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Hardware

What Do You Think of ASUS Laptops? 263

Posted by Cliff from the community-opinions dept.
Dan Guisinger asks: "I'm looking at replacing a laptop that was recently stolen and came across ASUS's new B1000 series laptop. It seams to have everything one could want, dual FireWire ports, DVD, CDRW, 15" screen, upgradable Pentium III cpu using mPGA2 sockets...it even has finger print security. My only problem while looking at the specs is the measly 1024x768 XGA resolution it supports. I am unable to find reviews on this laptop, nor most other ASUS laptops. Can anyone speak of the quality of their laptops overall? How about this particular model, has anyone seen or used the B1000?"
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What Do You Think of ASUS Laptops? More

What Do You Think of ASUS Laptops?

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  • I own one (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Breakfast Pants ( 323698 ) on Thursday November 15, 2001 @12:53PM (#2569369) Journal
    the Asus is a quality product, I can say that much. But the fingerprint security system you speak of just provides a false sense of security, anyone can just take your HD outta the box and plug it in elsewhere.
    • What about combining fingerprint security (not on bootup, but on OS load) with a passphrase to allow you to decrypt a disk volume with your sensitive data?

      It's just like a bios password otherwise, easily bypassed with physical access.
    • and use it to gain access!

    • Re:I own one (Score:5, Informative)

      by indigo78 ( 464058 ) <michele...albrigo@@@poste...it> on Thursday November 15, 2001 @01:07PM (#2569489) Homepage
      I've got one, too.
      Mine is Asus L8460K, p3/1Ghz, 20gb hd, 256mb ram. Linux runs very well on it (I'm using Slackware, but I've also had OpenBSD, Redmond Linux and Mandrake running on it, just trying other distributions and OSes).
      Product quality is very good, though I've seen better LCD displays (e.g. on Compaq) and tech support isn't as good as the notebook itself (had some problems with tv-out but solved them by myself, in 6 weeks they haven't answred my e-mail). I'm Italian, so maybe tech support is different in other countries.
    • What, and let the rest of the computer go to waste? Much better to tear your thumb outta the socket and carry it along with the laptop.

    • . .

      btw this one has a smart card reader to boot ;) ..

      Okay, gotta add this, because this beast, the Fujitsu Siemens Celsuis Mobile H [fujitsu-siemens.com] apparently has encypted disks as standard.

      You can't see it from the spec sheet from this linked pdf spec sheet [fujitsu-siemens.com] sorry no Google text cache :(

      But if you go to their rather elegant, but annoyingly Flash only presentation [fujitsu-siemens.com] and click on "product" at the right and then "security" at the middle, up pops the words "Encrypted Hard Disk : The information stored on the hard disks cannot be read elsewhere even when connected to another computer"

      This is one mean machine : 1.13GHz Mobile PIII - M, 5 Channel Dolby Digital out, Quadro 2 Go w/ 64MB vram and TwinView, 15.1" 1600*1200 display, firewire (but annoyingly as an either / or option for ethernet and modem), Detachable wireless keyboard which uses Bluetooth (but annoyingly it seems a proprietary conection), Smartcard reader, and so on.

      Do check it out, however I've not even been able to get their UK branch to tell me how the encryption works, if hardware or software - whether EFS under Win00 add to this or make things worse e.g. and what to do if you absolutely *must* do a data recovery job, let alone for someone to quote me. Nor is there any info about the crypto disks in the manual [pdf] [fujitsu-siemens.com] or the bios setup guide [pdf] [fujitsu-siemens.com]

      I've heard estimates this thing is $5K, and not likely to be sold direct in the US. Which is sad and silly of them. I figure more than a few people would get these, despite the tag and the relative bulk and weight.It looks darn good for its size . .

      Even allowing for disk i/o being waay down on my UltraSCSI 160 desktop (but 1GB RAM might compensate a little :), in other aspects this is the first time I've though of a laptop as an *upgrade* (and I have a Quadro based Elsa card to boot, and _need_ that card to be there).

      So someone get one to review or something. Laptop security is on of the most important issues out there for businesses. It's why Win 2000 Pro get's some respect in this field (EFS as standard), but laptop security in general is rarely well thought out or just plain hard to do.

      This an option / aspect / feature I bet plenty other prople than just me want to know more about. It gets me wondering if this encrypted drive and access features (card and fingerprint) are bios level (there seem to be some bios only related aspects to protect bootup) and whether we migh see some *nix running happily on hardware like this, or whether there some annoying custom driver set involved. And no I've not found any drivers on the support site which look like they're suspects as of yet . . Man, would I like to talk to someone who actually has one of these blah blah rant etc.


