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  • Help Me Choose A Notebook

    Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator

    Updated: Oct 22, 2024
    Views: 1.2K
    Hello CEans,

    I've been surveying notebooks since long and then thought of starting a thread on our CE forum.

    My requirements are as follows -
    • It should run Windows Vista with ARIA
    • It should run MS Office 2007
    • It should weigh not more than 2.5 kgs 😁
    • It should have a battery life of at least 3 hours
    • A megapixel camera would be an added advantage.
    So, for above requirements I'd need a notebook with -
    • 1 GB of Memory
    • Min 60 GB of Hard Disk (I don't store movies or GBs of songs on HDD)
    • 12" or 14" screen
    I'd love to have Bluetooth & DVD writer as well. Wi-fi support is a must.

    Let me know the options available. Moreover, I've heard about 'Firewire' port. Any clue what is its use?

    Yeh, the notebook should not cost more than $1500. 😉

    -The Big K-
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  • vibhor_one

    Member • Feb 2, 2007

    The_Big_K
    Hello CEans,

    I've been surveying notebooks since long and then thought of starting a thread on our CE forum.

    My requirements are as follows -
    • It should run Windows Vista with ARIA
    • It should run MS Office 2007
    • It should weigh not more than 2.5 kgs 😁
    • It should have a battery life of at least 3 hours
    • A megapixel camera would be an added advantage.
    So, for above requirements I'd need a notebook with -
    • 1 GB of Memory
    • Min 60 GB of Hard Disk (I don't store movies or GBs of songs on HDD)
    • 12" or 14" screen
    I'd love to have Bluetooth & DVD writer as well. Wi-fi support is a must.

    Let me know the options available. Moreover, I've heard about 'Firewire' port. Any clue what is its use?

    Yeh, the notebook should not cost more than $1500. 😉

    -The Big K-
    Mr. Big_K,

    I may suggest you for new model of TOSHIBA notebook Satellite A100-2212E model no. PSAARL-03S004 as per your requirement. Specifications are as follows:-

    1. Intel Centrino Duo with core 2 duo processor (1.6GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)
    2. Windows Vista Home Edition
    3. 512MB DDR2 SDRAM
    4. 120GB SATA HDD
    5. DVD+/-RW
    6. IEEE 1394 port
    7. Bluetooth
    8. upto your economy

    I feel that is sufficent enough to satisfy your hunger & passion for notebook.

    Regards

    vibhor_one
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Feb 2, 2007

    vibhor_one
    Mr. Big_K,

    I may suggest you for new model of TOSHIBA notebook Satellite A100-2212E model no. PSAARL-03S004 as per your requirement. Specifications are as follows:-

    1. Intel Centrino Duo with core 2 duo processor (1.6GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 533MHz FSB)
    2. Windows Vista Home Edition
    3. 512MB DDR2 SDRAM
    4. 120GB SATA HDD
    5. DVD+/-RW
    6. IEEE 1394 port
    7. Bluetooth
    8. upto your economy

    I feel that is sufficent enough to satisfy your hunger & passion for notebook.

    Regards

    vibhor_one
    Thanks a ton, vibhor one. I'd like to know if the notbook heats up. Also one of the most important factors is weight.

    After lot of rearch I'm almost settled on Dell's XPS 1210 model. But would like to have a look at other options as well.

    -The Big K-
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  • vibhor_one

    Member • Feb 3, 2007

    The_Big_K
    Thanks a ton, vibhor one. I'd like to know if the notbook heats up. Also one of the most important factors is weight.

    After lot of rearch I'm almost settled on Dell's XPS 1210 model. But would like to have a look at other options as well.

    -The Big K-
    Dear Big K,

    I would like to help you anytime but I am unable to answer for weight and heating of notebook, you can check them yourself.

    Regards

    vibhor_one
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Feb 3, 2007

    vibhor_one
    Dear Big K,

    I would like to help you anytime but I am unable to answer for weight and heating of notebook, you can check them yourself.

    Regards

    vibhor_one
    Thanks & its so nice of you to offer your help. In connection with the thread, I'd like to know a little about following -

    Most of the notebooks are available with an OS preinstalled. The manufacturer also provides a recovery disk which you can use in case your system goes down. The bad thing about having an OS preinstalled on a drive which occupies all your disk space is that it is not configurable.

    I'd like to create partitions and install Linux on one of the partitions. Is it possible using recovery disks that come with the system? I hope I've explained the query well.

