(they have a factory outlet section which sometimes has some bargins - Dell builds to order and when people cancel their orders Dell Oz sell them pre-built at a reduced price http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/defa...=au&l=en&s=dfo )

You probably would be looking at the dimension model laptop.

(I have no association with Dell - buy at your own risk)
(I do have a newly aquired Titanium RX-8 though)

 

If you go to Harvey Norman, DSE, Domayne, Bing Lee etc they usually have quite a few end-of-line models on special at this time of year. Main thing to remember is that these sub-$2k models usually share RAM for display graphics, but this doesn't matter for a school student (well, that's what I tell my sons )

Also, personally I'd rather get any machine with XP Professional over XP Home as a base machine ... but that's mainly because I can never do the networking stuff I want to do with an XP Home machine

 

Hey, welcome, Scotty -- didn't see you there while I was posting.

Yeah, Dell has some great deals. and using one right now ... but they tend to trail the market in performance and features ... none of which necessarily matters for L&L

Actually, I have just placed an order for the new Mac mini, which means at last means you can use any old monitor and USB keyboard/mouse. At last, Macs for the rest of us... er, you ... er ... as I've been using them as a personal machine for years....

 

Thanks for the welcome.

I have to agree that XP Pro is better than XP Home, especially if you start plugging into networks (wireless, ADSL etc)

I didn't know that BMW were producing a Mac version of the Mini - is it a Cooper S.

;-)

 

Nah, that'll come though :p

 

I think the Pentium 4 is too hot for the laptop and i think it has burn my hardisk which I need repair now.

I like Toshiba but I also like Compaq with the new screen :p

Maybe time for a new computer?

 

Hi Michael,

It depends a lot on what your son wants to do with the laptop. If it's literally only word processing type of work then just about anything will do. However, if he's hoping to play a few games too (as many young men probably are... ) then the picture is very different.

The graphics capability of laptops is generally inferior to their desktop cousins - even if the specs sound as if they are the same. So if it has a certain Nvidia graphics 'card', (or even something like an ATI Radeon 9700) it definitely won't be as "game-worthy" as something with the same name in a desktop.

The reason is that in a desktop it really is a "graphics card" - a big slab of a thing with fans, heat sinks, capacitors and all manner of bells and whistles stuck all over it - whereas there is not usually a 'card' in laptop, but just a version of the chipset stuck straight on the motherboard. Lighter, cooler, but less performance.

I have an old Acer notebook which has only a 600mhz celeron cpu, and nothing much in the graphics line, but it's fine for general writing, and will even play some old games like the early Age of Empires or Grim Fandango.

However, if you want to play high-demand modern games like Far Cry then you need something much more high end. I also have an Acer TravelMate 8000 which has Radeon 9700 graphics and that will play Far Cry OK (albeit at pretty low settings). This cost about twice what you're looking at though.

In general, it also pays to have a decent amount of RAM if you're running Windows XP, so I'd probably look at 512 of RAM as the basics if he's hoping to do any gaming, or video processing, or work that's more demanding than just basic writing and photos.

Laptops in general are far better than they used to be, but I still find my trusty desktop better for gaming, and one or two other tasks.

Good luck - it's quite a job trying to pick through all the specs and prices...

 

A question to bring the geeks out of the woodwork. I'm with BVD, am a closet gamer and with laptops there are a few things to think about.

If it's just for wordpro, think about spending a whole lot less and look at the online auction sites for a guide. You can pick up a second had laptop for peanuts, the batteries which used to be impossible to get are now not so hard to find, ebay or US sites have them and I've bought heaps of PC gear into the country, never a problem,(touch wood)

For gaming, it's video cards and "screen refresh rate. LCD screens have relatively slow refresh rates and are fine for "mortals" but not so great for fast moving stuff like video games and streaming video. I have a 16ms refresh rate on my mitsu LCD screen but often laptops are 25 or worse. (You can get 12ms which are expensive).

Lots of RAM no matter what the PC, as much as you can afford and shop around. (Go online)
256mb IS NOT ENOUGH for XP 512 minimum and you shouldn't pay much for the extra.

A 30gb hard disk is giong to end up being too small if your son like games or has a digital camera. I'd punt for an 80gb but a 60 would be passable.

