[SWLUG] Re: Discuss Digest, Vol 3, Issue 13

[Gareth Bowker]

On Fri, 2004-11-19 at 15:30 +0000, Rhys Sage wrote:

> Now that makes a lot of sense and was something I
> hadn't considered. I'd naively assumed that the
> manufacturer's quoted times would have been with 10%
> CD/DVD usage. 

Yeah, it's in the same boat as car MPG figures, WiFi range figures and
estimates for the price of the Scottish Parliament (oh no wait, that was
far too far out...).

> Actually, I'm leaning more toward an ultra-compact
> laptop with no CD/DVD and no FDD, just PCMCIA, USB,
> LAN , modem and possibly also seriel/paralel. This
> probably gets me into the $2,500 laptops. Of these,
> I'd probably be happiest with an IBM although I don't
> discount anything. I'm thinking also about part
> replacements in the future so Acer is out of the
> question (despite its cheapness). It looks as though
> I'm going to have to save for a while longer. Last
> time I bought a laptop, I bought secondhand and having
> had that experience I shall buy new in order to get
> something worthwhile.

My personal recommendation if battery life is important would be get a
Dell that can take 2 batteries. Then buy a spare battery as well and
keep that charged - you can hotswap the batteries provided you keep one
(with charge in it, obviously!) connected to the laptop while you swap
the other. You'll probably save yourself enough money along this route
that you can buy another battery or two as well. You also get a 3-year
on-site warranty (IIRC) with Dell machines, so if something breaks,
they'll visit you to fix it.

Gareth