      == Idle Random Thoughts. Usual Disclaimer Apply ==

      • . .

        sincerest apologies for this, I got so carried away with the post above I somehow posted links for a different product's manuals :(.

        by way of excuses, if you go here http://manuals.fujitsu-siemens.com/workstation.htm l to find the right bits and pieces they make you use some annoying java applet (where i clicked on the wrong fiddly bit), then (i double checked now, okay? :-) only offer the "Easy Guide" and "Getting Started" manuals in the end. Dang, I found the proper manual the other day, no idea how to find the link again. Didn't mean to get your hopes up there'd be some juicy info in the intended link, but I read the manual anyway and no mention of encrypting disks. sorry again if you looked in vain

    • That laptop has the embedded VIA Savage 4 chipset (basically S3 Savage VGA integrated into the VIA northbridge)

      It has the 2D core of the S3 Savage 2000 & the 3D core of the Savage Pro (to save on the transister count & power consumption)

      The 2D core does does DVD 'hardware' decoding to.

      So if you get a Software DVD player that is compatible with the hardware calls of the Savage DVD decoder you'll save on processor cycles & it will multitask better.

      AFAIK the only other processor chipsets with integrated VGA that does 'hardware' DVD are SIS's multimedia chipsets.

  • Finally (Score:1, Funny)

    by KosovoYankee ( 310988 )
    At last, an article suffers the slashdot effect from the start. Could this mean that people are actually *gasp* reading the article first before offering their opinions? Of course, it is basically a tech schematic, but still, it proves we can be taught.

  • Updated Link (Score:5, Informative)

    by beavis_kc ( 323366 ) on Thursday November 15, 2001 @12:54PM (#2569383) Homepage
    The poster's original link don't work for me, but This one does [asus.com]

  • But, I'm gonna do it anyways. It's wrong; you really want to go to http://www.asus.com.tw/Products/Notebook/B1000/ind ex.html [asus.com.tw]
  • Darned /. effect anyway

    ASUS B1000 [asus.com.tw]

  • Do you need more than that on an LCD? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Sawbones ( 176430 ) on Thursday November 15, 2001 @12:56PM (#2569391)
    It seems like it would be all but useless to have much more than 1024x768 on a laptop screen (well, maybe a little larger would be nice). 1600x1200 would be too small to be useful for me I would think. If you want a higher resolution you should probably just hook it up to an external CRT.
    • I've got an Ispiron 8k with the 15" XGA screen and I run at 1600x1200. It's _very_ crisp and bright. Not only do I tolerate this setting, but I much prefer it because it's what I'm used to working with. Having to switch resolutions for docked/road configurations is a pain in the butt (e.g., less space than you're used to, desktop icons get cluttered, etc)
      • XGA? Isn't that an ancient graphics extension by IBM?
      • I'll second that. I've got an Inspiron 5000e with the UXGA display and I run @ 1600x1200 - its awesome. But I just got another laptop - COmpaq N400c for ultra portability - so I was bumped back to XGA. However, it has all the ports (some get dropped on Dell & IBM ultra thins) and it has 8MB of vid memory while most others still have 4MB - hate it if you dock it. But at 3.5lbs and .89" - very sweet. Only problem with ultra portables is the battery life SUCKS for obvious reasons (they're small to reduce weight)
    • I have a Dell Inspiron 8000 with a UXGA screen running at 1600x1200 and it is simply fabulous. Readability is an issue but using larger fonts works just fine. I highly recommend the dell if don't mind lugging it around.

      Linux installs without too much of a hassle too. The only tricky part is setting up X especially if you have the geoforce 2go.

    • 14.1" IBM LCD on my Thinkpad T22 running 1400x1050. Simply beautiful, I couldn't go back to my 600E with the 1024x768 on a 13.3". 1280x1024 would be nice, but I just love this resolution.

      Only problem is getting nice wallpaper for my desktop :) .

    • My PowerBook has a 14 inch 1024x768 screen. I hate it. At 14 inches, I'd much rather have 1280x1024 -- because Apple uses such large fonts & such for its interface that they take up nearly 10% of my screen.

      Don't get me wrong...i absolutely love OSX...but on a lappy, space is the most important commodity.
      • I love my powerbook with a 1024x768, 14" screen. It is fine.. I wouldn't mind it being 1280x1024, but it isn't necessary. Of course, I don't run MacOS on here.. so who knows.

