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    #1

    Uni laptop

    As some of you may know, I bought a Dell Latitude D505 laptop not too long ago and that one turned out to be really really sick.

    So... I need another laptop. My budget is now $150-200AU. It must however fulfill these requirements...

    * Have a parallel port for the programmer box interface at uni
    * Have a screen larger than 12"
    * Be equipped with at least a Pentium 4 CPU... Pentium M... even better. I will however also be happy with a Celeron M.
    * DVD drive
    * Be sturdy in design quality/build
    * Battery life isn't an issue as we have powerpoints in the lab.

    So far I've had a look and picked out three laptop models/brands and they are:

    - Dell Latitude D600
    - Toshiba Tecra M3
    - IBM Thinkpad R51

    And this time I shall buy on eBay... specifically ones with a 28 day warranty or whatever else.

    Yes, they are business grade laptops, and that's what I need since I'll be moving around alot and also into really shitty environments as well.

    Please give me some other laptop brand/model suggestions.

    Thanks.
    Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous
    Tags: None
    #2
    Re: Uni laptop

    I'd go with the tecra. I have had very good experience with toshiba in the past.

    Or you could make something like this
    https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...9&postcount=51
    https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showpo...0&postcount=53
    I love putting bad caps and flat batteries in fire and watching them explode!!

    No wonder it doesn't work! You installed the jumper wires backwards

    Main PC: Core i7 3770K 3.5GHz, Gigabyte GA-Z77M-D3H-MVP, 8GB Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600, 240GB Intel 335 Series SSD, 750GB WD HDD, Sony Optiarc DVD RW, Palit nVidia GTX660 Ti, CoolerMaster N200 Case, Delta DPS-600MB 600W PSU, Hauppauge TV Tuner, Windows 7 Home Premium

    Office PC: HP ProLiant ML150 G3, 2x Xeon E5335 2GHz, 4GB DDR2 RAM, 120GB Intel 530 SSD, 2x 250GB HDD, 2x 450GB 15K SAS HDD in RAID 1, 1x 2TB HDD, nVidia 8400GS, Delta DPS-650BB 650W PSU, Windows 7 Pro

    Comment

      #3
      Re: Uni laptop

      the only real advise i can give you is to stay away from the whole Thinkpad T4x line (T40 - T43)
      those had really serious issues with mainboard flexing.. (USB ports dumbing down to 1.1, random lockups, weird pixel salad on the screen from one sec. to the other.. those are just a few of the symptoms)

      edit: a T4x with a reworked mainboard may be OK if the seller is aware of the problem and specifically mentions that that board has been reworked. (NOT replaced.. that would die again soon-ish..)
      those are Pentium M laptops. just don't waste your time with "i don't know what's wrong with it" auctions..
      Last edited by Scenic; 06-09-2010, 05:45 AM.

      Comment

        #4
        Re: Uni laptop

        So basically I should avoid the IBM Thinkpad altogether? Personally I've seen alot of thinkpads go faulty... even my friends then new R51 went faulty within a week with a bunch of screen lines and no POST... but they however look like very sturdy laptops.

        Toshiba however I am very happy with. I have an NB100 netbook and a Satellite P25, both of which work great... the P25 is a bit temperamental as the screen sometimes comes up with lines due to a problem with the screen cable, but albeit to that it works perfectly (it was a freebie gift so I won't complain).

        All the Dells which I purchased new are still working great until this day without a hitch, though the plastic build quality is a bit iffy (Inspiron 6400), but nonetheless perfect for home use. Latitude should be better built I think...

        There are also some HP and Compaq ones I've seen on eBay, but I dunno about their quality cause I've never used one.

        Acer I will try my best to avoid due to my past experience with Acer plastics breaking... mostly around the hinges.
        Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

        Comment

          #5
          Re: Uni laptop

          Is the Compaq Evo N1000c any good?
          Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

          Comment

            #6
            Re: Uni laptop

            What about the Toshiba Portege M100?
            Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

            Comment

              #7
              Re: Uni laptop

              Avoid the D600. Any other Dell in your price/feature range is fine, just not the D600.

              Basically every single D600 at work eventually died a slow and strange death. First the nic would become flaky, requiring multiple reboots to enable. Then the USB, cardbus slots, wireless would all go in the same way. Eventually it would not boot at all.

              We had several D400s of similar vintage that were beat to hell far more than the D600s and they are all fine. A couple of HD failures, but that's it.

              Comment

                #8
                Re: Uni laptop

                Originally posted by stevo1210
                So basically I should avoid the IBM Thinkpad altogether?
                Thinkpads are in fact pretty sturdy.. it's just the T40/41/42/43 series (and the R4x/R5x series which is based on the same motherboard) which are prone to motherboard flexing.

                other series (T6x, R4x, T3x ..) are fine..
                the T4x and the R5x are just f*cked up models like the Dell GX260/270 cap-bakers

                Comment

                  #9
                  Re: Uni laptop

                  If that's the case then I'll find something a bit different. There's an eBay seller offering compaq evo n1000c laptops for about $200 each. They are refurbished and come with 1 month warranties and can be extended at extra cost This model suits my requirements perfectly. He also is a power seller and offers pick up with 24 hour tech support... So what do you guys think of this laptop?
                  Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Re: Uni laptop

                    Don't touch compaq. I hate both them and acer with a passion. I see LOTS of them come in for repairs at work.

