Laptop for work

[Marcis]

Hi. First time posting here.

I was looking to buy a laptop for my work and I needed some advice. I work as a sales rep and I want to use my computer in front of customers so it needs to respond quickly enough even though I don't need some kind of rocket ship either. I also need to have a very long battery life as I can't miss juice in the middle of the day as I'd be screwed for my latter customers. I don't mind upgrading the standard battery that comes with the laptop if needed. I will never use this for gaming either. Finally, the ability to pay monthly is, unfortunately, essential. The system must also be available in Canada as that's where I live.

Now I was looking at a Dell Inspiron 6000 with the 6 cell battery replaced with a 9 cell battery along with a 1.6 P-M and a 512 Meg of RAM but I was wondering if, for battery life, the ATI x300 64 meg discrete solution would be better than the integrated intel graphics (915GM if I'm not mistaken) as the ATI boards of this generation are supposed to have some neat energy saving features. Battery life is my only concern on this particular point.

So, should I go with the 6000 or the 6000d for my needs ? And the 6000 is a bit bulky (3kg) so if there are other viable options in the same price range (around 1650 cdn + taxes with a few cheap extras like a USB key), I'd like to know about them. Thanks.

 

[Looney]

6000 is a little big, but if you don't mind that, it's a great deal. 700m is smaller and if you get the extended battery, great battery life. You may also want to consider the Latitude X1 in the Dell Small Business section.

 

[Marcis]

Thanks for the reply.

The size isn't a killer issue as 6 or 7 pounds aren't all that much. Hell I'm going to use this to replace my price list and my price book is much heavier than that as it is so I can definately live with it. But the lighter the better still.

But I was still wondering about the power consumption of the mobile x300 vs integrated graphics. I've did a few searches on a few hardware boards and nobody seems to have asked that question before so I'm assuming integrated graphics use less power but I'd like to make sure of that.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Actually discrete graphics in general use more power than integrated graphics. You have a separate GPU core, separate memory, etc etc that all consume more power. For your uses, go with integrated graphics.

The Dell isn't bad, but keep in mind that the larger the screen, the greater the battery usage.

Gateway has a model that claims 10 hours of battery life with the high capacity main battery and an extra battery put in the optical bay.

Most HP series offer 12-cell batteries, which give you about 7 hours of normal usage. If size doesn't matter, the dv4000 is a 15.4" model that offers all the goodies for your usage. The dv1000 series is a 14" widescreen: much more portable and it uses the "old" Centrino technology which actually gives you better battery life.

And now onto IBM The Thinkpad T-series is one of the best built computers out there. With the 9-cell battery you get about 5 hours of normal usage. You can swap in a battery where the optical drive is and get about 7 hours of normal usage. T-series run you more money than Dell or HP though, probably close to $2000 for a decent model with the upgraded batteries. But you can't beat the quality and service!

If you're really stuck on the Dell's, I highly recommend going for their Latitude line. I've come into contact with the Inspiron 600m's and Latitude D610's; basically they're equivalent in specs just designed for home and business use, respectively. The build quality on the D610 was much better than the 600m, particularly the keyboard. Personally I would go with a Latitude if you are really stuck on Dell, but to me nothing beats a Thinkpad for top-notch quality.

 

[imported_harsaphes]

Asus Z70V you can find reviews of it around the web.

 

[WackyDan]

For business use, nothing tops a ThinkPad T.

But hey... it's you money.... and data....

 

[AmigaMan]

I'm getting some serious ThinkPad envy...I just read a review of the T43 at fbrdphreak's site, and I want one now. http://www.laptoplogic.com/reviews/ibm/81/12/1/ is the battery performance results. SEVEN frickin hours on a charge is just awesome! If only they weren't so expensive.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: AmigaMan
I'm getting some serious ThinkPad envy...I just read a review of the T43 at fbrdphreak's site, and I want one now. http://www.laptoplogic.com/reviews/ibm/81/12/1/ is the battery performance results. SEVEN frickin hours on a charge is just awesome! If only they weren't so expensive.

Yes, the 9-cell+Ultrabay is an awesome combo. The only thing that I found disadvantageous about that is that it drains the small Ultrabay battery FIRST. That battery alone only lasts about an hour or so (roughly). So what good does that little battery do you in swapping the main battery? Oh, and the Ultrabay battery runs $120

 

[Marcis]

Thanks for all the help.

It's been very helpful.

I finally decided to go with the 6000. I was considering the 6000d at first but since integrated graphics seems to consume less power I went with that. I would have went with the 700m as it suited my needs better but I found deals and coupons that took almost 500$ off the 6000 in the end so it was an easy choice.

As for the HP, I would have went with a dv1000 variant but they only came with 6 cells batteries and I didn't have the budget to shell out more money for an additional 12 cell. Too bad they didn't have customization options in Canada as they do in the US or I would have gone their way. I even worked as a TSR for a while and they lent me an HP Pavillion laptop for my work so I know they make pretty decent laptops.

As for IBM, I tend to avoid them as the R** models were offered at my university where laptops were mandatory and everyone had problems with them plus they were really expensive. I never regretted getting an Acer Travelmate for my schooling ... until the power pin broke the week before my last exams. Those are hard to get by!

Thanks again for all the help. Gave me quite a few things to think about I hadn't thought about but in the end, the wallet had the final say, unfortunately.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Originally posted by: Marcis
Thanks for all the help.

It's been very helpful.

I finally decided to go with the 6000. I was considering the 6000d at first but since integrated graphics seems to consume less power I went with that. I would have went with the 700m as it suited my needs better but I found deals and coupons that took almost 500$ off the 6000 in the end so it was an easy choice. Dell coupons do rock

As for the HP, I would have went with a dv1000 variant but they only came with 6 cells batteries and I didn't have the budget to shell out more money for an additional 12 cell. Too bad they didn't have customization options in Canada as they do in the US or I would have gone their way. I even worked as a TSR for a while and they lent me an HP Pavillion laptop for my work so I know they make pretty decent laptops. That does suck that you can't customize; the 12-cell is an extra $25 in USA and you get like 7 hours of life out of it

As for IBM, I tend to avoid them as the R** models were offered at my university where laptops were mandatory and everyone had problems with them plus they were really expensive. I never regretted getting an Acer Travelmate for my schooling ... until the power pin broke the week before my last exams. Those are hard to get by! The R-series isn't the best, but still above most companies in my opinion. But you can't beat a T-series!

Thanks again for all the help. Gave me quite a few things to think about I hadn't thought about but in the end, the wallet had the final say, unfortunately. Hehe, usually does