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Friday, April 29 2011
Looking at Laptops
[14:48:02] matt [wronka.org]/Psi.dementia Newegg has a G4 MacBook for $200. I was almost tempted to get this now that there are reverse-engineered (open) drivers for the WiFi card, and I don't hae a personal laptop. However, the G4 comes with only 512MB RAM and is 5.4 lbs--which surprisingly Dell considers close to an "ultra-lightweight" (<5 lbs) which is laughable.
The best options on Newegg are an EeePC at $290 in beautiful Hot Pink, and an IdeaPad in normal Black for something over $300. Both have very similar specs, with the IdeaPad providing a 5-in-1 card reader (with no indication of what's supported, e.g. SD, MMC, SD-HD could be counted as three of them) but a lower quality webcam--as if there's really a difference.
But presumably all of these come with glary screens. Lenovo has basically removed the configuration options on their laptops (some let you configure accessories, but the hardware on the models I found the configurator for were fixed--others just had "buy it now" links).
Dell still has a configurator, which makes you select everything in turn before seeing the next option, and with a "talk to a representative now!" box that falls from the top of the screen instilling the feeling of a Regis Long Pause right after you give your Final Answer. I don't even know what I could have configured because it was so incredibly annoying.
[14:48:02] matt [wronka.org]/Psi.dementia Newegg has a G4 MacBook for $200. I was almost tempted to get this now that there are reverse-engineered (open) drivers for the WiFi card, and I don't hae a personal laptop. However, the G4 comes with only 512MB RAM and is 5.4 lbs--which surprisingly Dell considers close to an "ultra-lightweight" (<5 lbs) which is laughable.
The best options on Newegg are an EeePC at $290 in beautiful Hot Pink, and an IdeaPad in normal Black for something over $300. Both have very similar specs, with the IdeaPad providing a 5-in-1 card reader (with no indication of what's supported, e.g. SD, MMC, SD-HD could be counted as three of them) but a lower quality webcam--as if there's really a difference.
But presumably all of these come with glary screens. Lenovo has basically removed the configuration options on their laptops (some let you configure accessories, but the hardware on the models I found the configurator for were fixed--others just had "buy it now" links).
Dell still has a configurator, which makes you select everything in turn before seeing the next option, and with a "talk to a representative now!" box that falls from the top of the screen instilling the feeling of a Regis Long Pause right after you give your Final Answer. I don't even know what I could have configured because it was so incredibly annoying.