Stereodude
Not really a
The SU2300 is dual core. :smack:
Netbook for the wife
- Thread starter Adcadet
- Start date
Stereodude
Not really a
Well, they used to be, now it's basically a marketing brand. The SU2300 is a real C2D with some L2 cache disabled.I thought Celereon was generally crap, and not so good for DPP or PS.
Stereodude
Not really a
That's because it doesn't have it. You can get a tiny bluetooth dongle if you really need it.
Stereodude
Not really a
What card slot are you referring to? It has a card reader in it (for SD, MMC, xD, & Memory Stick / Pro).
The HD isn't too hard to swap out if you're careful.
The HD isn't too hard to swap out if you're careful.
Fushigi
Storage Is My Life
I wouldn't buy any new laptop without at least a BD-ROM drive. E-SATA doesn't count as I wouldn't want to haul an external drive on trips. BD capability is not so much for today but for 2-3 years from now when BD has taken over as the dominant media format. (I could be wrong and digital downloads will be dominant but I doubt it .. far too many people still lack true broadband.)
Personally, I think a 13 inch screen will be my minimum. The Sony Vaio Z, Y, and SR lines are what I'm looking at along with the HP Envy. But for what I want the machines are still too expensive (around $2K configured) so I'm just waiting. Similar Lenovos cost even more.
Personally, I think a 13 inch screen will be my minimum. The Sony Vaio Z, Y, and SR lines are what I'm looking at along with the HP Envy. But for what I want the machines are still too expensive (around $2K configured) so I'm just waiting. Similar Lenovos cost even more.
I'd actually prefer a notebook with no optical drive at all. I only need one to install software, mainly when the notebook is new. That could be done with a USB optical drive. I doubt that apps will need to be installed from a BD for several years. I could also use an external for that as well.
Like Merc, Sony has been nothing but trouble for me.
Like Merc, Sony has been nothing but trouble for me.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
I keep an application repository so I don't need or care about discs for longer than the first time I touch them, and most of the software I deal with reaches my hands as .ISOs in the first place.
If I have a need for entertainment viewing, I can make use of the gigabytes of unused space on my notebook's hard drive by filling it with .mp4s or .mkvs.
I don't think an optical drive is necessary at all in a notebook of any sort. It's just another thing to waste space and power, as are third-party GPUs. I don't see a need for a display larger than 14" in a machine I want to actually be portable.
At the end of the day I want a machine that's tough as hell, light enough to actually carry around, with a fast CPU and enough juice to run for a full work day. I'll pay whatever it costs to get that.
I know your priorities are different Fushigi, but boy oh boy does it look to me like you're barking up the consumer-land garbage tree.
If I have a need for entertainment viewing, I can make use of the gigabytes of unused space on my notebook's hard drive by filling it with .mp4s or .mkvs.
I don't think an optical drive is necessary at all in a notebook of any sort. It's just another thing to waste space and power, as are third-party GPUs. I don't see a need for a display larger than 14" in a machine I want to actually be portable.
At the end of the day I want a machine that's tough as hell, light enough to actually carry around, with a fast CPU and enough juice to run for a full work day. I'll pay whatever it costs to get that.
I know your priorities are different Fushigi, but boy oh boy does it look to me like you're barking up the consumer-land garbage tree.
Fushigi
Storage Is My Life
I'm not looking for software on BD. When I travel I like to grab 4-6 movies to have available in the hotel room. We currently buy a mix of DVD & BD but that will move towards BD almost exclusively over the coming months. So a laptop for me should have a BD drive in it or, possibly, no optical at all. For my personal usage an optical that doesn't read BD is a waste of space & weight.
My wife's Vaio shipped with no crapware other than a McAfee internet suite trial and it uninstalled fine. It upgraded from Vista to 7 with no problems and has been perfectly reliable so far. Sony offers BD drives in more models than just about anyone else so they remain under consideration.
I have no brand preferences but if the optical can't be fit with a BD, that unit is out.
If it weighs over 4-4.5 pounds, it's out.
If it uses an Atom or SU CPU or any single-core CPU or is sub-2GHz it's out.
