Number 213 - February 2001

Selecting a New Laptop Computer
by Dick Freymoyer (mailto:dickfrey1@aol.com), Princeton PC Users
For some time I have been searching for a new, more powerful, laptop with some of the whistles and bells. I looked at Dell, and several of the other big names, but I really didn't want to pay the high price they were asking. I have settled on one made by Pro Star since they seemed to have exactly what I wanted and the price was great. This 3100 series model has a 14.1" TFT (Active XGA) display, a 6GB hard drive, 8 MB ATI Video card, a 6X DVD drive, a 56K V90 PCMCIA modem, 128 MB PC100 Ram, a PIII-500 processor CPU, the usual built in Microphone, stereo speakers, a Lithium Battery and a 3 1/2" floppy drive. All of the above for only $2299--not too shabby. A notebook configured like this from Dell would cost well over $3000, and knowing this made the Pro Star an easy choice. I usually only have about 3 1/2 GB of disk space used on my computers, so I figured I really didn't need a larger hard drive. Maybe this will prove to be a mistake, but time will tell.     In the back of the laptop, there are two USB ports, a PS2 keyboard/mouse port, an Infrared port, TV/Video port, an S Video Jack (TV Connection), and a 1394 port. The 1394 port was important to me because I think we will soon see many pieces of hardware designed for this technology and I will be ready for it. I still have one more PCMCIA slot left for whatever I would want to add, like a network card or a SCSI card. The warranty is for one year and, of course, I could extend it for 2 or 3 years. It covers everything for $149.95 and $229.95. The good thing about the extended warranty from ProStar is that you have more than 10 months to make up your mind.     I didn't buy the laptop directly from ProStar, so they could only cover me for the first year. The reseller had a deal on an extended 3-year warranty for $100 from Mack's Video from NJ and they told me that it's a good outfit that has been in business for over 20 some years. The warranty covers everything for the extended 3 years, giving me in reality a 4-year warranty ( except for hard drive) after the ProStar's one-year warranty has expired.     The DVD drive is great and will come in handy for me. For example, if you are traveling, you can watch a DVD movie at night in your motel. I don't own a DVD drive for my TV-Audio Entertainment Center yet and so I can use the laptop's DVD Drive there for now. All I have to do is patch it into my system or to my 21" PC Monitor. The floppy drive can be changed to an LS-120 drive for around $100, not bad price, but I decided not to go this route because I have a 2.2 GB	USB ORB Drive. With the ORB drive, I have the storage available and a means to share data between my computers, without networking them. I contemplated changing the CPU to a 600, but the reseller, said with the 128 MB Ram the PIII 500 CPU would be fast enough. I have found this to be true. A carry case was part of the package, nothing fancy, but it does the job.     Another item incorporated into this notebook is a Security Connector. This Connection allows you to insert a steel cable into it while wrapping the other end around your desk. This is designed to prevent someone from walking off with your laptop while you are out of your office, an all-too frequent occurrence.     One of the important reasons I like this note book is that you can upgrade the CPU, and it is a very easy task to perform. On the under side of the case there are two screws to remove the fan and chip, then four more screws that hold the fan and heat sink to the motherboard, then you are home free. (Most laptop CPU's are soldered into the motherboard, so a CPU upgrade is out of the question.)     I can still add another 128 MB stick of memory--I only used one slot for the 128-MB stick I had installed. To install the memory, you simply pop the keyboard out by pushing on two clips on the top and you have access to the inside of the computer. My old notebook was a dead-end street--all I could do was upgrade the memory and the hard drive. The display was a 12" active screen display, a big mistake, but you live and learn. I purchased my new laptop from The Computer Wholesalers located in Harrisburg (717-541-5075). I found them very accommodating and they took my old laptop in trade. I did have one problem with the laptop, a bad battery (it never charged fully). They gave me a new battery and that took care of the problem. I have the option of either dealing with the dealer or ProStar for any problems that may arise for this first year.     At this time, my new laptop is my fastest computer in the house and is a pleasure to use. My wife especially loves [the?] it, so buying this new toy was painless.     If you are thinking about a new laptop computer, check out ProStar's site (www.pro-star.com) and be surprised by the prices. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me.
Number 213 - February 2001