        And OS 8/9 don't use such large fonts.. especially in netscape4 :) I have a hell of a time reading some of the the fonts on my Power Mac 7100/80 at 1024x768

  • Wide screen, DVD, CDRW (external firewire), 30G drive, Radeon Mobile gfx, 512M, 1000/100/10bT ethernet, and an internal 802.11b card. Mac OS X is really sweet. I can run CorelDraw and IE5 right next to a bash prompt and GAIM. :)

    Granted, the damned thing cost me almost $3200 but I love it still.

    Chris
    • I too highly recommend the Ti PowerBook. The last computer I enjoyed using this much was an SGI. You can get the $3200 model, but if price is an issue, there are cheaper configurations. I'd probably recommend the $2900 model. The cheapest solution gives up a lot for the price difference (AirPort, processor speed, etc.)

      • There's also the iBook. Before I splurged for the Ti, I came very close to buying the iBook. It had, IIRC, a 20G disk, CDRW *and* DVD built-in, a nice little 14" LCD, very nice styling, and a decent amount of RAM. The only drawback was the 500MHz G3 processor but it should work just fine for most folks as long as they aren't gamers (but who games on a laptop anyway?!?).

        Chris
        • Just a quick note -- I am pretty sure the LCD is more like 12" on the iBook. Other than that, it is pretty nice.
        • The iBook really is all you would need in a laptop, except for heavy-duty gaming as mentioned above, and it also may not be every thing you need if you are into heavy-duty video production, or audio (there is no audio in port, although that can be handled by third party firewire and USB devices these days).

          I have yet to own a laptop, but when I do get one, it will DEFINITELY be an iBook. I was considering getting a PC laptop, but now that OS X is a viable development environment, I am a dedicated Apple customer.
        • If you are not going to run MacOS and/or are more concerned with the hardware and are currently looking at an iBook.. I suggest getting a PowerBook Pismo G3 (Firewire), the one before the Ti Powerbook.

          It is much more expandable and faster. It has a faster bus (200mhz), upgradable CPU card (expect G4 upgrades in the future), more ports (iBook only has 1 firewire and usb port).

          There are drawbacks too, however. The Pismo shipped with less and older software then the iBook currently does. Also, they ship with the Yo-Yo power adapters.. so expect to shell out $80 for an after-market replacement when the yo-yo dies.
    • I just bought one as well (and the Airport hub - right before they updated! Doh!).

      I don't think there's a better laptop to have at the moment, and probably not even for the forseeable future - until Apple releases the next update.

      OSX is also great, and it even has a nice GUI panel to run many common network utilities (like netstat, ping, traceroute, etc.).
  • From what I can tell, they're overly generic.

    And usability-wise, they're a touchpad based system. I perfer trackpoints myself, so it'd have to be *very* convincing for me to like 'em.

    I'd rather get an IBM Thinkpad R serise or the S30 offa Dynamism, anyhow.
  • the URL is slightly wrong... pull out the params at the end "target=_Blank" and it'll work fine.

  • I had an ASUS (Score:5, Informative)

    by dda ( 527064 ) on Thursday November 15, 2001 @12:57PM (#2569404) Homepage
    I used to have an ASUS L-7200 , I've never had any problem with it, everything was working perfectly, except I had to use the X Frame Buffered server under linux because the graphic card wasn't supported at all.
    The only problem was that I made the mistake to buy it with a 12"1 screen (800*600), which was too small for the use I had to make with it later.
    Now I have a Compaq Presario 1801-EA, that I bought because of its screen 15", 1400*1050. Everything's working perfectly either under under Linux and Windows.
    Anyway, all that depends of what you have to do with it.
    I can also tell you that if I've a compaq now, it's mainly due to the fact ASUS doesn't sell any screen bigger than 14", as far as I know.
    • To be more detailled :
      my Compaq has a 30GB HDD , DVD/CDRW , 15" SXGA 1400*1050 , Ethernet 10/100 + Modem 56K internal, Sound Card ESS, Graphic Card ATI Rage Mobility 128
      ( Even DRI's working :)), 320Mb RAM, PIII 1GHz All that for a really reasonable price(less than 3000$).
      It's quite heavy, but it's because everything is internal, FDD, DVD/CDRW.
      I know that Compaq begins to sale the new 2801-EA, which is a bit more powerful, but lighter, as some peripherals are external.
    • security. My only problem while looking at the specs is the measly 1024x768 XGA resolution it supports.

