Laptop choice : processor family and widescreen TFT

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

I wish to buy a new laptop and would be grateful for advice.

My requirements:
Mainly used for business and video editing (medical ultrasound images).
Used mainly as main machine at work and home - therefore looking for
desktop replacement type. Weight/portability is not a priority.
Processor performance/power is a priority due to image and video editing
Used extensively for business type presentations at scientific meetings.
Battery life not a priority.
Features/performance more important than price.
Never used for games.

I am interested in the Sony/Toshiba Pentium M widescreen models.

My questions are :

Although battery life/portability is not the priority I am interested in
Pentium M family due to sophisticated architecture and performance. I am
concerned about implications on durability and reliability of P4
processors running hot .

However although some of my research indicates that Pentium M Dothan
processors with 2Mb L2 cache are equal or superior to performance of
fast P4 processors - other sources suggest that currently no Pentium M
processor equals performance of 3.2Ghz or above P4 processor in 2D and
video editing tasks. Which processor actually has fastest performancefor
such tasks?

Extremely important due to frequent use for international presentations
is easy compatibility with multiple and unknown pc projectors. My
current Toshiba gives problems simply due to UXGA resolution and nVidia
hardware acceleration! I have heard rumours that widescreen resolution
can result in difficulties with some projectors due to resolution
differences. Although these can be changed in display properties I am
keen to avoid hassle if possible. Does anyone have experience of such
difficulties? I am interested in widescreen format due to perceived
increase in screen real estate for video editing etc.

Grateful for comments/experiences.
--
Matthew Barnard

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

Matthew Barnard <bin@mjbarnard.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:<9IvqWmASqzTBFwQh@mjbarnard.plusnet.co.uk>...

> I wish to buy a new laptop and would be grateful for advice.


<snip>

> Grateful for comments/experiences.

I'd not get a wide-screen if you expect to use projectors a lot. Stick with
an XGA or SXGA display, in non-widescreen format.

Probably the best option for you is the Fujitsu E8010, with 2GB memory, XGA,
ATI Radeon 9700 graphics, Pentium® M Processor 745 (1.80 GHz, 2 MB L2
cache), and 80GB 5400 rpm drive. In the U.S. this would run about $2600.
Fujitsu tends to be expensive since they still design and build most of
their notebooks themselves, in Japan.

The name brand desktop replacement notebooks with desktop processors have
well designed cooling systems, so choosing between Pentium M versus P4
shouldn't be much of an issue as long as you don't care about battery life,
and don't plan to put them on your lap!

Archived from groups: comp.sys.laptops (More info?)

My old VAIO could only drive the same desktop on both the built-in
monitor and external (VGA or NTSC) outputs, that forced you to use the
same resolution if you were going to use those to hook up to a
projector.

My new HP Pavilion zv5000z has a GEForce controller that maintains the
internal and external devices as two separate desktops, each with
their own settings. I haven't yet hooked up anything to the 2nd (I
think my choices are VGA or S-Video) but I assume this feature would
make it easier to accommodate a wide variety of projectors you'd hook
up to, at least you'd know the primary (internal) display would always
use the same settings and you can tweak on the 2nd set without having
to reboot.

My HP was chosen to replace two desktops (Windows and Linux) and my
VAIO (Windows), so I went with the max configuration - AMD 64
processor, 1920x1600 resolution display, wireless, 2GB RAM
(self-installed, see my other post about the challenges of this), etc.
I liked the idea of being able to run the new 64 bit Windows & Linux
OSs as they become viable/available. Once I figured out the RAM
installation thing (frankly HP is insane if they think I'm going to
pay $1400 for 2GB of RAM), I'm pretty happy with the machine. Of all
the AMD 64 laptops I looked at, it had the richest feature set.

Cheers
S. Austin