Which one would be better?

I'm thinking of getting new laptop. Right now, I narrowed down to Toshiba Tecra M3 and Toshiba Tecra S2. For both model, I'm going to customize as pretty much same.

Intel Pentium M 2.13ghz
1024MB (1024 X 1)
60GB HDD 7200RPM
Geforce 6600 128MB
WIFI a/b/g
DVD/CD-RW

The problem would be battery life and screen size. For bettery, I'm thinking of getting 12 cell battery. For screen, I don't know what to choose. Toshiba Tecra M3 has choices of either 14" XGA or SXGA. Toshiba Tecra S2 has choices of either 15" XGA or UXGA. I don't know difference between XGA and UXGA. Never seen UXGA. Which screen is better for two laptop?

Another thing I'm worry about is fan noise and heat problem. Is there solution for these two models? I need everyone's idea.

Finally, what do you recommend for notebook for both travel and game? As I said, I need everyone's idea and recommendation. Please help me out with this. Thank you.

 

well it depends on wut u are comfortable with...sxga is 1280 * 1024 and uxga is 1600*1200 and i think xga is 1024*768...higher resolution means better quality but too high can mean u cant see stuff such as text very clearly...if u feel comfortable with 14inches i wud suggest sxga and if u feel comfortable with 15inch the uxga...personally i like 15inches...next question...fan noise is practically zero on my toshiba m40 sf3 i cant hear nething...im pretty sure with centrinos there is no fan noise...as for heat with a centrino is nothing to worry about...is minimal but sometimes u can feel it...finally i believe that both of those laptops are great and the configuration seems awesome...travel wise my one is fairly lightweight and i think it is similar to urs....is about 6.6 lbs...although u dont want to carry it all day it is fine pretty much...umm battery wise my toshiba is about 3 hrs...which is not very good but u are getting extra 12cell battery which shud really boost battery life...as for gaming with that configuration it shud be perfect...my one is less powerful than urs and runs games at high resolutions all the time...nemore questions? hope that cleared up a little...i compared mine a lot becuz i think it is similar to the ones u are choosing

 

Thank you very much for your opinion. I will use your advice to make a decision. I wish more people leave their ideas.

 

Ilwhana,

Choosing an LCD is completely user preference. It depends on what your needs are and how small you like the fonts. As Sadafbahaza indicated the higher you go, the sharper the images will appear. You also have to take into account the font size as the higher you go, the smaller the fonts become.

If you're considering using the notebook for CAD, you may want to get the higher resolution because it'll give you more desktop real estate to work with (fit more of your drawings on the screen). Also, if you decide to go for the higher resolution screens, you also need to balance out the size of the LCD. Having too high of a resolution on a 14" LCD will make reading text too difficult for some.

What I would recommend is going to your local computer store and checkout some units (doesn't have to be the same unit) with the sizes and resolutions you're considering and see how you like it.

Personally, I have a 15.4" WSXGA+ widescreen LCD (max resolution is 1680x1050) and I find it perfectly fine. I do sometimes think the fonts are too small, but that's only sometimes.

-Vb-

 

venombite, do you have a toshiba becuz i dont think they make such high resolution 15.4 inch screen

 

I have an older Toshiba notebook, but I do have a new HP nx8220 with a 15.4" WSXGA+ LCD @ 1680x1050 resolution.

Toshiba does have a 15.4" WSXGA+ LCD in the Tecra A4, but they seem to list it only as 1440x900 (must be a misprint as this is the resolution for a 17" WXGA LCD), but I'm sure it should say 1680x1050 as that's the industry standard for WSXGA+ LCD's.

-Vb-

 

Ok. I was worried about 14" screen, but I think I can manage 14" SXGA after I checked 14" WSXGA screen from Circuit City.

By the way, when I told one of helper at Circuit City about battery life and fan noise of M3 and S2, the helper told me that S2 is better because M3 is mobile type notebook. This part I don't quite understand. I don't know the differences between regular laptop and mobile laptop. Could somebody explain to me?

As I said ealier, I'm going to get primary 12 cell battery and slim select bay battery.

Last question, can I really solve fan noise and heat problem by downloading upgrade version of BIOS? I read someone's review about solutions for those problems.

 

I believe what the sales person was trying to say was that the M3 is a smaller notebook designed to be mobile, while the S2 is a larger notebook designed for overall general use. They both have similar style CPU's and general features are the same (graphics card is different). If you don't have any problems with a smaller screen and that's what's you're looking for and you like what they say about the M3 (reviews), than go for the M3. But, if you like the larger 15" screen from the S2 and the features and reviews for this unit appeals to you, then get the S2.

I don't know if upgrading the BIOS will fix heat or fan noise problems, unless it modified the cooling temp thresh holds (when fan turns on/off). If someone reported that this fixed his problem, then I'd suggest searching to see if anyone else had this problem resolved with a BIOS update. If no one else reported that this worked, it's possible it may not be a solution.

-Vb-