Avoid the chain stores, you will pay up to 100% too much and AMD chip based systems are usually cheaper than Intel / Pentium but in my opnion often better. New generation AMD chips run cooler than Intel, lots of stuff on the web.

And Taka has a point on a P4 vs an Intel M chip. Buggers get DAMN hot!! Defintely not a "lap"top

Make sure it has wireless, ideally built in rather than a card. Do you have a modem/router or broadband at home. You might want to factor that into the package. I paid about $160 for a wireless G modem router, Harvey Norman charge $249 for exactly the same model!!

In Melbourne they have the "green guide" in The Age, not sure what the courier mail has, but there is probably a regular section. One shop i use for benchmarking also has their weekly pricelist for download. www.cpl.net.au although is more desktop oriented.

I spent half Sunday rebuilding my desktop for the third time this month (yep and it's only the 12th), I've managed to getting running 10oC cooler, quieter and have it overclocked by 300mhz. If you can use a screw driver it's nearly as much fun as tooling with your RX....well almost...best of luck.

Mike

PS there is a guy in Brisbane floggin genuine Symantec Systemworks copies on ebay. Worth a look as i paid under $30. Cheap antivius etc. Also download spybot if you haven't already, it's brilliant for getting rid of pop up and spyware.....I'll shut up now.

 

Guys thanks for the prompt and informative advice its all being considered in our purchase the only thing is my son being 13 year old has no patience to shop around , and as BVD stated its a battlezone out there for the consumer .


Timbo

I didnt miss the line about performance and features......none of which necessarily matters for L& L........... :p :D

( How did you guess i have been with a dell and you are 100% correct from memory she performed not so well .LOL

cheers
michael

 

Good on ya Mike! It's addictive isn't it! :D

I started building my own about 10 years ago, and now I never bother putting the screws back in the case panels as I know they'll be off again in a day or two..

I haven't quite got around to exciting geekery like water cooling, but I do have some fancy heatsinks/fans to fiddle with, and boxes full of assorted electro-crappery of one sort or another...

Heat's an ever present foe in my upstairs room in the WA summer. Always solvable by taking the side off the case and sticking a nice big desk fan next to it though! They REALLY shift the air, and cool the overheated gamer at the same time!

Computer bodging is cleaner and cheaper than modding cars - I've had enough of lying on my back in the gravel with oil dripping in my face...

Cheers, Chris.

Can't have too many computers...

 

Spent 5 years living in Vic Park, and am jealous as hell of your "hot room" I damn near need a heater to defrost mine:o

Bought a coolermaster fan controller on Saturday, Taka would love it" it flashes pretty colours but it's damn good for sorting out noise and heat!

Enjoy the weather! And go the weagles, must be about bloody time they fired. (in fact I'm sitting under a framed WCE jumper from 94, signed by the team, mainy, banfield etc!)

 

Whatever you do I'd recommend that you get 512MB of RAM. 256MB isn't quite enough if you want a fast computer. Stick with a name brand - if you go with a no-name brand you can run into compatibility issues because no-name vendors often don't do enough testing of their drivers.

I've been disappointed with Toshiba notebooks in the past (my last one had a design fault and was fixed five or six times for the same problem). Don't mind Dells and HP isn't too bad, but I find their support isn't as good as Dell's.

 

Ever heard of KVM's?

Lose the excess monitors and the room temperature will drop a few degrees.

BTW having multiple phyiscal computers is passe these days. Virtual Machines is where it's at. I use two physical systems to host up to 10 virtual machines (it would be more if I needed but 1GB DIMMs are rather expensive)


L'n'L

Is the laptop to be used on the go a lot? If so you may want to consider something a bit smaller and lighter. These are generally based on the Pentium M chipset rather than full on desktop CPU's. Prices range from $1500 upwards.

Features are generally good with performance is ranging from adequate to very good (obviously there is a price correlation).

However, if it is a desktop replacement (ie not taken about a lot) then something like the Toshiba is fine.

Whatever you do get 512MB memory minimum for acceptable performance. Make sure it has Wireless 802.11b & g as a minimum as well.

