Recommend a laptop

  • 88 replies
  • 38418 views
Re: Recommend a laptop
« Reply #30 on: February 19, 2009, 06:25:17 PM »
Hellbent on finding a baseline.  So far the SL400 serves.  I'll use it to comparison shop.

I have kept Acer in mind, but there's so many of the damn things that none of them work easily as a baseline.

I shall investigate more today.



And secretly I thought some of the Aspires could be ugly--what's up with the white interior?!



AAARGH!   I'm going about this all wrong!

Next phase: print out some specifications and let the computer guy do the thinking.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2009, 07:06:57 PM by Calach Pfeffer »
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

*

Stil

  • *
  • 4785
    • ChangshaNotes
Re: Recommend a laptop
« Reply #31 on: February 21, 2009, 07:55:35 PM »
Don't forget to treat yourself to a new chair while you're at it.

http://tinyurl.com/d3h46y

Re: Recommend a laptop
« Reply #32 on: February 24, 2009, 02:04:53 AM »
Thanks ya'll for the input, and as of yesterday the purchasing has begun.

Yesterday:  one 19" Hanns.G monitor (HG191) -- 800 yuan.
(Thanks Spag for saying "Hanns G")

And thanks to everyone for saying Dell and Aspire.  I did check them out as a way of getting ideas and prices.  It turns out however I really was hellbent on a Thinkpad.  Today I ordered an SL500.  T'is thus:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo (specifically, a P7370)
RAM: 2Gb
HDD: 250Gb SATA 5400rpm (dunno the brand, but it's not special)
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS (256Mb)
Screen: 15" TFT LCD
Network: something built in, with Wi-fi and Ethernet doodads
DVD: a player/burner of some description
OS: WinXP (English, pirated--just say no to Vista)

Beijing ticket price would be 7100.  I'll be coughing up 7650.  (There's a handful of overpriced non-essentials in there, like a mouse and a carry bag n stuff, and without them the guy was saying 7250, which it seems is ticket+the extra Gig of RAM.)  In any case, I'm a sap and the price is what it is.  My impression is a really hard bargainer might have gone 6800 or less. 

You can get SL500s with crappy processors and integrated graphics for 5000.  I going for high end crappy. 


Passing on the chair option for myself.  Suggested some for the foreign affairs office.
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

Re: Recommend a laptop
« Reply #33 on: February 28, 2009, 01:09:27 AM »
Well, shit.

Aside from the order taking a long time to make its way to the shop, it turns out SL3/4/500s have a defect of some kind.  Some (most?) of them are whisper quiet, and some of them have cooling fans that run loud, like supposedly uncomfortably loud as compared to other more or less standard laptops.

I have thus far placed a deposit of 100 yuan, so not great loss of moolah, but now I don't know what to do.  Research another device, or shoot craps and hope, if I get a dud, that Lenovo produces a BIOS fix...
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

*

Spaghetti

  • *
  • 823
  • Goo Goo Muck
Re: Recommend a laptop
« Reply #34 on: February 28, 2009, 04:09:24 AM »
Bummer. It's up to you. I'd rather lose 100rmb than 7K on a noisy laptop. BTW, investing in an external laptop fan to set whatever you get, atop of: recommended. It's been a blessing for my ACER. I wish I had one when I owned an HP. It might have lasted a few years longer.


"Most young people were getting jobs in big companies, becoming company men. I wanted to be an individual."
Haruki Murakami

Re: Recommend a laptop
« Reply #35 on: February 28, 2009, 04:37:46 AM »
A small amount of research makes this look like a "thing" for Thinkpads since the T series.  To the point where people wrote fan control programs to get around the noise.

The noise issue is apparently created by the cooling fans having three speed settings, and fixed temperatures at which the different speed settings kick in, and--tada!--the settings apparently being too conservative, meaning higher than necessary fan speeds are invoked.  (That the settings are conservative is a guess by programmers because they don't know, but they can measure their computers, and they seem to have found consistencies...)

More than you ever wanted to know about Thinkpads, and also the reason why Lenovo has been so slow providing a solution for the Sls.  Some SLs apparently are running their fans at high speed constantly.

Got a question, so:

Hey!  Pengyous! 

How LOUD are your laptops?

