# now thats a killer laptop!!

## cf25

so i was at the alienware site when i came upon this little beatuy...

http://alienware.com/main/system_pages/area51-m.asp

now to me this seems like a pretty kick butt laptop.  i compared it to the prices at dell (i had to downgrade it a bit to equal up with dells best!!) and it was actually a bit cheaper!  

does anyone have any input on this thing?  goods, bads, etc.  i'm sort of a newB and right now all the big numbers make this think look REALLY good.    sup?

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## klieber

One assumes that you plan to use Gentoo on this beast.  :Smile: 

Assuming so, you'll want to verify if the modem is a "real" modem or a winmodem.  It says it's a lucent chip, so I'm guessing it's a winmodem.  They tend to be more of a pain to set up in linux.

Next, they're using a desktop chip in this machine and a lot of other power-hungry things.  This means that the battery life will most likely suck -- it wouldn't surprise me if it was 2 hours or even less.  Definitely a question you want to ask since I didn't see the specs listed anywhere.

Other than that, Alienware tends to make high quality stuff, so if you're not put off by the high price and you really need the portability of a laptop, then it's probably a good buy.

--kurt

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## cf25

would there be any reason not to use gentoo on a hog like this.  

on the downside, i would be forced to dual boot with a windows partition for games and some development stuff i have to do.  

sometimes, life is a "1. A female canine animal, especially a dog."

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## TripKnot

I would significantly scale back tha base model.  It runs with a desktop P4 2.4 so its going to be really hot on your lap, the fans needed to cool it are going to be really loud and annoying, and the battery life is going to suck (probably less than an hour, notice they say 'standard' battery and don't mention its capacity).  That thing is 1.7" thick(it looks thicker, I think they are lying) and weighs almost 10#(Not including the CD drives, AC adapter and anything else you plan on carrying with it).  Your going to be building your arm and back muscles lugging that brick around.  

One more thing that may or may not bother you is the ultra high res of the LCD (1600x1200).    On my 1400x1050 14.1"  the letters are entirely too small(causes terrible eye strain) and I find myself using a lower res in windows that causes blurry text but can't in X because the screen always locks up so I'm forced to play with font sizes but still up with a mixed bag of large and small.  It's a total PITA.

Unless your looking for bragging rights and never plan to leave a power outlet I'd say pass.

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## klieber

Do you need a laptop?  For $3k, you can get one hell of a nice desktop model, along with a snazzy flat screen monitor...

If you need the portability of a laptop, then as the other poster suggested, this one may not be your best choice.  It's a brick.  (a powerful brick, but a brick, nonetheless.)

--kurt

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## cf25

i have had a laptop for the past 2 years after having only desktops before that.  quite frankly, i dont see myself ever going back.  it is just way to nice to be able to take it  where i want to be.  since i got my current laptop i have had to give up on the gaming portion for the most part because of the crappier components that go into a laptop.  so there is my dilemma.  now, i guess if i just start selling my body on the corner i can afford this thing....

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## fzylogic

Configure one for yourself and click on "view details" for the extra battery.  It says it'll give you an extra HOUR with a mobile cpu.  The default CPU isn't even the mobile model!  You have to pay extra for that (at a lower speed, at that).  I'm assuming it's about 40 minutes of battery life withe the 2.4ghz cpu.  Just enough time to get it to work and plug it in again   :Smile: 

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## masseya

I just wanted to warn you about the CPU as well.  I've done a lot of research with battery life and a desktop CPU will chew your battery up very, very quickly.  The people who have mentioned that are absolutely right.  It's going to run hot and not for very long.  If a battery lasts 1 hour with a mobile cpu I would say that 40 minutes is an extremely generous extimate on how long it would last with a desktop CPU.  However, if you are OK with a shooting star as a laptop...

If I were you I would look to find people who have actually bought something like that and talk to them about heat, battery life, and a good skin ointment to treat minor burns.    :Smile: 

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## cf25

so yeah, it would seem that the battery life would be pretty short on a monster like that and it would probably get hotter than heck.  hmm.....

i wonder where i might find folk that have this thing...

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## MacMasta

It's running a P4.

That's a reason to avoid it, all by itself.

~Mac~

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## cf25

there is nothing similar that uses an amd chip.  i know there are some amd laptops, but none use the desktop chips like this one does with the intel chip.

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## ElCondor

It's sad, but true, that AMD has no mobile processor available, that's suitable for laptops, I've got a P4M-1.6GHz in my Vaio, and the highest temperature of the CPU was 62°C .. that time it had about 30° in the room already.

Putting a non-mobile CPU in a laptop is like shooting yourself in the knee before running a marathon ...

* ElCondor pasa *

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## cf25

why does no one use desktop AMD chips?  i believe winbook did the desktop pentium thing as well.  so alienware is not the only one.

