Travel computer - need advice quick
 

I've been following the Asus eee thread with interest and was ready to purchase one (4G for $399). However, today I found an IBM T30 refurbished for $399 (Pentium 4, 2gHz, 512 MB RAM).

I am looking for something to travel with that is lightweight with decent battery life for internet, email, photos. I have a three week trip to Japan in April plus I don't think this IBM will be around long at that price. I have no experience with refurbished computers.

Thoughts and comments welcome - I am not a techie.

The T30 is a pretty old machine (5 years old already). Do you really want to invest in refurbished old technology that you'll rely on to work for you?

It's in a totally different segment than the EEE PC. One is a full blown laptop, the other is an ultra portable. It's apples and oranges here.

Personally, I'd get the EEE PC. I have nothing against refurbished machines, but something that old is just asking for trouble. Especially since the T30 has some known issues with the memory module holders, and you'll never be sure yours isn't affected by it.

If all you need is Internet, email and photos then the EEE PC will suit you just fine.

Pentium 4 and battery life are mutually exclusive. You really need a Pentium M or newer processor for good battery life. On top of that, the battery, if it comes with one, will be old and well-used. I doubt you can get much battery life out of one. Therefore, I would recommend the EeePC too.

In Japan, there are many used computer stores in the back alleys of electric districts like Tokyo's Akihabara or Osaka's Nihonbashi. From what I have seen, these computers are in excellent condition. If you speak the local language or have a local friend as a guide, you might go browse their selection.

I have an Asus Eee PC that I use for travelling and I absolutely love it. It's all about the small size. It's so easy to tote around. If all you need to have is internet access, photo editing, email, etc. it is perfect. Keyboard is barely usable but you get used to it, and I don't do much keyboarding with it anyway. Battery life is so-so, but recharges quickly. I wouldn't be without it now. I was using it in the DTW WorldClub recently and a guy flipped out on the size, asked all about it, wanted to try it, and soon I had an "audience" of about 5 people wanting to check it out. Everyone was amazed.

Thanks, I really appreciate the quick response. Your replies confirmed my fears regarding the the T30 - its probably just a little too old. The Asus Eee is very appealing because of the weight but tonight my husband said he would really like to watch DVDs and maybe store music and pics (there goes the 2 lbs). He is even less technical than I. He expressed interest in the new MacBook Air but gulped when I said prepared to spend $1800.

Sorry to bother you, I will have to do a little more research.

It's perfectly possible to store movies on the EEE PC. If you use a program on your desktop to "rip" DVD's and compress them, then your average movie shrinks to around 300Mb. Invest $29 in a 4Gb SD card and hey presto; you can bring 10 movies along with you on the EEE PC.

If you need more storage space, but with the same size as the EEE PC, then the Everex Cloudbook may be of some interest to you;

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=8245470

At $399 is is the same price, but comes with a 30Gb hard drive instead of the 4Gb flash in the EEE. That said; the Cloudbook does have some disadvantages, most notably the weird position of the trackpad.

Check the dell off lease site

www.dfsdirectsales.com


I just bought a latitude d410 from them 12 inch, light, for just over $400

They ship them next day, came with a case (really didn't need that) adapter, etc.

They refruib them, but for some reason sell them for way less then the standard dell refruib site does.

Very pleased with it so far.

30 day return, believe 90 day service.

I bought a MacBook Air as my traveling computer and I just got back from my first overseas trip (Belgium) and it worked great. But if you are looking to mainly watch movies it may not be the best choice. I had a good year last year so this was my "present" to myself :) I really like the full sized keyboard and the larger screen.

I've not bought an off lease Dell Laptop, but I have had good luck in the past with the off lease desktop systems. The ones I bought all came sans Operating System so you might have to factor that in the price (if laptops are the same)

Do you have a budget in mind? Between $1800 and $399, that's quite a wide range. ;)

There are quite a few models that will cost less than MacBook but still achieve your goals. Maybe these two threads will help with your research:

Please help me find a new ultraportable

What ultra light computer should I buy to replace my Sony TR3?

Don't forget that DVDs don't weigh anything if you rip them from the optical drive to the HDD. Playback uses 1/10 of the power, too - because you're not using a laser to read them.

As already said, a P4 is a desktop chip (used also in some cheaper laptops). There was a P4M, too, which was a mobile version (I still have one). They have better battery life, but not like the Pentium M in the Centrino laptops (and newer ones). After the P4M they reduced clock speed and increased cache memory (which supposedly made the chips do about as much) and battery life got a lot better. Regarding a used laptop--I would be careful if you plan to use it on battery power. A lithium ion battery only lasts so long, and if you're buying one already 2 or 3 years old it might be almost dead. If you are going to run it off a plug, then no problem.
Someone mentioned ripping a DVD to your hard-drive. That must be a Macbook Air fan, as that computer has not optical drive. Ripping to your hard drive with a commercial DVD is not easy because they are encrypted to prevent this.

Anydvd takes care of that for me.

And I'm not a macbook Air fan; I just prefer having my DVD's stored in an easier to read format that doesn't take up much space.

Well - I ended up buying an HP Pavilion DV2710US - not quite an Asus Eee or a MacBook Air but I think it will meet our needs. My only real concern is the battery life (3 hrs w/6 cell) but that shouldn't be an obstacle. I appreciate all the comments and suggestions.

How good is Anydvd on most new DVDs? I have this "friend" who sometimes rips them with mixed success, especially anything Sony. Heh heh.
Agree about shrinking DVDs--I am one who, at least on a computer, does not really notice all that much quality difference of something shrunk down 90% into Divx.

A bit more expensive, but this is a good balance of price/performance:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...16404&CatId=17