Oh don't forget to get it listed as a specific item in the house contents. I have my IBM Thinkpad T41p covered as a portable item for ~$90 pa (RRP is $4800).

 

What they all said, and only get a Laptop if it is really, really necessary. Like for running you sCANalyser Live with

Cheers,
Hymee

 

Yes I've heard of KVMs. I have a couple in my "bits box". There's even one in use somewhere in that pic of my loft (for switching between two 'bare bones' systems that were running a project 24hrs a day at the time).

Losing any more monitors really isn't a particularly useful option as they often have several family members sitting in front of them doing different things. And we all like our own screen.

The monitor heat is actually pretty minor compared to the heat of the room whether there are any machines on or not. It's a big room (5metres x 8.5m) but it's at the top of the house, so all the heat rapidly rises up there in the summer. Fortunately we do have an air conditioner, so it's not really that hard to cool it all down if we're up here for any length of time.

It's also for fun stuff, not business, so the layout changes quite regularly! One week there could be some linked through KVMs, another week they might be networked, another they might have wheels or joysticks attached..... It's a moveable feast... :D

Which gives me an idea. If you'll excuse me, I think it might be time to shift that monitor on my left, and put it.......

 

Sounds like a fun gadget. Now I just need to work out why I need one too....

Funny, I can resist tobacco and alcohol, but I got a bad dose of "computerholicism"(??!) there for a while. It does seem to be easing though....

 

Perhaps that makes you (lots of us?) a compuholic ????

Cheers,
Hymee.

 

Hi Guys,

I suggest you dont buy Dell's they are far from good quality and support sucks.

Being a business with servers,desktops and laptops we have used dell on maybe to occassions. The first computer broke down in 2 weeks.

Busted monitor and harddrive all in one. It took them 5 days to get here to pick it up. Our contract stated 4 hour response time. Anyway some customers bring in servers all the time cause dells are cheap. A few months later we are already replacing Cpu's, heatsinks and hard drives.

I would not go with dell anything.

Toshiba is good. So are the Sony Vaios they are pretty funky, not to heavy not to huge though they do come with some good options and extras.

Its all about price and how a 13 year old is going to treat it. make sure you get a laptop bag that maybe doesnt look like a laptop bag to avoid your son being robbed or beaten over his laptop.

Regards
Phillip

 

Crikey.... Dell service must be like Mazda service .... depends where you are

We have standardised on Dell precisely because their service performance has been consistently better than HP (Compaq) in Canberra. And we've had fewer DOAs from Dell -- had my worst experience with Toshiba (for laptops) in this respect Probably not so much of a problem for a personal machine

 

The IT company I work for also standardised on Dells. Before then, they tryed some Gateways and some budget builds. It is a pitty we don't make our own hardware anymore. Service seems good. IT Support people make the decision on who to go with, and I suppose they have found Dell's to be price effective, and non-problematic in regards support issues.

Cheers,
Hymee.

 

Try an ASUS laptop, they're really good for features and heaps cheaper than sony's and toshiba's. As a comparison, i bought a toshiba p20 for about $4000 and could have got an ASUS that was better in every option for about $3000.

 

Michael,

I think in the end it boils down to whatever grabs you and your son. A bit like cars - (they all get you from A to B on most days, and they'll all do the speed limit) - but some just catch your fancy more than others, and some have that 'bit extra' (that you may or may not really need).

If price is the main hook then you can get "refurbished" machines that have been returned en masse from leasing to teachers, etc. , checked over and given a fresh guarantee. I bought an Acer 600mhz for $499 that had been checked over and freshened up and I've been very happy with it. It would be a perfect starter machine so long as the owner just wanted to do basic school work, writing etc on it.

However, it may not score all that highly on the all-important "cool" factor.

If speed and power is what you're chasing..... well, like cars, you can really give the wallet a pounding....

Choppy makes a good point about bags and treatment too - laptops are highly nickable and easily dropped, mislaid, etc.

No matter what you buy he'll probably soon be pestering you for a better, faster, cooler one so go with your heart - and then expect to be doing it again in a while! :p :D

Happy hunting, Cheers, Chris

 

you get what you pay for..
Toshiba is a nice brand for laptop but does a 13 yr old need a laptop??