Charles Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16834220602 It is a bit heavy, but it looks like it's got a hybrid graphics card with an 8 cell battery.. Thinking that might be a nice compromise between a super powerful laptop and a netbook. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b0park Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 The UL series is pretty sick. You didn't mention a price range, so I'll throw this out there for you to check out. Alienware M11x. http://www.alienware.com/microsite/m11x/m11x.aspx Starts at $799 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b0park Posted February 7, 2010 Share Posted February 7, 2010 Forgot to mention, if you need an optical drive... Amazon has a deal right now, if you buy any of their UL series notebooks you get a free external optical drive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NegativeSpace Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16834220602 It is a bit heavy, but it looks like it's got a hybrid graphics card with an 8 cell battery.. Thinking that might be a nice compromise between a super powerful laptop and a netbook. Thoughts? I have the UL50AG, couldn't be happier with it. The form factor is one of the best I have ever seen. I wish that it had been available with a backlit keyboard, but I'm going to be adding one. The battery life is also the best I have ever seen with a laptop, and the weight is really not that bad, definitely lighter than some laptops with less powerful hardware. I think the main difference between the UL80 and UL50 is the fact that the UL50AG doesn't have dedicated switchable graphics, but I've never been a fan of laptop gaming, so I'd rather not have that. One thing you might want to be aware of is that these can come with 3 different batteries, 2 different 8 cells with one being a 4400 mah and the other being a 5600 mah. Also, don't forget to specify that you want one with the optional bluetooth, that is, if you want that, because it's not standard. The one thing that I positively do not like about that UL80 is the gloss finish on the bottom half of the case. Mine is rubberized, where the UL80 is piano black. The bezel on my monitor has the same finish as the bottom case in the 80, and it collects fingerprints like nothing I have ever seen. I mean it's even worse than the screen on my 5G iPod. My bezel already has some minor scratches on it just from wiping off the tiny dust particles with the purpose made screen cleaning cloth that came with my LCD TV, so if that doesn't avoid making scratches than I don't think anything will. That brings me to the heat generation. This thing stays absolutely cold. I can't attest to it's heat generation when resting on my legs because I don't ever use it that way, but I'm pretty sure that if I were to do that, it would be very comfortable. Some people have said that the SU7300 processor is underpowered, but I find it to be plenty fast and much more powerful than the 2.2 Ghz chip on my primary desktop. This is probably due to the overall architecture of the machine, which I think is pretty great. My recommendation is for you to check out the other offerings in the UL series before you decide on the UL80, make sure you get the 5600 battery, keep the bluetooth option in mind (especially since it's a cheap option), and use air duster on the bezel before you wipe it with nothing other than a microfiber/lcd cloth (and stay away from the microphone with the air duster). I would say that all of the UL series machines are great options, but definitely consider each variation carefully. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted February 8, 2010 Author Share Posted February 8, 2010 The only hitch that is preventing me from getting it is the switchable graphics and how well they would play with Linux. *headdesk* Other then that, I'm not sure how to tell which kind of battery they come with, since it doesn't say. I don't need bluetooth, so that isn't a problem either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NegativeSpace Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 The only hitch that is preventing me from getting it is the switchable graphics and how well they would play with Linux. *headdesk* Other then that, I'm not sure how to tell which kind of battery they come with, since it doesn't say. I don't need bluetooth, so that isn't a problem either. I'm not sure about the graphics switching, but I've heard that the graphics processor has to be chosen during POST, I guess by some key combo. One clue that might help figure this out, is that these machines come as dual booting machines with the secondary OS being a Linux based thing called ExpressGate (not sure whats its comparable to as far as other Linux OS's). They actually have 2 separate power buttons, one for each OS. Since they come with the 2 OS's, maybe the bios takes linux and switchable graphics into account and has the necessary abilities, though I couldn't imagine why the ExpressGate would need to have use of an nvidia card so I guess it could go either way. If you end up buying one of these, I highly recommend that you specify the 5600 battery, since these machines are made to be highly portable for what they are, and the extra battery power can make it that much more portable (even with the extra weight, which is very little). Also, from what I have read around the 'net, using the nvidia card on battery power will result in about 70% reduced battery life (WOW), so the bigger battery is pretty crucial if you want to use that card unplugged. I think that Darren has one of these UL notebooks, not sure which one, but I do know that it's the smaller size, something like 13 inches I believe. Maybe he could tell you more about the graphics card / Linux issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 I did find a group on launchpad for owners/users of those laptops. Looks like they've got around 75 members, There's a fix for turning off the dedicated card too. That's definitely a selling point for me, I'm probably going to be getting this one when I have the cash. EDIT: Looks like Newegg sells the 5600mAh battery for around 1120 bucks. *twitch* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKo Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Its not amazing (I only buy business class machines for quality and warranty reasons), but it looks like you will get plenty of bang for you buck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 Its not amazing (I only buy business class machines for quality and warranty reasons), but it looks like you will get plenty of bang for you buck. Do you have a recommendation on one of those? I'm pretty much open, the most I'd probably do with it is watch dvds and play crap like D2/browse the web. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKo Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 Latitude E6400, stock CPU, WXGA+ LCD, 4GB RAM, Intel 4500MHD *or* Quadro NVS 160M (your call), 250GB HDD with FreeFall sensor and a nbd on-site warranty for 3 years. More pricey, but well worth the extra IMHO, especially since anything that fails (if its hardware) will be replaced on-site, next business day by a Dell tech so no shipping it back to China for a quarter to get the keyboard changed. You can also get some *amazing* deals if you check out the Dell factory outlet ebay store or 3rd parties offering the same service. If you don't mind a scratched case or something like that, you can pick up Dell b-grade kit, fully certified and tested by Dell, for far below its sticker price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 Thanks! Onsite service sounds awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKo Posted February 9, 2010 Share Posted February 9, 2010 It is, I once drunkly dropped a laptop at a party and damaged the motherboard, Dell had a tech to my door less than 24hrs after I called support, who apologized for not getting to me earlier and replaced the motherboard and HDD in my kitchen. However, this is extra. Dell consumer support is fucking awful, I wouldn't touch them without onsite nbd, if you don't pay for this then Dell are possibly one of the worst places on the planet do deal with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted February 9, 2010 Author Share Posted February 9, 2010 Wow that's crazy. Which one did you get? I was eye-balling the "Upgrade to 3 Year ProSupport for End Users and 3 Year NBD On-Site Service " From the "3 Year Basic Limited Warranty and 3 Year NBD On-Site Service" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NegativeSpace Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 I did find a group on launchpad for owners/users of those laptops. Looks like they've got around 75 members, There's a fix for turning off the dedicated card too. That's definitely a selling point for me, I'm probably going to be getting this one when I have the cash. EDIT: Looks like Newegg sells the 5600mAh battery for around 1120 bucks. *twitch* I'm going to be ordering that battery tomorrow. I'm fairly certain that you made a typo with the 1120, haha. If not, I think I'll go to amazon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted February 10, 2010 Author Share Posted February 10, 2010 Rofl, Fat finger syndrome = failure. I'm really thinking about getting that Dell Latitude. Faster CPU, Backlit keyboard, better LCD and hopefully not much bloatware (since it's a business class laptop) Too bad it's almost 700 bucks more expensive then the Asus, but I don't think that's too bad, since it's got Windows 7 Pro, Core 2 Duo 2.53Ghz, 14.1" 1440x900 LCD, and whatnot. Smaller hard drive.. but meh. On-site support after remote diagnostics was the selling point. I don't want to have to deal with having to ship my shit back and have it get damaged or lost (haven't had it happen, but.. better safe then sorry) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NegativeSpace Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Rofl, Fat finger syndrome = failure. I'm really thinking about getting that Dell Latitude. Faster CPU, Backlit keyboard, better LCD and hopefully not much bloatware (since it's a business class laptop) Too bad it's almost 700 bucks more expensive then the Asus, but I don't think that's too bad, since it's got Windows 7 Pro, Core 2 Duo 2.53Ghz, 14.1" 1440x900 LCD, and whatnot. Smaller hard drive.. but meh. On-site support after remote diagnostics was the selling point. I don't want to have to deal with having to ship my shit back and have it get damaged or lost (haven't had it happen, but.. better safe then sorry) Yeah the 1.3 processor would be the one thing that I had pause about for the UL's, but now that I've been using one for a while, I have found that I can't tell a difference in real world working speed between the 1.3 C2Duo and the dual core 2.2 in my desktop. Then again, the RAM technology and other factors probably have something to do with that. I guess if I were to run benchmarking I would see some difference, but whatever that difference might be is made up for by the amazing battery life (I have yet to run my battery down below 85%). I guess it all come down to what is important to you in a mobile computer. If it's maximum speed, UL's probably aren't for you, but I don't think any machine in any weight class will out perform the UL50. I hope you get what you want! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted February 10, 2010 Author Share Posted February 10, 2010 I'm trying to decide between the two. The Dell offers a crapload more customization then the Asus. Maybe I'll be able to run a VM on it. O_o Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VaKo Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 I have a couple of E6400's, with 4GB, 2.8GHz CPU and 80GB SSD's (one runs ESXi and the other runs Hyper-V R2. Pro-Support covers everything, where as basic just covers hardware problems that weren't caused by the user. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charles Posted February 10, 2010 Author Share Posted February 10, 2010 I have a couple of E6400's, with 4GB, 2.8GHz CPU and 80GB SSD's (one runs ESXi and the other runs Hyper-V R2. Pro-Support covers everything, where as basic just covers hardware problems that weren't caused by the user. Hmm Thanks for the info. I wonder if that would be worth the extra 79 bucks. If I have a problem with the software I'd just reimage the machine and go from there. I spoke (live chat) with a dell rep and they quoted some pretty large battery life on both the E6400 and E6500, around 10 hours with a 9 cell battery. Plus you can add a slice for more battery life. That pretty cool. Not to mention that both the 14" and the 15.4" ones cost about the same.. so I'll probably be getting the 15.4" one. EDIT: Looks like I might just upgrade to the ProSupport, even if I probably won't need help with software, due to the "Quick, direct line access to North American-based technicians " and "Advanced (Level 2) technicians with additional hardware and/or software certifications." I hate dealing with level 1 techs who ask their basic script questions: Plugged in, turned on, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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