      Which brings up the question of what is the highest resolution available out there? And how practical is it?

      I've gotten upset at the number of promising links that take me right to eBay, as far as looking for a laptop comparison site.

      • The highest resolution I've ever seen on an Asus is 1024*768. I was looking for a new one approximatively one month ago, it seems they still haven't any better ones.
      • 1024x768 is about as high as most laptops get for resolution. Gateway has a 1280x1024 15.7" laptop screen (I know, because I'm using one here at work as I type this), and a few vendors squeeze a higher resolution out of 15.1" displays, but not on anything smaller that I know of. Dell has a monster 1600x1200 packed into a 15.1" display on their Precision Workstation M40 [dell.com], but that thing is heavy and expensive as all get out, along with being rather tiny-pixeled.

        The Gateways with the big screens (the 9000 series) are nice, though heavy - but the prices are pretty good for what you get.
        The Apple G4 has the cool 1152x768 15.2" widescreen, as another direction. I have one of those at home, and it's da bomb.
      • I've got a Dell Inspiron 8000 with a 15" screen. It's UltraXGA ... 1600x1200.

        You'd think 16x12 would be too small on a 15". On the contrary ... the text and images are crisp and clear, and very bright. I have no trouble using it even for long periods of time at that res.

        I think 16x12 is as much as you're going to get out of a laptop LCD, since portability is such an issue. Quite frankly, I don't understand why Desktop LCD's aren't keeping pace. A 17" LCD should be capable of at LEAST 16x12, but I haven't seen any that do. 10x7 is inadequate.
  • I looked on pricewatch and many other sites. Where can you purchase this awsome laptop?
  • Just make sure you get a Lo Jack on the laptop this time.
  • How many links are we gonna post on this one... Will the REAL Link please stand up! Newt-dog

  • Nice (Score:5, Informative)

    by _ganja_ ( 179968 ) on Thursday November 15, 2001 @01:02PM (#2569451) Homepage
    I was very tempted by an Asus a while back but I needed a laptop for a new position and I couldn't get an Asus in time however, my brother did purchase one and is very happy with it. They seem to be one of the easier laptops to upgrade also but he has had to get it repair once as it wouldn't boot, no reason for the failure but was returned repaired under warrenty in less than 2 weeks.

    The only thing that I would worry about personally is the savage video card, I would *personally* be looking for a Geforce 2go based laptop or wait until the new NVidia mobile chipset has found its way in to a notebook. This could take a while and also depends on your needs, I fly model helicopters and like to use a PC based sim while on the road to practice so the more polygon pushing power a laptop has the better.

  • 7.3 LBS? (Score:2, Informative)

    by jsmoriss ( 153976 )
    The specs looked great, except for the 1024x768 resolution and this little gem "Weight ~3.3kg (w/ 15" LCD, 9.5mm HDD, 24X CD-ROM and 9 cells Li-Ion battery pack)". At 7.3 LBS, it's just a brick with nice colours...
  • Is there a good site where various products are ranked by people who actually own them? Specifically electronics, computer components, etc. Is there such a thing? Thanks
  • Please tell me you're kidding. The largest consumer LCD panel in mass production is 1600x1200, and THAT itself would cost you over a thousand dollars, alone. The best you could hope for is SXGA -- 1280x1024, and even that will cost you big. You can't want everything, you know.

    • Re:"Just" 1024x768? (Score:2, Informative)

      by tempmpi ( 233132 )
      Your numbers are only valid for the standalone lcd market. There are many notebooks with very special lcd panels. There are notebooks with a14,1" and 15" TFT with a resolutions of 1400x1050 or 1600x1200. And for subnotebooks you can find 10,4" and 12,1" XGA displays. Also you shouldn't forget the Ti Powerbook that has a widescreen TFT with a resolution of something like 1186x768.
  • i think the poster works for ASUS... im suprised no one else has commented on this possibility :)
  • The specs looked great, except for the 1024x768 resolution and this little gem: "Weight ~3.3kg (w/ 15" LCD, 9.5mm HDD, 24X CD-ROM and 9 cells Li-Ion battery pack)".

    At 7.3 LBS, it's just short of a desktop.
  • I've had 2 L7000 (one 7200 and one 7300 I seem to remember) for something less than a couple of years, and they have benn very good machine. They were relatively cheap, and Linux installed with no problems. Support was good too (in Italy), replacing an lcd cover at no cost, though in no great hurry. Their only problem was the audio chip set, which sometimes failed both in windows and in linux, but I guess they've improved it by now.
  • Am I the only one who wants a laptop with fewer features, not more?

