teh Forum

Wow - I bought my Notebook exactly 3 years ago. Granted it was the most expensive notebook I could find at almost $3000, but it is still pretty damn adequate considering its elderly status.

I haven't mentioned it too much here yet, but it appears my notebook will soon be my primary computer again. I am leaving for Europe in August. I will study film in Prague from mid Aug until the end of December. wzerozerotexclamation

Considering life without a PC, I have been thinking whether or not a new notebook would be necessary. By all accounts I cannot figure out how I could justify it. With a few tiny and optional upgrades my Notebook is still pretty much top of the line, while retaining the wonderful mid-sized form factor that attracted me so much in the first place.

Here are the details for those that don't remember or never knew:

Acer TravelMate 630
Photo 1 | Photo 2 | Photo 3

Pentium 4m 1.7GHz
256MB DDR upgraded to 768MB DDR
15" 1400x1050 LCD
GeForce2Go 16MB
30GB HDD
16X DVD / 8X CDRW
802.11b - Firewire - Audio
USB 2.0 PCMCIA card

Possible Upgrades:
I could buy a 1GB SODIMM for $120 and probably sell the 512MB for $50. Then I would have more RAM in the notebook than my PC.
I could upgrade the HDD to a 80GB Hitachi 5400RPM for $115.
I could upgrade my 120GB External HDD to a 300GB for < $150.

The CPU may be a bit underpowered, but still more than adequate, especially with a ton of RAM.
The graphics chip has never been incredible for gaming... but I wouldn't even know. I can play Warcraft 3 on it and I am way more likely to play something like that or Civ3 than an FPS on a Notebook. I am not too attracted to those gigantic desktop replacement notebooks made for gaming anyway. My notebook is svelte and light.
I guess a DVD burner would be nice... but I can live without it.

So what do you guys think? Pretty amazing that it still holds up so well against the pack a whole 3 years later? See anywhere it is lacking?

Well, Project Xerxes (my notebook) is an AMD64 with 512MB, 80GB HDD, widescreen display, Radeon 9600Pro, 802.11G, etc. etc. I can do everything on it that I do on my main PC, but it's still smaller and lighter than the desktop replacements you speak of. Jocks, bloods, dweebies, dickheads, Doom 3, Half-Life 2, Riddick, etc. They all adore it. Such notebooks can be had quite cheaply these days too. They almost negate the need for a real PC. The AMD64 is actually a lot better on battery life than the old mobile Athlons as well. I get nearly 2 hours of 3D gamery on a battery. A lot more for less intensive tasks. It's a little on the heavy side, but I don't think it's much heavier than the one you have.

The other way to go would be to miniaturize. Get something similar in power to the one you already have, but at half the size. If I was going to go travelling about, I think my notebook, (or yours for that matter,) would be too big for me. I'd probably get something extremely thin and light, but with a bit less power. The sacrifice would be worth it most likely. Your notebook would still probably fetch a decent used price too. May be a good time to sell it. (While it's still desirable.)

Also, nothing beats a G4 Powerbook. Seth got one, and I must say it's quite the amazing little unit. It's thin, and lighter than anything I've seen. He put 2GB RAM in it, and it simply flies. OSX is quite nice as well. It has a 9700 Pro in it, and has excellent battery life. I would pick one up if I had the cash. The keys are backlit when in low light levels, (which is really nice.) The audio system is top notch, and most games are available on it. We got MacMAME, and it runs perfectly on it. I think Apple makes the best mobile computers in the industry. Even if you'd never own an Apple desktop, you must admit the notebooks are tops.

I will study film in Prague from mid Aug until the end of December.

wzerozerotexclamation, indeed! Congrats on your semester abroad as a Yappie!

(I have no advice to give on laptops other than I agree that Apple makes some sexy ones; I'm on my corporate-decreed Dell the Funky Latitude D600 which is crap on wheels).

Woooooo!!! Crap on wheels!!!!! Wooo!!!!!!