New Laptops

S

snail112

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Hi guys,

The work need 4 laptops with the following specs:

i5 CPU
4GB RAM
500GB Hard Drive
1GB Dedicated Graphics Card
15,6” LED Display
Serial Port - (USB if not on device)
Old PCMCIA Port
New PCMCIA Port
DVD-RW
Windows 7 Pro 32-bit (don't know if required software will run on 64-bit)
Carry Case
Mouse
3 Years Extended Warranty

What would you recommend?
 
Dude you really don't want to buy 32 bit OS right now...hell your hardware specs don't even work for 32 bit. 1gb gfx ram and 4gb ram is already over the 32bit limit.

Also...post needs a budget. Enterprise class Dell for example are good, consumer class less so.
 
Do you know that you've got features that pull in opposite directions in there? The worst offender is the notion of "old PCMCIA", which is actual/real (from that era) PCMCIA (actually PC Card but anyway) which no longer exists; we now get in ExpresCard34 in some (but far from all; it's in the more business oriented ones) - what you're calling 'new PCMCIA'. Nor are you helping your case with 32-bit Windows, you should really check your softwrae requirements against that one. The 1GB gfx should be easy to meet and USB-to-serial is dead easy to find. Which raises the question: can you also do USB-to-PCCard? And then, just to dump you solidly in the business/enterprise grade you want the 3 year (I presume NBD onsite?) warranty extension. Because you don't get that option on 'consumer' (exempli gratia: Sony) notebooks.

So, all in all - good luck with that! :erm:
 
HP Probook 6570B 15.6" @ R9282

It ticks all the boxes you wanted, except for discrete graphics. If you want that thrown in, you're going to be paying through your nose because HP knows it can overcharge for this kind of functionality. I got a Probook 65xx series laptop a while ago for a client who works in the automotive industry doing chip tuning. HP's pretty much the last manufacturer who puts both serial and Expresscard ports on their business notebooks and the 65xx series is the last of the Probook lines that carries them.

You can get better warranties with HP Direct and they do have something similar to Dell's NBD option. The notebooks come with 64-bit Windows installed, but Probooks do usually come with 32-bit recovery discs as well AFAIK. If not, you can just re-install with a 32-bit disc using the license key on the bottom of the notebook, using the separate driver and app recovery disc to get everything back to factory install condition.

HavocXphere said:
Dude you really don't want to buy 32 bit OS right now...hell your hardware specs don't even work for 32 bit. 1gb gfx ram and 4gb ram is already over the 32bit limit.
Click to expand...

You'd be surprised, quite a lot of old software requires a 32-bit OS because 32-bit Windows still includes the 16-bit emulation environment. 64-bit OSes chop that out completely, which is why Microsoft offers Windows 7 Pro, Enterprise and Ultimate users the option of running a specialised version of Windows XP inside a virtual machine free of charge. Corporations and businesses with decade-old software still have to stick to these kind of standards because they don't want new software - if it ain't broke, don't fix it! :P

All the hardware will work perfectly fine with 32-bit OSes. 4GB RAM is actually on the limit of 32-bit systems, it'll just register as slightly less thanks to shared VRAM space addressing from the GPU.
 
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NAG - Wesley said:
HP Probook 6570B 15.6" @ R9282
Click to expand...
SO, so close ...but no cigar, sorry. :p

Regrettably ExpressCard54 != PCMCIA/PC Card. Oh, it sure looks like it on the outside:

c9e7394768.jpg


but the other end, deep in the back, is a whole other proposition:

350px-PCCard-ExpressCard_ZP.svg.png


Still, it does leave open the possibility of a non-USB (which always raise their own bloody issues) adapter:
Cardbus_to_ExpressCard_Adapter.jpg
 
bdt said:
SO, so close ...but no cigar, sorry. :p

Regrettably ExpressCard54 != PCMCIA/PC Card. Oh, it sure looks like it on the outside:

but the other end, deep in the back, is a whole other proposition:
Click to expand...

I'm sure you understand, then, that underneath the different connectors and improvements that PCMCIA and Expresscard/CardBus use the same signaling technology (ATA) and don't require conversion using a USB adapter, since the PCMCIA-Expresscard adapter is a passive one, changing only the physical interface available. PCMCIA slots only exist today on second-hand, outdated notebooks or on Dell's XFR range and Mecer's Durabook family. The Probook I linked is one of the handful of new notebooks in SA that offer both serial and Expresscard slots.

If you've got a better solution for OP, I'd like to see it.
 
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Please don't ever buy HP, they are the worst laptops on earth. I have never come across more *** with the several HP laptops I have used as I have with HP.
 
Going the Dell route. Just have to find out if the software is compatible with a 64-bit OS.

I'm getting a USB to Parallel & Serial port converter. Stuff the PCMCIA port I can live without it.
 
NAG - Wesley said:
All the hardware will work perfectly fine with 32-bit OSes. 4GB RAM is actually on the limit of 32-bit systems, it'll just register as slightly less thanks to shared VRAM space addressing from the GPU.
Click to expand...
You forgot the discreet part. He'll lose a quarter of his RAM, not just "slightly less". Per OP, 4gb RAM + 1GB discrete VRAM = 5GB.
 
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