Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

wasabi · 2012-05-29 20:30:08

Sup #!ers,

I need your help/hint for a decision.

Please find below two links to two nice notebooks on eBay, which both are very attractive to me, but I can't make a decision between them. hmm

http://www.ebay.de/itm/270960964588
http://www.ebay.de/itm/270984951417

I like the ThinkPad, because it looks really nice for me and it will be not my first one, but the HP is the same I bought before for my mother and #! runs really nice on it. I'm sure #! will also perform very well on the cheaper ThinkPad.

The main thing I'll do with it, is to pen testing WLANs (at home and at work), working with a terminal (irssi, ssh, rtorrent …) and from time to time watch a youtube video with it. The HP has more RAM, the ThinkPad a separate graphic card. Does it make any difference?

Any other points to look at to make the right decision?

Thanks in advance and have a crunchy week
wasabi wink

Last edited by wasabi (2012-05-29 20:31:54)

pidsley · 2012-05-29 20:37:10

well, I can't read german, but it looks like the Thinkpad has AMD graphics

Grafikkarte ATI Radeon Mobility 7500 - 32MB

and the Compaq has on-board (Intel) graphics, so that might be something to consider. I'm not sure that makes a difference considering what you want to do with it, but el_K hates AMD graphics, so he might have more information.

Plus the Thinkpad only has 512 M memory and the Compaq has 1.5 G...

There have been many thinkpad users here -- it seems to be a good machine; you may have to work around a missing "windows" key if you use that combination often.

And then I've heard other people here say that Compaq laptops don't last in the long term, so the IBM might be better there. (Not very helpful I know, sorry).

Last edited by pidsley (2012-05-29 20:40:54)

Eren · 2012-05-29 20:40:31

If I compare of this two laptops, first HP is better on cpu and video card. Centrino and Radeon X300 way better than Pentium M and Radeon 7500. May be ThinkPad has a separate video card, but still it's not better than X300. May be IBM'S quality is better than this HP Compaq but I definitely go with HP. But if you're looking something good desing & good quality mix it'll be IBM. The both laptop will go with youtube videos or internet thinky.

Last edited by Eren (2012-05-29 20:42:16)

dubois · 2012-05-29 21:23:16

So many people on the forum speak so highly of the real IBM Thinkpads that if it were me I'd be so tempted to buy it. I hear they're a solid machine, too.

Last edited by dubois (2012-05-29 21:45:43)

machinebacon · 2012-05-29 21:34:45

^ +1. My better half has one, it's excellent. Hasn't let us down yet.

gutterslob · 2012-05-29 21:36:58

Spec wise, the HP-Compaq wins. Centrino chipsets tend to give you working wireless connectivity out of teh box on most distros. More RAM is always good, and if all you're doing is penetration testing, CLI and Youtube, 1.5GB RAM should be sufficient provided you don't throw Gnome Shell at it. The Centrino should be able to cpu-decode 720p h.264 video as well, though you may have to compile mplayer with some performance guided optimizations for best performance. Not sure about Youtube flash 720p.

Quality wise, ThinkPads tend to be better, though it's a toss-up for used models; depends on how much they've been through with previous owners. You'll probably need to add RAM to the ThinkPad if you plan to browse with a lot of tabs open or use apps that buffer a lot.

You'll have to wait for someone who has proper experience with AMD gfx chipsets to post here. Since it's an old card anyway, I suppose you'll be using the Open Source xorg-radeon driver. It should work, but people tend to have cooling problems with some card-driver combinations.

ThinkPad has a clitoris while the HP doesn't, though. Clit-mice rawk!!

dubois wrote:

So many people on the forum speak so highly of the real IBM Lenovos

wtf is an IBM Lenovo? lol

Last edited by gutterslob (2012-05-30 03:17:34)

dubois · 2012-05-29 21:47:45

^

What? yikes I had a stupid moment. roll Fixed. big_smile

ivanovnegro · 2012-05-30 16:11:55

More RAM is always good, so I would also go with the HP, and of course because of Intel integrated. tongue

pvsage · 2012-05-30 18:16:37

If you plan on using the notebook as a portable computer, you might want to look into the relative costs of replacement batteries, since you can be fairly certain the one it comes with won't hold much of a charge. If you can replace the battery and upgrade the RAM in the Thinkpad for less than the price of a replacement battery for the HP, then...yeah.

machinebacon · 2012-05-30 18:45:46

http://ragegenerator.com/pages/comic/65650 big_smile

wasabi · 2012-06-12 20:52:26

^ lol

Just to thank all you guys for your opinion and to keep you up-to-date: due to a lack of time and my headlessness I've bought none of the above mentioned devices. But some days after I've found a T41 without HDD and charging cables for just 30 Euros. Ordered cables - which made just another 5 Euros - and found a HDD in my "warehouse of older hardware" I got a complete working laptop fitting my needs for around 42 Euros including the forwarding costs. I've also posted a first screenshot at the monthly thread.

It only has 512 MB of RAM at the moment, but a 1 GB rig is also already ordered.

The more devices I get, the more #! I run. cool

Ragnarok · 2012-06-12 22:08:18

I just thought I would express my opinion on HP laptops:
I/family have owned three different HP laptops and all have 'died'* within 2-3 years of being purchased.
HP uses cheap materials and go more for looks than design. They will break and they will have cooling issues. In fact, it's like they go out of their way to make sure their products will eventually wear down and fail. After a few years, you'll be left with a pretty looking, expensive paperweight.
Also note, replacement parts cost as much as the actual laptop. Having it repaired will usually cost more than you bought the laptop for.

