Okay, it's time to trash the old notebook. A whopping 380 mhz, the DVD drive died last time I used it and I checked the replacement part for it and it's $488.00, just for the part ... I get to take everything apart.

So, problem solved, sell on EBay for parts

But I'm now looking at a new one and I"ll probabaly go with a Dell that I'll pair up with a expansion dock to double as the home machine as well..

Here's what I'm looking at:

Catalog Number Description Product Code SKU
Latitude C840: Mobile Pentium® 4 Processor,2.4Ghz-M 15.0 UltraSharp™ UXGA C240 [221-2071]
Memory: 512MB SDRAM for the price of 256MB! (mail-in rebate not available) 512MZ [461-4714]
Video Memory: Nvidia® GeForce4 440 GoTM card with 64 MB DDR video memory 64VM [320-0231]
Hard Drive: 40GB Hard Drive, 9.5MM, 5400RPM 405400 [340-3964]
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Service Pack 1¹² XPHSP1 [420-2018]
Fixed Optical Device Options: Internal 8-24-10-24X SWDVD/CDRW Combo I24CMBO [313-1175]
Microsoft® Office: Dell Latitude Notebook NOMSBE [461-8702]
Module Bay Devices: 24X max/10X min CD-ROM Drive CD24 [313-0249]
Hardware Support Services: 3Yr Mail-In Service T3YRR [950-8540][950-8542]
File Systems: NTFS,FILE SYSTEM,WIN NT/2K/XP NTFS [420-0153]


Anyone have a Latitude 840??? Inspiron with the new large screen doesn't offer two optical drives, and we like to burn a little ...

How 'bout the docking stations for this one (slightly more than the std. replicator)??

Thanks for any help!! And no, Parker, no apples

Bob,

Our Company uses Dell Laptops exclusively, I have a Latitude Cpx, 1.2mhz with 20gb, 512mb RAM and love it. Almost the equivalent to the consumer version you are buying. They are sweet machines and I think you can't go wrong with a "Dude, it's a Dell!"

The Docking stations are pretty standard... I would certainly get one if you are planning to use one of those little multiplexor things so you can use one monitor-keyboard-mouse for each system you are running.

I have also heard good things about the Dell laptops. I do not own one personally but many of my friends do and love them.

DELL is a fine fine product...customer support is outstanding. You can't really do any better, just par maybe. An excellent machine as well!

Port replication and docking are different things, so I am not sure what you are looking to do. Port rep is merely just bringing out the ports to some connector that you can leave connected up and don't have to connect each time you get to your desk. Docking using a a high speed bus to access remote storage devices, desktop graphics cards, and other desktop add in features. Unless you need more storage than you got , or if you are a big 3D gamer then replication does most of what anybody needs nowadays.

now the feature that is awesome is wireless, 802.11B. I went wireless at home 2 years ago, and I roam the property freely. My wife also has a notebook and when she was on bedrest with our 2nd baby she used it all the time.

You can get there pretty cheaply these days, and it brings a whole new world of access to you!!

gus

If interested, please check out my recent post about hooking a GPS to a computer. The "computers" I was referring to are laptops, with the idea that you would go a-sailing with the laptop in hand.

Yes Dell is a good desktop for general uses never tried a notebook dell before, the only thing I can say i would worry about is that dell and gateway (desktop and notebooks) our a unique design so it can be a little more $ for simple hardware upgrades.
Do one favor for me before you buy check cons. ratings against a dell and toshiba of the same equivelant before you buy I did and for 2 yrs. now ny toshiba laptop has not let me down.

p.s. my upgrades are dirt cheap.

For the money Dell makes a decent laptop. But if you want a better system both Sony and IBM use better components. If you don't mind spending a little more, you should check them out. Sony and IBM also make some systems that are sleaker and lighter if you plan to pack it around alot.

Bob, I have a C640 in almost the identical configuration. The only real difference is the display size and the video card.

If you have the money to spend, you really can't go wrong with this laptop. I have my running XP Pro. This way, I can run IIS and do all my web development on one machine.

You can save some money and get a comperable machine if you go with something like a vpr Matrix (Best Buy brand). One of my devs just bought one of these and it is a very good machine for the price.

