Re-shopping

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sn3rd

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So now that I have my money back... :D

I've decided to relinquish my bias toward HP, so what are your opinions on the following based on experiences with the same or similar notebooks with regards to (in order):
(1) Build quality
(2) Performance (and balance)
(3) Looks

LG R405-GB72Z
Core 2 Duo T7100 @ 1.86GHz
Intel 965 Chipset
1GB RAM
120GB HDD
14.1" FineBright (Glossy)
GeForce 8400M GS
Card-reader, VGA, S-Video
Vista Home Basic

Acer Extensa 5620-6A2G16Mi
Core 2 Duo T5750 @ 2.0GHz
??Intel 965 Chipset??
2GB RAM
160GB HDD
15.4" CrystalBrite (Glossy)
Intel X3100
Card reader, VGA, S-Video, WebCam
Vista Business

HP 6735s
AMD Athlon X2 QL-60 @ 1.9GHz
AMD M780G Chipset
1GB RAM
160GB HDD
15.4" BrightView (Glossy)
ATI Radeon HD3200 Graphics
Card reader, VGA
Vista Home Basic

Acer Extensa 7630G-9MGSHM256C
Core 2 Duo T5800 @ 2.0GHz
2GB RAM
160GB HDD
17" CrystalBrite (1440x900 resolution) (Glossy)
NVIDIA GeForce 9300M
Card reader, VGA, S-Video, WebCam
Vista Business

LG E500-KBCTZ
Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.4GHz
Intel 965 Chipset
2GB RAM
160GB HDD
15.4" FineBright (Glossy)
ATI Mobility Radeon HD2400 (dedicated)
Card reader, VGA
Vista Business

Toshiba Satellite A300-1G3
Core 2 Duo T5850 @ 2.16GHz
??Intel 965 Chipset??
2GB RAM
250GB HDD
15.4" TruBrite (Glossy)
Intel X3100
VGA, Webcam
Vista Home Premium

Or anything else that you think fits in this class of notebooks?
 
The intel onboard graphics is rubbish IMHO.... I have the Q95 and battled a bit with it.

Would stay away from the two laptops with it....
 
Nerfherder said:
The intel onboard graphics is rubbish IMHO.... I have the Q95 and battled a bit with it.

Would stay away from the two laptops with it....
Click to expand...

What's rubbish about it? If it's only rubbish for gaming, then it's not a problem for me. That's what a desktop PC is for :p
 
Its rubbish for newer games (> 2001) but for battery saving it beats dedicated boards hands-down. Plus it still provides decent 3D accelleration for much older games and it has great 2D accelleration for Windows and video playback.
 
sn3rd said:
What's rubbish about it? If it's only rubbish for gaming, then it's not a problem for me. That's what a desktop PC is for :p
Click to expand...

Ja... I tried to use it for gaming and failed :( LOL

If you going to run vista you might as well have something that can run all the pretty stuff.
With the intel graphics even my older games messed out... there where funny lines and stuff.

Thats why I say rather go for the ATI or Nvidia chipsets.
 
Nerfherder said:
Ja... I tried to use it for gaming and failed :( LOL

If you going to run vista you might as well have something that can run all the pretty stuff.
With the intel graphics even my older games messed out... there where funny lines and stuff.

Thats why I say rather go for the ATI or Nvidia chipsets.
Click to expand...

Will likely run more Ubuntu than Vista. And as such I'm not TOO keen on the ATI.
 
PeterCH said:
Its rubbish for newer games (> 2001) but for battery saving it beats dedicated boards hands-down. Plus it still provides decent 3D accelleration for much older games and it has great 2D accelleration for Windows and video playback.
Click to expand...

That's a HUGE plus
 
I quite like the Acer and the Toshiba, personally. In that order :)

The Acer 7630G seems like it won't let you down if you want to faff about with a game or nice graphics or whatever later on :) So it's a nice-to-have but obviously not imperative since you said gaming isn't part of your reasoning :p The 17" monitor is a nice selling point though, regardless :D Especially if you'd like to watch a movie or something :p

Otherwise the Toshiba looks like the next best bet. Nicely sized hard drive, a little web cam for whatever you'd use it for :D Good processor, RAM and a standard-sized monitor.

Keep us informed on what you choose :D
 
sn3rd said:
That's a HUGE plus
Click to expand...

I know I'm a big Panasonic fan, but all their Toughbooks and Business Notebooks (Business Toughbooks) use Intel GFx accelleration and the battery lives are excellent. Their line of business notebooks is the No 1 business notebook for Japanese businessmen and while dating sim games don't need
a good 3D GPU, there is something to be said for having Intel GMA for being
chosen by finicky Panasonic for these issues of battery saving.
 
PeterCH said:
I know I'm a big Panasonic fan, but all their Toughbooks and Business Notebooks (Business Toughbooks) use Intel GFx accelleration and the battery lives are excellent. Their line of business notebooks is the No 1 business notebook for Japanese businessmen and while dating sim games don't need
a good 3D GPU, there is something to be said for having Intel GMA for being
chosen by finicky Panasonic for these issues of battery saving.
Click to expand...