                    The portege M100 would probably be good. I had an M300 and loved it. the 1.2GHz single-core CPU made it somewhat sluggish and the plastic seemed to crack easily, but other than that it was great. I got a big battery for it and it lasted ~8hrs, although you did say that it wasn't a dig deal for you.
                    I love putting bad caps and flat batteries in fire and watching them explode!!

                    No wonder it doesn't work! You installed the jumper wires backwards

                    Main PC: Core i7 3770K 3.5GHz, Gigabyte GA-Z77M-D3H-MVP, 8GB Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600, 240GB Intel 335 Series SSD, 750GB WD HDD, Sony Optiarc DVD RW, Palit nVidia GTX660 Ti, CoolerMaster N200 Case, Delta DPS-600MB 600W PSU, Hauppauge TV Tuner, Windows 7 Home Premium

                    Office PC: HP ProLiant ML150 G3, 2x Xeon E5335 2GHz, 4GB DDR2 RAM, 120GB Intel 530 SSD, 2x 250GB HDD, 2x 450GB 15K SAS HDD in RAID 1, 1x 2TB HDD, nVidia 8400GS, Delta DPS-650BB 650W PSU, Windows 7 Pro

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Re: Uni laptop

                      I'd try to find a Pentium M if at all possible and affordable. The n1000c is a P4. Besides heat and power use the P-M is MUCH faster.

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Re: Uni laptop

                        Originally posted by washu
                        I'd try to find a Pentium M if at all possible and affordable. The n1000c is a P4. Besides heat and power use the P-M is MUCH faster.
                        Pentium M is too expensive for my budget... unless I buy a faulty one but that won't be happening anytime soon. The Portege M100 doesn't suit me now that I've checked it again... since it doesn't have an inbuilt Parallel port as I don't wanna be carrying USB to Parallel converters everyday.
                        Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

                        Comment

                          #13
                          Re: Uni laptop

                          Look for a Compaq Evo N610c.

                          Open it up and clean it out though before you use it, especially the carpet of lint you'll find between the cpu fan and heatsink. Also change the heatsink paste.

                          Another good idea is to recap the power brick, my old N610C is starting to BSOD around once a month and I suspect the caps in the power brick dried up.

                          Sounds like a lot of work, but if you can get it for less than $100, it's worthwhile.

                          DO stay away from the HP NC6000. It looks tempting but they have inherent defects which cause them to fail unexpectedly.
                          "We have offered them (the Arabs) a sensible way for so many years. But no, they wanted to fight. Fine! We gave them technology, the latest, the kind even Vietnam didn't have. They had double superiority in tanks and aircraft, triple in artillery, and in air defense and anti-tank weapons they had absolute supremacy. And what? Once again they were beaten. Once again they scrammed [sic]. Once again they screamed for us to come save them. Sadat woke me up in the middle of the night twice over the phone, 'Save me!' He demanded to send Soviet troops, and immediately! No! We are not going to fight for them."

                          -Leonid Brezhnev (On the Yom Kippur War)

                          Comment

                            #14
                            Re: Uni laptop

                            So the Evo n1000c should be okay? Also, what do the hinges for this model look like..? I'd like to know how sturdy and well built they are...
                            Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

                            Comment

                              #15
                              Re: Uni laptop

                              it's a P4 as said above. not as good as a Pentium M.
                              the rest of its specs aren't better than the 610c or 620c either.

                              build quality of the 610 and 620 are pretty good.
                              the hinges are excellent, the lid is made of a magnesium alloy. very sturdy.
                              yes, it burns.

                              one downside of the series is the GPU (only a Radeon 7500).
                              don't expect it to do miracles.

                              i haven't heard bad stuff either of the HP/Compaq nc6xxx series (they exist with Pentium Ms up to C2D). the ones I've handled felt pretty well built.
                              on the other hand, they're not as portable as the n6xx series.
                              "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken

                              Comment

                                #16
                                Re: Uni laptop

                                The n610c series is quite rare on eBay AU... also most of them are from private sellers with no warranty and with unreasonable prices like $250 and above... since my budget is only $200... that's out of my reach.
                                Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

                                Comment

                                  #17
                                  Re: Uni laptop

                                  Check out the Gateway 450ROG as well. We had three carts of them at the school where I work and they all held up until they were end-of-lifed. I have one at home I use for basic web surfing on occasion... still works great. The case is just beat all to hell from the kids slamming them into the carts. Actually is a testament to their build quality.
                                  Ludicrous gibs!

                                  Comment

                                    #18
                                    Re: Uni laptop

                                    We don't have older Gateway stuff here in AU, since Gateway only entered the market in late 2009... same with eMachines.
                                    Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

                                    Comment

                                      #19
                                      Re: Uni laptop

                                      I found a Toshiba Tecra M2 with a 1.4Ghz Pentium M CPU that fits perfectly into my price range. Is this any good?
                                      Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

                                      Comment

                                        #20
                                        Re: Uni laptop

                                        Tecra M1 and S1 had problems with the onboard Radeon graphics (cracked BGA solder).. havent heard about that on the later models..

                                        Comment

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