Are there and Windows Based Laptops as Cool as Macs

[viperc0m]

Any thoughts?

 

[Jassi]

Asus laptops have almost the same type following. Asus is the ODM for some Macs I believe so it makes sense.

 

[viperc0m]

Originally posted by: Jassi
Asus laptops have almost the same type following. Asus is the ODM for some Macs I believe so it makes sense.

ODM?

Any suggested models?

I mean to say: thin, rather light, aluminum, great battery life, and full size keyboards with a backlight?

 

[Jassi]

I can't suggest a model because I don't know what your specific needs are but I can provide you with a Link to one of the resellers of Asus laptops. This company is not the cheapest and I would advise you to check other forums for laptops to find the right reseller (for price and specs) but you can start your search and get a good look there.

Also, keep in mind that Asus is coming out with some new laptops soon which might be worth waiting a month or so.

 

[corkyg]

Being unable to define exactly what "cool" means in a laptop (looks? price? Performance? Weight?), I suggest you look at Toshiba's latest Portege. Awesome!

 

[Wuzup101]

As a Powerbook user... I would personally say go IBM They might not look as "flashy" but they are very well built and capable machines. They are one of the few I would use if I needed to buy a PC lappy. I would definitely own one if I could afford 2 laptops! I much rather use the mac OS, so I use a mac all the time now (with a PC desktop backup).

 

[piasabird]

IBM makes processors for Apple. Some of them anyway.

 

[Jassi]

Originally posted by: piasabird
IBM makes processors for Apple. Some of them anyway.

I think all of them are IBM. But thats beside the point.

 

[Childs]

There are some pretty cool ultra portables out there, if you search this forum you'll find the thread.

EDIT:

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=51&threadid=1556362&enterthread=y

Don't look at the Dell, but the Panasonic W2s and W4s.

 

[Fox5]

Originally posted by: Jassi

Originally posted by: piasabird
IBM makes processors for Apple. Some of them anyway.

I think all of them are IBM. But thats beside the point.

I think motorola does as well for the laptop cpus.

 

[Jassi]

Originally posted by: Fox5

Originally posted by: Jassi

Originally posted by: piasabird
IBM makes processors for Apple. Some of them anyway.

I think all of them are IBM. But thats beside the point.

I think motorola does as well for the laptop cpus.

I think they stopped using Moto cpus, just IBM now.

 

[sparkyclarky]

Panasonic has some slick notebooks. I'd be interested in finding out if any PC laptops have key illumination, as I could see that as being a huge boon. AFAIK, none do.

 

[Wuzup101]

I thought moto still made the G4 chips for the powerbook and iBook lines. As far as I know IBM only makes the G5 chips now used in the powermacs and imacs. Not quite sure about this though, but I still thought the G4 was a moto chip...

 

[hopejr]

Originally posted by: Wuzup101
I thought moto still made the G4 chips for the powerbook and iBook lines. As far as I know IBM only makes the G5 chips now used in the powermacs and imacs. Not quite sure about this though, but I still thought the G4 was a moto chip...

well, yes and no. Motorola doesn't make the G4, rather a subsidiary, FreeScale, does. IBM doesn't make the PPC 74xx chips (that's the G4).

 

[uOpt]

Originally posted by: Jassi
Asus laptops have almost the same type following. Asus is the ODM for some Macs I believe so it makes sense.

Asus makes the ibooks. Forgot who makes the Powerbooks.

I think a part of the problem is that Apple gets away with putting in compareably slow CPUs and especially GPUs.

If you would offer a $1300 PC laptop with a 32 MB radeon 9200 people would laught at you. Yet the ibook 14" is that.

Getting away with slower CPU and GPU means they can build smaller and slicker.

Also, lets not forget that the shiny outfit of the TiBooks wears off over time, many of them look prety bad by now. The AlBooks seem to be much better but it took Apple two tried to get this right. The white ibooks are also horrible from a dirt standpoint.

 

[Fox5]

Freescale? I thought they made the low power x86 laptop chips....forget their name at the moment, but the ones that have an integrated memory controller that aren't by AMD.

Also, how small and light are the iBooks and Powerbooks? I don't recall them being smaller or lighter than the small and light PCs, especially with the advent of Centrino.

 

[n yusef]

Originally posted by: MartinCracauer

Originally posted by: Jassi
Asus laptops have almost the same type following. Asus is the ODM for some Macs I believe so it makes sense.

Asus makes the ibooks. Forgot who makes the Powerbooks.

