Re: Thinking About Laptop Computers (yet) Again


"Mike Rivers" <mrivers@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1150113142.822369.28150@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
It seems that I get this urge (prompted in part by some strange
behavior of my laptop, which, just as strangely, seems to fix itself in
a week or so) to buy a new laptop computer. And every time I look
around to see what's out there, the game is very different.

I'm beginning to think that I really should buy two laptops. I travel
often enough for real-life business that I'm getting tired of lugging a
20 pound bag of computer and associated *** around in airports. I
don't do audio other than perhaps listening to streaming radio programs
on-line in hotel rooms when radio reception sucks. For this purpose,
I'd like something compact and light. Just the other day I tried using
someone else's little Sony Vaio and, much as I liked the small size and
light weight, I couldn't type on the undersized keyboard and had to
plug in an external keyboard. So it can't be that small. And of course
the smaller and lighter they get, the more expensive they get. But I
could get something functional, weighing in at about 5 pounds, for
$500. But for $500 (at least one that otherwise looks pretty nice) I
don't get a Firewire port (kind of strange but WTF??), no parallel port
(that's all too common now)

That's available as a USB dongle.

and a 4200 RPM disk drive (must be using
NOS drives!) - so I can pretty much forget using this one for remote
recording.
Wrong!

I use a Tascam FW-1082 to record 8/48 onto a Compal CL-50 1.3gHz Centrino
with a 4200 80 gb drive. There are no glitches. I also capture DV onto this
drive through the firewire port, no glitches. The drive has an 8 mb buffer.
This helps. One advantage of a 4200 rpm drive is complete silence. You can
sit in a room with omnis and the performers, without a problem. My laptop
fan never turns on when the CPU speed is in dynamic switching mode. The
1440x1050 display uses the 855PM chipset. This means that the CPU doesn't
have to drive the display, as is the case with the 855GM and 955GM chipsets.
This laptop has 2 gb of RAM. Total bag weight is 12 lbs, but that includes
an extra wall wart, and a very heavy leather bag. The laptop itself weighs
6.5 lbs.

Instead of a PDA, I have an Asus S5NE subnotebook with a 1 gHz ULV Centrino
CPU. On the large end of this class, it has a full size keyboard, a 12.1",
1024x768 display, and weighs 2.8 lbs in a carbon fiber case with a 3 cell
battery. I chose this model because, unlike any other subnotebook, the
components are standard and cheap. Asus will sell a 90WH battery direct to
the customer for $120, about a third of what the "boutique" subnotebook
makers charge, if available at all. With the large battery, it is the still
the runtime champ, due to the ULV CPU, the battery, and a feature of the
inverter that permits dimming the display more than other LCDs. Fully
dimmed, it runs 12 hours on one battery. The drive is a 1.8", 4200 rpm, 40
gb unit with a 2 mb cache, but it can be swapped out for a 2.5" model if
desired. The 1.8" drive, and the chipset, which is the 855GM which relies on
the CPU to drive the graphics, make it considerably slower (and lighter)
than the Compal first mentioned.

Both of the above machines have FW ports. Even the Asus can capture DV
running Avid Express Pro flawlessly to the drive. I have tested it to 24/96
2 channel audio with the Apogee MiniMe and the Core Sound CF card, into
Sound Forge 8.0.

Even the slowest drive is capable of 60 megabytes/second. One channel at
24/48 is 144kbytes/second. These machines provide astonishing performance
because the chipsets are designed for multimedia. In contrat to earlier
chipsets, none of the built in ports are on the IDE busses. This means that
one can plug in an external USB drive and capture through the firewire onto
that drive via a bus transfer. Bus contention is what kills the performance
of systems, not drive speed.

And as a current buyer, your machines will be faster than the above, using
the current 955 chipsets dual channel DDR2, and faster CPUs. Times are good.

You have stated that you wish to buy at a brick-and-mortar store. You give
up a lot to do so. The most common difference is in the display. The
"average" store buyer is not as "with it" as the average web buyer. The
store offerings take advantage of that. They toute the speed of the
processor, with cheap, marginal, 1024x768 displays, or 1280x720, with the GM
chipset. Three years into owning a 1.3 gHz Centrino, the speed has never
been a problem. But I continue to enjoy the glorious display of the Compal:
an ultra fine pitch 1440x1050 without a single dead pixel, driven by a
Radeon 9000 GPU. Such things are very expensive in stores.

About brands:
1. Dell -- choose only if you must have your hand held, because otherwise,
their support is unpleasant, and the parts, even the wall-warts, are
captive. We had a wart blow, and couldn't run out for another one, because
of the captive connector.
2. HP -- good, not overly expensive, not great bargains either. Parts
readily available, including dissassembly instructions.
3. Sony -- terrible support, history of funky roms and weird problems,
gorgeous displays. Batteries are extremely expensive, about 3X the cost of
Asus or Compal, which is odd, since they make the cells. Stay away.
3. Lenovo -- expensive, displays only fair, tend to be yellowish. Many
elaborate features catering to business, security. Parts fairly expensive.
4. Asus -- For the do-it-yourselfer, it's a pleasure. You can buy a
bare-bones, a genuine XP Pro disk, and load it up yourself. The S5NE display
is similar to the Lenovo, perhaps not suitable for Photoshop, but fine for
general use.
5. Compal -- one of the huge hidden makers in Taiwan, who make for Apple,
Dell, and others. One of the leading makers of LCDs. Also make their own
series of unbranded whitebooks. Because they make displays, Compals are a
showcase of LCD display technology. The display is bright, white, fine
pitch, and flawless. They have a service center if you get in trouble, but
basically, you're on your own. Three years into it, I've had no problems.
The Compal has a feature that gives it infinite runtime -- hotswappable
batteries. Close the lid; the machine goes on standby. While you swap
batteries, an internal bridge battery keeps the ram alive. You have three
minutes. With a stack of 65 WH batteries, I can keep going in the desert for
24 hours.

6. Toshiba, Fujitsu, Panasonic are priced at a premium. With the exception
of the Panasonic Toughbook, there is nothing to recommend these units over
the mainstream, unless you have a fat wallet and a huge concern about
cosmetics.

One of the continuing problems with weight is the associated equipment. As
an example, my Asus S5NE, bare, weighs 2.8 lbs. The AC supply and power cord
weigh 1.25 lbs. The bag weighs another pound. The external DVD drive weighs
0.5 lbs. There are assorted dongles and cables. The total bag weight is
something like 6 lbs, of which over 0.5 lbs is the power cord!





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