new laptop recommendation

[John A Grandy]

Hi.

My Toshiba Satellite A40-S270 is dying on me. Fan never stops running, hard
drive starting to make those strange noises, keyboard keys breaking, etc.
....

I'm a professional .NET software developer. I'd like to have Windows Server
2003 on my laptop, but I don't know of any laptops that ship with WS03, so
sticking with XP Pro is fine.

I'm hoping to find someone on these forums who perhaps buys a lot of
hardware ... maybe professionally ... and knows the latest trends.

The last time I did extensive research (about 2 years ago) Toshiba was still
King Of Laptops.

I'm looking to spend $1500-$2000 ... but I'm not that price sensitive.

It's unfortunate I have to buy right now because Vista will make it
semi-obsolete ... but I have no choice.

One thing that bothered me about my Toshiba was the power adapters kept on
dying (they'd start getting really hot, and then die). However, I have my
laptop on about 16 hours per day, so maybe that's par for the course.

Features that *look* attractive to me ( but feel free talk me out of these
if you think they're problematic or not good $ spent ) :

1. the new 17" high-res wide-screens

2. dual core processor (what's the sweet spot for bang per buck ?)

3. the high-end CD / DVD drives ... I'd like to watch videos in high quality
and listen to music in high quality

4. a higher end graphics chip

** One thing I must have is a graphics chips that supports the Matrox
DualHead2Go device that allows XP Pro or WS03 to split its window onto two
external monitors. **

Also: what is the thinking on 2 GB RAM ? On my desktop at work I'm running
1 GB on XP Pro and that seems fine for multi-tasking amongst many sw dev
apps. But my laptop has 1 GB and it's always seemed slow to me. I've
followed the standard advice on removing unneeded background apps, etc. ...
but not much effect on speed. I'm running about 2.8 GHz single CPU on my
desktop and laptop.

Note: I'm not a gamer.

Thanks for any and all advice ! I know there are some real hardware experts
on this forum !

 

[Leythos]

Hi.

My Toshiba Satellite A40-S270 is dying on me. Fan never stops running, hard
drive starting to make those strange noises, keyboard keys breaking, etc.
...

I'm a professional .NET software developer. I'd like to have Windows Server
2003 on my laptop, but I don't know of any laptops that ship with WS03, so
sticking with XP Pro is fine.

I'm hoping to find someone on these forums who perhaps buys a lot of
hardware ... maybe professionally ... and knows the latest trends.

The last time I did extensive research (about 2 years ago) Toshiba was still
King Of Laptops.

I'm looking to spend $1500-$2000 ... but I'm not that price sensitive.

It's unfortunate I have to buy right now because Vista will make it
semi-obsolete ... but I have no choice.

One thing that bothered me about my Toshiba was the power adapters kept on
dying (they'd start getting really hot, and then die). However, I have my
laptop on about 16 hours per day, so maybe that's par for the course.

Features that *look* attractive to me ( but feel free talk me out of these
if you think they're problematic or not good $ spent ) :

1. the new 17" high-res wide-screens

2. dual core processor (what's the sweet spot for bang per buck ?)

3. the high-end CD / DVD drives ... I'd like to watch videos in high quality
and listen to music in high quality

4. a higher end graphics chip

** One thing I must have is a graphics chips that supports the Matrox
DualHead2Go device that allows XP Pro or WS03 to split its window onto two
external monitors. **

Also: what is the thinking on 2 GB RAM ? On my desktop at work I'm running
1 GB on XP Pro and that seems fine for multi-tasking amongst many sw dev
apps. But my laptop has 1 GB and it's always seemed slow to me. I've
followed the standard advice on removing unneeded background apps, etc. ...
but not much effect on speed. I'm running about 2.8 GHz single CPU on my
desktop and laptop.

I design code, in .net and several other languages, also run SQL,
Oracle, Windows XP and Windows 2003 Server on my Toshiba. I purchase a
P25-S526, it's got a Full P4+HT in it and I have 2GB RAM and a 80GB
drive.

The machine is as fast as any workstation, at least any single CPU
workstation, and is one of my main systems.

Get a system with a Dual Core CPU or a FULL P4+HT, and the wide screen
is very nice too.

One word of advice - get into the Microsoft ISV program so that you can
get a MSDN Universal subscription for yourself (about $400) and you get
5 MSDN Universal licenses, then get the Action Pack subscription for
yourself and you will have 10 licenses for Server, XP, etc... about $290
for the first year.

 

[Bob Willard]

Hi.

My Toshiba Satellite A40-S270 is dying on me. Fan never stops running, hard
drive starting to make those strange noises, keyboard keys breaking, etc.
...

One thing that bothered me about my Toshiba was the power adapters kept on
dying (they'd start getting really hot, and then die). However, I have my
laptop on about 16 hours per day, so maybe that's par for the course.

