May 29, 2002 11:37 PM
6563 Views
(Updated Apr 09, 2005 10:36 AM)
This evaluation is based on my own individual experience. I moved to US 3 years ago and was gifted an old PC by a very warm cousin. By old I mean OLD! It was a Pentium 90MHz. I had to buy a new keyboard, mouse, sound card, cd-rom drive just to keep it going. The only purpose it served was to check/reply emails. I saved a grand and decided I would buy a new computer. Saw various websites Dell, Sony Style, Gateway. They all had new PCs but the configuration I wanted was never cheap enough for me to buy. Being a graduate student myself I do quite a lot of presentations and have been blessed by easy access to notebooks from the library. Hence was quite versatile and comfortable using a PC and notebook.
Facts about buying a new PC/Notebook:
Price:
An entry level notebook is as expensive as a really good PC. Notebooks start at 1400$ for a 15” TFT. While desktops end around that range.
HDD:
Notebook HDD’s are very thin and light. This makes them VERY expensive. 30GB HDD is good enough to save MP3 downloads.
DVD/CD-RW:
This is one essential thing. It’s a boon to have a DVD drive where u can take our notebook out on the patio and sit and enjoy movies. Also the CD-RW helps keep your HDD from filling up too soon.
Screen Size:
Various notebooks come with various LCD display sizes.(12.1 to 17 inches). According to me 15” is quite big for legibility while browsing and also to watch those DVDs.
RAM:
256 MB comes standard with most. Though additional RAM installation takes 5 mins and a screwdriver. PC133 SoDIMM is what you would need, incase you are trying to upgrade.
Additional Warranty:
Make sure you buy that additional 3 year warranty cause notebook keyboards are known to pop up those buttons. And notebook batteries are known to die soon.
Battery life:
A notebook battery last for no more than 2.5 hrs. If you are a gaming pro consider 1.5 hour to be the best.(tested with riven/myst/exile/doom95)
A good notebook would have all the following for around 1400$ as of may2002.
AMD Athlon 1.2GHz
(Pentium chips are expensive and not necessarily better)
256 MB RAM
30GB HDD
15” active TFT
101 key keyboard
Touch pad
DVD/CD-RW
ATI M1/RAGE 8MB Display
Atleast 2 USB ports
TV-out
Buy a notebook if you are on the move, or need to move documents from office to home and vice versa. Else get a desktop
