 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion GroupsElectronicsBasicsRepairDesignCADComponentsEquipmentElectrical Engineering ElectronicsKB.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Electronics Forum / CAD / June 2007Purchase Advice Needed
I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook. Anyone experienced with this product? Alternates? Thanks! ...Jim Thompson | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave > I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely > ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). > > Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook. > > Anyone experienced with this product? Sorry, I am not. Just used a new Lenovo at a client which is ok but the plastic case appears too flimsy for my taste. > Alternates? I've got the predecessor (D14RA) of this one: http://usa.twinhead.com/PRO/D14RY/ Absolutely love it, so far. But it is certainly not light and it may not have enough horsepower for what you need. Although mine finished every compile run about 30% faster than all the others during a Cypress session. What I really liked was that it came with some non-announced goodies such as an RS232 port.  SignatureRegards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com >I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > >Alternates? A new Vaio! John >>I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >>ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > >John Do they come in a light-weight version? ...Jim Thompson | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave >>>I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >>>ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > ...Jim Thompson Mine is the midweight version, about 4 pounds, but it has a 4+ hour battery life, enough to watch a DVD and get some work done on a plane. I got it a couple years ago for about $1400, but they're cheaper and have bigger screens now. They have a really light version, but it's more expensive. John >>>I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >>>ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > ...Jim Thompson Things are actually getting bigger and heavier as screen sizes get larger. >>I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >>ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > >A new Vaio! f.ck Sony. >>>I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >>>ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] >> > f.ck Sony. I prefer women, to be honest. John >>>>I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >>>>ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > >I prefer women, to be honest. --- Sonya? ;) SignatureJF >>>>>I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >>>>>ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] >--- >Sonya? ;) Note the "bow wave": http://www.japannewbie.com/images/journal/gameshow/sonygirls.jpg I just picked up a cheap Compaq consumer type laptop for a project where I require a "transportable computer". I didn't really shop much for it, just dropped into Best Buy an hour before closing.. a few notes: - HDD is of pretty decent size (160G), but despite a AMD Turion 64 X2 and 1G the machine is noticably slower than my 3 year old desktop machine on most stuff. - Most only come with 1G, which is pretty minimal. Some might have the ram slots filled with low density modules, so you have to buy 2G to get anothe 1G - They all come with Vista only. It's a PITA (a real PITA), but not quite as disasterous as it first seems. - This one came with a 15.4" screen like most of the cheapish ones, and only WXGA resolution, but I don't think my eyes are good enough anymore for the same resolution on a 12" screen. - a bit of a 'trick' .. all the machines on display have no battery but when you get it home you find that the battery adds almost an inch to the height at the back! (it sticks out so it tilts the back up to a pleasant angle). So, it doesn't sit flat in a briefcase. I guess maybe there's more battery life as a result. Best regards, Spehro Pefhany Signature"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com > - They all come with Vista only. Presumably that's why it's slow. Why did you buy a PC with Vista ? Graham >> - They all come with Vista only. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >Graham 1) Because I needed it immediately. 2) Because the choice was between that and OS/X, which would probably have been even more of an issue. I would have rather had XP-pro, for sure. Best regards, Spehro Pefhany Signature"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com >> - They all come with Vista only. > >Presumably that's why it's slow. P.S. I don't actually presume that at all. I think it's slow because the HDD is only 5400 RPM, because the video is a cheap-a.s integrated 'card' (probably 1/10 the speed of a modest desktop $300 card, let alone a high end CAD or gaming video) (and I also suspect that 1G RAM is not optimal). It's still plenty good enough to view EDA and CAD files and do MS office type stuff. You'd have to be a masochist to actually try to do any serious design work on a single 15.4" 1280 x 800 screen. >Why did you buy a PC with Vista ? > >Graham Best regards, Spehro Pefhany Signature"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com >>> - They all come with Vista