I'm looking at laptops. If it's a windows machine, it should be XP-Pro, not home. I'm also tempted by Linux and OS-X machines.
Primary criteria:
- durable and reliable
- low to medium weight
long battery life (> 4 hours)
- ram expandable to 2 gig
Secondary criteria
- decent performance for light programming
- decent keyboard for touch typing
- decent display
- inexpensive
Notes:
Model |
Weight |
Battery Life |
max ram |
screen |
Notes |
Panasonic T4 |
2.8 lbs |
12 hrs |
1 Gb |
12.1" 1024x768 |
$2K up, [http://www.dynamism.com/t4/specs.shtml specs] |
Acer AS5000 (Turion) |
6.5 lbs |
3.25 hrs |
|
15.4" 1280x800 |
|
Acer TravelMate 4000 series |
2.91 kg |
6 hrs |
2 gB |
15" 1024x768 |
[http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/hardware/notebooks/0,39001743,39073841p,00.htm CNet asia] |
Compaq Presario B3813AP |
2.55 kg |
4 hrs |
2 gB |
15" 1024x768 |
[http://asia.cnet.com/reviews/hardware/notebooks/0,39001743,39079380p,00.htm CNet asia] |
Compaq Presario V2000 (Turion) |
5.4/6.1 lbs |
2.5/5.5 hrs |
|
14.1" wide |
6cell/12cell http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1825639,00.asp |
ThinkPad X40 |
|||||
Alienware Area-51m_7700 |
? |
4 hrs |
2gB |
12.1" 1280x800 |
~$1100-1500 [http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pages/sentia/sentia_specs.aspx?SysCode=PC-LT-SENTIA&SubCode=SKU-PERFORMANCE Alienware] |
HP Pavilion dv1175us |
5.33 lb |
6 hrs |
? |
14" 1280x768 |
$1350 clearance [http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=317688&pfp=BROWSE CompUSA] |
Dell Latitude D510 |
6.1 lb |
4 hrs |
2gB |
14.1" or 15" XGA |
~$950 [ http://reviews.cnet.com/4505-3121_7-31355783.html CNET review] [http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=US&cs=04&dgvcode=ss&l=EN&oc=D510PSAPP Dell] |
Fujitsu B6110D |
3.3 lb |
~5 hrs |
2gB |
12.1" 1024x768 |
~$1700 [http://www.tomshardware.com/mobile/20050804/ Tom's Hardware] |
Toshiba R200 |
2.84 lb |
~4 hrs |
1.25gB |
12.1" 1024x768 |
~$2000 [http://www.tomshardware.com/mobile/20050804/ Tom's Hardware] |
ASUS M3000Np (M3NP) |
5 lb. |
7.4 Hrs. |
1 gB |
14.1" 1024x768 |
5400rpm HD, Pentium M 1.7 GHz, [http://www10.shopping.com/xPF-22569070 shopping.com] |
Averatec AV3270-EE1 |
4.5 lb. |
?? |
?? |
12.1" 1024x768 |
[http://www10.shopping.com/xPF-Averatec_AVERATEC_NOTEBOOK_LINE_SEM_2800_512MB_60GB_DVD_MULTI_XPH_12_1IN shopping.com] |
Dell's Inspiron 700m |
3.7-4.1 lb. |
? |
2gB |
12.1" 1280x800 |
~$1100 Pentium M 1.6 GHz, [http://www.pcworld.com/howto/article/0,aid,118626,pg,2,00.asp PC World] [http://www.shopping.com/xPR-Dell_Dell_Inspiron_700M_Notebook_Computer_P_M_1_60GHz_256MB_30GB_22547478 shopping.com reviews] |
ThinkPad T42 |
5.8 pounds |
5.5 hrs |
2gB |
15" 1400x1050 |
expensive, [http://www10.shopping.com/xPR-IBM_IBM_ThinkPad_T42_IBM_Think_Express_Program_IBM_Think_Express_IBM_ThinkPad_T42_models_with_3_year_w_ shopping.com reviews] |
ThinkPad T40 (237382U) |
4.85 lb |
5.5 hrs |
2gB |
14.1" 1024x768 |
Pentium M 1.5 GHz, $900recon [http://www10.shopping.com/xPF-IBM_ThinkPad_T40_2373_237382U shopping.com] |