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## ElCondor

desktop AMD chips are fast - and hot, meaning really hot. Many desktop computers (or towers  :Wink:  ) are having heat-trouble with AMD processors though having large cooling & fans. You could melt nearly any laptop with an amd-processor.

fast is fine, but mobile shouldn't mean the laptop is "running" away  :Wink: 

* ElCondor pasa *

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## cf25

does that mean that pentium chips run a bit cooler?  i assume that is the case.  off-hand, is there a site out there that would report these temperatures so i could gawk at em for a bit?  off to google i go!

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## klieber

 *ElCondor wrote:*   

> It's sad, but true, that AMD has no mobile processor available, that's suitable for laptops

 

Actually, they just released one -- the Athlon XP SFF.

(note: this link shamelessly plugs my site.  :Smile: )

--kurt

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## klieber

 *cf25 wrote:*   

> does that mean that pentium chips run a bit cooler?

 for the most part, yes.

 *cf25 wrote:*   

> off-hand, is there a site out there that would report these temperatures so i could gawk at em for a bit?

 

No, because a *lot* depends on your case and what sort of cooling you have in it.  What you want to look at is how much power the CPU uses.  Generally, the more power a CPU uses, the hotter it will run.

AMD and Intel will have specs on power usage, but if you really want to go bonkers looking at all kinds of CPU power specs, go here.

--kurt

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## ElCondor

ad cf25: yes, pentium are cooler an less power consuming -  at a higher frequency and about the same performance. transmeta might be a good choice when high computing power is not what you really need.

but the cpu isn't the top power consumer anymore (at least as you are not 3D-ego-shooting, compiling kde and divx5ing a dvd  :Wink:  ) - a good display takes about the same power, graphic chips are also quite hungry these days.

Actually that's sad: if you take a P4M-1.8GHz and clock it to say 1GHz, same with an nvidia or ati graphic chip, only the display will really be consuming power, and an average notebook could run on battery for nearly twice as long. but that won't sell enough to be produced *sniff*

ad kurt: Okay, maybe they've got on now, but not at any time before. I prefer AMD for their performance and fighting a monopolist  :Wink: 

maybe my next laptop will be amd-powered .. ask me next year  :Smile: 

 * ElCondor pasa *

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## Sequentious

 *ElCondor wrote:*   

> desktop AMD chips are fast - and hot, meaning really hot. Many desktop computers (or towers  ) are having heat-trouble with AMD processors though having large cooling & fans. You could melt nearly any laptop with an amd-processor.
> 
> fast is fine, but mobile shouldn't mean the laptop is "running" away 
> 
> * ElCondor pasa *

 I can see it now: a 4.5 inch laptop with front and rear fans. the laptop is so tall because the heatsink. I know my desktop Athlon (TBird) at 1.2Ghz runs at about 60-70 degrees (celsius, of course), and thats with a case fan right next to it aswel. I'd definately want to keep that thing as far away from my lap and *ahem* my parts *ahem* as possible.

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## TripKnot

Who wants to bet that after 10 min of running, that P4 2.4  overheats and throttles back to 1.2GHz?  I just don't understand why everyone has become so obsessed with running desktop CPU's in their laptops.

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## Sequentious

The first thing i did when i looked at the laptop was look for battery life. Then i noticed, "oh, its alienware" which means they cater mainly to gamers. Its funny how they didnt say anything about the battery at all on the first page though. If you click "more details" (or whatever the button under the graphic is) it even tells you about their kick-ass AC power cord!

If you want a laptop, go with something with a long battery life so you can go outside and not need to take an extension cord with you.

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## klieber

 *Sequentious wrote:*   

> If you want a laptop, go with something with a long battery life so you can go outside and not need to take an extension cord with you.

 

While it's true that long battery life might be important to a lot of people, there are perfectly valid circumstances where a laptop with crappy battery life, but maximum performance might be desirable.  (transporting a laptop from home to work every day, space constraints, etc.)

--kurt

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## sunta

 *klieber wrote:*   

> Do you need a laptop?  For $3k, you can get one hell of a nice desktop model, along with a snazzy flat screen monitor...
> 
> If you need the portability of a laptop, then as the other poster suggested, this one may not be your best choice.  It's a brick.  (a powerful brick, but a brick, nonetheless.)
> 
> --kurt

 

yah, lets buy cheap desktop and spent 10K$ on wires  :Smile: 

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## klieber

 *sunta wrote:*   

> yah, lets buy cheap desktop and spent 10K$ on wires 

 

Not sure if you're trying to be funny or not, but desktops and laptops have exactly nothing to do with whether or not you can have wireless networking.

--kurt

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## Sequentious

 *sunta wrote:*   

>  *klieber wrote:*   Do you need a laptop?  For $3k, you can get one hell of a nice desktop model, along with a snazzy flat screen monitor...
> 
> If you need the portability of a laptop, then as the other poster suggested, this one may not be your best choice.  It's a brick.  (a powerful brick, but a brick, nonetheless.)
> 
> --kurt 
> ...

 No, buy a desktop and use wireless connectivity. Then all you would need to buy is one of those carts with wheels on the bottom. Unless, of course, you live in a walkup apartment.

