Best winXP notebook?(Does the T40 have any close competition)

[Bruck]

I have 2k to spend on a laptop. I am thinking that the T40 is the obvious choice, are there other options that are better? (I am under the impression that the T40 is always the first one suggested)


Thanks

 

[Bruck]

bump

 

[John]

Although the T40 is slim and only weighs roughly 5 1/2 lbs, it is lacking on the LCD screen size, comes with a mediocre graphics solution, an no firewire port (boo). Not to mention you will have a tough time trying to upgrade the video board in the T40.

For 2K you can get a loaded Dell Latitude D800 (also a Centrino notebook) that offers an upgradeable graphics solution which is worth its weight in gold IMHO.

Here's what I bought with my 2K bucks.

Pentium® M Processor 1.60GHz
15.4 WUXGA Display
No Floppy Drive
3 Year Limited Warranty plus 3 Year NBD On-Site Service
Bundle Dell Latitude Notebook
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home, Service Pack 1
128MB,DDR,SDRAM,1 DIMM
Intel® PRO/Wireless 2100 WLAN (802.11b,11Mbps) miniPCI Card
9 CELL PRIMARY BATTERY
Free Palm Zire ($99 retail value)
Additional Battery 9-CELL/72WHr Spare primary battery
Hard Drive 40GB,HD,9.5MM,5400RPM
8-24-10-24X SWDVD/CDRW Combo Drive
Internal 56K Modem
Graphics NVIDIA® GeForce4 4200 Go? 4XAGP graphics w/64MB DDR Video Memory
NTFS FILE SYSTEM
90W AC Adapter

Sub-Total $2,464.00
Discount -$579.04
Shipping $0.00
Estimated Tax $155.51
Total Price $2,040.47

I ordered 1GB of Kingmax memory from newegg for 222.00 shipped

 

[OldSpooky]

Although the T40 is slim and only weighs roughly 5 1/2 lbs, it is lacking on the LCD screen size

The T40 is actually 4.9 lbs with battery and optical drive. 14.1" LCD screens might seem small compared to 17" widescreen monsters, but for most people and most applications they are fine

I am a T40 owner and thus favor this machine

 

[John]

IBM shows the T40 to weigh in @ 4.5-5.01lbs. Cnet, PCMag and other review sites have it up to 5.3lbs, so I apologize for being ~.2lbs off, but I did say "roughly".

 

[IgoByte]

I needed something for on the go and I went with the trusty ThinkPad T series: I got the T40. The SXGA screen is awesome and certainly large enough for what I need it for (and I can't deal with small screens, btw.)...

 

[OldSpooky]

The choice between a T40 and a D800 is dependant on what you value in a notebook.

The T40 is a more work oriented machine. It's main selling points are superb build quality, keyboard, and size. The T40 is usually weak in multimedia and gaming because it does not have a widscreen LCD, and because most T40s use the relatively slow Radeon 7500 GPU.

The D800's main selling points are superb multimedia capabilities. The firewire port, fast graphics, and by all accounts awesome widescreen LCD make it the clear choice if you value games and graphics oriented programs. The D800 is bulkier and heavier than the T40 though, and trust me you will notice the difference if you walk around a lot with a laptop.

What's best for you depends on what you want!

 

[IgoByte]

Originally posted by: OldSpooky
The choice between a T40 and a D800 is dependant on what you value in a notebook.

The T40 is a more work oriented machine. It's main selling points are superb build quality, keyboard, and size. The T40 is usually weak in multimedia and gaming because it does not have a widscreen LCD, and because most T40s use the relatively slow Radeon 7500 GPU.

The D800's main selling points are superb multimedia capabilities. The firewire port, fast graphics, and by all accounts awesome widescreen LCD make it the clear choice if you value games and graphics oriented programs. The D800 is bulkier and heavier than the T40 though, and trust me you will notice the difference if you walk around a lot with a laptop.

What's best for you depends on what you want!

Exactly!

I think the Dell Latitude D600 is also very much worth considering. . .

 

[crzylgs]

I agree that the D series Dell laptops are all worth a look, stay away from the 600M series etc etc if you have 2k to spend.

I got a D800 decked out just like 'John' did.
I got the d800 because of its awesome WUXGA widescreen and great gfx card. I thought it was an awsome buy.

just my $0.02.

 

[Vampirrella]

im in the market for a new laptop as well to replace my old dell 8100 1ghz laptop. I dont think i wanna spend 2500 on a new 8500.. but what do you all think of the dell 5150? Seems like an awesomly fast laptop that could last me another 3 yrs or so (this old 8100 lasted me almost 3 yrs now too)

Are there any good sites out there that specificly review laptops head to head? i need to do some research on this!

 

[JackHawksmoor]

The 5150 has a worse GPU (either a Radeon 9000 or Geforce 5200) versus the 8500's Geforce 4 4200. The 5150 has a faster CPU, and a different screen (and fewer screen options-personally it's too high resolution for me). Other than that they appear to be about the same.

If you value gaming, the 8500 is more powerful, and the 8600 (if it ever comes out) will be better yet.

 

[dannybek]

Looking for a T40? I have some for sale, LMK!

 

[pushlatency]

Considering the issue of "Best winXP notebook", has anyone ever checked out the Powerpro C 3:16 from powernotebooks.com?
link

I'd be interested to hear if anyone's been able to compare this machine to the T40 first hand. It seems like the materials are very nice since its all (or mostly) magnesium alloy, I'm not sure about the build quality however. Otherwise the two are fairly similar machines within specifications, the only significant difference being the C 3:16's 15" screen. I know the T40 is awesome, i wish i knew more about this thing though.