    How about no dvd, no floppy, no firewire, no parallel port, no pcmcia, NO M$ WINDOWS!, no external svga socket, no built in modem, no built in ethernet, no sound, no irda, no 1e+34 key keyboard, no ps/2 mouse port, no ps/2 keyboard port, no kitchen sink.

    All I want is
    1) Reasonable CPU and memory
    2) Decent size HDD
    3) 1024x768 screen
    4) USB port (thats all the expandability i need (except maybe extra memory))

    All the extra features I don't need probably cost very little each to add, but they do add up and mean more cost and more weight and in some cases more power consumption, and If i find I do need ethernet, or cdrw, or sound, or an external mouse or keyboard then these can all be added later via USB.
    • You really think that you want to expand via usb... what are you in mac world or something... its one massive chain that sucks off of 11 megs per sec... now I don't know about you but if im on a network I want 100 megs per second so I can actually transfer stuff... I might also want something like I don't know 802.11b... your right too many features in a laptop is silly... but only usb... thats not in the neighborhood of sane

    • Re:anyone else? (Score:4, Informative)

      by turbine216 ( 458014 ) <turbine216@NosPAm.gmail.com> on Thursday November 15, 2001 @01:44PM (#2569732)
      you just described most of the current ultra-portable notebooks in existence. Try these:

      Dell Inspiron [dell.com]

      Compaq EVO [compaq.com]

      Sony VAIO R505 series [sonystyle.com]

      You'll have some trouble finding a notebook that is completely devoid of those features you mentioned. All three of these come with the standard legacy and PS/2 connectors, but none of them have any internal floppy or optical drives, which saves a great deal of weight and battery life. And they're all about $1400...not too bad if you ask me. We use the Dells here at my place of employment, and they work great. It's not mentioned on Dell's website, but you can order any of their laptops without an operating system at a $100 discount.
      • Note that some of Dell's laptops aren't worth it. Read this:
        http://www.powernotebooks.com/Name_Brand.php3 [powernotebooks.com]

        Virtually none of the "Name" brands manufacture their own laptops... For example an ODM named Compal makes the Dell Inspiron 5000e, the ChemBOOK 3015,
        the PowerNotebooks.com PowerPro III:16

        Therefore it would probably be better getting the powernotebooks model for a lot cheaper.

  • Motherboards yes, laptops GOD NO (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I have a pretty old model (450 Mhz). They might have improved. But I've had battery problems, sound-card driver problems, touchpad problems, monitor problems... Stick with Dell or something. Steer clear of ASUS.

  • Used to sell/fix Asus laptops (Score:3, Informative)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 15, 2001 @01:13PM (#2569529)
    I worked for a place who sold and fixed these things in 1997-1999. Overall, they were as good as TI, Dell, NEC. Better than Apple but worse than Compaq / Toshiba. This is purely from a sturdiness standpoint.
    Parts were pretty easy to get too.

    I'd stick with a Toshiba, IBM, or Compaq though.. They usually don't cost much more, and are just built better and are easier to get parts.

  • THIEF!! (Score:1, Funny)

    by ers81239 ( 94163 )
    If you take that laptop, you are just as bad as the guy who took yours!!
  • IBM or Sony would be my first choices in the Intel Arena. The titanium powerbook gives me a woody though. If I win the lotto, I'd buy one of those, fully loaded.
  • The September 2001 issue of Mobile Computing and Communications [mobilecomputing.com] had this article [mobilecomputing.com], that included a review of a different ASUS laptop.

    In August, I bought my wife an HP Pavillion N7540 (I think that's the right model #), with 15 inch screen, 1 GHz Athlon, and combo DVD/CDRW drive. Under $1800 total. She loves it, and I'm envious....

  • In next week's "Ask Slashdot"... (Score:3, Funny)

    by hkon ( 46756 ) on Thursday November 15, 2001 @01:26PM (#2569625) Homepage
    Q: What do you think of ASUS' servers?

    A: Not much, they slow down to a crawl when slashdotted.
  • I can't speak for Asus's laptops, but I found the Dell Inspiron 8100 [dell.com] to be quite tasty. 15" UXGA (1600x1200) screen, 32mb GeForce2Go, both a touchpad AND a nub, and the internal mini-pci was even supported in BeOS!

