*DEAD*DROOL: Best Buy SOTEC Notebook with Mobile Intel® Celeron® Processor 1.2GHz $600 AR // *NEW*PM Possible?

[MooBaby]

I have this laptop, and it's portability is a big plus for me. For those of you who would like to see this in person, you might want to check if your local Office Depot or Sam's club has one in stock. If you just want to see something that's of a comparable size, you might look at the Sony PCG-V505 here Best Buy Link. I needed this laptop to carry around school with me. It's perfect for web browsing and word processing. If I want to play games, that's what I use my desktop for.

 

[nightowl]

I have an Inspiron 8000 with a 15" SXGA screen and a high performance video card and I would give it up for a sub 5lb notebook in an instant. Sure the big screen is nice and playing games is cool but it is too heavy. For those of you bashing this laptop try carying a 7-8lb notebook around for a year or so and you will know why myself and other like the small laptops like this one.

 

[RobsTV]

Originally posted by: DoctaMason
duh! Good work out! Hellooooooooo

Seriously though, personally i would think that with the more options, wouldnt that out-weigh the weight difference?

Exactly! Big Time!
I would much rather have a "slightly heavier" laptop that could be used for everything than a lighter one without 3D.
Been there, did light weight, doesn't cut it.
The extra performance extra weight gives you far outweighs that weight gain for many.
Heck I would drag my desktop everywhere if I could, but with it's 21" monitor, it is a little too big.
By no means is a modern performance laptop a brick. They are still light!!!!!!!!
But, if it's all work and no play for ya, than of course get the lightest PDA, I mean laptop.

I think more important than weight is name brand. This brand may be fine?
Will the company be around in a few years? Replacement batteries easily and cheaply available?
(for example, in the SOTEC link above, click in the ad for battery, and there isn't even any listed.)
Regular Bios updates, as well as driver updates?

 

[kimagurealex]

no game or movie when I study or coding at the library.
Alex

 

[whatzdaname]

Originally posted by: RobsTV

Originally posted by: DoctaMason
duh! Good work out! Hellooooooooo

Seriously though, personally i would think that with the more options, wouldnt that out-weigh the weight difference?

Exactly! Big Time!
I would much rather have a "slightly heavier" laptop that could be used for everything than a lighter one without 3D.
Been there, did light weight, doesn't cut it.
The extra performance extra weight gives you far outweighs that weight gain for many.
Heck I would drag my desktop everywhere if I could, but with it's 21" monitor, it is a little too big.
By no means is a modern performance laptop a brick. They are still light!!!!!!!!
But, if it's all work and no play for ya, than of course get the lightest PDA, I mean laptop.

I think more important than weight is name brand. This brand may be fine?
Will the company be around in a few years? Replacement batteries easily and cheaply available?
(for example, in the SOTEC link above, click in the ad for battery, and there isn't even any listed.)
Regular Bios updates, as well as driver updates?

Come on people. Again, the "mobility" issue is the important thing here.
You say "slightly heavier" but try carrying around a 6+ lbs laptop around for a while and you'll probably know if that slight added weight matters or not.
If you don't have a desktop at home, you may want those laptops (I guess this would not be the right word in this case) with all the 3D performance, big screens etc. but if you already have a gaming PC at home, then what's the point having another one ?
That's why manufacturers make different laptops for different use and SOTEC 3120X is the one that definitely falls in to the MOBILITY category but not PERFORMANCE. If you want both MOBILITY and PERFORMANCE, get ready to spend around $1,000 more (e.g. Sony VAIO PCG-V505AX).

I've been using my Compaq Armada M300 (P3-500), which weighs less than 4 lbs, for three years and it served me very well especially thanks to its light weight.

 

[OgreDave]

I have the Compaq 2135US .. and at 7.25lbs .. sometimes I'm jealous of my gf's 4.4lbs Sotec .. but she hates carrying a lot of weight/bulk, and I use my laptop for more stationary uses such as work .. so I'm ok with the weight .. but I agree w/the other guys .. 15in vs 12in .. and half the weight .. 600 is a pretty good deal

 

[aphex]

I've been thinkin of switching to a sub 5lb notebook..... My Dell 8100 is quite a package to lug around at over 9lbs...

