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these new cheap core 2 due laptops - any good?

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f0dder:
mouser, you have a good point about main-use vs. secondary machine usage of the laptop.

I'd never go for a laptop for my main machine, even if you get one of those oversized monsters that'll hardly last half an hour on battery, they're still not as powerful as desktop machines, but tons more expensive.

I'd still worry about CPU power though, and I'd still go for a dual-core solution... simply because I'd still be doing development on-the-go, and because dual-core CPUs are so widespread now that it's hard to get a box that isn't dualcore :) - on the other hand, I don't want (nor need) a top-of-the-line CPU in a laptop, though.

Small screen and low weight. please. And as much battery power as possible (which rules out heavy graphics and fast harddrives - who needs fast or large drives on a non-primary machine anyway?) - faster drives (more rpm) means less battery life too.

I disagree with your #5 though, mouser - you can't always plug in a laptop, and too low battery life makes it unusable for, well, portable use. Which is the main use of a laptop, imho.

Lots of ram too, never hurts being able to create a large ramdisk instead of using the slow harddrive.

mouser:
remember you can always buy extra batteries if you need extra battery life.

jgpaiva:
@Ralf:
When i mentioned batery life as not being important, i didn't refer to laptops with 6hours of batery life. As nudone mentioned cheap laptops, i removed ultra-portables and dells from the list ;) And these laptops currently suffer from the problem i mentioned: they come with 2.5hours of batery life, but 6 months after, they won't last more than 45minutes (at least from my experience)

I don't want (nor need) a top-of-the-line CPU in a laptop, though.
-f0dder (October 21, 2007, 12:12 PM)
--- End quote ---
That's another interesting conclusion i've made: it's more vital to get the top of the line ram than the top of the line processor. When i bought my computer, there was the 2.0ghz version and the 1.7ghz version. I now regret not having bought the less expensive one and spending the difference in applying more ram to it, it'd be a more powerful machine.

Armando:
they come with 2.5hours of batery life, but 6 months after, they won't last more than 45minutes (at least from my experience)
-jgpaiva (October 21, 2007, 04:50 PM)
--- End quote ---

I agree. It'S been my experience too. I just ordered a battery for my dell, on ebay. We'll see... :)

Must add that I agree with f0dder : I’ve found that a good battery life is primordial. 1h won't cut it (and carrying more than 1 extra battery can be annoying) : when I sit in a conference or a seminar, I want to be able to sit anywhere and take notes for 2-3h without interruptions. Same thing if I go work in a café or something : can’t always plug my laptop.


That's another interesting conclusion i've made: it's more vital to get the top of the line ram than the top of the line processor. When i bought my computer, there was the 2.0ghz version and the 1.7ghz version. I now regret not having bought the less expensive one and spending the difference in applying more ram to it, it'd be a more powerful machine.

--- End quote ---

I agree. I must say that I'm now exclusively using a laptop (and I have an 2nd older laptop for experimentation). I don't need much CPU/GPU power for what I'm doing. I find I can do anything I want with my inspiron 6400. (Win XP, 1.5gb RAM, 100gb HD,  ATI x1400). As usual, it all depends on your needs, what you want to do.

Darwin:
One trick I've used to bring a dead battery back to life: wrap it in a zip-lock baggie and stuff it in the freezer overnight.  Take it out the next day and allow a few hours to reach room temperature.  Charge as normal.  For some reason this seems to reset balky batteries, at least the ones I've tried it on.  I've no idea as to the physics behind this...
--- End quote ---

Thanks Ralf! That worked  :Thmbsup: To think I had battery re-cored in the spring for $170... Wish I'd tried this trick first. Live and learn...

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