Ras buys a laptop

Rasbelin · February 18, 2003, 16:20

I have finally decided to enter the mobile age by changing my secondary PC to a laptop. Why? It's smaller, less noise and can be carried around easily. This is something I have been planning for quite a while now, but I finally decided to go ahead as I saw the ad by Dell in a Finnish PC magazine, in which they had a special offer that Dell Inspiron 8200 laptops will get free 15" UXGA display and DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive upgrades. This of course sounded great, especially as I had already planned to get a Dell Inspiron 8200 as they were recently the only one to offer laptops with ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 GPUs. However about 2 weeks ago I noticed that Fujitsu-Siemens had also come out with a new laptop that is powered with the same GPU (sidenote: so far only Dell and Fujitsu-Siemens have published products with the new ATI Mobility Radeon 9000). When I was customising the system with Dell's online shopping tool, I noticed that the order would mean that I have to pay customs and it would take time before I would get the system (not that I'm in a hurry). Also reading the TOS made me even more sceptic as it was confusing, so I decided to go back to Verkkokauppa.com and check out the Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo D8820 as I was almost sure that I could get a quite similar system from Fujitsu-Siemens too. By buying an additional 256 MB DDR memory chip and Win XP Pro OEM Eng, I did get similar system like the customised Dell Inspiron 8200. The only difference is the display as I now get a 15" SXGA+ display, rather than that 15" UXGA display. The other con is that I only get a 30 GB HDD, so I decided to get a 120 Gb external FireWire HDD by Iomega that I can use for storing files at home. So the price is cheaper without the external HDD, but I'm pleased with the system as the outlook is IMHO better than Dell's dark gray and black mixture.

Oh, and for people like Asher and Urban, here are the specs...

Intel Pentium IV 2,53 GHz
15" SXGA+ TFT
256 MB DDR RAM
30 GB HDD
24/24/16/8x CD-RW/DVD combo drive
ATI Moblility Radeon 9000 64MB DDR
MS Windows XP Home Edition Fin
MS WorkSuite 2002
Norman Virus Control
Norman Personal Firewall

2070 € (inc. VAT)

But those are the specs without my modifications which mean that the RAM will be 512 Mb and I replace the Finnish Win XP Home Edition with a fresh Win XP Pro Eng installation (Linux will come later, maybe). Also the two external gadgets are the HDD by Iomega and Creative Extigy.

As my order shipped today, I can expect it tomorrow morning between 7-9 AM (Finnish time) as the postal service gets it here.

I'll post some comments about it and maybe even try to get some benchmarks (3DMark 2003 and SiSoft Sandra). However I can't get any pictures as my switchover to a digital camera is delayed as the Olympus I ordered is no longer available.

It did get abit tight on my budget, but as I'm getting rid of some stuff and sell my secondary system, it's not a problem.

So now I just hope it was a good buy and that it's good for desktop and travel use.

Asher · February 18, 2003, 16:21

Porn in bed.

Asher · February 18, 2003, 16:22

Quote:

Norman Virus Control
Norman Personal Firewall

As a side note, I hate 3DMark2003. I went from 11K in 2001 to 1800 in 2003.

Rasbelin · February 18, 2003, 16:22

Heh, well, that's possible too, but I was thinking of watching movies outdoors in the summer.

BTW, here's the link I forgot.

http://www.fujitsu-siemens.com/rl/pr...lo/amiloD.html

Rasbelin · February 18, 2003, 16:24

Quote:

Originally posted by Asher

I know.

That's why I install Symantec's Norton SystemWorks 2003 Pro and sell all the original software to some poor computer newbie.

Urban Ranger · February 18, 2003, 23:16

Silly man. Mobile P4 eats energy like mad. Should have gotten a P3/Duron/Celeron instead.

Asher · February 18, 2003, 23:22

What on Earth gives you the idea that a Duron is good on power?

The new Celerons aren't good on power either.

If you want battery life on a PC laptop, get a Pentium III, a Pentium M (coming soon), or a Pentium III-based Celeron.

Pentium 4s, Pentium 4-based Celerons, Pentium 4Ms, Athlons, and Durons all make for horrible laptop CPUs if you care for battery life.

Urban Ranger · February 18, 2003, 23:32

Sandpile.

Nubclear · February 18, 2003, 23:33

EVIL RASBELIN!!!!!

Rasbelin · February 19, 2003, 01:22

There's not that many choices for the CPU if you want a quite speedy laptop. I've only seen laptops with mobile P4 CPUs that would also have the ATI Mobile Radeon 9000 GPU. Of course I could have settled for a Compaq with a mobile AMD Athlon XP, but then I would have had an ATI Mobile Radeon 7500 GPU. Nowadays all laptops consume plenty of power anyway, so I was more looking at the technical specs and the features.

It should arrive any minute now.

Jon Shafer · February 19, 2003, 01:24

Quote:

Originally posted by Tassadar5000
EVIL RASBELIN!!!!!

EVIL PORN!!!!

