ferrari (amd) vs HP (intel) !?

[akerman]

Hi... I am looking for a relatively light/thin powerful notebook, with an sxga screen. It will be use for studying, so battery life is pretty important too, as is the noise it makes @ light use.

I am currently weighing these two against each other:

1) New Acer Ferrari : Athlon XP-M 2500+ (2GHz), 60GB 5400 rpm, Radeon 9200 128 MB, DVD burner, 802.11g wireless - slick design.. but alas, no reviews in yet..I don't think I can afford to wait, as it comes in limited supply only.

2) HP/Compaq NX7000: Centrino 1.5 GHz, widescreen, 40GB 4200 rpm, Radeon 9200 64 MB, CD-RW/DVD, 802.11b wireless, a lot of great reviews!

3) Possible IBM T41 - though not available here yet, and I dislike the boring old black design of IBM..the bonuses are long battery life, and the reliability of an IBM!

If the ferrari (looks like it is based on acers 803 series!) had sported a pentium-M, I would have bought it immediately.. but I know nothing of the XP-M, I am concerned about battery life, speed & noise! The HP is a bit more expensive than the ferrari =)

picture:
http://www.achetezfacile.com/images/s/70486.jpg

 

[papasmurf]

If I were you I'd consider dell, their systems are nice and customizable. You can plug a 7200rpm 60gb hdd, centrino up to 1.7ghz, fx5650 or soon a 9600pro into the inspiron 8600 which has a 15in screen at 7-8lbs or you can go with a lighter inspiron 600m with a centrino and ati 9000 (same as the 9200 but without agp 8x which yields NO speed difference at all) weighing in at 5lbs. Both get 4 hours of battery life. Personally I'm looking at the 600m for school, well that's my excuse anyways as soon as dell gets a 9600pro into them (hopefully soon) I'll sign the paper for the student loan

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[akerman]

hmm.. not quite - the radeon 9200 has higher clock frequency, and also the ram are higher clocked.. ! It gets about 1000 extra 3DMarks compared to a comparative 9000 system

And also the dells are big and bulky compared to other centrinos, below average keyboards, and I haven't seen a single review that favoured the 8600 over the nx7000.. quite the contrary

 

[RaPTuRe]

hmm.. not quite: Each manufacturer specifies the speeds at which they would like their notebook graphics to run. It doesn not get 1000 extra 3DMarks (in 3DMark2001SE) from my experience (e.g. Dell Inspiron 8200: P4-m 1.7GHz + 64MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 = 7500 3DMarks <--> Compaq x1000: P-M 1.6GHz + 64MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 = 7000 3DMarks in 3DMark2001SE (default). Same amount of RAM). The difference is negligable at any rate, the '9200' is merely a marketing ploy.

And also the dells are big and bulky compared to other centrinos, below average keyboards

Well, the Dells may have slightly higher dimensions, but they are designed by the same company that designed the x1000 / nx7000. They are (ever so slightly) bigger, heavier, but more powerful and with longer battery life. The keyboard issue was adressed by Dell, and consequently rectified.

...and I haven't seen a single review that favoured the 8600 over the nx7000.. quite the contrary

I suggest you look again. The nx7000 / x1000 is great, in fact I would recommend it to most notebook users, but it lacks the aforementioned power and battery life of the Dell notebooks, as well as the tech support (I know, I know, Dell's isn't great, but at least it is not at the bottom of the list like Compaq/HP's). The x1000 doesn't offer 802.11g (well not last time I checked), or gigabit ethernet - it also lacks a modular bay and high performance HDDs, not to mention the graphics card, and lastly a much higher level of customizability.

RaPTuRe

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?

 

[akerman]

I wholeheartedly agree on the harddrive part.. that is my biggest gripe - if I could get my hands on an average priced nx7000 with 5400 rpm drive, I would be set.

Strange that our experiences are the opposites of each other.. ! The nx7000 I had for for two weeks, got 7593 3DMarks right out of the box (1.5 GHz, 512 ram & 64 mb 9200)... My friend who has a 1.6 GHz centrino, only with a 9000, only got 6500.. I think he just got about 400 extra marks with some new drivers though!

Btw is there any difference at all between a 128 meg 9200 and a 64 meg? Which notebook would you choose?