I have owned Dell, IBM, Sony, and Toshiba laptops. I tend to lean toward the Dell machines but would have no problem buying another Toshiba.

Any way you go, the configuration you list is one heck of a computer. As far as docking, I have a C/DocII. I like this mainly because of the 2 PCI expansion slots. I currently have a video capture card in one slot.

Apple 17" PowerBook.

<DROOL>

"Get a Mac...."



Fine, be that way! Actually, you can't really go wrong with any of the major players such as Dell, Gateway, IBM, Sorny, or Toshiba. It all comes down to user preference and the goodies you do or don't want with your laptop.

Ideally, you'd get a chance to sit down at the one you wanted to buy so that you can verify that you can indeed type on the keyboard, as keyboards are not standardized or the same size. That especially holds true for laptops.

Yeah, we have quite a few Dell laptops here and they are fine...mostly. A few have some design issues, but since they change their lineups so often, unless I saw it personally, I'd have no way of knowing if what you are getting is good or bad.

fyi: all notebooks use unique components, there are no standards each OEM makes their own plastics. All of the HDD, CD and floppy mechanism are the shared, but how they are packaged are different. Cooling systems, motherboards, etc.. are all unique.

As far as quality...MMmmmm you would have to point to a specific piece of equipement, but you can't make that arguement as a blanket statement. I have had them all, and work with all of the companies in moile design, they all use differing qualities of parts. I have had Toshiba boxes break as well, as IBM, Sony etc... The customer support will be want you want to work well, and with the major players in the notebook world you have a good product no matter what. Drop down the list and you might have problems.

dell also makes some sleek products, as do each of the big 5 OEMS.

If you value traveling and battery life.. then the CMT machines are going to be outstanding as well as high performance for the Ghz.

gus

Thanks for the input! I had briefly looked into some of the Toshibas, Winbooks, Gateways, Sony, and IBM's.

I really liked the option of having two optical drives one cd, other cdrw so I could burn on it w/o hooking up an external drive. It seems as this options is tough to find.

Many also only had USB based replicators with a minimum of ports and options (I will need serial ... I know it's old, but it's how the RainForest Cam connects).

I'll dig some more and let y'all know what I end up doing

I would NOT buy another Gateway. Every time I call them, they want my VISA or MC to charge me in order to answer my question.

I think Dell is much better.

Bob

I have a Lattitude with the docking station for work and this big Dell desktop to irritate everybody on your website with....The Dell battery lasts a long time and the screen is great...Mine is super thin too and real fast..I have it set up with a separate keyboard as the laptop sits up on the docking station and my fingers are too damn big for the laptop mouse and keyboard. I haven't taken it on the boat to see if the screen washes out in the sun but I want to hook it up to the GPS mapping and maybe a satellite feed to work so I can stay on the boat more often. It's a real problem though when you are talking business on the cell phone and sopmeone in the background yells: "FISH ON!"....Dell is tops in service I understand as I have never had to use it. Lots for the money.

The Dell Latitude CPX series has a huge 14 inch screen, a Pentium 3 processor, and a TV out-put port. You can take this unit on your boat, hook it up to your GPS for nav info, hook it up to a small TV to watch a movie (on how to catch fish), hook it up to your digital camera to view pics, compose E-mails. execute tide prediction programs, and........

The CPX with 700 MHz processor can be had for about 500 bucks on E-bay.

bob, not sure why you need two optical drives to copy CDs... the SW I use just sucks up the first CDROM, you swap the blank CDs in and then burn as many as you want from that image now on the HDD?
gus

Bob,

What you really want is a panisonic toughbook. You can take a CF-28 Start typing, fold it up and drive your truck over it and it'll keep going. I've always dreamed of owning one but they are pretty spendy. They're made for military and police use. They're water resistant, ruggedized tanks. But if someone buys, make sure you get the 20 or 70 series laptops. They're the rugged ones, the 20 moreso than the 70's.

I just think it'd be cool to have a laptop I could take fishing with me. You can also get them with Cellular modems built into them. My last place of employment used nothing but IBM pc's and laptops. I never had any problems with mine eventhough it was old.

Toshiba makes an excellent laptop also.