only. >> [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] > Best regards, > Spehro Pefhany For what it is worth do not expect XP to be all that much faster on the same machine. win98 may not even run. Remember the squeaky wheel gets the grease. SignatureJosephKK Gegen dummheit kampfen die Gotter Selbst, vergebens. --Schiller >Why did you buy a PC with Vista ? > >Graham I wonder. Anyone know why searchfilterhost.exe would be wanting to call out to Microsoft all the time? AFAIUI that's supposed to be indexing all the stuff on my machine, not calling the mother ship... Best regards Spehro Pefhany > >Why did you buy a PC with Vista ? > > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > call out to Microsoft all the time? AFAIUI that's supposed to be > indexing all the stuff on my machine, not calling the mother ship... In another place, discussing Vista, I read it comes with a 'XP downgrade license'. Maybe not with an OEM version but it might be worth checking. Graham >I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > >Alternates? http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=nc6 320&x=0&y=0 HP's nc6320 series is still available at NewEgg with XP Pro. Not as petite as a Vaio but shouldn't make your arm grow longer with carrying it, either. A possible plus is that they include actual "legacy" parallel and serial ports in addition to the newer stuff like WiFi, Bluetooth, USB, Firewire, etc. This may be about the end of that model series; used to be several more on the higher- and lower-end. If you'd prefer an XP machine, you'd better hustle. >I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). > >Specifically I'm looking at the ThinkPad X61s notebook. Whatever you buy, buy something that is being advertised as 'for professional/business use'. Computers come in two grades: el-cheapo consumer grade and professional/business grade. If you want a computer that doesn't crash all the time, pay more and get the professional version. SignatureReply to nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.) Bedrijven en winkels vindt U op www.adresboekje.nl > >I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely > >ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > that doesn't crash all the time, pay more and get the professional > version. Would you care to elaborate on that ? Just which components are different and what differences do they make ? Graham >> >I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >> >ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > >Graham Yes... I too think he is full of sh.t. He could be thinking of one brand, but most makers make one line of gear for any given form factor, mini, notebook, laptop, etc. >> >I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >> >ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >> that doesn't crash all the time, pay more and get the professional >> version. There is definitely a wide variation in the quality (cost / reliability trade-off) between different laptops. I don't know the best way to identify the good ones prior to purchase. > Would you care to elaborate on that ? > > Just which components are different and what differences do they make ? > > Graham Batteries for one thing - Mine has a battery pack that is supposed to have 8 cells in it, but actually it is the "consumer" version that has six real cells and two plastic cylinders that have no electrical function but look approximately like lithium cells. Of course to get the same power out of the battery, the cells get run at higher current and will fail when the series resistance reaches a lower value that wouldn't have stopped the 8-cell version from working. If you will use the laptop for long periods in a place where AC power is available then I strongly recommend getting a laptop which will run off the AC adapter with no battery fitted and which allows the battery to be removed easily (mine requires a screwdriver). If you take out the battery then you can avoid cooking the battery at 50 degrees C (which is the temperature reported by my hard drive if I take the home made fan tray out from under my laptop.) My battery pack is dead now but I don't feel like paying another hundred pounds ($200) for a new pack that won't get used many times and will get killed by the heat in another year or so. I'd rather get / build a 12V to 20V inverter and run the thing off a lead acid battery - much cheaper and won't get cooked. Chris >> >I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >> >ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > >Just which components are different and what differences do they make ? In consumer grade equipment usually the hardware is cheap and crappy. Bad design practise of critical components like the motherboard result in timing errors and thermal problems (crashes / strange behaviour). Also a lot of stuff is handled by the CPU which makes the system slower than it ought to be. Support is lacking and drivers are hardly tested. SignatureReply to nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.) Bedrijven en winkels vindt U op www.adresboekje.nl > >Would you care to elaborate on that ? > > > >Just which components are different and what differences do they make ? > > In consumer grade equipment usually the hardware is cheap and crappy. Tell me who makes these crappy hard