New IBM ThinkPad Prototypes -- Unfold into desktops? - Page 2

Asher · September 18, 2003, 13:16

Quote:

Originally posted by laurentius
Asher apparently had a little different priorities and bought IBM T40.

I wanted something with a lot of punch, long battery life, and high durability. I'm dragging this thing with me around all day on campus, it needed to be small and light too.

The T40 is less than an inch thick when closed (far less than that when opened), 4.5lbs, titanium casing, shock-absorbed harddrive, 7 hours of battery life per battery, and the 1.5GHz Pentium M performs like a 2.2-2.4 P4, with a fraction of the heat and power cost.

Q Classic · September 18, 2003, 13:28

i like ibm thinkpads because they're pretty much the only ones that still have that red dot mouse-replacement.

i can't stand touchpads.

these prototypes are cool.

laurentius · September 19, 2003, 02:44

-----ASHER WINS THE LONGEST AND MOST DURABLE LAPTOP (****) COMPO------

Yeah, well Ash I don't really get this "Desktop CPU disguised as mobile" thing. I mean what is a truly mobile processor? Intel ultralow volt PIII Ms? Crusoe? P-M? But not PIII M, P4 M and Intel® StrongARM? Whats the difference? Exept for crusoe all their designs are based on a desktop CPU. In most cases only the size and power consumption have been reduced first by speed step and then enhaced speed step. My P4-M has enhanced speed step. Does that, the reduced size and optimised architecture make it a truly mobile processor? Yes. Is P-M more mobile? Probably. Why don't I have one? Because P-M based I8x00 notebooks were not available at the time. Is asher the winner? Is my I8500 supernotebook poorly designed? Hell no, but lets have Asher believe so, if it makes him feel (even) better.

Remember Ash some notebooks have plain P4! Now that what I call disguice and poor design

Asher · September 19, 2003, 02:56

A Pentium 4 M is a Pentium 4 that can downclock itself to a single, predefined lower clockrate in a matter of milliseconds. All parts of the chip are powered at all times.

A Pentium M is a totally new chip that can adjust its clockrate to any number of predefined clockrates in a matter of nanoseconds. All parts of the chip default to "off" unless they're needed, and activated just while they're needed, then turned off again.

Pentium 4Ms are no more than a cheaply hacked desktop chip -- same thing with AMD's mobile parts, and Apple's mobile parts.

That's why Pentium 4-Ms and Athlon XP Mobiles are all powerhungry and hot as hell.

Imran Siddiqui · September 19, 2003, 02:59

Quote:

That's what you get for buying a desktop CPU disguised as a "mobile" device. This is what I was talking about with poorly designed laptops

Poorly designed? I actually consider my desktop replacement a GREAT design. I would have been angry if I couldn't get the 'desktop CPU disguised as a mobile device'.

Asher · September 19, 2003, 03:05

Why would that make you mad? The Pentium M is faster than the majority of P4-Ms, but averages 23W under full load and 6W under idle rather than 23W under idle and 40W under full.

And desktop replacements are cheap laptops that are poorly designed. If they were nicely designed they'd be under an inch thick and wouldn't burn your nuts when you use it on your lap.

laurentius · September 19, 2003, 03:06

Asher you give the "zero-sum game attitude" a whole new meaning.

laurentius · September 19, 2003, 03:08

Any P-M is still slower than my 2.66 Ghz P4-M

and now i will stop this childish game with ash

Imran Siddiqui · September 19, 2003, 03:10

Quote:

Why would that make you mad?

Because I don't have the cash for a desktop and laptop and I need a laptop, so I want one that can play current games.

Quote:

If they were nicely designed they'd be under an inch thick and wouldn't burn your nuts when you use it on your lap.

If they were under an inch thick, they couldn't fit all the stuff I wanted under the hood, and I've never put my laptop on my 'lap', it is too unwieldy to type there.

Asher · September 19, 2003, 03:14

Quote:

Originally posted by laurentius
Any P-M is still slower than my 2.66 Ghz P4-M

and now i will stop this childish game with ash

See the attached graph.

Goodnight

Imran:

Quote:

If they were under an inch thick, they couldn't fit all the stuff I wanted under the hood, and I've never put my laptop on my 'lap', it is too unwieldy to type there.

What stuff did you want under the hood?

You can fit 64MB Radeon 9600s, 1.7GHz Pentium Ms, 2GB RAM, etc. under 1" thick...

Imran Siddiqui · September 19, 2003, 03:16

Quote:

What stuff did you want under the hood?

You can fit 64MB Radeon 9600s, 1.7GHz Pentium Ms, 2GB RAM, etc. under 1" thick...

And keep it under $2000? Sorry, I don't have the money for an overpriced Thinkpad

.

Asher · September 19, 2003, 03:18

Quote:

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
And keep it under $2000? Sorry, I don't have the money for an overpriced Thinkpad

.

So how does this invalidate my statement about cheap laptops?

Imran Siddiqui · September 19, 2003, 03:21

Quote:

So how does this invalidate my statement about cheap laptops?

Cheap? Or better value? I'd put my wager on the later.

Unless you think your IBM Thinkpad is 'cheap' compared to PowerMacs

.

Drake Tungsten · September 19, 2003, 03:57

Quote:

Unless you think your IBM Thinkpad is 'cheap' compared to PowerMacs

.