That's fair enough, and I'd love one, but they're a little out of my price range :(
 
Lycanthrope said:
I quite like the Acer and the Toshiba, personally. In that order :)

The Acer 7630G seems like it won't let you down if you want to faff about with a game or nice graphics or whatever later on :) So it's a nice-to-have but obviously not imperative since you said gaming isn't part of your reasoning :p The 17" monitor is a nice selling point though, regardless :D Especially if you'd like to watch a movie or something :p

Otherwise the Toshiba looks like the next best bet. Nicely sized hard drive, a little web cam for whatever you'd use it for :D Good processor, RAM and a standard-sized monitor.

Keep us informed on what you choose :D
Click to expand...

I like the Acer 17" too, and it's very well priced! The problem is that for mobility, a 15.4" notebook is way more sensible. But can't help but feel that I'd be doing myself in by getting a smaller screen. And the dedicated graphics on the Acer seem really good!

I'm not terribly interested in card reader etc. S-Video and/or Bluetooth would just be gravy.

Priorities:
1) Build quality
2) Sensible specifications and feature set
3) Core 2 Duo (preferably T7xxx or above)
4) Glossy screen

The LG's are really well priced for the specifications. But has anyone had any experiences with them? My dad has one, and :sick:
 
sn3rd said:
That's fair enough, and I'd love one, but they're a little out of my price range :(
Click to expand...

No, I mean that Panasonic believes in them for no-frills battery saving, that's
an extra point for Intel GMA for business (battery longetivity) use. There isn't a single Panasonic notebook with a dedicated 3D GPU. Sadly they are frightfully expensive BUT the same hardware can be found in other notebooks too. :)
 
sn3rd said:
I like the Acer 17" too, and it's very well priced! The problem is that for mobility, a 15.4" notebook is way more sensible. But can't help but feel that I'd be doing myself in by getting a smaller screen. And the dedicated graphics on the Acer seem really good!

I'm not terribly interested in card reader etc. S-Video and/or Bluetooth would just be gravy.

Priorities:
1) Build quality
2) Sensible specifications and feature set
3) Core 2 Duo (preferably T7xxx or above)
4) Glossy screen

The LG's are really well priced for the specifications. But has anyone had any experiences with them? My dad has one, and :sick:
Click to expand...

There is a nice LG tablet/notebook out with dedicated 3D GPU.

Othewise, why choose a glossy screen? Matte is better for professional use.
 
So, I've finally done some DECENT research into the AMD mobile processors, and all I can say is :sick:

For anyone out there that's considering them, I know that decent information and comparisons are few and far between. You find a lot of people saying "Intel is just better", but no real reason to back it up. Well here are a few reasons:

1) The "current" QL-60 processor in the HP 6735s above has the following characteristics:
  • 1.9GHz
  • 2 x 512kB L2 cache
  • 65nm process
  • 1800MHz "FSB" (remember, AMD processors don't use FSB, but instead use HyperTransport (their proprietary name for it) )
  • 35W TDP
  • Launched June 2008
This is comparable to the Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 which has the following characteristics:
  • 1.83GHz -> this is lower than the QL-60, but it has
  • Shared 2MB L2 cache
  • 65nm process
  • 667MHz FSB
  • 34W TDP
  • Launched August 2006
And I'd bet money that the T5600 would, in identically configured systems, kick the QL-60 around like a cheap football.

What's that I hear you say? "Oh, but surely the QL-60 is quite a lowly processor in the AMD range...". Actually, the only "better" processors in the X2 are the QL-62 and QL-64 processors. The QL-64 hasn't even been launched here, AFAIK. But maybe the X2's are akin to Intel's Pentium Dual Core? Well how about the Pentium Dual-Core T2130 (Mobile processor):
  • 1.866GHz
  • Shared 1MB L2 cache
  • 65nm process
  • 533MHz FSB
  • 31W TDP
  • Launched Mid 2007
I'm still confident that this processor would give the QL-60 a good run for its money. For those of you who don't know, "Yonah" (the core that the T2130 is based on) was based on Pentium 3 technology :eek:

There is, of course, the "Turion Ultra". But don't let the name fool you! These processors are STILL (:sick:) based on a 65nm process and still have only 2MB L2 cache, although having a blazingly fast system bus (up to 3.6GHz) (compare this to Intel T9xxx processors that are based on a 45nm process and have 6MB L2 cache at a FSB of 1066MHz while still maintaining 35W TDP!).

The benefit of the AMD processors? Well many websites I've visited have stated that they are a bit cheaper, while still offering "adequate" performance. Who wants to shell out a few grand for "adequate" performance? Especially when it's clear that even previous generation Intel-based notebooks will out-perform "current" generation AMD-based notebooks.
 
PeterCH said:
There is a nice LG tablet/notebook out with dedicated 3D GPU.

Othewise, why choose a glossy screen? Matte is better for professional use.
Click to expand...

I have to agree that a matte screen is better if you spend a lot of time in an office with flourescent lighting. I don't. Nor do I spend a lot of time outdoors. Mostly, I do work at home on the couch or wherever I go, but I don't spend time working in bright areas (:cool:). I also much prefer the clarity and vibrance of a glossy screen. If you follow my Argh! thread, you'll see the troubles I went through to get things sorted out.

WRT the x3100 graphics, you've sold me. I like the idea of extended battery life at the expense of "playing games" (which I hadn't intended to do on the notebook ANYway)
 
And what are the general opinions WRT LG notebooks? As I say, my dad has one, and I hate it with a passion. It's slow, cheaply made, performs badly and looks terrible. Then again, it's a super entry-level notebook. Some LG notebooks have the looks, but I'm concerned about warranty etc
 
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