If the screen doesn't have at least 800 rows it's out.
Must hold at least 4GB; can ship with less as long as it can be upgraded.
I don't much care about the HD; I figure it will be replaced with an SSD within the first year.
Ideally it will have extended battery options; I'll take extra weight if it means longer run time.
Ideally it will have switchable nVidia or ATI graphics, but this is optional as long as what's provided can handle BluRay movies. I'm not a gamer.
If it doesn't come with Win7 Professional then an upgrade to Pro has to be included in the price. RDP ability is a requirement.
Finally, price would ideally be under $1400. I can afford practically anything that can be configured but cannot see (or justify to the wife) paying much over $1400.
My wife's Vaio shipped with no crapware other than a McAfee internet suite trial and it uninstalled fine. It upgraded from Vista to 7 with no problems and has been perfectly reliable so far. Sony offers BD drives in more models than just about anyone else so they remain under consideration.
I have no brand preferences but if the optical can't be fit with a BD, that unit is out.
If it weighs over 4-4.5 pounds, it's out.
If it uses an Atom or SU CPU or any single-core CPU or is sub-2GHz it's out.
If the screen doesn't have at least 800 rows it's out.
Must hold at least 4GB; can ship with less as long as it can be upgraded.
I don't much care about the HD; I figure it will be replaced with an SSD within the first year.
Ideally it will have extended battery options; I'll take extra weight if it means longer run time.
Ideally it will have switchable nVidia or ATI graphics, but this is optional as long as what's provided can handle BluRay movies. I'm not a gamer.
If it doesn't come with Win7 Professional then an upgrade to Pro has to be included in the price. RDP ability is a requirement.
Finally, price would ideally be under $1400. I can afford practically anything that can be configured but cannot see (or justify to the wife) paying much over $1400.
Fushigi
Storage Is My Life
More like the "Executive" thin & light category. To me the garbage category is all of these notebooks with number pads and 16+ inch lo-res screens & super glossy chassis designs. I just about puke when I see those things.
My personal laptop requirements are a bit different from my work laptop requirements. For work, weight is not an issue. Sturdiness is more of a factor. Ability to still be useful after 3 years is necessary. Battery life is fairly low on the list. Etc.
So many different notebooks for very different needs. I would rarely have time to watch anything when on vacation. There is rarely enough time to get a decent night's sleep. If it is close to the summer solstice, just forget it! An easily removable HD for field replacement would be really nice.
If it is close to the summer solstice, just forget it! An easily removable HD for field replacement would be really nice.
ddrueding
Fixture
I have a fast enough netbook for use while travelling (flights, trains, whatever). Next up is a portable workstation for use when I get there. Weight and battery don't matter since I'll be checking it, a mondo screen would be nice. I'm even considering a SFF workstation and LCD monitor.
time
Storage? I am Storage!
I don't believe BD will ever take over as the dominant media format. In fact, I suspect that optical drives will be considered antique oddities in as little as 5 years.
For small to medium stuff, the overwhelming trend is to downloads. For bigger stuff, flash makes optical discs look ridiculous. Look at cars - what's the point in a multi-CD changer these days?
I'm thinking that internal optical drives already don't make sense in an office situation. You only need a couple of external drives to support a flotilla of PCs.
The pros often do that. I don't have a crew to help me haul stuff around and I'm usually only in one location for 1-3 days.
Maybe playing CDs?
They still make and sell them. Everyone does not like the crappy-sounding mp3 downloads, nor want to spend effort on that.Probably true, but the cost difference is small. Most office notebooks include an optical drive as standard.
ddrueding
Fixture
The Audi has a 6-disc CD changer, in addition to Sirius/XM, AM/FM, and just about everything else. The only thing that gets used is the pair of SD slots for MP3. A single SD card holds way more songs than the entire changer, has no commercials, changes artists instantly (changers are slow), can be customized at any time, and are a smaller form factor. Also, no car stereo is good enough to show the differences between 192ABR MP3 and WAV.
