Jeroen, nice-- very similar specs-- but ~7 lbs is a bit heavy for my tastes. I suppose that’s the tradeoff for a larger screen.
You’ll have to let us know how it does for development tasks. I have a dual monitor setup: wide-screen 21" flat and a 4:3 19" flat that I do all my development work on and I’ve been resisting a laptop but there have been a few times though that I’ve realized I should probably get a laptop when going to a client’s location or needing to drag it into a meeting.
I’ve been looking at 17" laptops and maybe 15" wide screens but anything smaller seems like a huge step-back in productivity. I’m curious how well the smaller size works.
One thing that bugs me to no end is when 17" laptops still have 15" keyboards. They have they room yet only like 1% actually uses it.
Luckily snort, the T43 has the same INANE keyboard layout, with a Fn key in the lower left.
LOL. You gotta hand it to these laptop manufacturers. They just have to change something just for the sake of change.
Screw the laptop, get yourself a Nintendo DS. Hack it, write some nice Homebrew apps. You can boot Linux on the damn thing and do remote desktop! It boots Metroid in about 5 seconds, and sleeps/wakes instantly when you shut the lid. When was the last time you saw a PC do that?
I agree wiht Shawn. 17" laptops with 15" keyboards is one of the reasons I haven’t bought the current line of Dell 1705 laptops, and will never buy an Apple. Acer has a wide-keyboard model, as does HP. They are both a pleasure to type on.
And if you needed another reason to not buy a Dell, a href="http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=32550"there’s this…/a
Wow, that pic showing all the stickers just makes me shudder. Let me guess - when you first start windows you’ll have 18 icons in the taskbar and offers from AOL, Earthlink, and four other providers on the desktop.
I used to think of myself as a “pc person”, but after having used a macbook pro the last couple months I don’t think I’ll ever go back…
I don’t know how long it’s been out, but the Dell XPS M1210 looks like another promising alternative:
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsnb_m1210?c=uscs=04l=ens=bsd
Don’t think you can drop the optical drive, though.
jd, yep, the m1210 is new this week. It fits my criteria much better than the e1405. But as you point out, I’m not sure if the DVD drive is removable…
Have you received the laptop yet? What are your thoughts? Who did you end up ordering through?
-James
Just got my new one. HP box with Dual Core (AMD Turion - can’t stomach Intel, and loved my previous AMD laptop).
Problem is… the change of keyboard layout. PgUp/Dn,Ins/Del,Home/End are all small keys in the top right above Backspace. That’s a complete no-no for me when touch typing. Also… that Ctrl key thing. I liked having it nearer the middle, and the unused Fn key being on the far left. Same thing with the left hand shift key - it was longer on my old one, which made \ a bit odd at first until I started typing it with my thumb.
I’d prefer my old Evo N1015 layout any day… I loved it for development.
how the heck can you possibly tolerate a touchpad? that is the worst pointing device EVER.
gimme a trackpoint or give me death.
“Usually the left control key is in the lower left hand spot, but in Asus laptops it’s the “Fn” key instead. It may drive you crazy for a while.”
Luckily snort, the T43 has the same INANE keyboard layout, with a Fn key in the lower left. So it shouldn’t be an issue for him.
THAT is my deal breaker on laptops. I’m utterly incensed by the unmitigated ARROGANCE of companies that arbitrarily break the only UI standard that really matters.
If your tired of laptops, try building a smaller PC of your own design…
The form factor of these motherboards are much smaller than standard issue, which can lead to some interesting designs.
http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/ammobox/
Or
http://www.mini-itx.com/projects/humidorpc/
You can buy all the components off the shelf.
Jon Raynor