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 Forum index » DIY Hardware and Software » Jürgen Haible designs
OT: Help me find a notebook or sub-notebook
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jhaible



Joined: May 25, 2007
Posts: 2014
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 2:38 am    Post subject: OT: Help me find a notebook or sub-notebook Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Is it ok to open a highly off-topic thread in "my" sub-forum? I hope it is, because I'm quite dumb when it comes to computers.

I need a portable PC within a couple of weeks.

Main goals:

(1) As quitet as possible. This is of highest importance.

(2) Small.

(3) Needs an analogue Modem, ar an easy way to plug in an analogue modem. (don't laugh!)


My thoughts go into two directions right now:

* Sony Vaio - they are said to be very quiet. (Are they ?)
But what model? There seem to be hundreds ...

* Tried an eee PC (with the new display) in a shop yesterday and fell in love immediately.
No Modem, no DVD player. I'd consider to plug these in externally, if it is a reasonable solution. *Love* the size of this thing. (Th esmal display is just right - I'm for high DPI, not for large size.)
Is it quiet ?? (Couldn't check this in th eshop, obviously.)

Questions questiuons questions ...

JH.

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jhaible



Joined: May 25, 2007
Posts: 2014
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 2:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Not much coming Laughing

Well, I've ordered a Samsung P500-Pro T7250 Bashiga today because all the online tests seem to agree that it's exceptionally quiet ... I hope it's true.

JH.

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"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mk 11,23f)
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Luka



Joined: Jun 29, 2007
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

well if your a bit of a technophobe apples are always good, their UI is simple but extremely effiecient, unlike PCs where there are layers upon layers upon layers of menus to fine tune every singel standard function.

you can get them in 13", 15", 19".

lots of people are selling their second hand macbooks to upgrade to new ones every year so you can pick them up second hand pretty cheap and they just need some simple things to get them back to original working order

if you need PC functions you can load XP onto them or work in linux and you can run them all at once with parallels

it really is a good platform, just look for one second hand if price is an issue.

i changed to mac 2 years ago and its been a surpizing success

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Luka



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PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

oh i guess i was too late. sorry Smile
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jhaible



Joined: May 25, 2007
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 10:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Luka wrote:
oh i guess i was too late. sorry Smile


Thanks anway. I've ordered it from Amazon where the prices aren't the lowest, but retuning an item isn't a problem. I'll see if I like the Samsung; if not, it's always good to know alternatives.

I didn't know the Macs are fully compatible with XP nowadays.
Do they still come without fan, or with a very quiet one?

(I would almost have bought an eee PC 900 if the reviews wouldn't have talked about an unpleasant rattle from the fan.)

JH.

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"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mk 11,23f)
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Luka



Joined: Jun 29, 2007
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 21, 2008 11:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

my macbook has been really quiet until yesterday when i dropped a heater on it :s whoops. you can also control the fan speeds with widgets (small apps that run in the background).

and yup completely xp compatable, not sure about vista, i havent played with that. XP is meant to run better ontop of apple's unix system too. a friend of mine bought a 2nd hand mac book for 1000$ and then just formatted and installed XP and it is meant to be awesome for him.

also forget about virus protection when runningn OSX, at this point 99% of virus.malware.adware etc is aimed at windows (however im not sure how long that will last now with apple being world dominating :S)

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mono-poly



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PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 3:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

I have an EEE for about 3 or 4 months now.
And i use it all the time to browse the web etc.
The fan noise level isn't a problem here.
But ok you already did order something Smile
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jhaible



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PostPosted: Tue Jul 22, 2008 6:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

mono-poly wrote:
I have an EEE for about 3 or 4 months now.
And i use it all the time to browse the web etc.
The fan noise level isn't a problem here.
But ok you already did order something Smile


Yes, I really need something running stable when I'll be away for 3 weeks in September, so I had to act.

But really, these eee's are absolutely cute.
Who knows if I'll buy one, someday, too.

I wonder, are they powerful enough to run VSTi instruments on them?
I've been dreaming of a *standalone* MTRon or Steinberg The Grand ever since I bought the software. Would it make sense to dedicate such a tiny eee PC for just one such application?

JH.

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"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mk 11,23f)
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Coriolis



Joined: Apr 11, 2005
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 1:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

A friend of mine has a Macbook Pro, and frequently runs XP on it for gaming.
But when he does that, it has fan-noise like a 747! Apparently the fan/powermanagement that works great for OSX, doesn't do much under XP.

But it does have a rather hefty graphics chip, that probably runs hotter than magma when he plays Bioshock! Laughing

C

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seraph
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 2:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

jhaible wrote:
retuning an item isn't a problem.


wow Exclamation retuning a computer Exclamation

is that possible Question

Cool

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jhaible



Joined: May 25, 2007
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 4:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

seraph wrote:
jhaible wrote:
retuning an item isn't a problem.


wow Exclamation retuning a computer Exclamation

is that possible Question

Cool


Actually it is: The "whisper" mode, ot whatever this is called, tunes the CPU clock down. Very Happy

JH.

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"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mk 11,23f)
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germaniac



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PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 11:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

jhaible wrote:
Well, I've ordered a Samsung P500-Pro T7250 Bashiga today because all the online tests seem to agree that it's exceptionally quiet ... I hope it's true.

Just a word of encouragement while you await delivery. FWIW, I recently bought a Samsung laser printer, based largely on online reviews, and it's turned out to be a very happy purchase. Features and quality are both top-notch. I think Samsung as a company is attempting to grow their name recognition lately, and consequently trying a bit harder than most to please. . . .

Regards,
Joe
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jhaible



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PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 4:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

The Samsung arrived.

On power-on, it's really quiet. Fan at lowest speed is really, really nice.
But after some time, even with nothing more than the XP desktop and browsing folders, the fan is speeding up and becomes unpleasant. Even with the power safe mode. Don't know if power save is the same as what the reviews called "whisper" - user manual was missing.

*Not* sure if I'll keep it. DVD isn't exactly quiet either.

Can an eee PC 900 play DVDs with an external DVD drive connected?

JH.

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"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mk 11,23f)
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blue hell
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 23, 2008 4:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

Too bad ...

Out of budget probably but my Toshiba Tecra S5 does not spin up the fan even when I let it power some external USB stuff, you can hear it of course ... it came with Vista installed but also with the option to install XP.

Re. the DVD player this Toshiba and my previous one both came with a DVD silencer program, it lets the disc spin slower and the noise and the vibrations are gone then. Maybe you could find such software on the web. My old Toshiba (a Tecra S2) was not so quiet though, that one spins up the fan every now and then even when the harddisk is off and the screen is black.

My brother has some Dell thingie and that one is pretty quiet as well, don't know what type it is though, but his previous Dell was remarkably quiet as well ...

Maybe select on battery usage, when it runs a long time that would also mean that the fan would not be on too often ... smaller fans make more noise, but they are not going to tell you about that ...

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Jan
also .. could someone please turn down the thermostat a bit.
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jhaible



Joined: May 25, 2007
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 11:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote  Mark this post and the followings unread

The Samsung goes back today.
So I'm open for new suggestions!

JH.

_________________
"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." (Mk 11,23f)
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