Heresy! Need Recommendation for Lightweight Non-Thinkpad

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ArtShapiro · #1 Post by **ArtShapiro** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 1:25 pm

Please don't shoot the messenger, OK? I love my Thinkpads.

My wife is a perpetual student; it avoids her having to have gainful employment and contribute to the household!

A couple years ago she decided it was time to have a laptop. I had just upgraded from a T30 to my current T42, so I was pleased to give her the T30.

She flat out just didn't like it. I don't remember the specifics, and she'd never had any expressed issues with our many desktops, so it was quite surprising to have her dislike the Thinkpad. I ended up getting her a Dell C610, which she is still using, and it's actually a fairly nice machine. The Dell Latitudes (their business class of machine) seem to be decent, and I ended up purchasing another C610 for my technically-illiterate sister. They were available on eBay, decently equipped, for under $500.

The problem is that she's now at a bigger and hillier campus (Cal State Fullerton) and is unhappy with the weight of the C610, much as she likes the machine itself. Apparently dragging it all over creation is getting to her. She has asked if I could conjure up a nice computer that is lighter. I guess, sadly, that an IBM X-?? is out.

Any thoughts out there? I don't need anything remotely approaching the cutting edge; again something that I can get for $400 or $500 with a lucky break on eBay would be ideal for her modest use - Firefox, MS Word, and the like. Her vision isn't fantastic, so if it were a 12.1" screen I'm sure that bottom-of-the-line 1024x768 resolution would be a benefit, not a liability.

Thanks for any pontification.

Art

#2 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 2:17 pm

There are various X30 http://tinyurl.com/3bnpdo and X31 http://tinyurl.com/2t4glr around on eBay.

ArtShapiro · #3 Post by **ArtShapiro** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 2:34 pm

RealBlackStuff wrote:There are various X30 http://tinyurl.com/3bnpdo and X31 http://tinyurl.com/2t4glr around on eBay.

Thanks, of course, but my point was that if she didn't like the T series, she was unlikely to appreciate an X.

Art

jamerslong · #4 Post by **jamerslong** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 7:16 pm

I would be sneaky with my wife and buy her an X41 Tablet Pc just to make her like the thinkpad.

but if she dosent mind an older laptop i have 2 good suggestions.

1St is a toshiba Portege, the older PII's are very nice and still go for a decent price.

another would be a Compaq Evo (i know compaq is generally crap but Evo's are actually decent laptops.)

But these are the older cheaper laptops.

as for newer laptops, Toshiba is still decent stuff i have owned 3 toshibas.

Dell has never been a praise in my book, but my mother bought me one so i have to live with it.

#5 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 11:18 pm

Your wife does not like the weight of a T30. The X30/31 are a lot lighter!
T30=6.7Lbs
X30=3.5Lbs.

ArtShapiro · #6 Post by **ArtShapiro** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 11:37 pm

RealBlackStuff wrote:Your wife does not like the weight of a T30.

No, you misunderstood! The weight of her Dell (or of any computer) wasn't an issue until recently.

The reason she didn't like the T30 wasn't the weight - it was some sort of intangible that I can't recall if I ever knew it in the first place. Sometimes someone just doesn't like something because - well, just because.

I'd love to pick up a bargain X30, 31, or 40. But based on the past experience, another brand is going to be the product of choice.

Art

pianowizard · #7 Post by **pianowizard** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:36 am

I've owned MANY laptops, and two of my all-time favorites are both non-Thinkpads, fairly light, and can be had for around $400 to $600 on eBay from time to time:

1) HP nc2400: 3.16 lbs with 3-cell battery (lasts up to 3 hours), 3.88 lbs with 9-cell battery (lasts around 7 hours), 12.1" 1280x800 matte screen, integrated optical drive. See my review of this laptop.

2) Dell Inspiron 700m: 4.15 lbs with small battery, 12.1" 1280x800 glossy screen, integrated optical drive.

#8 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:50 am

Sorry, that was not clear from the start.
Not wanting a Thinkpad is indeed almost sacrilege here.
The only 12.1" that I could recommend as an alternative, would be the older Compaq Armada M300.
They are slightly underpowered and have limited expandability, but they last and last.
366-600Mhz, max 392RAM, 12.1"
No internal CD/DVD, needs docking station with CD/DVD
Several going on eBay, such as this

jamerslong · #9 Post by **jamerslong** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 5:40 pm

compaq Armadas have been under my scope for a while, but i never bought one. deffinately worth giving a shot.

if you think about a compaq just Avoid the older persarios as they are the cheapest most unreliable devices ever known to the computing world, Aside from Acer.

jamiphar · #10 Post by **jamiphar** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 8:53 pm

I had an Armada M700 for a while. It was basically Compaq's version of the T20, but a bit thinner. It had the best non-ThinkPad trackpoint I've ever used. It got over 4 hours runtime using only the multibay battery, too.

ThinkPad · #11 Post by **ThinkPad** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:06 pm

I have been hearing good things about the Dell XPS 1330 http://www.dell.com/content/products/pr ... =dhs&cs=19

pianowizard · #12 Post by **pianowizard** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 9:56 pm

ThinkPad wrote:I have been hearing good things about the Dell XPS 1330

But it's way beyond the OP's budget.

ArtShapiro · #13 Post by **ArtShapiro** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:13 pm

But it's way beyond the OP's budget.

I'm the OP. Learning about some of those models, more expensive than is needed for my wife, certainly can't hurt.

Looking up reviews of the HP NC2400 model recommended earlier has led me via a circuitous path to a Gateway product called the E-100M that has received some quite positive comments. So I now have several different brands/models to monitor for a while. This is not an immediate or urgent purchase; when the right deal pops forth, I'll strike.

Art, appreciative of all the input

ThinkPad · #14 Post by **ThinkPad** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:31 pm

I missed out the price part. The XPS would be out of the price range, for $500 you might find a deal on an x-41 but thats an IBM again...

I remember getting my girl a T-60 and she really did not like it. She was not interested in the performance aspect, and said it looked dull and boring. So I got her a dell inspiron with a pink screen top; she was happy.

ajkula66 · #15 Post by **ajkula66** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 10:45 pm

How about new Lenovo IdeaPad 110? That should fit the bill in more ways than one?

qviri · #16 Post by **qviri** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 11:02 pm

ThinkPad wrote:I have been hearing good things about the Dell XPS 1330 http://www.dell.com/content/products/pr ... =dhs&cs=19

Funnily enough, the backlight on a friend's five-month-old M1330 just died yesterday.

wearetheborg · #17 Post by **wearetheborg** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 5:30 am

ArtShapiro wrote:
But it's way beyond the OP's budget.
I'm the OP. Learning about some of those models, more expensive than is needed for my wife, certainly can't hurt.

Looking up reviews of the HP NC2400 model recommended earlier has led me via a circuitous path to a Gateway product called the E-100M that has received some quite positive comments. So I now have several different brands/models to monitor for a while. This is not an immediate or urgent purchase; when the right deal pops forth, I'll strike.

Art, appreciative of all the input

There are some very good deals on the 1330, ubder $900 shipped.

Heresy! Need Recommendation for Lightweight Non-Thinkpad

Heresy! Need Recommendation for Lightweight Non-Thinkpad

Not an Xxx

That's Not What I Said!

Re: Heresy! Need Recommendation for Lightweight Non-Thinkpa

Yes, But Interesting

Re: Yes, But Interesting

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