I don't think that is par for the course. My Satellite 1805-S253 has run
nearly 24x7 since the fall of 2001, running Prime95 as a background task to
keep the FP pipeline (etc.) hot; the fan never shuts down, and neither does
the HD. I've never had a power adapter croak, and based on the experience
with the hundreds of Toshiba Satellites in our school system, the power adapter
is not a common problem.

Battery lifetime is a big problem. Missing keycaps are a problem. Frayed
power cords (DC side) are a problem. Failing 802-11B NICs are a problem.
Flakey CD/DVDs are a problem. But the power adapter is just not a common
source of hardware trouble.

 

[John A Grandy]

Hi Bob, and thanks for the response.

Sounds like in your profession, you get a much more macro view of these
issues than I do.

How do you deal with missing keycaps ? ( It was tough for me to type that
question mark just now.) Can you order these from Toshiba or someone else ?
Or do you actually have to take the laptop in to a service center ? If you
can order them, are they easy to install ?

And , similarly , how do you deal with sticky keys ?

Interesting that it doesn't bother you that your fan is always running. I
guess I became concerned because for the first year of ownership I almost
never heard the fan (it was almost like it wasn't there), and now I hear it
quite frequently -- this most commonly happens when I power down at work,
drive home, and power up : the fan goes absolutely full blast , very loud,
for at least a few minutes, and sometimes with no end until I shut down for
the night.

I think maybe my problems with power adapters is that I'm very mobile. I'm
unplugging and replugging the power adapter a number of times per day into
many different outlets (always with high-quality surge-protectors though).
I try to be very careful with the adapters : where I place the adapter,
careful not to stretch the cords, plug them them delicately into the laptop
.... but nonetheless I've had two types of problems:

1. The plugin to the back of the laptop stops being an effective connection
(at first, some jiggling does the trick, then eventually it's just a total
non-transfer of power).

2. The adapter starts becoming very hot to the touch and eventually it just
stops providing power. (I'm actually thinking I should stop using them as
soon as they start becoming very hot -- there's probably some danger to the
laptop.)

 

[Bob Willard]

Hi Bob, and thanks for the response.

Sounds like in your profession, you get a much more macro view of these
issues than I do.

How do you deal with missing keycaps ? ( It was tough for me to type that
question mark just now.) Can you order these from Toshiba or someone else ?
Or do you actually have to take the laptop in to a service center ? If you
can order them, are they easy to install ?

I don't order the missing keycaps, and I don't know if Toshiba sells single
keycaps or not. Replacing keycaps is kinda tricky; one of the guys in our
system's central tech group can do it, but most folks don't even try.

If a keycap pops off cleanly, it can be put back on; but it is easy for the
plastic hinge mechanism to be partly broken, making that keycap useless. We
have a huge problem with missing keycaps caused by teenage acts of vandalism;
some kids find it cute, and easy, to slip a fingernail under a keycap and
pop it off.

And , similarly , how do you deal with sticky keys ?

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure: wash your hands before
using. {OK, most kids don't. Sigh} I've had some luck just blowing under
the keycap, and using a compressed air gun might help more. But I have no
cure for the spilled Coke syndrome. A replacement keyboard runs ~100$US.

Interesting that it doesn't bother you that your fan is always running. I
guess I became concerned because for the first year of ownership I almost
never heard the fan (it was almost like it wasn't there), and now I hear it
quite frequently -- this most commonly happens when I power down at work,
drive home, and power up : the fan goes absolutely full blast , very loud,
for at least a few minutes, and sometimes with no end until I shut down for
the night.

On my personal Satellite, the fan runs if and only if Prime95 is running,
since that app runs the FP pipeline and the CPU chip flat-out.

If your fan runs when no app is running, it is probably time to blow out the
air pathway. This requires taking the laptop apart to do a thorough job,
but a little compressed air into the inlet may help a bit.

I think maybe my problems with power adapters is that I'm very mobile. I'm
unplugging and replugging the power adapter a number of times per day into
many different outlets (always with high-quality surge-protectors though).
I try to be very careful with the adapters : where I place the adapter,
careful not to stretch the cords, plug them them delicately into the laptop
... but nonetheless I've had two types of problems:

1. The plugin to the back of the laptop stops being an effective connection
(at first, some jiggling does the trick, then eventually it's just a total
non-transfer of power).

Now this I've seen a lot -- the power cord between the AC/DC adapter and the
laptop becomes frayed at the laptop end. I've "cured" (cure => temporary kludge)
a few with duct tape, but this seems to be a weak spot in the design of the
Satellites of that era.

2. The adapter starts becoming very hot to the touch and eventually it just
stops providing power. (I'm actually thinking I should stop using them as
soon as they start becoming very hot -- there's probably some danger to the
laptop.)

I don't remember hot AC/DC adapters, although the frayed DC power cord could
easily short and overload the adapter.