The VERY best notebook?

[RonS]

If you had an unlimited budget to spend on one notebook computer, which one would it be?

I want something with a very good keyboard and screen. Size and weight aren't important.

 

[eriqesque]

IBM T40

 

[bunnyfubbles]

I don't think that question can be honostly answered, I doubt there is a clear winner anywhere.

 

[Acts837]

Originally posted by: eriqesque
IBM T40

 

[xm0nkey]

The T40p with the newer 60GB 7200rpm drives.

 

[crzylgs]

Inspiron 8600 when it comes out

Dell D800 right now.

 

[thuned]

One of those panasonic toughbooks.

 

[JoeShmoe85]

8600 is out!

 

[RonS]

Thanks for the comments. I'm going to order a Thinkpad T40p and a Dell Inspiron 8600 and compare them myself.

 

[Goocheematch]

If you really don't care about weight and battery life, try...
Sager 8890
Intel P4 3.2ghz HT 800FSB Desktop CPU
Dual Channel 400DDR RAM
16.1" LCD
Detachable MP3 player with memory from 32MB up to 256MB or 6in1 card reader
ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 PRO 128MB GDDR2-M Video card
Internal Fixed floppy drive
DVD-RW Combo drive
Up to 3 internal hard drives, 2 can be used in RAID 0 and RAID 1 (RAIDed Hitachi 60GB 7200rpm 8mb cache HDs available)
Built-in COAX input TV tuner with a full remote control
2 PCMCIA TYPE II slots
Integrated bluetooth AND Wireless LAN
USB 2.0, S-Video in, S-video out, DVI out(comes with VGA out adapter), and firewire
12-cell 6600mah battery

 

[mocca]

If I have unlimited money, I will order 5 of IBM T40p and select the one with the best LCD This may sound wierd but even the LCDs produced by the same mfg from the same lots have different characteristics, color uniformity is the most obvious thing if you have seen many IBM T40/p and looks at their LCDs side-by-side. IBM T40p have the best features, design, and support IMO right now. But for the same price I could just order one IBM T40p and then order 5 spare LCDs and choose the best one to install on the IBM T40p

Mocca

 

[RonS]

Mocca,

If I order them all at the same time, I'm assuming that they would all come with the same LCD. Do you have any direct experiece with this? If I stagger my orders over a week or two, would that be better?

Ron

 

[mocca]

IBM use 2 LCD mfg for 14"SXGA+ (ID Tech and Samsung) and 3 LCD mfg for XGA LCD for the T40 models AFAIK. Don't worry about the LCD too mugh though. Most likely you will never notice the differences in the color uniformity, brightness, etc. unless you have several of them side-by-side like I'm. For SXGA+ LCD, the ID Tech LCD is brighter and better IMO but the viewing angle of the Samsung is superior so it is a trade of. You can never know before hand which LCD you will get. And they are of very good quality and the clarity of the SXGA+ LCD that IBM use is much better than the similar spec 14"SXGA+ from Dell (this is compare with the SXGA+ LCD on the D600 that we have in my department).

Just relax and don't worry too much about the LCD. Whichever one you get, it iwll be of a good quality and spec I can say that with confident for the SXGA+ on the T40/p.

Mocca

 

[RonS]

Okay - I ordered a T40p and a Dell 8600. With the 8600, there are three resolution choices, all 15.4" screens:

WXGA 1280x800
WSXGA+ 1680x1050
WUXGA 1920x1200

I went with the WSXGA+ because I currently use a 15.1" notebook with 1600x1200 and everythink looks just a little bit too small (I sit a few feet away from the screen). But if someone has any direct information saying that the WUXGA is noticably better than the WSXGA+ (brighter, crisper, better contract, etc) then I'd like to hear about it while I can still change the order.

Interesting note: You can't order an 8600 with 1.7GHz Centrino and WUXGA from Dell Small business - that combo isn't available. But it is available through Dell Home.

 

[sinthon]

Voodoo or Alienware.

 

[eastvillager]

Already asked myself that question, bought a tosh 5205-S705.

Is it the best overall notebook? NO.
Is it the best notebook for multimedia pursuit? YES, easily.

Course, it is already discontinued, lol. I can understand extremely short product lifecycles on most computer hardware, but it seems insane to have short ones for laptops, since they're not just a bunch of random parts socketed together in a generic case.

 

[guises]

my vote for IBM. thinkpads rock.

it really depends what you are going to use it for though - thinkpads are great for everything except gaming. if size and weight really don't matter at all sager and eurocom have good, hefty, options. you might consider one of the 17" buggers - nice big screen and don't have to forfeit your keypad. HP has a 17" with an FX5600, eurocom has a 17" with a radeon 9600 coming in october.

voodoopc offers good gaming notebooks with thousand dollar paint jobs. nice notebooks, nice paint. way overpriced.

 

[John]

Originally posted by: sinthon
Voodoo or Alienware.

Right now they both use Sager notebooks (Clevo), and charge a premium for a paint job.

 

[Black.Lotus]

Best notebooks IMO are the new sagers if you need raw power of the dell i8600 if you need some good battery life as well. Haven't seen the IBMs but we all know that they're built like a tank and awful nice etc. I'd avoid gateway and HP/Compaq... those are some sloppy notebooks.

 

[guises]

Originally posted by: John

Originally posted by: sinthon
Voodoo or Alienware.

Right now they both use Sager notebooks (Clevo), and charge a premium for a paint job.

what makes you say this? i've been trying to figure out who makes voodoopc's M:460 and sager doesn't have anything that matches it.

 

[Black.Lotus]

Sager, voodoo, alienware, and hypersonic all get their notebooks from Clevo. The M:460 happens to be unique at this point, but rest assured it's still a clevo.

 

[Zukatah]

I'd get a 17" Powerbook with the superdrive anyday... although I haven't used it myself, I know a couple of my friends do and they're really satisfied.

 

[UltraWide]

If money is no object then get the T40p (2373G5U)

That's what I ended up getting.

 

[BurnedOutComputer007]

my laptop was the highend Alienware 3g p4 etc etc etc WITH the tv tuner
nice laptop!
sold it to do other things though.

 

[RonS]

(I started this thread)

Update: T40p arrived yesterday. Still waiting for the Dell 8600 - should arrive mid-September. I'll post my impressions back here when I have them side by side.

I haven't had much time on the T40p yet, but my first impressions are very good.