drives, memory, display contollers, LCDS, CPUs and heck knows what else for the consumer market ? Where can I buy them ? Why would I want to ? Graham >> >Would you care to elaborate on that ? >> > [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >Tell me who makes these crappy hard drives, memory, display contollers, LCDS, >CPUs and heck knows what else for the consumer market ? Any manufacturor. This is a well known example from the automobile industry: Mitsubishi and Hyundai both produced a van with an identical diesel engine from Mitsibishi. Well, almost identical. The engine for the Hyundai van (H100) was produced faster with less accuracy and cheaper components. The Mitsubishi van (L200) used engines which where produced slower and more accurate with more expensive parts. The end result: the engine for the Hyundai usually didn't last 100kkm (62k miles) while the engine used in the Mitsubishi vans easely lasted 300kkm (187k miles). Even though something comes out of the same factory and looks the same doesn't mean it is the same quality. It is like electronic components rated for commercial and industrial temperature range. The design is the same, the die is the same, the factory is the same, the packaging is the same and still the quality (MTBF) is different. >Where can I buy them ? Any computer shop around the corner. >Why would I want to ? To 'save' money (NOT!). When I was still studying I made quite a lot of money by taking the crappy parts out of people's computer and replacing them with proper hardware in order to get a stable computer system. SignatureReply to nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.) Bedrijven en winkels vindt U op www.adresboekje.nl >>>>Would you care to elaborate on that ? >>>> [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > 300kkm (187k miles). Even though something comes out of the same > factory and looks the same doesn't mean it is the same quality. Yeah, I know all about that. I owned a Summit Eagle wagon, Made for Chrysler in the Mitsubishi plant using a Mitsubishi engine but sold by a GM dealer. That was the agreement the Japs had with them ect.. Mitsubishi also made a wagon of the same exact style, along with the one Chrysler sold them self's that was made in canada using a canadian engine.(Colt Vista) or something like that. The Canadian's engine was garbage and didn't last along with the body rotting out. The Summit Eagle that I had suffered from bad things like cheap interior body parts, cheap seat belt system that had to be replace twice. bearing in the steering post had to be replaced twice due to a plastic race instead of a metal on. etc.... Then the engine decided to start leaking oil (Head gasket), had that replaced at 65k, 15k miles later, one day while starting it, it locks up tight.! broke the starter head off in the fly wheel, they replaced it to find a binding once in a while, I would noticed that periodically. They dropped the cover to find a small fracture crack in the crank shaft in the last bearing going out to the flywheel., after the mechanical looked it all over which was very knowledgeable with Mitsubishi Engines. He told me that the crank shaft looked like it came out of the next size smaller engine that they make, the bearings on the rods were not made of the usual metal etc.... In other words, it was a cheaply made 1.8 Litter Mitsubishi engine. P.S. In the Mitsubishi version of that same wagon, they don't use that same engine. how quaint.. I don't blame the Japanese, I blame the American businesses that got the Japanese to make a cheaper car for them. Signature"I'm never wrong, once i thought i was, but was mistaken" Real Programmers Do things like this. http://webpages.charter.net/jamie_5 > 1.8 Litter Mitsubishi engine Freudian slip? Signature"Electricity is of two kinds, positive and negative. The difference is, I presume, that one comes a little more expensive, but is more durable; the other is a cheaper thing, but the moths get into it." (Stephen Leacock) >>>>>Would you care to elaborate on that ? >>>>> [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > one Chrysler sold them self's that was made in canada using a canadian > engine.(Colt Vista) or something like that. You should have kept the Colt XP. > Tell me who makes these crappy hard drives, memory, display contollers, LCDS, > CPUs and heck knows what else for the consumer market ? dell, lenovo, toshiba ... most brands. > Where can I buy them ? open the paper (or intarweb) see who's advertising the cheapest laptops. > Why would I want to ? the cheapest laptops, not recommended. Bye. Jasen >>> >I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >>> >ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 17 lines] >slower than it ought to be. Support is lacking and drivers are hardly >tested. A year or two ago a signal integrity engineer at a major computer mfgr (sorry forget which one) reported on the SI list that management complained about the high cost of producing servers compared to desktop computers - more design time, more motherboard layers, higher parts count etc. So they put a bunch of their high-end desktop computers in the server test chamber, where they are expected to run server type data transfer tests continuosly for months while the temperature is cycled, with no errors. All of the desktop machines