Great deal on tuning laptops for my nogs.
12-16-2008, 09:03 PM
#14
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Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 230
Re: Great deal on tuning laptops for my nogs.
Not bad, I just recently purchased the ACER aspire one netbook strictly for crome tuning. I will say it's fast and tunes my honda great no problem. I only paid 350 forr mine at staples and its got a gig of ram.
12-16-2008, 11:02 PM
#15
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 0
Re: Great deal on tuning laptops for my nogs.
I'm rockin an acer that i picked up in the fall from newegg for 450 shipped. 2gb ram, 1.9ghz processor, 120 gb harddrive. Dunno how good that is, but its more than enough for my needs, and its been sweet so far-- no problems at all
12-16-2008, 11:13 PM
#16
1.0 BAR
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 340
Re: Great deal on tuning laptops for my nogs.
I got a refurbished Inspiron 1525 for like $400 on Dell's site. Looked online for a coupon and got 25% off or some ----. Pretty decent computer for dirt cheap. Came with Vista and a 1 year warranty.
12-25-2008, 11:16 PM
#17
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Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 0
Re: Great deal on tuning laptops for my nogs.
what ya think
http://www.dell.com/content/products...=19&l=en&s=dhs
http://www.dell.com/content/products...=19&l=en&s=dhs
12-25-2008, 11:44 PM
#18
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 0
Re: Great deal on tuning laptops for my nogs.
My first criticism is a 9" screen, vs the 10". As things get smaller an inch really means a lot in terms of viewable area, as well as chassis size which dictates how big the keyboard is. The kid's 10" Ideapad is easy for my to type on, but when I stop to think about it it's just barely. If you are a big dude, or a fat *** like Spiker, you might have a little difficulty with the Ideapad... no clue exactly how big that Dell's keyboard is, but I wouldn't want to go any smaller on screen size. /
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* having just compared, the Dell is an 8.9" vs the Lenovo's 10.2" screen. Both are 1024X600 resolution.
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Now, dollar for dollar you are at a disadvantage with that Dell in terms of performance. The processor is the same (Atom 1.6 Ghz, it's pretty snappy vs the sub-1Ghz Celeron Asus units I played with at Best buy that were about as shitty as a Vista Brick laptop with a mere gig of RAM that grinds forever before doing anything) - but the OS and HDD are not. At $350 with Dell you get a linux computer that has to be wiped if you want to tune (it can be done but is a hassle and requires a little setup so you can install XP via thumb drive) and it comes with a 4Gb flash hard drive (very small, but you will never hurt it by tossing it around or vibrating it, flash HDD are one of the things that purists like about netbooks) whereas the Lenovo Ideapad comes with XP home and an 80 Gb traditional hard drive. /
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To get that same Dell with XP for $399 you can get the Ideapad with a full 1 gig RAM and a 160 Gb HDD. Really no comparison.//
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The only thing the Dell does better (aside from indestructable if tiny flash HDD) is battery life. 4 hours out of their 4 cell vs the Lenovo's 2.5 hours/3 cell.
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Also, there has been some complaint of it being VERY difficult to get at a netbook's HDD and RAM in order to upgrade... this might be in re older 7" Asus offerings and the like, then again it might also be in re the 9-10" units so buyer beware... but I speak from experience that the Ideapad has an easy access panel on the bottom where you can get to HDD and RAM if needed./
/
/
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Other thoughts:/
/
I'm not entirely happy with the netbook's screen size if I had to use it for tuning. I spent a number of years with a 800X600, then 1024X768 resolution 15" screen before I became spoiled by the new Thinkpad's 1680X1050 15" widescreen, so I might come off as a whiny mcsissypants in that respect to anyone who is tuning on a regular machine. I don't think I'd have a problem with the screen size if I hadn't spent the last year on my T61./
/
Also, I'd strongly consider grabbing a unit with 1 gig RAM (or upgrading one of the 512Mb units). As they come shipped the OS takes up 180 Mb of memory upon startup, and one good instance of IE with a big page or a couple tabs open and you are pushing 480-500Mb and the unit starts to slow a hair as it's pushing stuff that should be easily and quickly accessed via RAM through it's slower HDD based pagefile. Realistically, reformating one of these units with a lightened version of XP Pro that only occupies ~48 Mb of RAM upon startup is probably mandatory for best performance.
/
* having just compared, the Dell is an 8.9" vs the Lenovo's 10.2" screen. Both are 1024X600 resolution.
/
Now, dollar for dollar you are at a disadvantage with that Dell in terms of performance. The processor is the same (Atom 1.6 Ghz, it's pretty snappy vs the sub-1Ghz Celeron Asus units I played with at Best buy that were about as shitty as a Vista Brick laptop with a mere gig of RAM that grinds forever before doing anything) - but the OS and HDD are not. At $350 with Dell you get a linux computer that has to be wiped if you want to tune (it can be done but is a hassle and requires a little setup so you can install XP via thumb drive) and it comes with a 4Gb flash hard drive (very small, but you will never hurt it by tossing it around or vibrating it, flash HDD are one of the things that purists like about netbooks) whereas the Lenovo Ideapad comes with XP home and an 80 Gb traditional hard drive. /
/
To get that same Dell with XP for $399 you can get the Ideapad with a full 1 gig RAM and a 160 Gb HDD. Really no comparison.//
/
The only thing the Dell does better (aside from indestructable if tiny flash HDD) is battery life. 4 hours out of their 4 cell vs the Lenovo's 2.5 hours/3 cell.
/
Also, there has been some complaint of it being VERY difficult to get at a netbook's HDD and RAM in order to upgrade... this might be in re older 7" Asus offerings and the like, then again it might also be in re the 9-10" units so buyer beware... but I speak from experience that the Ideapad has an easy access panel on the bottom where you can get to HDD and RAM if needed./
/
/
/
Other thoughts:/
/
I'm not entirely happy with the netbook's screen size if I had to use it for tuning. I spent a number of years with a 800X600, then 1024X768 resolution 15" screen before I became spoiled by the new Thinkpad's 1680X1050 15" widescreen, so I might come off as a whiny mcsissypants in that respect to anyone who is tuning on a regular machine. I don't think I'd have a problem with the screen size if I hadn't spent the last year on my T61./
/
Also, I'd strongly consider grabbing a unit with 1 gig RAM (or upgrading one of the 512Mb units). As they come shipped the OS takes up 180 Mb of memory upon startup, and one good instance of IE with a big page or a couple tabs open and you are pushing 480-500Mb and the unit starts to slow a hair as it's pushing stuff that should be easily and quickly accessed via RAM through it's slower HDD based pagefile. Realistically, reformating one of these units with a lightened version of XP Pro that only occupies ~48 Mb of RAM upon startup is probably mandatory for best performance.
12-26-2008, 12:01 AM
#20
0.0 BAR
Join Date: Nov 2008
Posts: 0
Re: Great deal on tuning laptops for my nogs.
How about these? Asus EEE PC $369 10" screen, 266mm(W) x 191.2mm(D) x 38mm(H)
http://eeepc.asus.com/global/product1000ha.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...A_Netbook.html
Only thing I see kinda fucked up is no CD/DVD drive
http://eeepc.asus.com/global/product1000ha.html
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc...A_Netbook.html
Only thing I see kinda fucked up is no CD/DVD drive