    Anyone? 😁

    -The Big K-
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  • vibhor_one

    Member • Feb 3, 2007

    The_Big_K
    Thanks & its so nice of you to offer your help. In connection with the thread, I'd like to know a little about following -

    Most of the notebooks are available with an OS preinstalled. The manufacturer also provides a recovery disk which you can use in case your system goes down. The bad thing about having an OS preinstalled on a drive which occupies all your disk space is that it is not configurable.

    I'd like to create partitions and install Linux on one of the partitions. Is it possible using recovery disks that come with the system? I hope I've explained the query well.

    Anyone? 😁

    -The Big K-
    Hi Big K😁 ,

    I would like to tell you that recovery software is of various types like ones that recovery data & OS which are different in their respective ways. Thus you must satisfy with yourself that it recovery data or an OS. In this respect I would like to tell that I deal with such software solution. For more on that you may ask me...

    Regards,

    vibhor_one
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Feb 4, 2007

    Thanks Vibhor, I bought HP Pavilion desktop few months back & it comes with a recovery CD. The bad part is, its the same CD which has OS installables. I'm aware of the 'Recovery Partition'.

    The question is, with a recovery CD (like the one which comes with HP), is it possible to customize the OS installation. I tried recovering the system, but the user is not presented with many options while recovering the system.

    I'd like to have a control while installing. Tell me if this is possible.

    Thanks a ton for help 😀

    -The Big K-
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  • vibhor_one

    Member • Feb 4, 2007

    The_Big_K
    Thanks Vibhor, I bought HP Pavilion desktop few months back & it comes with a recovery CD. The bad part is, its the same CD which has OS installables. I'm aware of the 'Recovery Partition'.

    The question is, with a recovery CD (like the one which comes with HP), is it possible to customize the OS installation. I tried recovering the system, but the user is not presented with many options while recovering the system.

    I'd like to have a control while installing. Tell me if this is possible.

    Thanks a ton for help 😀

    -The Big K-
    Hi Big K,

    It is good know that you finally got your notebook & for the part of recovering I will consult with a friend of mine who is dealing in HP notebooks. But you must tell me your notebook's model number & any detail as requried.

    Regards

    vibhor_one
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Feb 4, 2007

    That was about Desktop, Vibhor 😀 . I'm yet to buy a notebook. I was talking about the standard recovery disk that comes with every HP desktop. Note that the same recovery disk has the OS setup files in it.

    I'm not sure if this is true with the Dell notebooks.

    -The Big K-
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  • vibhor_one

    Member • Feb 4, 2007

    The_Big_K
    That was about Desktop, Vibhor 😀 . I'm yet to buy a notebook. I was talking about the standard recovery disk that comes with every HP desktop. Note that the same recovery disk has the OS setup files in it.

    I'm not sure if this is true with the Dell notebooks.

    -The Big K-
    Mr. Big K,

    What do you mean by OS setup files & I am not very clear in mind about OS setup files please do tell me.

    Regards

    vibhor_one
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  • reachrkata

    Member • Feb 5, 2007

    Hi Big K,

    I think the best way to partition your unpartitioned notebook drive is to use Powerquest Partition magic. It is a pretty established software tool and very good. The advantage with this tool is that you can both create and remove Linux partitions from Windows itself, using this software.

    Secondly, even though you may not have a pre-created linux partition before you install linux, I think most of the presently available linux installations have the facility of converting an existing FAT32 or NTFS partition into a Linux partition, which is then used for the installation of Linux.

    Hope this answers some of your queries.

    Cheers
    Karthik
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Feb 5, 2007

    Thanks a ton!

    I'm very much familier with partitioning. My question is all about using the recovery CDs which come bundled with the HP desktops. While restoring the system, all I had to do is pop in the CD in the drive and boot from CD. Afterwards, I was presented with only few options and the system recovery started with no further user inputs.

    Of course partition magic is a fantastic solution. Another way to make your notebook dual OS is by using the Virtual Machines (VMWare, MSVPC etc.)

    It would help if CEans post reviews of notebooks they have used.

    -The Big K-
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  • desijays

    Member • Feb 17, 2007

    hey mate... how ya doing? 😀

    i've been going through this thread and seems like you've got yourself in a fix. its all good. happens to the best of us.

    I understand where you're coming at.

    Okie, this is the deal. I don't know about other laptops. But I use a dell m1710.

    I don't think its the laptop for you. Weighs in at a brisk 4 kilos and the heat it generates is wild. very big too.

    but it packs a punch.

    When i got it, it came with stuff i wouldn't use in a million years. but it did come with a windows xp installation cd. OEM version. Without all that extra baggage that you have been referring to in this thread.

    Installed it. And now its clean and neat.