blue-screened within an hour, even before any temp cycle was started. That was the end of the "make the servers cheaper" whining. Consumer grade stuff is of course even worse. >> >I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >> >ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > >Graham The guys I worked with always found the IBM laptops to be more rugged than other brands. These are folks who spend 25%+ of a year on travel to unpleasant places on the globe. --- Mark > >> >I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely > >> >ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > than other brands. These are folks who spend 25%+ of a year on travel > to unpleasant places on the globe. Rugged. Sure. Titanium shells etc. Nico said most laptops are 'crappy'. So, does Hitachi for example have a 'crappy' range of hard drives that are cheaper than their others ? And how does one get a 'crappy' Intel or AMD CPU ? Is someone selling them out the back door ? Graham >> >> >I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >> >> >ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] > >Nico said most laptops are 'crappy'. You've either misread or misunderstood that part. I never stated most laptops are crappy. I stated -based on experience- that the cheap consumer grade laptops are crappy and are not suitable for any serious use. HP, Dell, Sone, Toshiba and other A brands offer both consumer and professional laptops which are clearly identified as such on their websites. SignatureReply to nico@nctdevpuntnl (punt=.) Bedrijven en winkels vindt U op www.adresboekje.nl > So, does Hitachi for example have a 'crappy' range of hard drives that are > cheaper than their others ? many brands do. >And how does one get a 'crappy' Intel or AMD CPU ? buy a cheap one and overclock it. Bye. Jasen >I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > ...Jim Thompson Factory floor, engineering test lab perspective... get a tablet PC with a touch screen input capacity. Business, sales, design engineering... get a wide screen wi fi/ blutooth capable CAD station type laptop. >I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... >my old Vaio is absolutely ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). Make sure you don't get one of these: http://www.techtickerblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/06/delllap.jpg (Sony battery packs.) http://www.google.com/images?q=sony+Laptop+flames+OR+burning+OR+fire+OR+exploded http://www.google.com/search?q=site:slashdot.org+intitle:Laptop+intitle:Explodin g+OR+intitle:Explodes+OR+intitle:Burns+OR+intitle:Recall+OR+intitle:Recalls+-inu rl:rss&num=20&filter=0 There's always http://www.google.com/search?q=site:slashdot.org+inurl:1529201+OR+inurl:1222247+ OR+inurl:1353237+OR+inurl:0142255+OR+inurl:2212213+OR+inurl:021213+OR+inurl:0142 255+OR+inurl:183925+OR+inurl:0824241+OR+inurl:1733220+intitle:Linux+OR+intitle:U buntu+-inurl:rss&num=100&filter=0 ;-) > I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely > ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Alternates? I bought a System76 Gazelle as part of my Big Linux Experiment. I'm loving it so far (but then, I haven't tried running any Windows apps yet). Oh, you probably didn't mean _that_ alternate, did you? SignatureTim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com Do you need to implement control loops in software? "Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" gives you just what it says. See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html >> I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >> ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >Oh, you probably didn't mean _that_ alternate, did you? I've ordered a ThinkPad X61s. ...Jim Thompson | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave >>> I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >>> ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > ...Jim Thompson What operating system? I wanna see how Vista does on simulations. --- Mark >>>> I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >>>> ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 18 lines] >--- >Mark Charlie Edmondson was unsure about PSpice and Vista, so I ordered it with XP Pro. ...Jim Thompson | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave >>>>> I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >>>>> ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > ...Jim Thompson Smart move, IMHO. Nice and portable. I'll be interested to see how you do with the 12" screen. Best regards, Spehro Pefhany Signature"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com >>>>>> I'm pondering purchasing a new laptop... my old Vaio is absolutely >>>>>> ancient, heavy, and slow (800MHz). [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] >Best regards, >Spehro Pefhany When it's home on the KVM that won't be a problem. Traveling I tend to use the client's conference room projector to demonstrate things. With today's airline seat spacing I can't even open my Vaio anymore :-( So we'll see how I can do with a 12" screen. ...Jim Thompson | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | | http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 | America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2009 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.