It's so affordable! What's the catch?

There's a saying in Finnish: "Poor people can't afford cheap things". It basically refers to fact that quite often cheap items end up costing more in the long run, so it might be better to pay a bit more up-front for hi-quality stuff.

That said: I'm in the market for a laptop. I have been looking around, and I found one that seems good: HP NX9420. I could get one with these specs:

Intel Core Duo 1.83GHz
1GB 667MHz DDR2-RAM
80GB HD
Ati Mobility Radeon 1600X 256MB
17" 1680x1050 screen

Or I could pay a bit more and get HEL80-based laptop from same retailer. Specs would be

Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz
2GB 667MHz DDR2-RAM
120GB HD
GeForce 7600Go 256MB
15" 1680x1050 screen

So 50% more HD-space, clearly better CPU, twice as much RAM, faster (?) vid-card, for nearly as much money. HP costs 1430e, HEL80 would be 1722e. Is the HEL80 worth the extra 300e? Looking at the specs, I would be getting quite a bit of "stuff" for that money. But what does the HP have what HEL80 does not? is the overall "feel" of the HP better than on HEL80? No, testing both in the store is not an option .

specswise HEL80 is a steal. But will I be giving up on something? Overall feel? Intangibles?

 

With the HP you pay for :

1. Bigger screen ( which is usually the most expensive part ) .
2. HP business warranty for the nx , some models come with a 48 hrs int' pickup repair service .
3. Brand name .

Only 1 & 2 really matter .

 

the hel80 is not a steal, and in the us it can be found for much cheaper than that. the good thing about the hel80 is that it comes with a 9 cell bad thing the gpu is severely underclocked. ati x1600 usually comes 450/470, the 2 gpus are similar in performance with similar clock speeds but the hel80 comes stock underclocked to 350/350 to save on battery, and to produce less heat. this translates to roughly 800-1000 points on 3dmark 05. the hp is not "cheap" and its a really good buy. there won't be much difference in the processors. not a huge difference except if you are running benchmarks... like superpi...

 

Since I'm not in the USA, the US prices do not matter to me .

 

Well, d'uh.

The screen is the biggest difference. And the fact that HP will probably have better service.

 

So, where are you buying from?

And as far as the GPU's go, I think HP underclocks their X1600 quite a bit. So the two underclocked cards should perform about the same.

Depending on what your doing, the 2GB's of RAM could be very useful as well as the Core Duo 2 CPU will not only perform faster, but also be more future proof and will be able to run Windows Vista 64 bit. With Core Duo 2 arriving, I wouldn’t settle for anything less.

Now if your new notebook is going to be a desktop replacement, mostly sitting at your desk, then 17" is the way to go. If you’re going to be traveling sometimes with it, 15.4' is a nice size. I personally like the build and size of the Compal, and would go for it over the HP.

 

here.

It would be a Linux (Ubuntu)-machine mostly. I would install Windows as well, but it would be used for occasional gaming, and nothing more.

It would mostly be a desktop-replacement. Maybe I would occasionally take it with me, but most of the time it would be stationary.

What are the buttons in the sides of the case like? Are they plastic? Is the backside of the screen aluminium? How about the "frame" around the keyboard?

 

If you're primarily working in Linux, don't bother with any notebook that has an ATI graphics chip. NVIDIA's Linux support is light years better than ATI's.

 

I know . But Ati has been beefing up their efforts recently

 

For windows at least, the X1600 is supposed to be marginally better than the Go 7600 in terms of benchmarks. It's unlikely you'll see a difference between the 2 in games, but I wouldn't call the 7600 the faster video card out of the 2.

 

Depends on what you do. OpenGL and games based on the Quake engine(s) are a lot faster on the 7600 than on the X1600, but the X1600 wins with things like HL2 and so. Both will be very fast cards, though. And speaking as a Linux user, NVIDIA's drivers are MUCH better and easier to use than ATI's. I've had both brands in laptops and desktops, recently, and NVIDIA still wins.