Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mikey36]

I am looking at buying a NEW laptop here in korea.

Any advice on what is available for $1000- $1500US, have been looking at the averatec 4200, gets some good reviews.

I am not a gamer.

Also where would I buy it from here in korea, went to yongsan- a little daunting really.

thanks

[hypnotist]

I was really fired up about getting an Averatec 4200 (well, actually a 4100)..

.. until I saw it.

It's too big for me (I use an HP nc4000 right now, and that's more my size). It's far too damn heavy for its size. And it seems to run particularly hot. (My girlfriend thinks it's ugly too - coincidentally she wanted to get a 4200 but was put off it as well).

Now I'm looking at getting a Fujitsu Lifebook - the S series looks good. The 6240 with the 730 Intel and DVD multi (512/80) goes for about 1.65 and S2110 (with only 256/60, though I can deal with that) for around 1.62. However the S2110 has a Turion-MT processor and ATI 200M chipset and I don't know how that weighs up in terms of performance / battery life to the Centrino systems. I don't know how the S2110's ATI RS480M compares to the 6240's Intel 915GM either. Anyone know?

Dell, Sony and Samsung all make nice sub-notebooks, but outside my price range.

OP - what's important to you? Weight? Screen size? Power consumption? Performance (not gaming but generally)?

[The Chewbacca Defense]

I got the Averatec.

I am very happy with it. But each to their own.

[hypnotist]

[The Chewbacca Defense]

I got the Averatec 6100 series

It doesn't see to heat up that much for me. I got the the laptop, a bag, windows xp in English, a bunch of other stuff and an upgrade to 512mb for a million and 40 won.

I am stoked with it.

[the_beaver]

Depends what your going to use it for.

If you want a sometimes portable unit but will usually leave it on your desk, Get a bigger unit with more power, a bigger screen, and a cheaper price.

If you want something that is really portable (light and not annoying to carry -- like the libretto) spend more for less power, but real portability and convienence.

[hypnotist]

Ah ok. I assume the heat problem is specific to the 4200, but it is mentioned in a few reviews of it - e.g. here.

The Fujitsu is growing on me, but I'm still a tad wary of the Turion...

[mikey36]

hypnotist, to be honest probably won't carry it around that much maybe once or twice per week, to me viewing is what is important, will use it to watch dvds and surf the net mostly , followed by word processing.


perfornmance wise if it can download mp3 etc and still operate other programs reasonably quickly then im happy

i've heard that the viewing quality on the 4200 is far superior to the 6200 series any comments anyone, also ive been told the 4200 screen ratio makes for better viewing

have heard of the 4200 heating up though, is there a way to adjust the thermostat on the fan??

[hypnotist]

If you won't be carrying it much but want to watch DVDs etc a lot, you'll get a lot more for less money by going for a 15" screened laptop (as el Beaver has said). You really do pay for portability.

It sounds like the 4200 is the largest laptop Averatec do with the AveraBrite screen, but the same type of screen is available from almost all the other manufacturers too - and you should be able to score a decent laptop with such a screen for a million or so. Might be worth having a look at a 6100 and 6200 in Yongsan and just seeing what you think. Make sure you check the resolution of any laptop you look at - I think 15" screens at 1024x768 suck, but that's just me I think the 6200 is 1280x800 anyway.

The screen for the 4200 is 1280x800 - that's a damn good resolution for a 13" screen to be honest. That said, a 'normal' 15" screen with a 1400x1050 isn't at all shoddy. You can get 15" widescreens at 1680 x 1050 or even 1920 x 1200 too. They'd be fantastic for DVD watching. Not sure whether you'd get one in your budget though - hunt around.