Eeyore wrote:



Nico Coesel wrote:

Jim Thompson wrote:

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.

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