Entry Level Centrino: Tosiba M10, IBM R40 or Dell 600m

Hi everyone, I am just about to purchase two entry-level centrino
laptops for my sister and I (for postgrad purposes). I have narrowed
down my choice to the following three, listed below. Buying two M10's
will save me between 400-560 Euro (approx $445/GBP280-$620/GBP395) and
seems the best value. IBM's build-quality means the R40 is still in
the running, and I'm unsure about the Dell. I'm particularly
interested in hearing from owners of new M10's/R40's, but advice from
all quarters is really appreciated!

(XP Pro is the OS on all three)
(1) Toshiba Satellite Pro M10 - 1299 Euro (excluding VAT)
P-M 1.3GHz/256MB DDR RAM/40GB SMART/DVD-CDRW/15"TFT/NVIDIA GeForce4
420 Go 32MBDDR RAM/WiFi-Intel 802.11b integrated, (802.11a/b) ready

(2) IBM ThinkPad R40 - 1495 Euro (")
P-M 1.30GHz/256MB PC2100 DDR SDRAM/40GB(ATA-100(Enhanced
IDE))/DVD-CDRW/14.1"TFT/ATI RADEON 7500 32MBDDR SDRAM/WiFi-Intel PRO
802.11b

(3) Dell Latitude 600m - 1579 Euro (")
P-M 1.3 GHz/512MB (266MHz) DDR RAM/40GB(Removable EIDE
ATA-100)/DVD-CDRW/14.1"TFT/ATI RADEON 9000 32MBDDR SDRAM/WiFi-Intel
PRO 802.11b or Dell TrueMobile 1300 Wireless 802.11 b/g (Also includes
3 years International Next Business Day On-Site service)

Also do people know if these machines have 5,400 RPM HD (or better
still, 7200) - I don't want a system with the useless 4,500 RPM if I
can help it?!

:} Bryan Radley (Ireland)

 

The screen resolution is the impoprtant thing (after the maintenance,
and in europe ibm is trumps), and you don't give it. Nothing else
matters apart from screen, keyboard, and maintenance (not in that
order).

Why? That's better for laptops in particular (lower power). Faster rpm
does not mean higher data transfer rate either! And higher data
transfer rate is not usually of much interest either. Your o/s will
cache the disk. Forget it.

Peter

 

I was going to say the exact same thing. Screen resolution (not size) and
maintenanceare are critical.
I would also seriously consider onsite support which all 3 offer fairly
cheap.
If something minor goes wrong you can't afford to lose your laptop for a
couple weeks.
Also pointing devices are critical. Track point, track pad or both.

 

The 512 MB RAM on the Dell is a major improvement over the 256 on the other
two. That would be noticeable.

 

But irrelevant. Ram is something you can change at any point in the
lifetime of the machine. Screen, keyboard and goodness of maintenance
care are not things that can be changed.

Peter

 

I got the impression the Bryan was trying to weigh the pros and cons and
that the cost was an important part of the decision.

Buying the extra RAM and getting a 3-year international service contract on
the Tosh and IBM would make a fairer comparison.

 

The screen resolution is the important thing (after the maintenance,
and in europe ibm is trumps), and you don't give it.

Sorry about that Peter - here's all the screen specs I found about
these 3 models.

Toshiba M10:
size-15.0"/type-TFT display/internal res-1024x768/colour
palette-16.77million
IBM R40:
size-14.1"/type-TFT/internal res-1024x768/colour palette-16.77m/also
screen illumination-backlit
Dell 600m:
size-14.1"/type-TFT/internal res-1024x768/colour palette-16.8m/

Point taken re the HD. Wasn't thinking straight. One other detail, the
M10 & R40 models both have a firewire port, whereas the 600m doesn't
seem to have one.

What do you think is the best bet? Thx Bryan

 

That's secondary. Very secondary. Total cost of ownership includes both
downtime, repairtime, and the usability. Low cost is silly if it means
low maintenance or poor quality, etc.

Ram is trivially cheap, and available anytime. You don't get the
principle: anything that you can change is not a CRITICAL element. You
can't change the keyboard and the screen, so they had better be right
first time, because it's the only time.

