From: John Kim (kim_at_mak.com)
Date: Tue Sep 01 1998 - 15:09:55 EDT
On Tue, 1 Sep 1998, Robert S. Frank wrote:
>
> I have a chance to buy a new TP 770 (91-AU) for a really good price. What
>
> My main interest is the 14" screen. I cant quite afford that screen in the
> newer 770 E or ED versions, so I figured I buy this one, which has been
> discontinued and really dropped in price. Just a few months ago, this was
> the top of the line. Now, as you know, you're made to feel that it's old
> technology.
>
> My biggest concerns with a buying a laptop...whether for $2,500, $3,500 or
> $4,500 are quality and reliability (I'm a solo entrepreneur with no back-up
There will always be something bigger and better on the horizon. The
trick is to get a computer which is good enough for your needs, and not to
pay so much for it that you'll start making comparisons to the next new
thing to pop onto the market because the price is similar. (That is,
unless you can afford to, like certain members of this list. :-) I've
found the price-performance curve starts leveling out nicely at around
the $2000 price mark.
> MIS department to help me and no tolerance for being down for a week or
> more), keyboard (I'm a touch typist), and monitor (this will be my one and
> only business machine and I will be looking at it 8 to 12 hours a day).
>
> future (Zip drive, PC cards, etc.)? Am I doing myself a disservice by not
> getting a Pentium II? Should I sacrifice screen size and other features and
> get a TP600 with the 233 Pentium II? Just so you know, slight performance
> advantages are not a big deal to me. Also, I am not what you would call a
> "road warrior", so portability is not the biggest deal to me either. This
> machine will basically be a desktop replacement, maybe going back and forth
> from home to office each day (via a backpack I might add).
If a big screen is really that important, and you're going to be using it
mostly at work, have you considered getting a smaller screen or a PII
model with a smaller screen, and buying a 17" or 19" monitor to use at
work? A 14" screen looks absolutely miniscule after you've used a 17" or
19" monitor.
If you're not that shy about synchronizing a notebook with a desktop,
having the monitor would also make it easier to purchase a $500-$1000
desktop system in the near future which will be faster than your notebook,
cheaper to upgrade, and which would serve as a backup should you need to
send the 770 in for repair.
The high-end notebooks are really designed for people who absolutely must
take it all with them when they travel. I don't think you fit that
profile, and have to wonder if you won't be better served by a nice
desktop system and a minimal notebook to take some work home with you.
I too tried to use a notebook as a desktop replacement because I liked the
concept, not because I really needed it. For 5 years, I basically ended
up owning machines which were more than a year behind desktops on the
performance curve, and paid a sum total of about $4000 more than
equivalent desktop systems for that privilege. I now own a nice desktop
system, and am still using my TP701 (with a 486/75DX4 processor) when I
occasionally need to take a computer on the road. I'm even considering
selling the 701 since I've found most of my portable computing needs can
be fulfilled by a pocket organizer type deal (HP 200LX in my case, though
I'm considering switching to a Palmpilot), so maybe I'm not the best
person to be asking. :-)
-- John H. Kim kim_at_mak.com
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