 

[RobsTV]

Heck, a decent cordless drill used all the time weighs 6 to 8 lbs, and that needs to be supported all the time in one hand.
If some of you have trouble carrying 8 lbs from point A to point B, then putting it down to use, (zero lbs), perhaps you
need to check out deals for the bo-flex or something.
Just kidding. Some of you are handicapped, and have no choice but to buy light weight, so these make sense.
If you want to pay more for less, (less performance, less battery life, less weight, less reliability) then you have every right.

Also, while many have gaming machines at home, a decent cheap laptop works great for lan 3D gaming.
My only beef is that buying a laptop that is of very limited function, compared with a fully funtioning laptop at a couple
pounds more, seem like a waste. The day you want to do something with it, and can't, you'll see what I mean.

 

[yukichigai]

I spent a summer in the Location Survey division of the DOT as an intern. Roughly translated: "Hey, intern, take that 90 pounds of GPS equipment and hike about a mile up that hill. There should be a survey point up there... somewhere... I think... maybe." 9lbs of lappy ain't too bad by comparison.

Regardless, yes, light lappys are nice if you don't like lugging all that weight and aren't really going to use it for any heavy stuff. And if you really want to play games on it why not reaquaint (sp?) yourself with some of the oldies but goodies, like Quake and Duke 3d. (Hell, that card could run Quake 2 most likely) Not very riveting online play, true, but you're running on a frikkin' laptop; what the hell do you want, a cookie?


On a mildly related note my parents discovered how useful their business lappys are when my dad's CD-Rom went out, and I networked a lappy to the comp and mapped the lappy's CD-drive as a network drive. If nothing else look at that kind of laptop as a portable monitor, keyboard, mouse, hard drive and cd-rom to compliment your other computer. (Software like Microsoft VNC will let you see the other computer's display and use the keyboard and whatnot, and I'm sure there's better software out there as well)

 

[OgreDave]

Well the thing is, she will mainly (usually only) use it for web browsing, e-mail, aim, and office. The sotec / averatecs should handle all that with ease.

 

[Lawranch]

I would be wary about Sotec, My laptop that they made barely lasted a year. Laptops are one product where I would consider an extended warranty.

 

[ObiDon]

That's a pretty good deal. I'd consider it if I didn't already have more computers than I can use.

As far as all the "Why don't you just get blah blah for $xxx more" people...
My old laptop is a P150 IBM 380D. It has a 12" screen and is kind of a thick laptop. I used to think it was fairly bulky and a bit heavy.

A few months ago, I picked up an HP laptop (ZE4200 series) with the 15" screen. It's probably close to the weight of ThinkPad and it's noticeably slimmer...but, due to the size of the LCD, it's a freakin' monster compared to the IBM!

I'm really glad that I didn't buy the HP with the intention of lugging it around on a daily basis.

BTW, the only reason I really wanted (not needed) to upgrade from the ThinkPad was because I wanted a higher resolution than 800x600 on my LCD. It still is capable of doing 99% of anything that I would WANT to do on a laptop.

I think a lot of the spoiled-brat elitists here really underestimate the usefulness of technology that is no longer on the bleeding-edge...


Edit -- I forgot to add that the only "naysayer" that I agree with is Lawranch. I would consider an extended warranty provided that it is reasonably priced...not the $300ish that I occasionally see offered. In that case, I'll take a gamble if I'm not hauling it with me everywhere I go.

 

[OgreDave]

We both got the BB extended service plan thing Did you know a lemon law applies to notebooks too? [For CA, anyways]

 

[yodayoda]

this looks like a pretty good deal. i almost think that a 12" LCD is a bonus because they consume much less energy than a 15" screen. the one downer is SDRAM and not DDR, but still a very good deal for what it is. it still has a DVD-ROM and CD-RW, a 20GB HD which is pretty big for a budget system, and a tualatin celeron which kicks the snot out of a P4 celeron. i would be much more interested if this had premium ATi or nVidia graphics and DDR memory.

 

[ObiDon]

Originally posted by: yodayoda
i would be much more interested if this had premium ATi or nVidia graphics and DDR memory.

I don't think that the Tualatin Celeron would benefit at all from the extra memory bandwidth of DDR vs SDR. Remember how little performance was gained when the P-III was paired up with R-DRAM?

I'll give you the shot at the built-in SiS graphics though.

 

[gwlam12]

Someone try the pricematch and let us know how it goes! It it goes through, then dang, what a great deal that I missed out on. Didn't have $1000 at the time to spend on the laptop. And I still don't have that much. Must wait...till a deal like this comes around again... or else I will have to end up getting a 7-8 lb Dell.