Aqua-Soft Forumshey there folks...
I'm in a predicament. My prof's decided on getting me a new laptop and I've been saving some money for one myself. So, got to talk to him, and I can pool in from his budget as well as mine and go in for a kickass machine; hopefully for about USD 2100-2300 range.
I've spent the last couple of days looking at various options, and for the timebeing have settled upon these two - would like a critiquing on the pros and cons of each of the following as well as if you guys have any other laptop suggestions.
1. HP dv9500t
- Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 800 MHz FSB)
- 17.0" WXGA + High Def'n Ultra BrightView HP tech. (1440x900) - increases colour gamut by 72 % (what does that mean?)
OR
17.0" WSXGA +High Def'n Ultra BrightView HP tech (1680x1050) (no increase in colour gamut)
- 4GB DDR2 (2x2GB) RAM
- Graphics Card 511 MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS
- built in webcam/mic ..
- Intel PRO/wireless 4965 802.11b/g/n
- HDD 120 GB @ 7200 rpm SATA
- Light Scribe Super Multi 8x DVD +/-RW with Double layer support
- HP Expresscard TV Tuner
- OS Vista Ultimate 64bit
- keyboard - full with num keypad built in
- weight ~ 7.5 lbs
- USB slots - ? (anyone have a clue?)
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Gross - USD 2238.00
2. Sony Vaio FZ190 CTO
- Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 800 MHz FSB)
- screen
- 4GB DDR-SDRAM (2x2GB) (DDR2-667MHz)
- NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT (Arggghhhhh..... why o why don't they print how much dedicated memory it has.. I don't have a clue... can someone please tell me how much it is?)
- integrated webcam/mic
- 802.11 a/b/g/n
- HDD 120 GB @5400/4200 rpm (i'm not sure which) SATA
- SuperMulti DVD +-R Double Layer/ DVD +-RW Drive) - doesn't give any spec on speed
- 15.4" WXGA (HC) W/CMR - (best quality they have)
- No TV Tuner
- OS Vista Ultimate ( I don't know whether 32/64 bit)
- weight < 6lbs
- USB Slots - 3 to the best of my knowledge
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USD 2300
3. MAC Book Pro
- Unfortunately a config similar to the Sony Vaio will cost me 2650+
salient features being
2.2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
4GB RAM
120 GB HDD
15.4" display
NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT 128MB Video RAM
SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
USB Ports - 2
802.11b/g/n airport xtreme
OR
2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB RAM
120 GB HDD
15.4" display
8600M GT 256MB vid RAM
and the rest of the specs same ~ USD 2500
I feel lured by the apple really wanted to try out a Mac especially considering I love the UI on mac's ... and I can also install vista/xp through bootcamp due to which I won't be missing out on gaming and a few of my favourite softwares. But comparing it to the HP 17" .. it seems like the HP really blows the macbook pro away ... i mean 4 gigs of RAM ... 512 MB video RAM... and I can get a docking station for UsD 150 bucks that will be kinda cool... that apart.. if I end up decreasing RAM to 2 GB .. and video RAM to 383 MB .... then I can save close to 600-700 bucks on the HP ..! Food for thought people! I need advice!
1. Are there any other laptop configs from manufacturers (preferably no toshiba) that might interest me? (and if so ... have you personally got such a system or atleast got a system from the manufacturer and if so how has your experience been thus far with it) ... personally.... my present laptop is an HP Pavilion zt3300 that I bought about 2.5 yrs back .. and I've had a great experience with it ... hence my proclivity towards HP laptops... (I'ld prefer 15.4" to 17.1" ... but if there's a good model for 17.1" ... i'ld like that) ...
2. While I'm an electronics major, I don't keep myself very well informed on the scene with respect to 32 bit and 64 bit machines. I am guessing the Intel Core 2 Duo machines are 64 bit. However, more interestingly; the OS being shipped with the machines are giving me an option of either installing a 32 bit vista option or 64 bit vista option. What are the pros and cons of each? Are applications like winamp, and games like fifa 07 and battlefield playable with 64 bit versions of vista... (or for that matter32 bit versions of vista) ?
3. What do you make of the Graphics Card comparison. Can anyone shed light on how much Video RAM the Vaio config will have? It's frustratingly conspicuously absent in their site and a few other sites that i visited didn't give any conclusive answer. I would like to use the computer for good gaming and stuff.. while I'm not a game addict, it'ld be nice to have a really kickass gpu to be able to play the upcoming and present games properely.
4. I have an external USB 2.0 HDD ... (seagate freeagent pro)... and it's NTFS formatted and storing a lot of my stuff.... so ... in the event i buy a mac .... can i access the stuff from my external while im running OSX? .... or do i have to boot into windows vista/xp in order to be able to view my stuff?
It'll be great if you provide me with some insights and help my decision! Kindly try to keep objectivity in mind and don't resort to fanboyism points of view... 'cos that really wouldn't help me that much.
thanks! smile.gif
