Looking to buy an ultraportable today... Second opinions?

[bsmit]

I've been looking to replace a thinkpad (600x) with something smaller, lighter and hopefully a little faster. My requirements are, small and light as possible, as much battery life as possible (with stock battery), and as cheap as possible. The models I've come up with are the dell inspiron 300m (1337$* shipped w/ discount) and the ibm x40 (1349$ + california tax shipped w/ discount) in the base config. They both hit about my limit on budget. Right now I'm leaning towards the x40 because of the ibm reputation (this thinkpad is a tank), and actually I'm probably looking at ordering one tonight, but I have never actually seen or touched either model (I fondled an x31 at the bookstore the other day, but the casing is quite different).

As far as my needs, I'm a CS student, so my primary workloads are web and ssh sessions, VS if I have to, with some SPICE, logic synthesis. I don't need to play games or anything, but I do occassionally watch DIVX movies (which actually don't run at all on the 600x right now), and it would be nice to have rudimentary GL and dx support. Mostly I need something I can shove into a backpack with my books and haul with me everywhere.

I am aware of the battery life limitations of all the ultraportables. two and a half hours is pretty spare, but it doesn't seem like there's any other way to get the weight down.

Anyways, before I order this, are there any major gotchas with these notebooks that I may have overlooked? And does anyone have any experience with either one? I've seen some posts from an x40 owner here, if he could chime in it would be much appreciated. Especially w/rt video playback on the pM LV/ULVs. I understand that they're slower than std pM cores, but I haven't been able to get an answer on just how much slower.

 

[WackyDan]

X40 uses intel integrated graphics.... X31 uses ATI discreet. That may make a difference to you. You should be able to get a comparable x31 if not better within your budget... Keep in mind that the X31 IS NOT replaced by the X40... IBM is continuing the X31 as a distinct offering.

 

[voodle]

The 600x CAN play divx and xvid well, just not all of them. If you look for the most recent unofficial FFD-show build, that has a low cpu usage. It makes divx and xvid files watchable to the point where they'll play nicely on my sister's 400mhz 600E laptop. Some XVID 1 beta videos that I've made don't play well though. Partly that's a problem with XVID, and how I encoded them though.

I recommend the X31, but only because I think it looks nicer and it has built in firewire, and a bigger battery. Oh, and it doesn't use proprietary, hard to get hold of 1.8" hard disks like the X40.

 

[bsmit]

i've considered the X31 pretty heavily as well. it's pretty heavy compared to the x40 and 300m (3.6 vs 2.7-2.9), and the battery life isn't any better. the hd is a good point though. definitely one of the high points of the 300m.

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: voodle
The 600x CAN play divx and xvid well, just not all of them. If you look for the most recent unofficial FFD-show build, that has a low cpu usage. It makes divx and xvid files watchable to the point where they'll play nicely on my sister's 400mhz 600E laptop. Some XVID 1 beta videos that I've made don't play well though. Partly that's a problem with XVID, and how I encoded them though.

I recommend the X31, but only because I think it looks nicer and it has built in firewire, and a bigger battery. Oh, and it doesn't use proprietary, hard to get hold of 1.8" hard disks like the X40.

Good point about the HD.... But these 1.8" drives are becoming the normal as you'll see with some new announcements from Dell, and HP...

THe advantage of the 1.8" is that due to it's size it is 20% more durable than a standard 2.5" - and that's before you factor in the IBM HD ACtive protection system. It' salso limited to 40gig.... today, but is more power efficient.

Yup--pros and cons abound.

 

[bsmit]

I've thought about the drive a little and I don't mind so much that it's a slow drive. Eventually I'll put the money together for enough ram that I won't have to hit swap much.. I only care about the cost of a possible replacement. I don't really want to pay a premium if it dies for some reason. But here's where we're playing statistics: a 1.8" drive is probably less likely to die, or at least will last a little longer. So, by the time it dies, will 1.8" drives be industry standard? If so, the point is moot. The premium for a replacement will be negligible.

I probably won't miss the firewire. I think it's a better interface than usb2 for many reasons, but "because I need it" isn't one of them.

or me, the major attraction of the x31 is the longer standard battery life. 2.5hrs vs 4.5 is not a tiny difference. I'm not sure if it's worth the 1lb weight delta when the x40 8 cell only adds half a pound however.

 

[RichieZ]

Originally posted by: bsmit
I've thought about the drive a little and I don't mind so much that it's a slow drive. Eventually I'll put the money together for enough ram that I won't have to hit swap much.. I only care about the cost of a possible replacement. I don't really want to pay a premium if it dies for some reason. But here's where we're playing statistics: a 1.8" drive is probably less likely to die, or at least will last a little longer. So, by the time it dies, will 1.8" drives be industry standard? If so, the point is moot. The premium for a replacement will be negligible.

I probably won't miss the firewire. I think it's a better interface than usb2 for many reasons, but "because I need it" isn't one of them.

or me, the major attraction of the x31 is the longer standard battery life. 2.5hrs vs 4.5 is not a tiny difference. I'm not sure if it's worth the 1lb weight delta when the x40 8 cell only adds half a pound however.

w/ the 8 cell it weights 3.2, and it sticks out the back.

 

[sxr7171]

From what I have heard an X40 with the extended life battery ends up being as big and almost as heavy as an X31. However it is still thinner - which is nice. I have an X31, but sometimes I wonder if I should sell it later this year to get an X40. With the new Dothan processors coming out we might have something like a 1.6 Pentium-M in low voltage form, though I'm not sure about that.

