LAPTOP: 15" XGA Vaio...is XGA too low? (1 Viewer)

[elMalloc]

Best Buy has a Sony Vaio Laptop that has everything I'm looking for except the screen..I'm not quite sure of it. I'm a programmer so I do need some real estate:

P4-2.0a ghz
256 DDR
CDRW/DVD
ATI Radeon 7500C (32MB DDR)
15" XGA screen
$1350

Not having fiddled with many laptops, I need to know if I should look at the Dell's laptop which is the same price - but a 14.1" screen (SXGA+) and doesn't have the Radeon 7500C (so can't play any games on it).

Thanks for any info,
ELmO

 

[TerryS]

Thats not a bad deal. I'm typing this on a Dell Latitude C840 with the 15" Ultrasharp XVGA screen, P4 2.2, 64MB Geforce4, 512 RAM, dvd/cdrw, etc, but it cost around $2700. So you can get a Dell with what your looking for, but it'll definitely cost you more than the Sony.

 

[elMalloc]

Actually I noticed the latitude is much more expensive even though most of them come in a very small screen size (12"). I saw the Inspiron 4150 and was able to get it in $1300 with the same specifications except it has a 14.1" screen SXGA+, no DVD/CDRW, and a plain ATI 16MB VidCard and this sony is with DVD/CDRW, ATI 32MB Radeon, and a 15" XGA screen.

An Ultrasharp XVGA screen is 1600x1200 isnt it? How do your eyes deal with it? I'm 22 but still, Idon't even use 1600x1200 on my 19" monitor. THe real estate is nice but it hurts my eyes - lol.

My question is would you go for a 14.1" sxga+ (1400x1000 or something) or the 15" xga (1024x768)?

Thanks,
ELmO

 

[Patrick Larkin]

17" Powerbook.

 

[TerryS]

It took me about 4 hours to get used to 1600x1200. My previous computer was running on a 19" monitor at 1280x1040, which obviously created bigger text. I can see the pixels in letters now on my old monitor.

If you don't like the higher resolution, the newer video cards do a nicer job of smoothing out the fonts so that they don't look like crap at lower resolutions.

I definitely like this new setup, but if it were my own money I would probably spend it on a good desktop and then buy a decent 17 or 19" LCD to go with it.

 

[KyleS]

Patrick I gotta throw you a little crap for inserting the Mac 17" G4 powerbook comment and since your an avid Mac fan.

First that seems WAY out of the price Elmo was talking about considering since its going to cost you around $3200.

Second Elmo was talking about wondering if the 16 vs 32mb video card can handle the games... Well if he gets the Mac he wouldnt have to worry very much about the games since there are only literally a handful of games that will work on it to begin with. Have you seen that farse on a gamer that switched over to a Mac? Funny stuff.

Now to be fair Patrick does make a valid point for looking at a Mac. It certainly would give you a far more stable OS and one that can actually allow you to program/change it since thats the field you are in Elmo.

Elmo you may want to check Dell's TV specials section that they do at www.dell.com/tv to see if they have some better deals on a more powerful Dell that could compete price wise with the Sony you are looking at.(if you want a dell). My father-in-law has owned 3 Sony laptops and has not experienced a single problem with any of them if you want some real world users experience with Reliability.

KyleS

 

[elMalloc]

I need Visual Studio .net (MICROSOFT) and I don't think there Visual Studio runs on Macintosh...I've been proven wrong before though.

I run my 19" monitor at 1152x864. My computer is decent enough for me (amd tbird 1.4ghz, radeon 8500, 256 DDR, 120GB HD), I need something I can take on the move that will allow me to program (foremost). I thikn I've scratched the idea of gaming - though the way I see it most gaming laptops also do well for programming.

I am going to check out the prices for a 15.0" SXGA+. The 14.1" sounds kind of small, but I'm not looking for something too heavy so maybe I should stick with it.

Thanks for all the replies,
ELmO:star:

 

[Nathan_W]

I've got a Dell w/ a 15" SXGA+ (1400x1050) display. Before that I had an older model w/ a 15" 1024x768 display and was worried that SXGA+ would be too small (fonts,etc). No such problem, I think it's perfect. I'd have to think that 14.1" would be too small, too.

Good Luck

 

[Patrick Larkin]

Kyle - the 2nd post recommended a $2700 Dell. For $500 more, you are getting a lot more notebook. also, the poster didn't say he was a Microsoft programmer until after my post. Otherwise, OS X is an awesome programming platform.

And there are definitely more than a handful of games. More like 2.

 

[Tim Johnson]

I am typing this on a Dell Inspiron 4150 with a 14.1" SXGA+ (1440 X 1050) screen. The 14.1 is only slightly smaller than the viewable area on most 17" monitors, and I always push a 17" to 1280 X 1024.

I am a programmer (Microsoft-centric) and I have no problems with this screen. I would go with the Dell over the Sony as I work with a few people who have Sony's and they occassionally run into problems with drivers where I have not had a single problem with a Dell driver (your mileage may vary though)

I tried going back to XGA for a while on my home desktop, I went out and bought myself a nice 15" LCD. Now it is sitting in my closet because 1024 X 768 just isn't enough real estate for me to work with.

Another thing to keep in mind on both the Sony's and the Dell's is that you can always hook up a second monitor and run the second monitor at a resolution up to 1600 X 1200 I believe. Then you would have all the real estate you would ever need with the panel on the laptop and the external monitor.

Also, the Inspiron 4150 does have the Radeon Mobility 7500C and it seems to be fine for my limited gaming. It is great for the occassional lunch-break game of Unreal Tournament 2003 where I can frag my coworkers