I had a notebook with the swappable bay. Unfortunately the smaller ones don't usually have that feature now. I'd much prefer a second hard drive to an optical drive or second battery. I'd even be willing to remove a permanent optical drive if I could get a second HD in there. In my current notebook that is not practical because the optical is still PATA.
Fushigi
Storage Is My Life
I know too many people that cannot get broadband due to cost or a simple lack of availability to think that downloads have a chance at replacing physical media. The future may simply be too fractured, with DVD, BD, and downloads each fighting for market share.
Regardless, my personal purchase habits are moving from DVD to BD. Due to DRM concerns I see no reason to join the download frenzy. Don't think the content providers aren't going to build in hooks like Amazon has in Kindle, allowing them to revoke your rights to a program at their whim (or when they become unprofitable and turn off their servers). Not to mention with downloads I not only have the cost of the download but I have to pay for storage media to hold it and, potentially, for bandwidth for the download itself.
Re: Car audio. Mine does AM/FM/Satellite/USB/BlueTooth/CD/DVD/and internal HD. So far the most-used playback has been from the HD; we've ripped about 85 CDs to it so far.
Regardless, my personal purchase habits are moving from DVD to BD. Due to DRM concerns I see no reason to join the download frenzy. Don't think the content providers aren't going to build in hooks like Amazon has in Kindle, allowing them to revoke your rights to a program at their whim (or when they become unprofitable and turn off their servers). Not to mention with downloads I not only have the cost of the download but I have to pay for storage media to hold it and, potentially, for bandwidth for the download itself.
Re: Car audio. Mine does AM/FM/Satellite/USB/BlueTooth/CD/DVD/and internal HD. So far the most-used playback has been from the HD; we've ripped about 85 CDs to it so far.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
To me, anything that gets consumer rather than business class support (and to the best of my knowledge Sony does not have a business support division for computer products) is consumer garbage. The HP Envy branding is (or at least was) used for gaming products, which is its own special ridiculous ghetto of overpriced and undersupported hardware.
We have similar ideas as to what's valuable in a notebook, but it's interesting to me that you see something very different in terms of what's actually acceptable.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
Acer does not fit. Ever.
Toshiba has business products and business support, but their business products are still too crappy to merit consideration.
I know a couple people who SWEAR mainstream Asus notebooks are good products, but I've only seen a couple non-Eee examples and they didn't seem that different from things I'd expect to find at Best Buy.
Macbook Pros might be good, but every one I've ever held in my hands felt like it was going burn any body part unfortunate enough to be in direct contact with its bottom, and that points to a long-term design problem that I wouldn't want to deal with, especially in a product I expect to use in excess of its warranty length.
Fujitsu and Panasonic both have business class offerings, but I have almost no experience with either brand.
HP is still a maybe to me, too. Every time I've ever thought to consider an HP business notebook, it's turned out significantly more expensive than a comparable Dell or Lenovo.
That pretty much leaves Lenovo and Dell. Dell Latitudes are usually fairly undifferentiated mid-size bricks that lack some of the hardware features I'm used to in Lenovo but any time I'm getting ready to purchase I do at least look at Dell's offerings.
Fushigi
Storage Is My Life
The Vaio Z series start at $1800. The base warrant includes on-site & toll-free support and they offer an international plan. The chassis has carbon fiber. You can order the clean start version for a crapware-free machine. The screen is 1600x900 and is scratch resistant. It has the TPM chip.
None of that is consumer-grade crap.
None of that is consumer-grade crap.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
Features that make things pretty don't make their products not consumer grade crap, and I probably don't need to remind you of my experiences with Sony's hardware support organization.
Fushigi
Storage Is My Life
None of what I described was "pretty" with the possible exception of the screen.
BTW they rate the extended battery at up to 11 hours, so 7-8 is probably actually doable on it.
I understand your dislike for the brand based on past experience. I would hesitate on such a large purchase myself given that history. But I don't see anything about the Z series that marks it as oriented towards consumers. And even if it is a consumer machine, well, that's what I am. This is for me personally and not for me to use for anything work-related.
Anyway, it's just an example of what fits my personal desire in a laptop. What would you propose as a comparable model from Lenovo?
