Sale at Officemax...good deal?

markrs2000 · 08-13-2008, 08:48 PM

Gateway M-6847 15.4" Notebook PC - Garnet Red 320 GB INTEL Core 2 Duo 3072 MB 15.4" Widescreen Windows Vista Home Premium at OfficeMax

I'm looking for a good laptop for general use and am hoping to spend less than $1000. Is this a good deal, and does anyone have other recommendations?

Rutiene · 08-13-2008, 08:51 PM

I don't think that processor could even make full use of the memory.

It's not a bad deal. I'd say it's fairly well priced. I'd at least upgrade the CPU to 2.00GHz and the hard drive to 7200rpm, but that might jack up the price a fair bit.

BCEagle91 · 08-13-2008, 08:55 PM

32-bit Windows can use up to about 3.25 GB of RAM. The C2D at 1.67 Ghz may be a little slow.

diesel · 08-13-2008, 08:55 PM

i got the 14.1" version (t-1628) with pretty much the same specs, but got an amd(tl-60) processor rather than intel.

the speakers on it are junk, don't plan on using them for anything. and the little rubber feat on the bottom have fallen off.

other than that it's working good, and the hdmi out is nice to watch downloaded HD movies on a HDTV

Rutiene · 08-13-2008, 08:57 PM

Processor = CPU. So I think we're talking about the same thing BC.

Centrino processors are generally known to be terribad. And you'll be paying too much for the 3gigs of RAM that your processor isn't even capable of using. That's what I was trying to say, but not articulating at all.

archrival · 08-13-2008, 10:04 PM

This is a better computer in my opinion for your needs:
Gateway - Laptop with Intel® Centrino® Processor Technology - Pacific Blue - T-6836

It comes with a 64 bit OS so that all of your RAM will be used. Also, the processor is 64 bit capable too.
Plus it's cheaper.

dilksy · 08-13-2008, 10:40 PM

I don't think you can upgrade a laptop harddrive to 7200RPM. First of all, a 7200 rpm HD would run way too hot for a laptop, and second of all it'd need to be a 3.5" HD to run that fast, which wouldn't fit into a laptop.

BC's comment about memory has nothing to do with the processor not being able to keep up. 32 bit operating systems only have 4GB of memory addresses available, and certain pieces of hardware like graphics cards take up some of the memory addresses. So even if you have 4GB of memory and a 32 bit OS, the computer will only be able to address and effectively use roughly 3.25 GB of it. If you have a 64 bit OS, you can get up as high as 16 or 32 GB before possibly running in to issues.

Centrino isn't a processor, it refers to a collection of things like processor, chipset, battery life, wireless capabilities, etc.

Personally, between the two I'd go with the one archrival posted. Vista64 does have issues with compatibility for certain programs, but probably none you'd ever use for "general usage".

excelblue · 08-14-2008, 02:18 PM

Yeah, I'd also go with the one that archival posted. It beats the OfficeMax one in almost every aspect, including price.

Though, there are a few things I do have to mention to all of you:

1.) 7200rpm HDs are available in the small form factor for laptops. I've personally seen it in a few. Though, I would not recommend them because of the heat issue. It'll work, but getting first-degree burns on your lap while using it is counter-productive. These days, even 10000rpm HDs exist for desktops and run just fine.

2.) Increasing from 32bit to 64bit actually multiplies the address space by 2^32 (approx 4 billion) times. Therefore, you wouldn't run into issues until you get to 16EB, or 16,000,000,000 GB, of RAM. We won't see that anytime soon.

3.) All Core 2 Duos are 64bit-capable. That's because they're all based on the same general design. In fact, down at the basics, you'll only have four or five different chips, differing mostly in manufacturing process, power consumption, and cache. The different speeds come from ratings in QA tests. This is precisely what makes overclocking possible.

Other than that, all I have to say is - if it does your job well, go for it. If you don't do anything heavy (eg. CAD, gaming, compiling), you'll be far-fetched in finding much of a difference between 1.67GHz and 2.5GHz. This applies even more to RAM.

Chipmoney · 08-15-2008, 02:16 AM

Quote:

I don't think you can upgrade a laptop harddrive to 7200RPM. First of all, a 7200 rpm HD would run way too hot for a laptop, and second of all it'd need to be a 3.5" HD to run that fast, which wouldn't fit into a laptop.

ummm...no

you can get 7200 RPM drives in sizes of up to 320 GB as of right now. They do run warmer and take a little bit more power to run, but it's not a huge difference from the 5400 RPM drives

techninja · 08-16-2008, 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rutiene

Centrino processors are generally known to be terribad. And you'll be paying too much for the 3gigs of RAM that your processor isn't even capable of using. That's what I was trying to say, but not articulating at all.

Are you recommending Turion Mobile instead?

The Centrino system is de facto for notebooks nowadays...

And as for 64-bit Vista, I'd go against it. I've used Vista since before it went RTM (back during RC1), and the thing about 64-bit Vista is that it has difficulty taking drivers that aren't signed correctly. This resulted in my out-of-date keyboard and too-new-for-Vista NIC being rejected...

It also limits your options for some software, such as PeerGuardian. I haven't checked in a while, but their hacked network driver had some issues.

Edit: But of course, there's Linux.

Rutiene · 08-16-2008, 06:59 AM

There's no Vista version at all for PeerGuardian. But I agree, 64-bit will limit your software very much beyond what Vista would.

(But using Linux would only heighten that problem, not solve it.)

PS: The Centrino thing is my bad. I got that confused with something else.

techninja · 08-16-2008, 07:30 AM

Going off-topic a bit, Vista is able to run PeerGuardian, the old version (Windows 95/98, I think), but you need to put in a different (unsigned) network driver and what not. Vista 64-bit doesn't allow that... Of course, it wasn't as efficient, either.

cfen17 · 09-03-2008, 11:37 AM

Vista 64's compatibility problems are nowhere near as bad as they were when Vista was first released. I put Vista 64 on my desktop with 4GB of ram and it is butter smooth and so far I have had no compatibility problems, not even with drivers.