    Of course, they're not cheap at ~$2400 maxed out, but so worth it if you're looking for top o' the line.

    Though, (and this holds for any laptop manufacturer) you should really shop around for laptop memory instead of having the manufacturer install it. To have Dell max out my laptop (at 512mb PC133 SoDIMM's) would be over $600, but when I ordered the memory myself, I only paid $120. Sure, I had to take a screwdriver to it, but I figure that it was more than worth the $500 I saved by doing it myself.

  • Funny spec page (Score:5, Funny)

    by morcheeba ( 260908 ) on Thursday November 15, 2001 @01:32PM (#2569655) Journal
    From the spec page [asus.com]:

    Hard Disk Drive
    2.5" 9.5mm IDE HDD with Ultra DMA66/100 supported
    Supported capacities up to 30 GB
    Bumping mechanic's design
    Fixed type, easy for BTO

    Some dancin' auto repair technicain desgined it! Also, the hard drive isn't broken because Bachman-Turner Overdrive [btorocks.com] would find that difficult to use.
  • I know that on some older models ( the L7200 and the M1000 to be precise ) the speakers were making strange noises, for nothing ( when the user moves a scrollbar, or that kind of thing ). I never managed to know why, but there was some internal interferences.

  • This can't possibly be news? (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Geez, the things that I've had rejected that were pertinent pieces of information and somehow this makes it?!

    Who cares, should I start submitting stories: "What is the best brand and version of the GeForce to buy?", "Does linux have Intel Pro 1000 adapter support?"

    "Who is your daddy?"
  • I think that one of the more important things to look for when buying a laptop is the keyboard. Lots of manufacturers put the silly 'FN' button in the lower left corner where CTRL should be. I for one hate that.


    Also some manufacturers which otherwise make nice products have keyboards of a horrible quality (I have had a very bad experience with a Dell something).


    JMD

  • While we're on the subject (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Merk ( 25521 ) on Thursday November 15, 2001 @02:07PM (#2569895) Homepage

    What would people consider a good, cheap laptop, and where would you get it?

    My guess for minimal requirements would be:

    • 1024x768 screen (maybe more? I've never owned a laptop so I don't know what's too hard to read
    • 8 GB+ hard drive (I can store most stuff on a server, but I figure I want at least that much for mobility, sound reasonable?)
    • 10 MB Ethernet access as a minimum, wireless as an option (I'm guessing both of these can be handled by PCMCIA cards, is there a reason to go for builtin?)
    • Durable case (If I got a laptop it would travel in a bike courier bag sometimes, a duffel bag other times -- it would need to be somewhat durable)
    • It would have to be able to run Linux (RedHat with KDE ideally)
    • Relatively light -- I bike to/from work so the lighter the better
    • ... Am I missing anything?

    I could imagine using this machine to write code, but probably generally not to build major projects. The speed of the CPU wouldn't be a major issue, and as long as there was a decent amount of memory, (say 128 MB) that would be ok.

    Would an Apple iBook be an option? I like the concept of OSX, and I hear X.1 is reasonably fast, but would it be on an iBook? Are they really durable or do they just look like it because of the titanium shell? Do PPC linux distros run on that hardware? Is it any less open than a typical PC-type laptop?

    As for where to get it, I wouldn't mind getting a used laptop, I'm not looking for cutting-edge, state of the art. Is there anything to look out for in buying a used laptop? Is it reasonably easy to find good used laptops? How about good used Apple laptops?

    • Re:While we're on the subject (Score:4, Informative)

      by edremy ( 36408 ) on Thursday November 15, 2001 @02:31PM (#2570041) Journal
      An iBook meets your requirements nicely. No PCMCIA, but everything is already built in- Ethernet, modem, USB, Airport and Firewire. YellowDog Linux runs on it already, or you can stick with OSX.

      The iBook isn't titanium: that's the G4 laptop. It's polycarbonate plastic, and probably more durable than a TiBook. (My TiBook is beautiful, but feels a bit fragile.)

      As far as CPU speed for OSX, my G4-500 TiBook and OSX are ok. The iBook has a G3 but that's not a major speed loss unless you really need Altivec. OSX wants memory, lots and lots of memory. I had 256MB: it's not enough for OSX running Classic and heavy OSX apps. 512 seems more reasonable.

      Don't bother with a used machine, PC or Mac. You can get a nice iBook for $1300 or the 600MHz model for $1500 and you can do as well with a new Dell.