I wish there was one local place where I could actually see an X40 in person, that might make me want to do the upgrade. I keep a spare battery for my X31 on me, and I can realistically get 9 hours of run time with them.

 

[bsmit]

https://webspace.utexas.edu/chuahjh/pics/x40/SSCN1365.JPG

x40 with the 8 cell battery (ships standard with the 1.2gig models)

what struck me about the x31 when i saw it was just how heavy it was. the <3lb weight really seems worth it to me in a lot of ways (although unit + ac adapter is still > 3lb). looking at the spec sheets, the x40 with 8 cell is thinner and still half a lb lighter than the x31. the battery life is also better (5+hrs vs 4.5 hrs). however, it's an inch deeper, and you get less screen rotation. it seems to me that if you need ~4.5 hrs battery life, it would be smarter to go with the x31, eating the extra half lb, than throwing a big battery into the x40, especially for performance.

i don't know how dothan will scale, but with all the bitching about current leakage, i'm not too optimistic.

 

[ViperV990]

If u can scrape up another 400 doughs I'd recommend the Toshiba R100. 1 GHz Centrino, 32MB discrete graphic (its from Trident, but it's somewhere between the Mobility Radeon 7500 and 9000, performance wise) only 2.4 lbs and 0.6/0.7 inch thick...

 

[bsmit]

the r100 looks great, but i'm about 100% sure i can't afford it.

 

[jimmyhaha]

averatec 3220HS, hands down, ~ $800 AR + tax @ microcenter.

search in Hot deal

 

[bsmit]

my friend just bought one. wasn't impressed

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: bsmit
https://webspace.utexas.edu/chuahjh/pics/x40/SSCN1365.JPG

x40 with the 8 cell battery (ships standard with the 1.2gig models)

what struck me about the x31 when i saw it was just how heavy it was. the <3lb weight really seems worth it to me in a lot of ways (although unit + ac adapter is still > 3lb). looking at the spec sheets, the x40 with 8 cell is thinner and still half a lb lighter than the x31. the battery life is also better (5+hrs vs 4.5 hrs). however, it's an inch deeper, and you get less screen rotation. it seems to me that if you need ~4.5 hrs battery life, it would be smarter to go with the x31, eating the extra half lb, than throwing a big battery into the x40, especially for performance.

i don't know how dothan will scale, but with all the bitching about current leakage, i'm not too optimistic.

I don't believe the x40 is dothan.... Will probably wait until x41 for that.--in the x's form factor anyway.

 

[bsmit]

it's come down to x31 vs x40. the battery life is really the crux of it i think.

 

[WackyDan]

Originally posted by: bsmit
it's come down to x31 vs x40. the battery life is really the crux of it i think.

Wish I was up in our facility as I could do a bench between both of them... All I have here is T series.

 

[bsmit]

i trust the batterymark scores. i just can't figure out if the extra battery life is worth the weight penalty

 

[sxr7171]

How do you expect to use the machine? Do you want to take it class? Will you be close to your car (where you can store spare batteries)? Even if you can spare batteries close by, do you want to want to pay for a few of those?

I think if I got the X40, I would make sure to have one 4-cell and 8-cell battery around. According to this you'll have 11+ hours of battery life with that combo: http://www.pc.ibm.com/ww/thinkpad/thinkpad_04062004_battery_life.pdf

That definitely beats my 9 hour run time on two batteries.


You can also do pretty well with just 2 regular batteries, 7 hours is still pretty good run time.

I just reread your needs with regard to video playback and although I think a P-M 1.2 GHz should be fast enough for most (if not all) DIVX files, you might want to consider an X31 with a faster processor if you are going to play some really high bitrate files. My X31 1.6GHz plays the Terminator 2 720p WMA clip with no problems, but it struggles a little with the Coral Reef Adventure 1080p WMA clip.

 

[bsmit]

i don't tend to use the machine in class. good old pen and paper is enough for me 99% of the time.

i don't drive to school. the adapter and the laptop + whatever battery is in it will be my power sources for the day. i'm not shy about plugging in though. also, keep in mind that i simply can't afford to buy extra batteries. then again, 11+ hours continuous off wall power is just more than i need. not that tethering an ultraportable to the wall all the time doesn't seem a little silly...

anecdotal evidence has the 1.2ghz LV playing pretty much all divx files. as for high bitrate, i'm not expecting the world here, it would just be nice to be able to watch some movies as well as do homework, as this will be my only computer. realistically it's just not that important.

in other news, there's a new 20% off deal on the dell that brings it down to 1230

 

[sxr7171]

It seems like you will mostly have a power source wherever you plan on using it. So then battery life shouldn't worry you too much. It is sort of silly to have an ultraportable plugged in most of the time, but unless you have a lot of extra money lying around to buy extra batteries it is the reality of portable computing until fuel cells are brought to the market for laptops.

 

[bsmit]

ordered the x40. thanks everyone

 

[Yomicron]

Be sure to post a mini-review of it when you get it.

 

[erikistired]

check and see what compaq/hp is offering. i have an armada m300 i still use and love, the ultimate ultraportable (altho the p3 600 is showing it's age) imho. i don't know that they have anything that compares these days tho.

 

[sxr7171]

Do you have it yet? IBM quoted me 10 business days for delivery, but I got it in my hands shipped direct from China within 2 business days. I kid you not.

I'm just anxious to hear your impressions.