laptops

[desh]

Researching 12-inch laptops. Which do you think looks best?

Note: I'm not looking for a Mac/PC holy war. I'm looking at value for the money, both in terms of features listed here and in terms of other things you may know about these computers. I'm also looking for key features you think I might have forgotten to include. Stuff like that.

	Apple 12.1" iBook G4	Dell Inspiron 710m	Dell Latitude D410	Dell Latitude X1
Default weight	4.9 lbs.	4.1 lbs	3.8 lbs.	2.9 lbs!
Screen	12.1" conventional	12.1" widescreen	12.1" conventional	12.1" widescreen
Processor	1.33 GHz G4	1.70 GHz PM 735	1.73 GHz PM 740	1.10 GHz ULV PM 733
HD	40 GB	40 GB	40 GB	30 GB
RAM	1 GB	1 GB	1 GB	768 MB
CD	DVD / CDRW	DVD / CDRW	CD-ROM (external!)	CD-ROM (external!)
Keyboard	full size	not quite full size	no idea	looks full size, I think
Bluetooth	yes	no	yes	yes
base cost	$1099	$999	$1179	$1284
cost w/ 3 yr warranty	$1349	$1239	$1179	$1284
cost w/ warranty I'd want	$1349	$1159	$1179	$1284

Comments

Thinkpad X41

[groovin-reuven.livejournal.com]

If you're interested in going a bit higher end, you might look at the Thinkpad X41 and similar. The thinkpads are built much more solidly than Dells, though they cost more. Penn has one for $2071 with the 3 year warrenty; Specs are (from ccx website):

• 3.3 lbs. (1.5kg) with battery installed; 5.1 lbs. (2.3kg) when attached to UltraBase X4 with optical drive installed
  
• Pentium-M 778 processor @ 1.6GHz
  
• 512MB DDR SDRAM PC2-4200 DDR2 SDRAM
  
• 12.1-inch LCD display; XGA resolution (1024x768 pixels)
  
• Intel Integrated Media Accelerator 900
  
• 60GB, 4200rpm hard disk drive with Active Disk Protection
  
• DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive module (in included UltraBase)
  
• Gigabit Ethernet
  
• Built-in 802.11b/g wireless
  
• Bluetooth
  
• Built-in 56K V.92 modem
  
• Includes 8-cell battery and AC power adapter
  
• 2 USB 2.0; infrared; dock/port replicator; external display (VGA); AC adapter; RJ-11; RJ-45; audio: headphone/line-out, external microphone
  
• Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2 (Microsoft Office sold separately.)
  
• Up to 5.7 hours of battery life
  
• Fingerprint reader security system
  
• 3-Year IBM international limited warranty with Next Business Day, On Site Service (one year warranty on included battery)
  

Re: Thinkpad X41

[desh]

Wow, that's crazy. I looked at IBM/Lenovo, but ruled them out right away because of price. I don't think I could bring myself to spend that much money on a computer in this day and age, but it does look nice, doesn't it? (Except for that RAM.)

Re: Thinkpad X41

[tobeginagain.livejournal.com]

My Thinkpad last year made me very happy. My Inspiron right now makes me very happy. Small laptops in general make me very happy. That is all.

Re: Thinkpad X41

[dredpiraterober.livejournal.com]

I would agree with you, but the place I works for orders all lenovo/ibm, and we LOVED thinkpads. We thought they were the greatest things ever. But the lenovo ones we have gotten, have been of lesser quality, and their support kind of blows now (their support used to be "Oh it's broken? Send it to us and we will fix it" now it is "Did you turn it on? Did you shake it over your head?"). Anyway...yea...

I would not go with any of Dell's low-end laptops. They are cheap for a reason. They tend to use cheap parts.

So really, that just leaves the power book. I personally like the iBooks more (I have a beefy desktop, don't need that much power in a laptop) but I would wait for the intel version. Thats all!