Panasonic Y5, R5 or other?

Hello

I'm a rather new consumer on the laptop market. I like quality and I like good design. I distaste IBM design, but I have found that I like the Panasonic designs

So I have pretty much decided that I want to buy a Panasonic laptop, but the question is: Which?

Via www.dynamism.com I have found a good bunch of the hottest of the hottest as I understand it and the two models I personally like most is either the Y5 and the R5.

R5 - http://dynamism.com/r5/main.shtml
Reason this is the one of those two I like is because of the size, but I have some questions about it which I hope you guys will be able to help me with:
- Is it too small in your opinion?
- Is it powerful enough to run word, itunes, firefox + 1-2 more programs without lagging/being slow?

Y5 - http://dynamism.com/y5/main.shtml
This is because of the power and the screen, but again - I'm having some questions that would be nice to get answered
- The power of it: Is that enough to run word, itunes, firefox + 1-2 more programs without lagging/being slow?
- Is the screen with that - sorry for not knowing what it is called - like a very clear/bright screen, which you see at different laptops?

To both laptops:
- Should I get 1g ram in in total or is that - in your opinion - a waste?

Further more; Which one would you choose and why? Any opinion about this or some close to is appriciated, hence I'm trying to buy the one I would like the most without even seeing it, which is a new thing for me!

The last sentence leads me to ask too:
- Is www.dynamism.com a very reliable firm?


Thanks a big bunch from this Mr. New Among Laptops

Best regards,
Tanghaar!

 

I can't comment on these two models specifically, but I can say that Dynamism has been around for a very long time and are very reputable. You can also see how far they go with their warranty:

http://dynamism.com/warranty/info.shtml

They even provide a trade-in program (knowing that the kinds of people who buy stuff from them are especially likely to always want the absolute latest cutting edge stuff).

 

I have used dynamism before. They are very reputable. I'd get as much RAM as posisble since these laptops use a 4200 RPM drive. More RAM should minimise use of page file which will be slow at 4200.

Lagging on multitasking like you describe is not an issue. You'd have to be running some graphical creation program such as Photoshop to see any lag.

 

Thanks for all the info guys. It's nice to know that Dynamism is trustworthy and that the laptops can handle my discribed work!


I came in that lucky situation the other day, that I tried a 12.1" laptop. I found it to have a fitting size, but smaller it shouldn't be.

Therefore I have started to look on the Panasonic T5 ( http://dynamism.com/t5/main.shtml). It got loads of battery time, which I like alot. It got a fitting size and the power of it should be all I need.

Anyone got some experience with the Panasonic T5? And if yes, how is it?

Also. It will cost me about 370 $ (I live in denmark so I got +25 % "moms", which it is called, ontop) to get 512 more ram in (1gb in total). Is that worth it in your opinions?

How long estimated time do the battery give you? 8 hours? 11 hours? more?
They say in they "main" text that; The 2.77 pound notebook has a 15-hour standard battery life (real world estimate of 8-11 hours) when used with its standard battery. The lightweight battery reduces the weight to 2.29 pounds but still provides 6.5 hours of use. Use both to achieve 21.5-hours of use without a charge.

When I use both? Are they both internal in the computer at the same time or do I have to carry one of them around with me while the other is in the computer? Or how do this work? (I very much want to know this actually (Dynamism is (very) slow with responding on my questions)

Thanks in advance guys!
Tanghaar!

 

Ignore whatever Panasonic says. I asked the guy at Dynamism what was battery life on W5. Panasonic says 12 hours, but he said real life is 8 hours.

Calculate yours from that.

This series only uses one battery at a time. If you want an ultra portable that uses two batteries at same time (ie can replace DVD drive with spare battery) look at Fujitsu P7120 (Japanese model number is T70).

But I dont think the combined battery life of that model would exceed T5 or W5.

Also be aware that the T5 is 2.77 lbs and W5 is slightly ligher at 2.64 lbs but actually has a DVD-RW onbaord while the T5 doesn't. So the extra weight is in battery.