It is.

Atahualpa · September 19, 2003, 10:43

my penix is bigger!

Atahualpa · September 19, 2003, 10:45

I think that makes for some interesting reading when you reply to this thread and ignore the quote above

Asher · September 19, 2003, 11:55

Quote:

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Cheap? Or better value? I'd put my wager on the later.

I wouldn't consider it a better value, because the profit margins tend to be even higher on desktop replacements than thin & lights, since they tend to use desktop components and cheap materials.

If you want a desktop, buy a desktop.

Now that would be a better value.

Quote:

Unless you think your IBM Thinkpad is 'cheap' compared to PowerMacs

.

Yes, it is.

Zopperoni · September 19, 2003, 12:06

For some reason, the IBM T40 costs € 3,500 over here, which is farking expensive.

laurentius · September 19, 2003, 12:07

I see Ashers masturbation fest continuing...

Lawrence of Arabia · September 19, 2003, 12:13

It's ok laurentius. When you are insecure about yourself or what you have, it tends to manifest itself in unpleasant ways.

laurentius · September 19, 2003, 12:58

Nah, it was just an observation. Seems like I was leaving too early

Oh well, too bad I have movie tickets for tonight

Lawrence of Arabia · September 19, 2003, 14:21

No, I wasnt talking about you.

I was talking about Asher.

Imran Siddiqui · September 19, 2003, 15:12

Quote:

If you want a desktop, buy a desktop.

I want a desktop replacement laptop.. the best value for me

.

-Jrabbit · September 19, 2003, 15:29

As I understand it, the new Pent-M is a chipset configuation spec, not *just* a new chip. But everything Asher said about it being specifically designed for mobile use is true. And the Pent3 is abysmal in laptop form.

I'm supplied with a laptop through my job, which is both good ($$$) and bad (no admin access = no Civ). Currently using an IBM 390E Pent II (which is old, slow, heavy, and not fully functional.

The T40 has just been approved for use here, but since I travel, I've opted for the sexy little IBM X-31, which I should have a week from now (after the IT Dept finds time to load and config my software). I'm pretty excited by the X-31. Very little sacrifice vs. the T40 to get the size so small -- at least according to the spec sheet. Small, light, 5+ hours of battery life, plenty of RAM and hard drive space.

Hagbart · September 19, 2003, 15:29

Apple rules the laptop AND the design scene! No one goes near.
I have a thinkpad x22 tho and I love it, but I wouldn't want any of that crap you posted Asher. A laptop should always be in ONE part.

BTW: Powerbook keyboards are illuminated and all have superdrives.

mrmitchell · September 19, 2003, 16:44

But it's still more expensive than a desktop, right? Show me an equally performing laptop LESS expensive than a desktop, and that'll be a thread. This is just flashy rubbish.

laurentius · September 19, 2003, 16:52

Mrmitchell very likely you wont find one. But I'll build you one when you show me equally portable desktop weighing less than 1.2 kg

laurentius · September 19, 2003, 16:59

T-Jack:
Oh yeah the movie was great. Inner Sences starring Leslie Cheung, whos last movie it remains. Heres a quote from IMDB:
"Since I have the benefit to see this movie after Leslie Cheung committed suicide and all the news that came after it, I can't help but marvel at the irony between movie and real life... The depression, the drugs, love triangle, and the final moment of the movie. "

It's just so immensively ironic knowing what happened to Cheung afterwards. He jumped of the roof of a Hong Kong skyscraper in april fools day 03, the movie Inner Sences is all about jumping of roofs and committing suicides. So sad

Asher · September 20, 2003, 03:12

Quote:

Originally posted by Hagbart
Apple rules the laptop AND the design scene! No one goes near.
I have a thinkpad x22 tho and I love it, but I wouldn't want any of that crap you posted Asher. A laptop should always be in ONE part.

It's obviously not intended for everyone, but if you want it to stay in "ONE part" my advice to you would be to not disconnect the parts so they remain "ONE part". Providing the option of making it more comfortable in a desktop environment doesn't force you at gunpoint to do it.

Quote:

BTW: Powerbook keyboards are illuminated and all have superdrives.

Depends what you mean by superdrive, not all PowerBooks have the DVD-R superdrives.

And as I've said in another thread, the illuminated keyboard on the PowerBooks are atrociously stupid from a functionality design, but nice aesthetically. Unfortunately, the "wow that's neat" aesthetitics wear off rather quick. What you're left with is a lighting system that illuminates all the crap that falls between the keys (look at the 17" powerbooks after a month of use with the illuminated keyboards -- blech!), total battery killer, and it doesn't even illuminate the touchpad.

Asher · September 20, 2003, 03:14

Quote:

Originally posted by -Jrabbit
As I understand it, the new Pent-M is a chipset configuation spec, not *just* a new chip. But everything Asher said about it being specifically designed for mobile use is true. And the Pent3 is abysmal in laptop form.

The Pentium M is the chip itself, "Centrino" is the term applied to Pentium M + Intel Wireless + 855 motherboards.

I opted out of a Centrino solution, since I had a Cisco wireless adapter.

And congrats on the X31, it's basically the T40's ultraportable sibling. The IT departments ought to love them since they can share the same software images.