BTW they rate the extended battery at up to 11 hours, so 7-8 is probably actually doable on it.
I understand your dislike for the brand based on past experience. I would hesitate on such a large purchase myself given that history. But I don't see anything about the Z series that marks it as oriented towards consumers. And even if it is a consumer machine, well, that's what I am. This is for me personally and not for me to use for anything work-related.
Anyway, it's just an example of what fits my personal desire in a laptop. What would you propose as a comparable model from Lenovo?
ddrueding
Fixture
I was looking at the Dell Latitude Z series earlier today. It isn't powerful enough, though.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
The fact that it's a Sony computer product means that it's oriented toward consumers, since they don't have a business computer unit to begin with. I hope you like 90 minute phone calls with five different East Asian Individuals just find out that they class your BD-ROM as non-user-serviceable and they'll need to borrow your computer for three weeks to replace it.
'Cause that's the kind of crap you're in for.
Probably a Thinkpad X-series of some sort.
That does look like flashy executive crap.
ddrueding
Fixture
It ticks all the boxes (except CPU speed) and has nice warranty service available.
Of course, I still want a Thinkpad 700ds. Configured the way I want is $6k+
Of course, I still want a Thinkpad 700ds. Configured the way I want is $6k+
Fushigi
Storage Is My Life
To correct your error, here's a link to Sony's business unit.
The X200 is a little too small and the X301 uses the SU CPUs. But trying out the 301 anyway, with a depot-only warranty, no optical drive (and no BD option at all), a slower CPU, worse GPU (the Vaio is switchable between integrated & nVidia), and lower resolution panel it's already more than $300 more expensive than the Vaio. It does come standard with an SSD by default but 64GB is simply too small, expecially if one were to forgo the optical drive. As a personal machine it would have to be discounted heavily before it would compare.
The X200 is a little too small and the X301 uses the SU CPUs. But trying out the 301 anyway, with a depot-only warranty, no optical drive (and no BD option at all), a slower CPU, worse GPU (the Vaio is switchable between integrated & nVidia), and lower resolution panel it's already more than $300 more expensive than the Vaio. It does come standard with an SSD by default but 64GB is simply too small, expecially if one were to forgo the optical drive. As a personal machine it would have to be discounted heavily before it would compare.
Mercutio
Fatwah on Western Digital
They're still selling the same products that they sell to consumers. I'll bet they have the same support organization as well.
time
Storage? I am Storage!
I also had a lot of trouble with the Sony website, particularly in finding out basic things like warranty terms and how to get service. The extended warranty turned out to be outsourced and not manufacturer-backed, and the information brochure actually referred to TVs.
I couldn't confirm the true extent of international warranty coverage. The only link is to register your product, and it demands Vista and IE7 ...
While comparing the warranty terms, I noticed some unique features when compared to the Lenovo equivalent:
This Limited Warranty only covers product issues caused by defects in material or workmanship during ordinary consumer use; it does not cover product issues caused by any other reason, including but not limited to product issues due to commercial use, acts of God, misuse, limitations of technology, or modification of or to any part of the SONY product. This limited warranty does not cover SONY products sold AS IS or WITH ALL FAULTS or consumables (such as fuses or batteries). This Limited Warranty is invalid if the factory-applied serial number has been altered or removed from the product. This Limited Warranty is valid only in the country of purchase, either the United States of America or Canada.
I couldn't confirm the true extent of international warranty coverage. The only link is to register your product, and it demands Vista and IE7 ...
While comparing the warranty terms, I noticed some unique features when compared to the Lenovo equivalent:
This Limited Warranty only covers product issues caused by defects in material or workmanship during ordinary consumer use; it does not cover product issues caused by any other reason, including but not limited to product issues due to commercial use, acts of God, misuse, limitations of technology, or modification of or to any part of the SONY product. This limited warranty does not cover SONY products sold AS IS or WITH ALL FAULTS or consumables (such as fuses or batteries). This Limited Warranty is invalid if the factory-applied serial number has been altered or removed from the product. This Limited Warranty is valid only in the country of purchase, either the United States of America or Canada.
Why? I thought you worked mainly at a corporate office.