I think a part of the problem is that Apple gets away with putting in compareably slow CPUs and especially GPUs.

If you would offer a $1300 PC laptop with a 32 MB radeon 9200 people would laught at you. Yet the ibook 14" is that.

Getting away with slower CPU and GPU means they can build smaller and slicker.

Also, lets not forget that the shiny outfit of the TiBooks wears off over time, many of them look prety bad by now. The AlBooks seem to be much better but it took Apple two tried to get this right. The white ibooks are also horrible from a dirt standpoint.

What are you talking about? Most PC laptops for $1300 have integrated graphics, which is way worse than a 32MB R9200. Are you saying that you would rather have Intel "Extreme" 2 Graphics that can take from your system RAM (up to 128MB though), than a 32MB 9200 that may not be great, but is just fine for its uses (iLife/Work '05, email, etc.)?

 

[R3MF]

MSI Megabook S250/260/270

 

[alent1234]

Originally posted by: n yusef

Originally posted by: MartinCracauer

Originally posted by: Jassi
Asus laptops have almost the same type following. Asus is the ODM for some Macs I believe so it makes sense.

Asus makes the ibooks. Forgot who makes the Powerbooks.

I think a part of the problem is that Apple gets away with putting in compareably slow CPUs and especially GPUs.

If you would offer a $1300 PC laptop with a 32 MB radeon 9200 people would laught at you. Yet the ibook 14" is that.

Getting away with slower CPU and GPU means they can build smaller and slicker.

Also, lets not forget that the shiny outfit of the TiBooks wears off over time, many of them look prety bad by now. The AlBooks seem to be much better but it took Apple two tried to get this right. The white ibooks are also horrible from a dirt standpoint.

What are you talking about? Most PC laptops for $1300 have integrated graphics, which is way worse than a 32MB R9200. Are you saying that you would rather have Intel "Extreme" 2 Graphics that can take from your system RAM (up to 128MB though), than a 32MB 9200 that may not be great, but is just fine for its uses (iLife/Work '05, email, etc.)?

I just bought an inspiron 6000 with P-M 730, 512MB RAM, DVD-RW, ATI x300 128MB of RAM and a 3 year warranty for $1298. The 9300 comes with the Nvidia 6800 option and costs more. I looked at Apples and they are a rip off. I have to pay $1999 just to get a 15 inch screen before any upgrades.

 

[R3MF]

the MSI S270 is a Turion notebook with a 12.1" widescreen and an ATI integrated chipset based on the R9600.

not too shabby, especially not in a white mangnesium chassis.

 

[hopejr]

Originally posted by: alent1234

Originally posted by: n yusef

Originally posted by: MartinCracauer

Originally posted by: Jassi
Asus laptops have almost the same type following. Asus is the ODM for some Macs I believe so it makes sense.

Asus makes the ibooks. Forgot who makes the Powerbooks.

I think a part of the problem is that Apple gets away with putting in compareably slow CPUs and especially GPUs.

If you would offer a $1300 PC laptop with a 32 MB radeon 9200 people would laught at you. Yet the ibook 14" is that.

Getting away with slower CPU and GPU means they can build smaller and slicker.

Also, lets not forget that the shiny outfit of the TiBooks wears off over time, many of them look prety bad by now. The AlBooks seem to be much better but it took Apple two tried to get this right. The white ibooks are also horrible from a dirt standpoint.

What are you talking about? Most PC laptops for $1300 have integrated graphics, which is way worse than a 32MB R9200. Are you saying that you would rather have Intel "Extreme" 2 Graphics that can take from your system RAM (up to 128MB though), than a 32MB 9200 that may not be great, but is just fine for its uses (iLife/Work '05, email, etc.)?

I just bought an inspiron 6000 with P-M 730, 512MB RAM, DVD-RW, ATI x300 128MB of RAM and a 3 year warranty for $1298. The 9300 comes with the Nvidia 6800 option and costs more. I looked at Apples and they are a rip off. I have to pay $1999 just to get a 15 inch screen before any upgrades.

I don't want to start any argument here, but Apples come with a hell of a lot of bundled software that Dells don't come with, and they aren't trial versions either. So I don't think it's a rip-off.

 

[alent1234]

but the G4 hardware platform has been around forever

it can't possibly cost that much to produce this stuff for the price they are charging. WinXP comes bundled with photo and movie making software too. The rest can't be that expensive that apple is charging hundreds of $$$ for them. OEM license deals are usually a fraction of the retail price.