By the way, although I've owned three HP laptops, one was a replacement for one that 'died'* and another 'died'* and got replaced, however that one was not replaced by an HP (I think there was some lawsuit against HP for that model because it was defective. Costed ~$1400 U.S.D)

The first replacement, the HP, is still kicking with some broken hinges, a broken left-click button, and some serious cooling/design issues. The second replacement (not the HP) is with my brother out of state. As far as I know, it's doing just fine. I think it was a compaq.

* There were normally a handful of problems that eventually led to one leaving the computer inoperable. I do not feel like listing them or remembering them all.

EDIT: Actually, I think the damn HP that costed $1400 got replaced twice. Bestbuy originally sold us an old defective model which we got replaced. Lol, Bestbuy is just as bad as HP.... Anyway, this all happened when I was an ignorant kid.

Last edited by Ragnarok (2012-06-12 22:12:55)

ivanovnegro · 2012-06-12 22:12:06

At least my HP notebook, also not the best one, a 6730s, is just kicking greatly more than 3 and a half years. big_smile

el_koraco · 2012-06-12 22:24:57

I love my Probook 4530s. I recently gave away my first HP laptop, it's been running for 7 years. That one needed some tweaking though. HP makes pretty good business class laptop, but shitty consumer class ones. Take the Envy line, the reviews will focus on touchpads and crap like that, and only mention in passing that it heats up like the Sun. Unsurprisingly, given the Radeon card. Actually, most problems can be avoided by running Intel graphics, AMD and Nvidia cards generate so much heat and the fans are in constant overdrive, it's no wonder they die soon enough. This is not specific to HP. A lot of Macbook Pro users have been reporting horrendous heat with the AMD GPUs. The others are probably just in denial. No such issue for Macbook AIr users, due to a lack of discrete graphics.

Hell, even older Thinkpads with AMD FirePro graphics get hot enough to boil eggs on (there's a good reason the basic configuration for the Thinkpad T line is with Intel HD graphics only). Can't say about Optimus, I haven't heard many complaints there. I do know that users with discrete Nvidia card find an idle temperature of 64 ddegrees normal, and only get concerned when it goes past 80, lol.

Last edited by el_koraco (2012-06-12 22:28:16)

ivanovnegro · 2012-06-12 22:29:52

el_koraco wrote:

...running Intel graphics, ...

Yess, maybe it is just this.

gutterslob · 2012-06-12 22:31:56

Benny wrote:

HP makes pretty good business class laptop, but shitty consumer class ones

Same can be said for most brands, really. Everyone praises ThinkPads, deservedly so in most cases, but have you ever used a consumer grade Lenovo? They don't compare!! Same goes for brands like Dell and Toshiba, in my experience. Only brand I've used with the same consistency in quality throughout their line has been Fujitsu, but that was in the past (when all their models were assembled in Japan) and I have no idea what their current line-up is like.

@Wasabi
It's been a while. Which one did you end up getting?

beadmaze · 2012-06-12 22:59:56

gutterslob wrote:

but have you ever used a consumer grade Lenovo?

ownig a "so-called" Thinkpad Edge (13" with AMD Cpu & ATI Radeon HD3200) I can tell you that non-business-lines are the pure sh*t...
pretty nice heat (wanna cook some eggs?), extreme battery drainig, plastics everywhere, low spec CPU

el_koraco · 2012-06-12 23:02:31

gutterslob wrote:

Benny wrote:
HP makes pretty good business class laptop, but shitty consumer class ones
Same can be said for most brands, really. Everyone praises ThinkPads, deservedly so in most cases, but have you ever used a consumer grade Lenovo? They don't compare!!

It's hard to compare to a Thinkpad big_smile
My mom has an Ideapad (Pentium + HD 3000), works like a charm. Asus and Acer make decent consumer grade machines. Plastic and stuff, but they work, provided there's no AMD.

p120d16y · 2012-06-13 05:55:55

machinebacon wrote:

http://ragegenerator.com/pages/comic/65650

hahahaha...was awesome bacon.

XwarlokX · 2012-06-13 17:48:07

Just to speak for Thinkpad reliability my current #! machine is an IBM-Lenovo Thinkpad from 2005. 1gb ram 80gb hdd Intel Centrino 1.73ghz cpu and intel gfx. This thing has great battery life running waldorf, and everything on it just works out of the box with #!. I think this one has swayed me to IBM machines from here on.

And as a side note I picked this up for $50 bucks...not a bad buy at all.

CrunchBang Linux

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#1 2012-05-29 20:30:08

Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#2 2012-05-29 20:37:10

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#3 2012-05-29 20:40:31

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#4 2012-05-29 21:23:16

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#5 2012-05-29 21:34:45

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#6 2012-05-29 21:36:58

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#7 2012-05-29 21:47:45

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#8 2012-05-30 16:11:55

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#9 2012-05-30 18:16:37

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#10 2012-05-30 18:45:46

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#11 2012-06-12 20:52:26

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#12 2012-06-12 22:08:18

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#13 2012-06-12 22:12:06

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#14 2012-06-12 22:24:57

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#15 2012-06-12 22:29:52

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#16 2012-06-12 22:31:56

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#17 2012-06-12 22:59:56

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#18 2012-06-12 23:02:31

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#19 2012-06-13 05:55:55

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

#20 2012-06-13 17:48:07

Re: Which one should I choose? (Notebook)

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