Buying laptop-Celeron/Centrino?Compaq/Acer/dell?

[iztang]

Dear Forumers, as I am contemplating to buy a home-use laptop, I am quite confused with some of the pricing and performances of different brands and models. Would appreciate very much for you guys feedback.....

1)First of all - brands (would appreciate very much especially from experienced user/owner...) Just which are better?? Dell Inspirion, Compaq Presario or Acer Travelmate? What about other aspect like after-sales services, warranty, upgrades, repairs/maintenance....?

2) Is Celeron processor really that inferior to Centrino? The price could varies by RM1000. Considering the lower cost, would it justify a "go" for Celeron?

3) DDR, DDR2... what's the difference? How much would it affect the performance?

TQ very much....

[Mynetcity]

Dear iztang,

I would prefer Acer or Dell.
1) Acer service/repair is good in Ipoh (you may need to send back to your supplier or Acer service centre). Dell got the on-site service, not bad too. Look for "extended warranty" for any notebook u brought and its a "must buy" item! As my experience told me that most of the notebook (any brand) easily "whack out" due to usage, climate effect or parts malfunction after a year or two.
note: no warr for parts "broken" by careless handling.

2) Centrino wins in term of speed and technology. Depends on your budget, if you are not going for high-end gaming then get a Celeron (RM2xxx-3xxx) with wireless embedded else Centrino(RM3xxx above) unit with extra functions such as Bluetooth, IrDA(infraRed), memory card reader or webcam(some other brand).

3) Get to know more about the memory?
http://www.crucial.com/kb/answer.asp?qid=3773

[kress]

1) brands are more of a preference.... i'm using a dell inspiron 8600 so far no problems.

2) A celeron is an ok processor BUT it has several drawbacks i) uses more power than a centrino processor ii) produces heck of a lot of heat more compared to a centrino (this is very relevant if you buy a notebook with a lousy heat system). My celeron nb used to overheat on a regular basis so i had to clean the heat system up apply thermal paste, etc etc

3) ddr2 is faster... i don't think you can choose which version of ddr you want.... me thinks the nb nowadays come with ddr2

[ceo684]

A celeron 1.x is very slow - compared to a centrino's Pentium M chips.

Acer used to have a sucky warranty policy that u cant upgrade ur RAM or HDD else warranty void. Toshiba and Compaq do allow DIY upgrades.

Not much difference in DDR1 or 2, as laptops (assuming u have a reasonably fast processor and adequate ram) are always bottlenecked by the HDD. In fact DDR2 might be slower due to additional latency timing in its design. Recommend a DDR1 laptop, cheap to upgrade the ram too.

In the days of P4 vs CeleronP4.. the celeron needs to be ~600mhz faster to perform the same as a true P4. Celeron's have much lesser cache - not worth it unless no other choice due to $$ prob. Even so, for RM3k or less u can pick up a used Mobile P4 3.06ghz laptop that beats the celeron.

Also, a normal Celeron has [B]no speedstep[B] - tends to generate a lot of heat as it will run at full speed all the time even while idling. Make sure that if you are sold a mob. celeron it is a mob. celeron - double check the specs before accepting the lappie. Many cases of people getting conned of getting a non mobile celeron (when they were supposed to get a mobile celeron).

http://www.intel.com/products/processor/mobileceleron/index.htm
http://www.intel.com/products/processor/celeron_m/index.htm

Thin notebooks with fast non mobile processors are not suitable.. a thicker one is not so good looking-lah, but usually has a more efficient airflow design.

Personally I recommend the toshiba satellite series. Keyboard is nice to use.

[racom]

Brands r not impt! Most impt is after sales services.
Even branded co give fxxk up services.
My recommendation is to go for dell.
Rem to get extended warranty up to 3 yrs.
Jux pay a bit more then u get piece of mind clear.
No worries even if its down.
They come chop chop n bring it back to repair if they cant settle on the spot.
Aint that jux cool n efficient.
Rem...most expensive piece aint always wad u always need! :cool:

[cactuc1]

Celeron is bad , slow..truely a vegetable..I use to own celeron laptop..Bad oh...Bad oh..
If money is problem , better buy second hand book like ceo684 said...Or
better save money now..buy later..Or get a good one by installment payment if that desperate..But no to celeron.

Celeron based laptop ..only good for browsing or Window Offices..Haha , If do both lacking also..Haha..

Obviously not for gaming.

[cactuc1]

Compaq / Acer / Dell

Hmm..i got frens who bought compaq , acer and dell laptops before.

4 frens bought Acer. 1 chinaman bought compag/Hp and one guy bought Dell..

The dell is a good bargain from his spec..It is on they cataloques the rm3xxx series laptop. While the compaq and acer are above rm4xxx

The acer , 2 of them they network card got burned?..Sent to their service department because got waranty and they sent it outside country for replacement..Frens said "What the Fxxk" ...Seem got motherboard issues also..Hence few months without new laptop...Maybe this isolated case..Unlucky oh.

So far compaq and dell is fine..However Dell give a better bargain in spec , cheaper and better service..Send to house , office etc..