I think my laptop is finally ready for the boneyard. Dead battery, dodgy USB ports, overheat issues (to install a new o/s I need to use a “cryogenic install” method of running the install on my deck on a cold winter’s night, preferably subzero temperatures).
I could go browsing around Best Buy and such like but I’m sure that a reader has recently got themselves a great deal. Portability is high on the wishlist, as is a ton of memory.
Any ideas? Brands to avoid?
The Oracle Sponge 
At Alienware.com, you could have the Area-51® m5750 with:
– Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7200 2.0GHz 4MB Cache 667MHz FSB
– 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 1024MB
– Extreme Performance (RAID 0) 200GB (100GB x 2) Serial ATA 1.5Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ NCQ & 8MB Cache
– 17” Widescreen
For a quite decent price (2259).
The only drawback is that they don’t ship it with 4GB – well maybe they do but it’s not on their site).
Another laptop that does RAID is the Toshiba Quosmio but it is not as customizable as the Alienware one.
Anyway, good shopping!
Jocelyn
Thanks Jocelyn, and “Dayum” that’s a hunka hunka burnin’ technology. I see they have a Superman theme available — no Spongebob Squarepants though, unfortunately.
I wonder if their RAID would raise any issue getting it to dual-boot with Centos? I feel so old just asking that.
Hi David,
I have a HP 64-bit laptop, the HP “Livestong” model with 64b-bit AMD, plus 2 gig RAM.
It’s a screamer, as as a biker, you should have a Lance Armstrong laptop:
http://www.amdlivestrong.com/Default.aspx?nWidth=1280&nHeight=768
Wrong kind of biking I’m afraid Don, though in my younger days I cycled about 12 miles day through london to and from university. That was 15 years and 30lbs ago. Now I’m almost exclusively motor-powered.
Anything by Asus is usually pretty much compatible with any of the *n*x brands, IME. Mine has survived all the Linux distros I’ve thrown at it, plus it’s XP-based.
Asus got more options and pricing configs than you can poke a stick at, so pick the best config for the price would be my path.
And if you really insist on motorized themes, they even got one looking like a silicon-based Lambo Diablo!
why would anyone bother? Ah well: I’ll stop now… :-)
The carbon fibre Sony’s….you’ll be amazed just how much more you use your laptop when it only weighs 1.5kg and can sit on standby for the whole day. All of a sudden, you ind yourself just stuffing it in the backpack wherever you go…
You could try the Dell ones too,they’re cheap and give good performance and battery timing
“# Connor Says:
January 5th, 2007 at 5:19 am
The carbon fibre Sony’s….you’ll be amazed just how much more you use your laptop when it only weighs 1.5kg and can sit on standby for the whole day. All of a sudden, you ind yourself just stuffing it in the backpack wherever you go…”
Carbon Fibre you say? My next laptop might have to be a sony. Of course I will wait for the model with the 1TB flash drive with holographic display and 7 channel surround sound!!! : )
“David Aldridge Says:
January 4th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
Wrong kind of biking I’m afraid Don, though in my younger days I cycled about 12 miles day through london to and from university. That was 15 years and 30lbs ago. Now I’m almost exclusively motor-powered.”
Maybe you should get the carbon fibre calf and thigh powered trek. I will get once once my wife develops amnesia about my Ford Explorer powered unplanned stop while biking last year. : (
Thanks for all the input, folks.
I plonked down $2,300 for an Asus R1F, a convertible tablet PC, paying about $500 for a 2GB memory upgrade, processor upgrade to one that supports VT, and a warranty extension (having kids around I find that warranties often represent good value). It has a proper keyboard but the screen rotates to a tablet pc configuration. I’m hoping that the touch screen will make it easier to run up rough drafts of logical models, append snarky comments to the work of others, and play chess.
I’m holding a grudge against Sony at the moment for changing the size of their proprietary memory sticks — they shaved about a centimeter off of them, apparantly because a component the size of a stick of gum is some huge and unwieldy implement of the last century, and the new one is easier for a child to snack on. Thus they rendered my 2Gb of old-format sticks obsolete. If it weren’t for all that my last digital camera purchase would have been a Sony but I went for a Canon instead. I mean, what’s the point of tieing people in to a proprietary format of component if you’re then going to make those components unusable in your new product line? Stupidity of the highest order.
Also their website kept locking up IE7 so that was that.
Pingback: Data Warehouse speed « Pete-s random notes
I like Toshiba- they make a decent high end laptop. I just picked one up for a little over 1k with a 17 inch flat screen, 2Gb RAM, 200Gb hard drive, and its great. I use it for my Oracle and SQL Server test box.
I’ve had nothing but trouble from IBM Thinkpads, and have never had any trouble with Toshiba laptoops.
Hmmm, Toshiba looks good as well, but I’m going to stick my fingers in my ears and sing loudly from now on, having shelled out pseudocash for an asus already.
By the way, I have learned that MS Windows Tablet edition is built on XP Professional — aside from the usual “shiny toy” excitment it’ll be interesting to see how an Oracle install goes. Coming soon, possibly the world’s first “Oracle on Windows XP Tablet Install Guide”.