You must be in the states. Such things are not available elsewhere.

Any toshiba that needs a fan fixing in S. europe gets sent on a
six-week round trip to amsterdam. IBM will fix it in their local repair
center in two days.

And anyway, even IBM have to have the parts sent to them here, which
means that a US machine serviced locally will have to wait for parts. I
couldn't get a US keyboard for my X24, for example. UK was the nearest
possibility.

Peter

 

They're all under-specced for their size. There's no point in having a
14" or 15" screen if it's not at least 1280x1024 or more usually
1400x1050 (note aspect ratios).

Doesn't matter. I know of no use for a firewire port - the only serial
communications device I use on a laptop is the ethernet (wireless,
usually)! That's far faster.

I'd rule all three machines out on the grounds that the screen res is
insufficient.

Peter

 

Thanks Peter, George and Joe for your responses. Here are some of my
thoughts/clarifications arising from your comments.

(1) Cost - As Joe pointed out, cost is very important to me. My max
outlay is ideally about Euro 1600 (ex VAT - getting them through a
business contact) on each machine.

(2) Upgrading Display Res - Toshiba M10: Can't get local Irish info
just now.

IBM R40: No Centrino model with a screen res above 1024X768 listed on
the UK site within hundreds of euros of the model we are discussing.
The only option is a 2GHz Pentium 4M R40 with a 15" 1400x1050TFT
display but which is only 'Wi-Fi wireless upgradable' and obviously
non-Centrino. Cost: +65 Euro approx

Latitude 600m: Would have to upgrade to P-M 1.4GHz, 1400X1050 res,
SXGA+TFT
Cost: +150 Euro

Is it possible to survive with a screen res of 1024X768 - or should I
avoid at all costs, since, as Peter said, it's a critical element that
you can't change?

(3) IBM over Toshiba (in Europe)? Peter said "That's secondary. Very
secondary. Total cost of ownership includes both downtime, repairtime,
and the usability. Low cost is silly if it means low maintenance or
poor quality, etc"

Peter's point re Toshiba's support in Europe has put me worrying. Is
it better value to shell out the extra cash initially on an IBM model,
with better support, instead? (and, if so, what if I can't afford a
better screen res on an S40?! C.f. (2)) What are peoples' experiences
of notebooks by these companies?

(4) Buying extra RAM - RAM is a low priority. I'll invest in extra RAM
when I get the chance but other things come first (ideally good
design/keyboard, Centrino, DVD-CDRW, display, wireless etc) & RAM
isn't a prioity for my sis either.

Please continue to send advice. Your help is invaluable, and I'm
grateful for it. Thx again, Bryan

 

That's only his opinion. Not only it is possible "to survive", but a
lot of people actually dislike resolutions higher than 1024x768
because things become just too small.

 

Peter is right about the screen resolution being a critical element because
it can't be changed, but I'm not sure why resolutions above 1024x768 are
critical on a laptop of that size. If you really need higher resolution,
I'd recommend a larger screen. I think (you need to check) they all have
higher resolution available for external monitors.

It really depends upon the applications you'll be using. I have a Dell
Inspiron 600 and use some fairly graphics-intensive software. I got the 64
MB graphics card but purposely got the 1024x768 screen. The reason was that
laptops are a lot more readable when you run them at "native" resolution,
and I knew from experience that my old eyes and the projectors I plug into
would both be happier with the 1024x768 than with higher resolutions.
Higher resolutions are really difficult for most older projectors.

 

I don't know of anyone who does - but everyone FEARS that they will.
Then they get a machine and find that it's fine, because of the higher
dpi.

Incidentally, I have a 1024x768 screen myself, because I use a 12.1"
ultraportable. If I were looking for a heavier machine, I would be
looking for more resolution and a bigger screen. The ratio from
12.1" to 15" is just under 25%, so I would be looking for 50% more
pixels just to stay with the same size, so 1280x1024 would be just
as I have it now and 1400x1050 would be more tight-packed.

Peter