Laptop buyers question!??

[Remedy]

Ok i have a choice on buying a refurbished laptop. I'm not skeptic about it as the place where i am getting it from is a couple miles away from my house. Now the choices are these for 899 i can get this;

Pentium III 450 with MMX
64 Meg RAM
6.0 Gig hard drive
12.1" Active Color
1.44 3 1/2" floppy
4X DVD 24X CD
Touchpad
56k Fax Modem
JBL 32-bit Pro Audio
AC adapter and Lion Battery
Win 98

for the same price i can get this;

Pentium II 366 with MMX
64 Meg RAM
14.1" Active Color
6.4 Gig Hard Drive
1.44 3 1/2" floppy
24X CD
Accupointer
56k Fax Modem
16-bit Audio
AC adapter and Lion Battery

Now my problem is option 1 has the 4x dvd to it, but it only has a 12inch screen. But option 2 has a 14inch screen and but has no dvd at all. I'm thinking i can just add a dvd rom to option 2 but then i lose feature of the p3 450 power. But if i take option 1 i can have 450mhz power but a smaller screen with DVD.

I can't decide on whether or not giving up the extra power with dvd and a small screen for a slower processor with more screen is even worth it. someone give me theier opinion on this.

 

[Eug]

To add DVD is gonna cost a lot. However, the 366 should (just) be OK for DVD, unless if it's an ATI card or something - then the 366 is more than enough.

Also, do you like the touchpad/accupointer? If the accupointer is that eraser thingy in the middle of the keyboard, I'd go for the other one in a shot, but that's just personal preference.

What's the resolution of the screens? 800x600 is too small for me. 12" 1024x768 is kinda pushing it too, but preferable to me than 800x600. I assume the 14" screen is 1024x768.

 

[chansen]

Do you really need DVD on your laptop? After much investigation, I've found the most important part of a notebook is the screen. The pointer is mute to me. I thought I would prefer the touchpad, but since buying my Dell Inspiron 8000 (which has both), I find myself using the pointer more than the pad - but an external mouse is definitely required anyway.

The native resolution of the 12" is almost surely 800x600, the 14" will be 1024x768. The 14" will be infinitely more usable, and the speed difference will not be great. Go 14".

 

[Dameon]

One Approach.. breakdown items in changeable vs unchangeable.

Processor - *Maybe.. almost impossible
Screen - never.. size is what you get.
CD / DVD - easily changeable, but $$$
RAM - easy
Hard Drive - easy - $

I personally like pointers MUCH better than touchpads. Touchpads are of the devil to me at least.
That item would be stuck in there, and with mild PIA factor(Pain In Arse), use an external mouse.

 

[Remedy]

lol damn i am still stuck i am leaning towards both of them

 

[OS]

Unless you really need DVD, I would just get the laptop with the bigger screen. It is much easier on the eyes. What will you be doing with this laptop?

 

[Workin']

Get the bigger screen. Screw DVD, unless you spend a lot of time on airplanes with nothing else to do you'll use it twice and then wish you had a bigger screen.

I personally prefer the pointing stick - I have 4 lappys: 1 w/trackball, 1 w/touch pad, and 2 w/pointer sticks, and I thought I'd hate the pointers, but now it is my favorite way to do it. I find it as easy to use as a mouse, and sometimes it's even easier, in my opinion. But of course everyone has their own opinion.

 

[Remedy]

Ok i am convinced to get the 366 version. Man i can see why DVD has no real appeal with lappys no one in this thread even likes DVD on laptops huh? I was going to wait for the duron lappys but i rather see a review first.