Even if you buy a laptop and dont expect to use it anywhere other than home/office, you will likely end up thinking "i wish i could emerge 'package' in the backyard"

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## ElCondor

I spent nearly 3k on my laptop. On the one hand, I never wanna have a CRT again, on the other hand, I can take my work with me - since I got my own company, this is rather usefull, though a problem anyways, since you always have the chance to be productiv  :Wink:  And you got a USV for about 3hours included, sum this up to the costs of an ordinary workstation ..

* ElCondor pasa *

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## cf25

well, ya see, i'm a student and i work.  basically, i hate having to sit in the same place, facing the same direction, forever.  at the very least a laptop allows me to sit on the recliner or just put it on my lapdesk and spin my chair so i can look out the window.  to be honest, that means a lot to me.  thats why i will never use a desktop for primary work so long as the computational power is comparable.

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## pjp

 *klieber wrote:*   

> Actually, they just released one -- the Athlon XP SFF.
> 
> (note: this link shamelessly plugs my site. )
> 
> --kurt

 Just something I noticed using that link.  Going directly to it like that, I see no date 

indicating when the story was posted.  Clicking on 'News', I can see that it was 

'Posted by: AlexHu on Wednesday, July 03, 2002 - 03:55 PM EST'.  Thought it might 

be worth including on the direct linked page.

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## rstanchak

Do a search for an "ECS Desknote".

It's a barebones laptop that comes in either a P4 or Athlon version - you add your own memory, drives, cpu, battery, etc.

It's about $750 for the barebone kit.

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## rasmus

 *ElCondor wrote:*   

> It's sad, but true, that AMD has no mobile processor available, that's suitable for laptops

 

Ehm? When did AMD scrap the mobile Athlon 4? I thought that was an Athlon XP for laptops?

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## devoogdt

So, I bought myself such an 'IBUDDIE-4' with a PIV 1.8a, 256MB DDR and A 2.5"HD for only EUR 1600 !!

Anyway, Gentoo is not very easy to configure on this machine. I managed to hae network, but what about the other things ?

X for example ? I can't find the necessary specifications.

Graphic card: SIS 315 ? What to chose in xf86config ?

What specifications does such a TFT have ?

And what about this touchpad mouse ? How to setup this mouse ?

For now, let's forget about audio and DVD capabilities.

Thanks,

Oliver

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## cf25

you may want to post that one under its own heading in laptops.  not many folk will read this thread and expect those kinda questions.  if you do get all that jazz working though, drop me a private message, because i was looking at thoses as well.  i was just hesitant because i wan't sure of hardware campatibility.

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## zez

As far as the Alienware laptop goes, it's meant as a desktop replacement for occasions like LAN parties.  MaximumPC had a review and the battery only lasted for about an hour and fifteen minutes, plus it put out a lot of heat.  Still, it's a lot smaller than a desktop to lug around, and one wouldn't be sacraficing as much computing power.

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## masseya

 *devoogdt wrote:*   

> So, I bought myself such an 'IBUDDIE-4' with a PIV 1.8a, 256MB DDR and A 2.5"HD for only EUR 1600 !!
> 
> Anyway, Gentoo is not very easy to configure on this machine. I managed to hae network, but what about the other things ?
> 
> X for example ? I can't find the necessary specifications.
> ...

 

In general, http://linux-laptop.net will have some example configurations for things like xf86config and touchpads if it can be done on linux.  I don't know if you have checked there or not.  Another good thing to do is a google search on the component and the laptop brand.  If it's been done, you'll find it with one of those two before you find it on the forums here.  If it's a gentoo related problem, then this is your best resource.  However, X and touchpads have been around quite a while...

 *rasmus wrote:*   

> Ehm? When did AMD scrap the mobile Athlon 4? I thought that was an Athlon XP for laptops?

 

It is.  Sony is probably the only big provider still out there, but there are a lot of house brands that use the Athlon 4 because of cost reasons.  Compaq and HP used to and currently don't.  I think this has something to do with their merger because HP was still using Athlon 4's until then and I haven't seen one since.  Gateway used to use Athlon 4's and then later dropped AMD chips altogether.  Dell is sleeping with Intel and therefore can't cheat on them by selling AMD stuff.

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## jconover

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/aug2002/tc20020818_4146.htm

And even with a second battery, the unit conked out after 3 hours, 4 minutes in our tests

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## Evangelion

People people! This laptop is exactly the same machine as that Alienware! Only difference is the price (this machine doesn't have astronomical price):

http://www.discountlaptops.com/index.php?section=specs&model_id=190&category_id=11&category_theme=c1

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## slikdigit

I own this laptop- just got it a few days ago and its quite dreamy. (I got mine from mtech- they're all basically clevo 5600's)

quite a lot of tweaking to get all the "extras" working, but by the time I'm done I'm pretty sure every bit of hardware will work under linux.

here's two linuxy links about it:

http://cpbotha.net/clevo5600/clevo5600_linux/

and:

http://w1.894.telia.com/~u89404340/best5650/laptop.html

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