      Eric

    • KDE? 8GB RAM? 1024x768 screen?

      Bah! [waves dismissively]

      I've got a Dell Latitude LM P-133 w/40MB RAM and a 2-gig disk. The screen resolution is 800x600x8bit which is great for a bunch of xterms in blackbox. The only reason I'd buy a new machine is for an ACPI power-off/on button.

      I recieved the laptop free from a prior employer and I find it does everything I need. If you need KDE with all its overhead you aren't thinking small enough. I don't know about prices, buy you could probably pick up a similar model for a few hundred on ebay.

  • It's a thin laptop, probably the thinnest one out there (sony included), but the quality however, leaves much for desire. Fans for the system stops working for BOTH of the laptop so now it's running hot as hell. The Screen is not as good as the Inspiron 8000 not in terms of resolution (which i8000 just murdered that little beast), the brghtness is nowhere as good. But it's sure cheap though, I say go for the Dell (feel kidda cheap, I don't care what you say) or Toshiba.
    • not the thinnest laptop

      i have one of the thinnest, the sharp mebius mt1. you can get them from dynamism or your favorite japanese importer

      the mt1 is a fabulous machine with one of the best screens i have ever seen and weighs in at a hefty 2.9lbs.
  • I don't know anything this laptop, but in general:

    - Asus products are well designed, well built, and well priced. Oh yes, and well documented!
    - Asus tech supports SUCKS! Their website is often down, they don't answer service calls, and they don't necessarily have consistent specs on their parts between different divisions.

    I love Asus products, but until they reform they're NOT getting any more of my money!

    • Re:Asus tech SUCKS (Score:2, Interesting)

      by GeeDog ( 536808 )
      Agreed. Check this out. http://groups.google.com/groups?q=asus+tech+suppor t&hl=en&sa=N&tab=wg You can read on and on about their nonexistant support. Their products are well made, but their driver support is horrible.

  • So now Ask Slashdot is for product reviews? (Score:4, Troll)

    by AugstWest ( 79042 ) on Thursday November 15, 2001 @02:30PM (#2570039)
    Can you say "Slow News Day?"

  • I've been shopping... (Score:2, Interesting)

    by ronmon ( 95471 )
    ... to replace a laptop I recently sold and found this one [discountpcsales.com]. 1 Ghz, 512 Mb, 30 Gb, 15"@1400x1050, DVD, on-board 10/100 and modem, etc for less that $1600. Except for the modem, which I can't tell, all the hardware is supported in Linux and you can order it with NO OS.

    Saving my pennies now to pick one up.
  • yes, it may be great bang for the buck, but my sony VAIO PCG-N505VE is a Celeron 333MHz, 128MB RAM, 6GB HD and the LCD is about 10.1 Inches, and it can do 1024x768. this is an old laptop, works great but these newer notebooks should at the _LEAST_ be able to do 1280x1024, look at the IBM X20, or X21, they both have killer resolution(x20 will do 1280x1024 I believe and the x21 will do 1400x1050)!!
  • After using a Dell Inspiron 8000 with the 15" Ultra XGA screen, I will never ever use any other laptop. Dell is the only company I've found that sells laptops with Ultra XGA, and the screen quality is absolutely stunning. After using that laptop, I couldn't stand looking at even the sharpest CRT monitors. The difference was incredible.
  • At our company we've used ASUS laptops for nearly three years now, and I've been through two of the flagships (L8400 and the older F8400 (i think)) and they've been top notch quality, especially considering we've taken them along for demos, used them on long flights. Even now, we have one at Comdex. A guy at work uses it for linux work and he's very happy. The most severe problem we ever had with one was the spring to the powerbutton giving out, but thats it. Compared to the Compaq's I used at my old work (which had a tendency to lack good drivers and also had serious problems with the screen going berzerk/garbled), these rock.

    If I had to say something bad about them, its that they lack GeForce2Go, so my "leet skillz" in Unreal Tournament really suffers from playing on them ;)

  • MAP, Mobile AGP Package (Score:2, Informative)

    by pacc ( 163090 )
    Knowing the processor socket is a good thing
    (unless intel deprecates it too early).

    Another good thing is the MAP, Mobile AGP Package, which can make it possible for some upgradability of the graphics too (like some people succeded in upgrading their Dell PC's to Geforce2Go).
    Read about Nvidias cool 64 Mb MAP package [digit-life.com].