 

[RaPTuRe]

Yeah, what would be even better would be if Compaq would make available a 7200rpm notebook drive. Then, the nx7000 would give the Dell Offerings (Inspiron 8600 / Latitude D800) even more of a run for their money.

That is strange, did your friend benchmark his system when it was brand new? I know that when I benchmarked my Dell Latitude D800, it scored 11600 3DMarks out the box, but only 10139 a 2 weeks later.

There is no architectural difference between the 9000 and 9200, although I believe the 9200 uses faster memory - this though is pointless, because as I've said, the notebook manufacturers themselves decide on the clock speed.

The only difference between a 128MB and 64MB graphics card, is how well it can handle bigger textures. Typically you won't notice a difference, in some cases though, the extra memory makes the graphics card slower, as the manufacturer uses slower memory in a "quantity over quality" method of marketing. The M9 is an aging card, and it will not receive any performance benefit from having 64MB extra of memory.

I would choose neither the 8600 or the x1000/nx7000, I am quite happy with the Latitude D800. Fulfils all my needs, looks better than an Inspiron, and is just as upgradable.

If I were you, I would seriously consider the Dell 600m notebook: It is thin, light, powerful, and soon to be released with an ATI M10 graphics array.

RaPTuRe

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?

 

[papasmurf]

lmao compaq support is rediculous, if I pay fifteen hundred dollars for a notebook I want to be able to talk to someone who's first language was english! Dell's 8600 and 600m keyboards are some of the best there are, they are fullsized not the shitty cramped ones on most notebooks, like the one I'm typing on now, you appear to be correct about the 9200's faster clock and memory speed, when it was originally launched it was to be only a 9000 with agp8x but they seem to have changed that, it is slightly faster. The 600m will have better graphics by the end of november though and since they are upgradable there is nothing to worry about if you need it now

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[tlucca]

Rapture, the 600m inspiron notebook sounds promising. How do you know it will come out with the ati 9600? Doesnt it use the integrated graphics on the mobo? Id love to be able to choose between this and the 8600 when and if it comes with the 9600. have you heard any news?

thanks,
Tom

 

[RaPTuRe]

Quite correct, the 600m is not capable of being upgraded (in terms of graphics performance), but that does not rule out the possibility of Dell integrating the M10 onto the mainboard, I mean they already give you different choices with regards to graphics memory...

Nothing is confirmed and is mostly speculatory - but I can say with a fair degree of certainty that the 8600 will eventually make use of the M10, but whether or not the 600m will is another question entirely.

RaPTuRe

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?

 

[papasmurf]

the graphics chip/memory on the 600m is replacable you can buy replacement cards from dells spare parts site. If dell comes out with a 9600pro for it (which is highly likely) you can buy a new card to snap in. You can also plug in whatever 2.5in hard drive you want, go to ebay and buy yourself a 7200rpm travelstar and enjoy

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[RaPTuRe]

no its not - well at least, not according to its technical specifications. I don't know where you heard it was... but it's not.

<A HREF="http://docs.us.dell.com/docs/systems/ins600m/sm/index.htm" target="_new">http://docs.us.dell.com/docs/systems/ins600m/sm/index.htm</A>

But you can, as papa pointed out, just shove in a faster HDD - its probably cheaper than going with the ones from Dell.

RaPTuRe

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by RaPTuRe on 10/25/03 08:02 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[papasmurf]

that link does not work btw. I have seen people in dells forum saying that they replaced the 32mb one with the 64mb one, I'm almost certain it is replacable it just makes sense for dell to be able to configure the system easier and less of a waiting period for customers if one system board is particularly in demand.

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[RaPTuRe]

I fixed the link - so you can see for yourself. While agree that it would make sense for Dell to do this, it appears that Dell have chosen to do otherwise. I also keep track of Dells forums, and I have yet to see anyone who's replaced the graphics card on the 600m. - and since when has Dell cared about keeping its customers waiting?! Just as long as Dell gets money in their pocket, they're happy.

RaPTuRe

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?

 

[blah]

hey dude, don't listen this "outperformance" craap, just get an IBM and you'll be very happy. you don't need extra 1000 points in 3D mark if you play no games, for the rest of the computing stuff IBM will do better and will live longer (from my own experience thou, it's not a base for your decision

PS: forgot to mention, even they have "boring" black look, you will appreciate it when you are going to use it, caz it is least destructive while you work and look at the screen.

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