Nubclear · February 19, 2003, 01:41

Quote:

Originally posted by Trip

EVIL PORN!!!!

I couldn't have said it better myself.

Jon Shafer · February 19, 2003, 01:47

Quote:

Originally posted by Tassadar5000
I couldn't have said it better myself.

I'm sure you of all people could, Tass.

Nubclear · February 19, 2003, 01:48

Quote:

Originally posted by Trip

I'm sure you of all people could, Tass.

Ugh Tripgot. Its a CLICHE.

Evil Tripgot!

monolith94 · February 19, 2003, 01:49

The world's FIRST 17" laptop.

Nubclear · February 19, 2003, 01:53

Quote:

Originally posted by monolith94
The world's FIRST 17" laptop.

Too bad its a mac

Asher · February 19, 2003, 01:56

17" laptop? Jobs has lost his ****ing mind.

No news here...

The LCD display eats up about twice as much battery power as the CPU and GPU combined, by the way.

Go Apple!

monolith94 · February 19, 2003, 01:58

bigots....

true artistry goes unappreciated on these boards...

Asher · February 19, 2003, 02:00

Quote:

Originally posted by monolith94
bigots....

true artistry goes unappreciated on these boards...

True artistry? The thing is as utilitarian and unartistic as you can get!

It's a silver *BOX*!

Are you so brainwashed by Apple to think everything they **** out is art?

monolith94 · February 19, 2003, 02:07

"The LCD display eats up about twice as much battery power as the CPU and GPU combined, by the way."
Ah, but who cares as long as it still has a good battery length? Apple has always had very long-lasting laptops, and I haven't heard that the 17" is dramatically shorter.
Plus, you obviously have no concept of 'modern' design. Utilitarian can be artistic. It is stylish in it's simplicity. it has smooth, subtle lines, which lead to an overall elegant looking machine.
I have two roomates, one of whom has a dell, the other has a powerbook. The dell is one ugly mofo in comparison, let me tell you!

Asher · February 19, 2003, 02:11

Quote:

Plus, you obviously have no concept of 'modern' design. Utilitarian can be artistic. It is stylish in it's simplicity.

Let me have a shot!

monolith94 · February 19, 2003, 02:39

no - that's reminiscent of a toddler playing with ms paint. You used ms paint, didn't you!!!

Rasbelin · February 19, 2003, 02:40

While you people start a new war about Mac, my chunky box just arrived a few minutes ago. Yay! 15,2 kg, but the box is still very large.

Now I just have to get it opened.

As for that Mac, I agree that the 17" display is quite crazy. How on Earth is the battery supposed to be used when travelling? Or do they expect that you have an extra battery with you?

/me goes off to open the box and start fiddling with the new toy.

Asher · February 19, 2003, 02:41

Quote:

Originally posted by monolith94
no - that's reminiscent of a toddler playing with ms paint. You used ms paint, didn't you!!!

You obviously don't get the ultra-pseudo-manifesto style reminiscent of the early 1930s that I was going for.

Typical bigotted Mac users, don't know anything about art.

Plus, you obviously have no concept of 'modern' design. Utilitarian can be artistic. It is stylish in it's simplicity.

monolith94 · February 19, 2003, 02:47

The only thing promising about your little artwork there was the pixelazation of the exclamation point. And actually, I do know much about art. Enough to know that you are talking through your ass.
Quick quiz hot shot - name just TWO people, ONLY two who helped to found the dada movement?

Or maybe an easier one - what painter became prodigiously successful for his watercolors which most often depicted themes of man with nature, such as a sailor in a storm, on in a dory?

Who's Bosch? Zylka knows.

monolith94 · February 19, 2003, 02:49

The apple website says that there 17" has 4.5 hours of life on it.

Asher · February 19, 2003, 02:50

Quote:

Originally posted by monolith94
The only thing promising about your little artwork there was the pixelazation of the exclamation point.

That's not an exclamation point! It is a cross with a bowl of cabbage below it! You fool!

Quote:

And actually, I do know much about art. Enough to know that you are talking through your ass.

Talking through the ass is art, as well.

Quote:

Quick quiz hot shot - name just TWO people, ONLY two who helped to found the dada movement?

Don't patronize me.
The dada movement was clearly started by the yaya sisterhood.

Quote:

Or maybe an easier one - what painter became prodigiously successful for his watercolors which most often depicted themes of man with nature, such as a sailor in a storm, on in a dory?

Me, in kindergarten.

Quote:

Who's Bosch? Zylka knows.

Swedish chef.

Rasbelin · February 19, 2003, 02:50

Hmm... looks like all the ordered stuff was included.

However the Extigy and Iomega boxes were larger than I expected.

monolith94 · February 19, 2003, 03:05

"Me, in kindergarten."
So this was what... three years ago or so?

Asher · February 19, 2003, 03:07

You give me too much credit.

I do find it funny in your attempt to assert your superiority you overlooked the glaring signs that I was f*cking with you from the start, though.