thinking about portable notebooks..

[newzeta]

Going to University this September
and I thought I needed a laptop.(I don't know the difference between notebook/laptop.)

Thought throught it, and needed a light, portable one rather than heavy, amazingly-great ones.

I'm very anxious about the hardwares and I drop things a lot. Therefore I wanted to buy things from either Bestbuy or Futureshop(yes, I'm a Canadian eh)

So.. How about this?
http/www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10086274&catid=11520&atab=3&logon=&langid=EN#

It DID look good, I tell ya, 12.1 in (portability) and tablet.
The thing is, I don't know if AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual-Core TL-56 is a suitable choice because 1. heat and 2. I'd trust Inter dual core better.

So...any advice? I wonder if there is a model similar to this and with Intel dure core. Whether it's a tablet or not, I don't care.
Please help me.

 

[phase_22]

Going to University this September
and I thought I needed a laptop.(I don't know the difference between notebook/laptop.)

Thought throught it, and needed a light, portable one rather than heavy, amazingly-great ones.

I'm very anxious about the hardwares and I drop things a lot. Therefore I wanted to buy things from either Bestbuy or Futureshop(yes, I'm a Canadian eh)

So.. How about this?
http/www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10086274&catid=11520&atab=3&logon=&langid=EN#

It DID look good, I tell ya, 12.1 in (portability) and tablet.
The thing is, I don't know if AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual-Core TL-56 is a suitable choice because 1. heat and 2. I'd trust Inter dual core better.

So...any advice? I wonder if there is a model similar to this and with Intel dure core. Whether it's a tablet or not, I don't care.
Please help me.

I would look at your univ. book store for possible discounts.
A 12.1 in is a good size, I have a 14.1 in Dell 1405 and I am pleased with the size.

The AMD Turion X2 appears to be acceptable in performance and comparable to the Intel Core (Yonah) Duo (link)
The Turion X2 (Dual Core) is recommended over Turion (Single Core) as seen through the benchmarks in the link.
Here is a review between the Core Duo (Yonah) and Core 2 Duo (Merom).

You can configure the HP yourself also at the HP website as well as for Dell & Gateway. I don't know if toshiba or other laptop manufacturers allow customer configuration configurations ( I have not browse their websites).

In doing a configuration I would consider the CPU specification. For Intel CPU's look at low L2 cache and FSB, but keep in mind that AMD CPU's do not use L2 cache in the same way as Intel processors do, also FSB and "Hypertransport" are not the same.
For example the Intel "Pentium Dual Core" (for laptops, not desktop Pentium 4 or Pentium D) has a lower L2 and FSB rating when compared to other Core Duos (Yonah).

*Also note that Intel Core Duos (Yonah) are 32 bit, and the Core 2 Duo (Merom) is 64 bit.*

You may need to consider a higher graphics specification as well because Windows Vista is out and XP is not really offered anymore. Because of the different hardware requirements of Vista, I would also consider the maximum allowable amount of Ram that can be installed (If you want to use a 64 bit operating system such as Vista 64, XP64, and Linux to name a few. However, I have heard that driver availability for 64 bit operating systems is quite poor).

The wireless "n" (802.11n) specification maybe something to look into also.

Besides HP, Dell, and Toshiba, there is Acer, ASUS, and others.

Keep in mind the high charges in doing a laptop configuration, especially Ram where you could do the upgrade yourself. :idea:

Finally, try browsing the Outlet sections in Dell and HP for some deals.

 

[MU_Engineer]

I'm also looking for an 11"-13.3" thin 'n light computer and have actually had some hands-on time with the HP tx1100us series that you've linked to. It's about 4.5 lbs and is a 12.1" model with a decent keyboard. It's also pretty reasonably priced too.

I personally am looking at a different model because of a few things:

1. The battery on the tx1100us is small, giving it about a 3-4 hour battery life rather than the 6-8 hour run times that other units like the Dell Latitude D420 and Lenovo ThinkPad x60/x61 do with their optional 9-cell batteries.

2. The tx1100us model has no touch screen while other tx1000 series models do. HP is offering the touch screen as a $59 option online, so I'd figure that it was a pretty small but potentially good upgrade. But you never see the touchscreen ones in stores.

3. I didn't like the touchpad much. It felt kind of "greasy."

AMD's Turion mobile chips are actually pretty good and won't run much hotter (if any) than Intel computers will. You'll see similar results with the Turion 64 X2 series and the Core Duo/Core 2 Duo line as far as power draw and heat production. The tx1000 series is only offered with AMD power under the hood- the Intel model is the HP/Compaq nc4400, a business laptop. The nc4400 is more expensive but is lighter, has bigger batteries, and has the slow 1.06-1.20 GHz ultra-low-voltage CPUs rather than the standard-voltage ones.

 

[newzeta]

call me a fool, but answer me this...

I just went to HP site and looked few items with Intel core.
The thing is, they don't show up in neither Futureshop and Bestbuy(yes I am a fool).
The reason I'm obsessed with those two are because I don't know the heck of anything and I drop things a lot.

I just feel these two have the best warrenty I could find.
Am I overworrying?

 

[phase_22]

I just went to HP site and looked few items with Intel core.
The thing is, they don't show up in neither Futureshop and Bestbuy(yes I am a fool).
The reason I'm obsessed with those two are because I don't know the heck of anything and I drop things a lot.
I just feel these two have the best warrenty I could find.
Am I overworrying?

Like I said you can configure your own laptop through Hp, dell, and some other portable computer manufacturers if you look around.
I do suggest you look around, research, talk to professors/people in your field of study, etc. for your investment.

Don't worry so much if you have until September "Haste makes waste."

I have heard on Physics Forums that Toshiba make rugged laptops.

For my E1405 I have not include a warranty, however, I am careful with my possessions.

 

[newzeta]

Alright, the phase is now on different level.
From both Futureshop and Dell, I chose one of each kind.

The thing is, where?

It's something about warrenty.

Dell's, provides the accidental coverage, whereas futureshop does not.
Futureshop provides the performance coverage, whereas Dell does not.

http/www1.ca.dell.com/content/learnmore/learnmore.aspx?c=ca&l=en&s=gen&~id=services_combined&~lt=popup&ref=CFG&ref=CFG
Here's Dell's warrenty description.

On Futureshop... well you can pretty much find it easily(also it's impossible to link it )

Please help.