5003, 4402 or 4404 ? can not decide, plz help me

Hi, I have read too many reviews and i have narrowed my decision to one of these models. I am not a gamer but the difference between 44xx which has 64 MB dedicated graphic with 5003 with 64 MB shared is just about 150 $.

1. 5003 has CrystalBrite display, that most reviewers prefer it to 44xx screen.
2. 4402 has a 5400 rpm HD while two others have 4200 rpm.
3. 44xx have more ports, such as FIR .
4. Sound on 5003 seems to be a little bit better (not sure).

I wanna use my laptop mostly for programming, running applications, engineering softwares and reading documents. All three seems to be capable, but really don't know which to choose. If 44xx had CrystalBrite display i would go for it, but now, don't know which. plz help me.

 

I would suuggest the 4402, it should be able to handle most of the tasks you have suggested and be a bit future proof than the 5003. The Crystalbrite screen is pretty decent but matee screens have their advantages in the fact they tend not to reflect light. The 44xx series is very good value in the fact that they offer a dedicated graphics card for the price.

The 5003 should also be fine but you give up some things like the dedicated GPU, future proofing and the extra ports. The 4402 will give you better bang for the buck IMO.

 

I agree, 4402 or 4404 seems better but i am really worry about 44xx screen, since some reviewers (some from notebookreview) say the screen is dull, and colors are not vibrant. I have requested for some screenshots but there was no reply including pics. IS 4402 SCREEN REALY DISAPPOINTING?

 

One of my close friends has a 4402 & from what I have seen of the screen they are pretty decent. But I dont use the laptop regularly and so really cannot comment on how good it is for daily usage. You could try PM'ing Chazman, he is the one who wrote the review and he might be able to elaborate more on the screen as he did use the laptop for sometime.

 

I had the TM4402 . . the screen isn't that great, although I'll agree with miner and say it's 'decent' - nothing stand out. Just an average matte screen. Definitely needs a contrast boost, it's dull. Brightness is fine, although I wouldn't have minded that being a bit brighter.

How about an HP? The dv5000z is a great choice.

 

I have read posts that say dv5000z screen hinge is not very good. I think (?) Acer has generally better build quality than HP and MSI. It is only after reading reviews, never had one before. Am i right?

By the way, i have a 4 years old 17" LG (studioworks 775E) CRT (non flat) monitor with my desktop and i always use it at 1024*768. How is 4402 screen compared to such a monitor, since i am satisfied with this.

And one more question: how 4402 screen is compared to Ferrari 4005, at same resolution. Both are not CrystalBrite.

 

The 4402 has 15 brightness adjustments. I typically use setting 5 (15 is the brightest) and I'm fine with it most of the time. If there's a lot of indirect sunlight in the room, I do find myself increasing it a bit. Direct sunlight makes it hard to read even at the highest setting, but I don't think a CrystalBrite display (or even a CRT monitor) would perform any better in that situation anyway.

Have you checked out glossy vs non-glossy screens at a large retailer near you? When you compare them next to each other, the glossy ones definitely look better. But if you look at the non-glossy ones without trying to compare them, they still look ok (especially if you increase the brightness settings)...

I use the 4402 8 hours a day for software development and I don't have any serious complaints about the screen. As a programmer, I care more about the hard disk performance and I would lean towards a 5400rpm over 4200rpm any day (everything else being equal of course). The hard drive is one of the biggest bottlenecks in the notebook.

Also, if you can afford it, consider adding more RAM. Out of the default 512MB, WinXP is using over 200MB right out of the box.

 

there are reviewers that say non-glossy is better than glossy. true ?