best 14" or 15.4" under 1K?

I'm looking at 14" screen laptops or if if I decide power/performance over size/price, a 15.4" laptop under 1K.

I thought a Thinkpad T41 would be the best budget 14" laptop. It's under $500 for me so I was considering it. As for a 15.4" laptop, I found a decently priced Acer Aspire 5720-6200 model Core 2 Duo T5250 ($800). The main concerns are price, wireless options and whether the laptop can easily play DVDs/movies and do general-purpose computing (surfing, openoffice docs etc.).

The Thinkpad has the size of screen I want and an ideal price but I'm not sure of how powerful it is for playing DVDs. I think a program like Kaffeine could do, though, right? It is a popular laptop so I think the built-in wireless works (not sure if out of the box) but I'd have to find out (from the various linux on laptops/ubuntu on laptops sites) although it would be convenient if someone here could report on it.

Edit: Oh, I T41s come with IPW2100s? It is only good for 802.11b. So, downloads/uploads and connection speeds would be less than 802.11b/g? I could buy a pc card for it, perhaps? I follow the Ubuntu compatibility charts for that kind of thing.

The Aspire 5270 has powerful components (dual core intel cpu) and can easily play the DVDs. It is not as high quality construction wise and has the larger screen. I wanted something light and very portable so the Acer would be slightly heavier. The wireless in the Acer is the Intel 3945abg (I think). It's quite common and I think it can work out of the box also? The major drawbacks with the Acer is construction quality, price (will be heavier than the Thinkpad) and the weight.

Anything else? Any other competitors or alternative laptops to consider?

Thanks in advance for any advice, ideas, alternative choices and comments.

 

http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/nseries_nb?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&

You won't have to pay the Microsoft tax since you are going to run Linux. DVDs aren't that demanding for a modern laptop. The D630 is a solid machine.

 

I would second the D630, and if you were willing to wait, an R61 with Ubuntu.

 

I can't find any D630s around me and if they are, they are around 800-1K but from shops or private sellers I don't know. There is a local shop selling Dell Latitude D610s and Thinkpad T41s so I don't think I'd get stiffed or have a problem. How do D610s compare?

I looked up the D630, though. I can see why you recommend them. Unforunately, there aren't any sellers locally and I am hesitant about buying one online. Unfortunately, they seem to be cheaper in the States, anyway.

 

You could stick with your T41 if you don't want to spend much. Upgrading your network card is easy business - I've done it. It's just like upgrading your RAM but you have a couple of screws and antennae that you need to attach. Overall shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes if you know where the card lies within your system (and of course, how to get to it ).

And yeah, it should be strong enough to play DVDs and the like. Use MPlayer .

 

I have a T43 here that works great under Linux. It's more than powerful enough to play DVD's, easily. I'd be a little concerned about playing HD content, though, depending on how it's configured. Get enough RAM in, and it'll be perfect.

 

The resolution is 1024 x 768. Does that matter?

I'm not sure what the Dell's res is but I'm referring to a D600. Also, the Thinkpad has the ATI Radeon 7500 chip and the Dell has ATI Radeon 9000. Does that make any difference? Which one provides easiest graphics (drivers) installation? I'll probably use K/Ubuntu.

Both laptops have similar processor speeds (Thinkpad T41 has 1.4GHz, T40 has 1.6GHz and the Dell, IIRC, has 1.6).

Which one?

 

Which Dell? The D630 comes with a 8400M card (NVS Quadro 140M)

 

Dell D600 or D610. Either one. The D630 is over $900 here (in Canada). I have three desktop computers and should have bought a laptop instead of the 3rd one. If I could sell my AMD X2 computer and get enough to cover the difference? Desktops don't hold their value (unless they're Core 2 Duo?), though so that is probably out. The D630 is probably ideal but probably too much $$. I'm wondering about the D600 and D610 since it's more likely to be in the budget.

 

Whatever you get I would insist on Intel or Nvidia graphics. I have tried ATI graphics with a 3d Gnome desktop and it was problematic, to say the least.

 

What about a Thinkpad T43 with the Intel GM915 graphics chip? It has only 1024 x 768 resolution, though.

Also, I found a Dell D800 (1.7 GHz with Nvidia 5200) for the same price. Both laptops are slightly more money than the T41 and D600s I looked at but give me more options.

I am thinking the T43 is probably the best choice although the Dell has the discrete graphics chip. However, that laptop will probably be bulky and I'm not sure of the heat issues with some older Dell laptops. I have read that the Thinkpads run cooler and rarely hear/read any complaints about heat.

If I just want to surf and watch movies, then the Thinkpad(s) are best?

I gather either T43 or D800 will run Linux (any distro) very well, right?

 

I can vouch that many Thinkpads run most Linux variants very well. I'm not familiar with a D800, but it appears that many others have used it with Linux. There is a great resource for Linux on a Thinkpad at Thinkwiki.org as well.

 

Wow, the sell those with WWAN. I wonder whether they have the software to connect that under Linux..

 

They were selling the D620 with Ubuntu. I don't recall if they were offering WWAN.

 

From the link, you can configure WWAN with the open source notebook. So Dell either have the software or a way to connect the device, or they assume somebody will figure it out.