Dan Crevier's Blog

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PC Laptops

There have been a series of gripes on PC laptops here, here, and here. I thought I'd share some thoughts of my own. Since joining the Windows group, I've been carrying around both my Apple TiBook, and a new Dell Inspiron 8600.  Yes, my bag is heavy. As cool as the TiBook looks, I actually like the form factor of the Dell better in a lot of ways. The TiBook is just too flimsy for me. For example, I don't feel like I could pick it up by one corner. The DVD drive seems to go nuts sometimes if it gets moved the wrong way. And, they are easily damaged if you drop them. Don't ask jud how many he's gone through! I actually liked my Apple Wallstreet. Nice and sturdy. I also like the higher resolution display on the Dell. The battery life is great too. I easily get 5 hours.

The sleep thing that others have mentioned is what really gets me too. Even though it eats the battery like crazy while sleeping, I love how quickly that it wakes up. Even in standby mode, my Dell takes a while to wake up. It takes even longer from hibernate. It also gets totally confused by network changes sometimes. Sometimes I have to reboot just to clear things up. I just checked 'uptime' on my PowerBook, and it's 41 days. It seems like the only time I restart it is when I install security patches and other updates (yes, I'm a little behind).

One thing I'd love to have on a laptop is a customizable LCD display that could be configured to show something when the machine is asleep. I remember some blog entries about that a couple months ago. I go to meetings in other buildings a lot these days. Frequently I get there and realize I forgot the room number. Or, I get there and I'm the only one there and I'm not sure if I'm in the wrong room, or am just the only one there on time. So, I have to pull out my laptop and wait for it to wake up. then, I have to figure out how to control-alt-delete while holding my laptop with one hand. Then I figure out the room number and put it back to sleep. I know I'm not the only one this has happened to, I've seen other people doing it! I wish I could have my calendar display on my laptop while my machine was asleep.

Published Sunday, April 04, 2004 10:47 PM by dancre

Comments

 

rux said:

But if you are in Windows group, you can't do Win32 coding or even .NET development on Apple laptops, rite ? That's my biggest grief so far.

Will getting a PDA help you to check the meeting details ?
April 4, 2004 11:16 PM
 

Jerry said:

I love the Ultra Bay feature of the IBM Thinkpads, normally there is the multi DVD Burner inside, but when I go on meetings I plug in the second battery and get another 90 Minutes or more.
April 5, 2004 12:12 AM
 

Edward said:

You want one of Paul Allen's new Machines.
It has an external screen for viewing outlook data and playing mp3s while in standby mode.
http://www.flipstartpc.com/aboutproduct_features_lidmodule.asp
April 5, 2004 1:18 AM
 

ray said:

I've found that most suspend/hibernate problems are related to using docking bays/port replicators.

If you use a dock, try using the undock, rather than suspend/hibernate un the shutdown menu.

If you don't use a dock, it is better to pull the network cable before suspending, so that Windows knows what network state it will be restarted in.

Hope this helps.
April 5, 2004 5:05 AM
 

Edward said:

Most new docking stations are USB based arn't they? My tablet PC is just grab-n-go.

The main issue I have is that my wireless connection fails to detect an alternate access point after restoring from hibernation. It only works about 3/4 of the time. The solution is to disable and reenable the wireless connection. It doesn't require a full reboot most of the time but it is more bother than it ought to be.
April 5, 2004 6:42 AM
 

Evan DiBiase said:

I currently have a 15" Aluminum Powerbook, but have been less than impressed with its build quality (I'm on my 4th replacement, and I just sent it in for *another* repair to fix screen issues) and I'll be doing Java development this summer, and have found Apple's Java implementation to have issues, especially with Swing.

In short, I'm looking at buying an Insipron 8600, as well. It seems possible to get quite a nice system (1.7GHz Pentium M, 80GB hard drive, DVD-R/CD-RW optical drive) for ~$2600 or so, but I've never actually owned an x86 laptop and am a bit wary, especially given all of the recent discussion.

The battery life and resolution of the Dell interest me greatly, but I am concerned about the build quality. Any further information/reassurance/comments you could provide about the difference between your two laptops would be greatly appreciated. Is there, for example, a reason that you wouldn't go with the Dell again, or a specific reason why you would (over, say, the TiBook, if you had to choose)?
April 6, 2004 7:39 PM
 

Dan Crevier said:

I've only had the Dell for a couple of months, but I've been happy with the quality. My wife got a 600m, which has also been nice. I mentioned the main problems I've had in my original post. I got the 60 GB 7200 RPM drive. The drive speed is great. I also upgraded to the better video card.

Yes, the flipstart was what I was thinking of. I'd love that feature.
April 6, 2004 7:44 PM
 

Jud Spencer said:

I've come to the conclusion that it isn't necessarily Mac laptops that I destroy, it's anything that has a flip-up lid. I just broke my Treo 300 as well. My current Mac, a 17" Aluminum Powerbook is much better than the old one. I've even dropped it once and the case didn't shatter this time.

It did have to go in to repair once. The battery ran all the way down and it wouldn't start back up.
April 7, 2004 9:17 AM
 

Dan Crevier s Blog PC Laptops | Insomnia Cure said:

PingBack from http://insomniacuresite.info/story.php?id=556

June 8, 2009 6:15 PM
 

Dan Crevier s Blog PC Laptops | porch swing said:

PingBack from http://fancyporchswing.info/story.php?id=3208

June 19, 2009 3:41 AM
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