    So to answer your question......... the thing is, if you buy a dell laptop, you will get the OEM version of the xp installation CD. Rest assured the laptop will come with so much junk it will weigh the lappie down.

    As soon as it comes, don't even bother switching it on. (jus kidding). Pop the xp cd into the drive and start the formating process. takes awhile. but its worth it.

    hope that helps.

    oh btw, this m1710 rocks. this rig is built for gaming. that i can tell you.
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Feb 17, 2007

    The Dell XPS 1710? :shifty:

    Boy! First of all, its way too costly 😲 & I'm not looking for a gaming machine. I just need a small thing that should have a dual core processor 😉 and should load essential programs. Planning to install ubuntu on one partition as well ( thanks for inspiring me) .

    Just a side-questions: Anything special with the OEM version? Moreover, I heard it the OS comes pre-installed.

    -The Big K-
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  • desijays

    Member • Feb 17, 2007

    The_Big_K
    The Dell XPS 1710? :shifty:
    -The Big K-
    yup. it turns heads 😉

    The_Big_K
    Boy! First of all, its way too costly 😲 & I'm not looking for a gaming machine. I just need a small thing that should have a dual core processor 😉 and should load essential programs. Planning to install ubuntu on one partition as well ( thanks for inspiring me) .

    -The Big K-
    yup a dual core is a must. no use going back to stonehenge 😉 and for your info, i mostly use RH but have ubuntu installed as well. I know u may find this strange, but there are somethings i can do in RH that i'm still at odds with ubuntu. Once i iron them out, i'll be on ubuntu full time. But i'm glad i could inspire you 😀

    The_Big_K
    Just a side-questions: Anything special with the OEM version? Moreover, I heard it the OS comes pre-installed.

    -The Big K-
    OEM ........ just a fancy name for "original equipment manufacturer".

    "its another way of saying, i'll give the OS but i actually got it from someone else"

    yes. it comes with the OS pre-installed. And along with it a 100 other programs as well.... like dell support, dell AOL, dell antivirus, DEll this, dell that. Its like a pesky confusion. I'd rather jus start anew. 😀 U will too. Wait and see 😉
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Feb 17, 2007

    desijays
    OEM ........ just a fancy name for "original equipment manufacturer".

    "its another way of saying, i'll give the OS but i actually got it from someone else"

    yes. it comes with the OS pre-installed. And along with it a 100 other programs as well.... like dell support, dell AOL, dell antivirus, DEll this, dell that. Its like a pesky confusion. I'd rather jus start anew. 😀 U will too. Wait and see 😉
    OEM is okay with me. Except Dell-Support, I don't think I'll want anything else 😉

    Thanks!
    -The Big K-
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  • sandman.enter

    Member • Dec 23, 2007

    This article may helpful laaa
    #-Link-Snipped-#
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  • Prasad Ajinkya

    Member • Dec 24, 2007

    Hey Biggie,

    This is what you do - if your problems are not solved ie 😀

    The recovery partition disks that you are referring to will mess up your manual configuration of partitions.

    Dell laptops come with a separate CD of the OS installation. Go with Dell, if money doesnt matter with you.
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Dec 24, 2007

    Oops!

    Thanks Kidakaka! 😀

    Forgot to update the thread. Yep, the problem has been solved. I bought a Dell XPS M1210 and it ROCKS!

    Let me know if anyone needs help 😁

    -The Big K-
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  • mahul

    Member • Jan 5, 2008

    it's good to know u finally bought ur laptop _k, and i assume evry1 around here actually knows about this thing i recently found out but i found it so interesting that i couldn't help posting it. dell offers the buyer the freedom to customize whatever he wants, and i was really bowled over by the fact that they allowed the buyer to customize almost evrything(except the motherboard ). now don't u think that's awesome?? u just got to log on to <a href="https://www.dell.co.in" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">www.dell.co.in</a> and customize any base laptop according to ur needs...
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Jan 5, 2008

    mahul
    it's good to know u finally bought ur laptop _k, and i assume evry1 around here actually knows about this thing i recently found out but i found it so interesting that i couldn't help posting it. dell offers the buyer the freedom to customize whatever he wants, and i was really bowled over by the fact that they allowed the buyer to customize almost evrything(except the motherboard ). now don't u think that's awesome?? u just got to log on to <a href="https://www.dell.co.in" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">www.dell.co.in</a> and customize any base laptop according to ur needs...
    That's right mahul, I got my XPS customized before buying it. Dell offers complete peace of mind.

    It would be interesting to note that it was DELL who introduced the concept of 30 day money back guarantee; no questions asked.

    -The Big K-
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