So just be sure that you are willing to give up the drive to have say maybe 9 hours battery life instead of 8 hours. For me its more of a pain to not have that drive and have to connect external drive.

Windows XP runs on MINIMUM 512MB. YOu will see a difference with 1GB of course. but only you can judge what price that is worth to you. If I were you I would import it from Memoryx.com. Even with import tax it will be cheaper.

 

Thanks for this great info!
And the W5 is more a thoughbook than any of em

If i buy this ram to the computer: http://www.memoryx.net/gwxth1024.html
would i then have 1gb in the laptop or 1,5g in the laptop (how many slots)?

Thanks in advance

 

These series have two slots, memory which comes with the PC is solderd on and one slot is left open for upgrade.

But they use 172-pin DDR2 Microdimm, not the normal memory you picked out above.

More like this:
http://www.memoryx.net/palenolicfjv2.html

 

I have got a Panasonic T2 since now a year and... It's wonderful

To be more constructive, it's a very very light notebook, you can have it everywhere! It's very important to know, before it wasn't important to me to have a light notebook, but now i can't have a notebook more than 2,2p (1kg)...

An important fact is to know that Panasonic batteries are what they seams to be! My T2 was announced has 5hours battery life, and is. BUT you must know that this battery life is calculated with the smallest brigthness for the screen and the wifi turned off... The fact is that i can have a little more than 4hours of battery with wifi and a decent brightness, thats amazing for a 2,2p notebook!

So the T5 is estimated with 15h of battery, and the "real" battery life with a normal utilisation must be something like 12h, the R5 must be more than 10h battery life...

For the power my system is running on a 1,2 ULV with 256, enough to have PaintShop pro / Winamp / Firefox running without lag... So the 512M will be enough for your use and memory cost a lot of money for this type of computers.

For the differences between the R and T versions, the R have a smaller screen but 1024x768 resolution, the habit of using a small screen is quick, not convenient. It's easiest than it seems to use a small screen.
The T5 must have a touchscreen (my T2 has one), it's very plaisant to use it..

And of course the quality of the Panasonic products is without equivalent, i don't even think about changing to another type of product...

R5 is the best

PS: Sorry for my english, i'm a french Panasonic user

 

I am seriously thinking of purchasing the Panasonic R5. I currently use the Fujitsu T70 which I like very much, but want to try an even smaller notebook which I can take with me all the time and has a long battery life. The T70 has an 18mm pitch keyboard. The R5 a 17mm keyboard. That is my only concern, the keyboard. I'm fine with the T70. I'm a fast touchtypist and want to be able to type easily on the R5. Could you, or anyone who actually uses the R5, tell me what the keyboard is like? Do you find it easiy to adapt to? I've thought about the new Flybook v33i or something like that... But the review I saw said the keyboard on that device is just too cramped and the battery life nothing like the R5. Thanks!

 

Hi there,

I can't speak about the Y5, but since I just recently got a R5, I thought I would answer some of your questions..

1. Size, to me, it's not "too small".. although the keyboard is rather compact, but typing on it is not an issue for big hands.. The 10" screen is also comfortable enough, but I would suggest an external monitor for long hours of work of course.

2. Power. Not a problem, my system is configured as the default retail model, 60 GB harddisk, 512 MB RAM. I run the stock XP SP2 with Office 2007, word, excel, outlook all run fairly smoothly, and I would imagine it'll run better with older version of Office. Firefox also runs well, with few tabs open and in active browsing. I don't run iTunes, but I have instant messengers resident and antivirus software, so that puts a little counterweight on the system load comparision. So far, the software I have all run happily and quite snappily.

3. RAM expansion. I think it's *not* necessarily to begin with, but if the price is not bad, go for it for future considerations. I was considering upgrading to 1G or 1.5G, but since I'm currently happy with the performance from this little guy, I'll put off the upgrade for later.

That's about all for now, if you have other questions, I'd be happy to help you out.

P.S. the T5 and R5 are often on the display side by side at retailers, honestly, you can't tell much difference in weight and size. Having said that, why did I buy the R5? I just wanted the lightest possible system -- this thing only weighs about 650g w/o battery Besides, specs are similar.