Laptops

[leon03]

Today I noticed that it would only cost about $45 to max out my lappy's RAM to 2GB. I also read that many PowerBook G4 laptops like mine have experienced failure of their lower memory slot. So I checked, and guess what? So has mine. Unfortunately, I had a 256MB memory card plugged into the failed slot, and a 1 GB memory card plugged into

Comments

[aakepley]

I'm in a similar boat. My colleague's laptops are dying left and right; most of the laptops are about the same age as mine (a 15in Powerbook). I've decided to get another Apple laptop (13 Macbook), just because I don't want to fuss around with it at all. Any time spent fussing with the laptop could be spent working on my thesis, so the higher price is (somewhat) justified by the time-savings.

[leon03]

Yeah, the 13 inch MacBook has crossed my mind. However, today I spent a lot of time talking to the resident compiler guru. He has had a MacBook for about a year now, and says that he liked his iBook better. He would probably even stick with his old iBook if not for the fact that the PPC is dead on the desktop; and he really doesn't want to write his compiler for gaming or embedded systems.

His biggest complaint was that he hasn't gotten good battery life out of the MacBook, even if he isn't doing anything. (~2 hours at the start, ~1.5 hours now) So... I dunno. We also both hate Apple's wireless: their wireless network manager is profoundly broken, and he complained about the range, though I haven't noticed that so much.

So, when I can afford to consider getting a MacBook, I'll definitely do a bit more research before getting one.

[salimma]

Thinkpad R-series. 1-lb heavier than the T-series, but it does give you the sudden motion sensor (need Linux kernel patches to enable the hard drive protection, though). You can ask for the Intel 3945 (b/g) or 4965 (b/g/n), and I think there is a camera option (there is for the 14.1" T61).

Not so sure about the touchpad though, but most laptops nowadays give you a Synaptic touchpad, right? I think those can be customized.

[leon03]

Well, I could get a thinkpad with a scrollpoint in addition to the touchpad. Just as long as I don't have to hunt for scrollbars.