    Maybe someone knows when you can expect mobiles with this option on the market so you can buy one without having to wait for the good graphics chips to be available.
    Also, there's talk about intel working for more standards in modular mobiles, any examples? I'd love a MiniPCI with both Firewire and 100 MBps networking, that socket is just to good for a measly modem.
  • You probably DON'T want to put us2000$+ on a laptop if it's stuck at 1024x768. Now 1280x1024 is standard on midrange laptops, don't look at resolution on LCD like you see CRT, like, getting 1280x1024 sucks (blurs, etc) on most 17" monitors, but it's really crisp and nice on a 15" laptop screen. The Dell 8000 I use has 1600x1200, when I saw that on dell's site I was "ok I'll probably run it at 1280x1024 because it's gonna suck" but to my surprise, it's readable crisp and usable (I Never ran 1600x1200 before, not even on a 21" hehe), and beleive me, you can put a quadro8-2go in the laptop, if it's 1024x768, you'll feel screwed when you'll see better resolution, unless you don't pay much for it.

    Of course most people manage with 800x600/1024x768, and I guess for running linux it's not a big issue, but since you mentionned it, I guess it's because it matters to you, unless it's dirt cheap, if you have doubts about the resolution size, don't go for it because chances are you'll regret it, it's not like buying a 200$ CRT monitor, you'll be stucked with it afterwards.
  • I like the ASUS overall...you get a lot of features for a relatively low price, it still runs well, overall a pretty stable machine (after about a year and a half now). I did, however find customer support to be not at all helpful, which I consider a huge drawback, even though I tend to be a do-it-yourself type. Another huge drawback I found was that when I upgraded to Windows 2000, several drivers did not work correctly (even after re-installing from the driver upgrade CD ASUS provides with the computer). I have yet to get my DVD player working...grrrr...ended up buying a card modem after the internal modem did not work after the upgrade. Customer support, again, not very helpful in this arena. I imagine, though, if you stick with the OS you are provided with the computer, you'll be fine. From what I hear, though, the machine is more stable than many other laptops on the market..the only problem is if you do have a problem, you're kinda out of luck. Not even sure how able your local computer repair store would be in servicing any repairs. Hmmm...I think it's a gamble. Personally, if I were to buy another laptop, I would go with one that I know has good customer support and that can be serviced easily at just about any repair store, but maybe that's just me....

  • Endless problems with M8000 (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Mogest ( 62599 ) on Thursday November 15, 2001 @08:45PM (#2572401) Homepage
    The company I work for purchased two ASUS M8000s about a year and a half ago; Pentium III 500MHz, 128MB RAM, XGA TFT LCD. As a piece of hardware, they've performed really well, running Win98, Win2k and Linux with no issues at all. However we've had a lot of problems with the manufacturing of the device.

    Both laptops have had problems with the screen flickering about a year after we bought them. Seems like the connection between the laptop base and the LCD screen is not all that great. Moving the laptop lid up and down changes the brightness, so you have to now fiddle with them until they show up at their full brightness. One of the laptops had the entire screen portion replaced, however six months after it's started to flicker again: sounds like a design fault to me.

    The plastic that encases the screen on one of the laptops has split at the bottom right-hand corner where the screen meets the base. When you open and close the laptop lid, a lot of strain gets put on this area and after one and a half years, it wasn't up to it. The left-hand side is showing signs of wear as well.

    Finally, on both laptops, we've had problems with the computer freezing for no apparent reason. Seems like the chips on board the motherboard come loose very easily, and all that is required is for someone to open it up and wriggle them back into their sockets, because the freezing stops after that's done.

    So all in all, they're a great laptop for the first year of operation, then Bad Stuff starts happening, at least in the M8000s. Be sure to get an extended warranty if you're going to go for an ASUS.
  • I bought an Asus laptop 2 years ago rebadged as a Chembook 7000C.

    It has some reak drawbacks. The paint is wearing off in the wrist rest area, I can't get it to install Win 2000, and the BIOS has an extremely strange feature that requires a DOS partition to be present on the hard disk for it to boot, even if it's a Linux install.

    Support for my Win2K issue has been zilch - all I got from Chembook is an audio driver and the statement 'it should work' in Win2K.

    Never again.
  • Since we're on the subject of laptops, I just want to vent my frustration with all the laptop vendors who don't include 3 buttons for their mouse. Sure, it's fine for Windows, but in Linux it's -so- nice to have that real third button instead of having to chord.

    Thank you IBM for providing three buttons in all of your laptops.

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