15.4", Civ4, some CAD, Excellent build quality, £1300-1500

[TimUK]

Hi there

This is a great forum and I've enjoyed reading a lot of posts over the past week or so. I hope you can assist me in finding the right machine

My profile ...

1) What is your budget?
Not particularly important but £1300-1500 is a sensible ceiling I think. I'm not looking to spend money for the sake of it but don't mind paying for quality kit.

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
Anything bigger would probably negate the purpose of having a notebook (at least to mind)

3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
Mostly internet and office tasks with a bit of gaming. Some Photoshop, AutoCAD, 3DS Max.

4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
Deskbound for probably >90% of the time but would need to be luggable for the odd trip. So let's say around 3.5kg maximum.

5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
Civilization 4 ... and that's about it! Civ 4 isn't massively demanding but I really want it to run smoothly on my notebook.

6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
None in particular but any company offering well built machines with a good warranty would get my vote. IBM/Lenovo would maybe be a little too corporate for me plus we get those at work anyway (but not for fun uses)

7) How many hours of battery life do you need?
Not that important. I guess sufficient to playback a DVD in one sitting would be good. So a couple of hours or so?

8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
I'm happy to buy online though some of the outlets don't fill me with a lot of confidence! There also seems to be a lot less flexibility with a notebook than when buying a desktop. I guess that's understandable to some extent.

9) Please select your country's flag as a post icon and tell us what country are you buying this in?
United Kingdom ... Canterbury in Kent to be specific.

Screen Specifics

10) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
Widescreen would be nice.

11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
e. WSXGA+ - 1680x1050; Wider viewing version of SXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.

Now I don't know if this is a fair test but I've been viewing my 19" CRT at this resolution for a while (85Hz refresh) to see how I find it. It's a bit of a struggle to be honest. Is a notebook screen at the same resolution likely to be easier on the eyes or should I just accept that I'm getting old and go for a lower res?

12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
I need to do some more reading up about this. Let's just say that at the moment I have no preference.


Build Quality and Design

13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
Understated elegance/professionalism please Failing that, anything that doesn't have garish badges/logos (e.g. no Acer Ferraris please!)

14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
Buying within the next month. I would like the machine to last for at least 3 years and hopefully a couple more. My Athlon 1400 desktop has been maintained for about 5 years and still does all I need it to do, as long as I'm patient It's much in demand at home as my partner is studying full time and I'm studying part-time hence the notebook purchase.

Notebook Components

15) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 160GB?
Around 100GB would be sensible I think.

16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD-ROM, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-RW drive?
Yes, anything that plays DVDs and CDs is fine. I'm not bothered about DVD authoring and do backups to a separate external HD.

Please state any additional features you need. If you don't know how to answer a question or don't care about what it is asking then just say so!

I tend to listen to a lot of streaming audio so it would be great to have something with decent internal speakers though I realise this isn't something that notebooks are famous for. For the same reason I want the notebook to be as quiet as possible (when not playing games). So no noisy optical drives or fans please.


I've had my eye on a couple of machines but don't want to sway the judges too much. I'm particularly interested to see whether the machines I've been looking at are overkill for my requirements.

All considered replies are much appreciated.

Thanks

Tim

[stamar]

samsung x60

[Charles P. Jefferies]

Now I don't know if this is a fair test but I've been viewing my 19" CRT at this resolution for a while (85Hz refresh) to see how I find it. It's a bit of a struggle to be honest. Is a notebook screen at the same resolution likely to be easier on the eyes or should I just accept that I'm getting old and go for a lower res?

Viewing a WSXGA+ resolution on a 15.4" screen is going to be a lot finer than on your 19" monitor; there are a lot more pixels per inch.

The Samsung X60 is a beautiful laptop; also take a look at the Zepto line of notebooks the Znote 2425W is particularly appealing.

[McNeally]

I am looking for a similar notebook. Till now I have selected these:

- hp nc8430 (15.4,atix1600, 2.7kg,matte screen, magnesium alloy)
- sony vaio FE (15.4,cored 2 duo,Nvidia g6600, 2.7kg,Xblack with double lamp screen, magnesium alloy, very good design)
- samsung x60 (15.4, 2.5 kg, ati x1600, glossy)
- asus FEJa (15.4, 2.8 kg, ati x1600, glossy)

Maybe these suggestions helps you.

[count_schemula]

Civ 4 ran fine on my GeForce5200 64MB, so, any newish video card will be fine.

For CAD, many seem to favor NVidia over ATI for its OpenGL implementation, but I'm not having any issues running Cinema 4d or 3d Studio Max on my X1400 with average/typical files.

[TimUK]

Thanks to all for the feedback. The X60 and NC8430 were top of my list so it's reassuring to see those names pop up. Haven't considered a Sony or Asus but will certainly take a look.

Edit - I've gone for the X60 and ordered through dabs.com who I have happily dealt with in the past. Looks like I'll have to be patient though, a delivery to their warehouse expected 15th November.