Getting a S6231, have a quick ?

First of all, this is my first post, so hello!
I am looking for a new laptop and wanting to spend about $1700. I came across this site since I always like to read forums before I make major purchases. You always find details that the seller/manufactures wont give. I am looking at the S6231, it sounds like it will be perfect for what I will be doing, which is college student applications and web surfing/downloading mp3's. I want a mobile unit and do not play games on my laptop-thats what my ps2 is for.
Anyways, I am thinking of using P1 as my seller. However, I see I can configure the laptop a bit. Here are my questions:

Is it worth it to get the 1 stick of 512 at $40 more then 2x256?

Also, I was thinking of getting the 5400RPM hard drive instead of the 4200, but will that hurt battery life at all?

Well, any feedback is appreciated as I continue to search these forums but this is a good excuse to say hi anyhow. =) Thanks ahead of time!

 

Although I`m new also, welcome! Before you spend a lot, I advise you check out the Fujitsu outlet. I`ve gotten some killer deals lately including a loaded S6210 for $779 shipped. Good luck and enjoy your new Fujitsu.

 

If you think you'll be adding more memory in the future, then you really should go for the one stick of 512. If not when you got to upgrade, you'll end up having to giving up the one stick of 256 as there are only two slots. The 5400 will give you a performance boost, but if your not doing anything but email, word docs, internet etc. then you really wont even notice the boost. As for P1, you cant go wrong buying from them. Ivan is a top notch guy that will bend over backwards to make sure your laptop is just what you want. Good luck on your search for a new laptop.

 

Naa, no backlit anything.
BTW a new S6000 line is coming out soon with the new Pentium M Sonoma, but most probably fujitsu will stick with integrated graphics. Unfortunetly fujitsu doesn't offer a light notebook with good graphics. The N3510 which has an ATI X300 is the bare minimum to even consider gaming, and that machine weighs 7+lb.
I personally like the Sony S series, but also in that case the nVidia 6200GO is what I would consider the bare minimum for gaming, so if you decide to game in one year [xx(]. Check out the Acer 8100, they are amongst the lightest gaming machines I know of, but unfortunetly they don't have the bright screen thingy.
But if you're sure you wont be gaming the fujitsu S6000 is an excellent machine. Excellent quality only second to IBM at a very competitive price. And P1 are absolutely the BEST place to buy from. They wont rest till your happy. Currently I am waiting for a screen change just for a few dead pixels, and I had to pay nothing extra, not even shipping! This is the second time my laptop has had to go back (I am really unlucky[ ]), and I have had absolutely no delays from them, they received my unit in the morning, fixed it and shipped back the same day afternoon.

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ETA Unknown: N6010 waiting for screen repair [ ]

 

Thanks guys. Ok that makes sense about the memory. I am sure I would like to upgrade to 1gb at some point so 1 stick makes sense.

Also about the HD thanks for the replies.

The only thing that has me questioning this laptop is integrated graphics chip. I know right now I say I wont play games on it...but knowing me 1 year from now I may want to try a game and then I will be screwed. Buying a laptop can be mind wrenching! So now I am thinking of trying the Sony S series since I am reading they are a good portable with a good graphics card. Then again, I hate fan noise and I would assume it will be a louder machine then the Fujitsu. Do these Fujitsu's have backlit keypads? I am thinking the only ones that do are Apples and IBM's. Thanks.

 

As Letsrok said, the only reason to get one stick is if you want to upgrade later.
As for HDDs, all speeds consume aprox the same power, so don't let that affect your decision. You will feel the speed mostly in windows start up times and when launching software, but after your software is running there is little difference. But for a difference of only $30 @ P1 I would say go ahead and get it, you wont regret the extra speed. Personally I love my 7200RPM [ ]!

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ETA Unknown: N6010 waiting for screen repair [ ]

 

Yeah I have heard of this Sonoma and found that it may burn some battery life? Battery life is pretty important to me, hence why I am looking into this laptop. Seems you get a nice 4-5 hours, which I think is great. Combined with a quiet fan, low heat, and a great screen, seems top notch!

However, another wrench! I just found out that for being a college student you can get a nic ediscount with apple. I was looking at the PB 12" screen, but for 1500 I thought it was too pricey. But I can get it for 1400 with a discount. Not bad and is priced along with teh Fujitsu. Of course, I have never used Mac so that is scary, but I like trying new things and since I am not heavy into software applications besides the basics, I think I could get along with a Mac. lol. Damn...to many choices!

 

P1 can offer you the 5% off for students that fujitsu offers. But they will cancel any running offer at the same time.
I wouldn't really do the jump to Mac. I am forced to work with Macs in one of my courses and I just hate it. I feel too wrong working with an OS that I don't fully understand, same with linux which I poke into every now and then but never got comfy with! But that is me, maybe you will enjoy the experience of getting to know one more OS.

BTW with the S6000 you can opt for an extra battery that goes in place of the optical drive for an extra 3+ hrs of battery life, in case you didn't know. Not sure if Macs have something simillar.

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ETA Unknown: N6010 waiting for screen repair [ ]

 

I have linux on my N5010 and love it Did take about a month or so to get it working right I am a complete linux newb. You might give Libranet or Kanotix a try. My two favorite distros. As to the topic at hand...

I wouldn't let the possibility of gaming a year from now sway you. A year from now today's high end laptops will be probably be lucky to play the new games at med. settings. Seems like nothing in tech. ages faster than a laptop!

I too vote for upping the ram and the HDD. Love that fast boot time! I also bought from P1. They are just the kind of shop where I am willing to spend 2K. Although, as powerpig said, you can get a killer deal at Fujitsu outlet. For the price powerpig paid, I might be willing to take my chances at the outlet.

 

P1 is great. That's where I bought my S6231 from. I configured with the 1 stick 512MB RAM for an extra $30 and then added another 512MB stick when I got the unit. I also got the 5400 RPM drive.

If you do order from P1 and you opt for anything other than a pre-configured unit, expect about a 2 week time delay from the time you order it until you receive it. These are shipped from the manufacturer in Japan. The wait was not a problem for me but if you need it quicker, you might want to get one they already have there in stock.

In response to the gaming issue, I've read comments from people on this and on other forums who seem to think because a particular computer doesn't have a dedicated video card that they can't play ANY games. This is not true. Obviously you're not going to be able to play the most graphic intensive games but for those types of games, you need 128MB of dedicated memory anyway and then you're getting into notebooks that are big, heavy, 8-10 pound desktop replacements designed for this purpose. For me, I don't use the computer for gaming so it's a non-issue.

Good luck with your decision.

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by kirby
If you do order from P1 and you opt for anything other than a pre-configured unit, expect about a 2 week time delay from the time you order it until you receive it. These are shipped from the manufacturer in Japan. The wait was not a problem for me but if you need it quicker, you might want to get one they already have there in stock.<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>

Not always the case. Just call P1 and make sure, or email them. They have excellent customer service and will respond immediately and accurately!

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ETA Unknown: N6010 waiting for screen repair []

 

Then it must depend on the extent of the configuration. Because in addition to the 512MB single stick and 5400 RPM HD, I also chose XP Pro. As I mentioned earlier, it was no big deal and I actually benefited from the wait because it gave me the time to buy the upgraded RAM and find a new bag.