I'm used to my desktop being loud.  I can and always have expected to hear it humming from across a quiet room.  I can tune it out.  And I feel relief at the end of the day when I turn it off.  What are your laptops like?
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

*

Lotus Eater

  • 7671
  • buk-buk..b'kaaaawww!
Re: Recommend a laptop
« Reply #36 on: February 28, 2009, 04:40:47 AM »
My Apple Mac is silent.  But ... you all know the response to that!!  ahahahahah ahahahahah ahahahahah

*

Spaghetti

  • *
  • 823
  • Goo Goo Muck
Re: Recommend a laptop
« Reply #37 on: February 28, 2009, 04:52:44 AM »
My Apple Mac is silent.  But ... you all know the response to that!!  ahahahahah ahahahahah ahahahahah


?


My ACER is silent. I have to put my ear on it to hear the fans. The external cooling pad is audible, but not obtrusive.
"Most young people were getting jobs in big companies, becoming company men. I wanted to be an individual."
Haruki Murakami

Re: Recommend a laptop
« Reply #38 on: February 28, 2009, 05:33:52 AM »
Laptops are meant to be silent?  That I didn't know.

Man, this bugs me.  I really hate making expensive mistakes.

When I first came to China I figured it'd be a good idea to bring a computer with me, so I bought a second-hand Toshiba Tecra.  Aside from being redundant (except for the first few weeks I was here) that sucker was LOUD!  It was a relief to turn it off.
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

Re: Recommend a laptop
« Reply #39 on: March 05, 2009, 03:45:03 AM »
I purchased an SL400.  7100 yuan.  Specs as the above mentioned SL500 except 14" screen.

Thus far, it is silent.  First silent computer I've ever owned.  And this SL400 has a 14-day return and replace warranty, and that included noisy fan problems.  So I await with interest the dawning of day 15. 
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

*

Lenny

  • *
  • 15
Re: Recommend a laptop
« Reply #40 on: March 05, 2009, 04:35:47 PM »
As a computer person and an Electrical Engineer I recommend you to a complete and through Defragmentation of your hard drive. Also you need to clean and compact your registry.

I have found a good defragmentation software and a register cleaner that has helped my computer that has been running for 1 year non-stop.

The Defragmentation software is "Advanced Defrag Program" and has a free trial period, this would be good enough to help you now and it only costs about $35. Simply google for "Avanced Defrag Program".

DO NOT try to insall any of the Adnanced Degrag you find in torrent space. They all have a virus that can harm your computer.

The Amust Register cleaner torrent is good and truly cleans your registry and compacts it for like new opperation.

Using both of these programs helped my computer come back to life and really sped it up.

Good Luck

Lenny Miller
Lenny

*

Lotus Eater

  • 7671
  • buk-buk..b'kaaaawww!
Re: Recommend a laptop
« Reply #41 on: March 05, 2009, 09:03:28 PM »
I downloaded the Advanced defrag trial program - but it isn't running. Definitely says it is there in my programs. Just flips out when I click on it.mmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmm


*

Bugalugs

  • *
  • 1539
  • If we are what we eat, I'm easy, fast, and cheap.
Re: Recommend a laptop
« Reply #42 on: March 05, 2009, 09:12:03 PM »
Did the same for me. I guess i'll stick with my piriform ccleaner and defraggler.
Good girls are made from sugar and spice, I am made from Vodka and ice

Do you have and ID Ten T error??

*

Spaghetti

  • *
  • 823
  • Goo Goo Muck
Re: Recommend a laptop
« Reply #43 on: March 05, 2009, 09:19:03 PM »
I'm partial to freeware like JK Defrag.

http://www.kessels.com/Jkdefrag/

Real, working, developed free ware.

There are a great number of programs that you can download for free, and legally, that do as much, if not more than the ones you either have to buy, or seek alternate methods to obtain. If the freeware works well, then I make a donation I can afford.
"Most young people were getting jobs in big companies, becoming company men. I wanted to be an individual."
Haruki Murakami

*

Lenny

  • *
  • 15
Re: Recommend a laptop
« Reply #44 on: March 05, 2009, 11:54:39 PM »
In Windows Vista (I have Vista and it works fine for me)and maybe in XP you have to run the program in administrative mode. The instructions say to right click on the Icon and select Run in Administrative mode. The Advanced Defrag Program does not clean your Register it defraggments your hard drive much better than the defraggmentation program in windows. Then it will run in the background continually analyzing and defragging your hard drive. It will also give you a detailed report on what it did.

If you downloaded the Trial version from the official web page you can get technical support from the company that wrote the program. Believe me it is worth the trouble to get it to work.

Best Regards,

Lenny
Lenny