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Budget Laptop
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For some time I’ve been thinking of getting a budget laptop to fulfill a number of basic tasks – it should be capable of running slideshows, act as a temporary portable storage device with raw image preview and ideally (but not essential!) be able to handle tethered shooting (simply to act as a larger preview screen than the back of the camera, nothing more!) It would NOT be used for primary image editing. In my search I’ve come across a confusing array of machines, but one which I think should be up to the task and is attractively priced is the Lenovo 3000 N200.
There are other machines listed in a similar price bracket which also look good, but this one ships with XP Pro rather than Vista and IBM Thinkpads have always had a great reputation for good build quality and reliability.
I would appreciate your opinion on this machine, bearing in mind the usage I have outlined above. Thanks.
I’ve used IBM ( lenovo ) laptops in the past and have always found them very reliable and durable.
they are built well and perform well. I would go XP rather than Vista. Have fun mate.Am using a N3000 C200 at work. Good battery life with Vista installed. Dodgy build. Feels like a Lada. HATE that I have to use the Function key to press and which share the PgUp and PgDn keys. Screen is a bit naf (very flat) and there is no available monitor driver from Lenovo. This limits me to 1024*768 which is rubbish for photography and not great when trying to use Office 2007 to it’s fullest potential.
I’d go Vista as long as the machine has at least 2GB RAM and the machine is badged for Vista. It just runs better than XP on good hardware. If you are buying and want Vista, then wait until the OEM’s are shipping Vista with Service Pack 1 pre-installed (slip-streamed). Some drivers have been badly written in the past and fail to work with SP1 installed … typical OEM rubbish where programmers aren’t following MS guidance.
I have a 2 years old Compaq laptop and it’s great until I don’t have to take it anywhere, but too heavy for lugging around. Asus came out with the Eee laptop at €300 and other brands will come out with ultralight ultra cheap laptops in the summer… I am waiting for those now. A 10″, 1kg laptop with a 1024×768 screen and 3-4hrs battery would be ideal for the things you listed… and you can always edit the pictures on the big screen when you get home. The Asus Eee is now sold with linux, but they will only sell the new version with win xp from the summer… worth a thought at least.
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