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First post, by mr_bigmouth_502

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As my main portable laptop (not counting my incredibly nonportable Alienware m17x that my dad handed down to me 🤣), I own a 2004-era Acer Travelmate 4500 series machine with a 1.6GHz Pentium M, 2GB of DDR ram (upgraded from 512MB), Intel onboard graphics, and an incredibly slow 80GB IDE hard drive (the last time I checked it was like 4200RPM with a 2MB cache 😜).

Despite its low specs, it holds its own quite well in terms of websurfing and running pre-2002 games, but it has a few issues (mainly the slow hard drive, the dwindling battery life, and the erratic USB ports) that have caused me to consider getting another machine to replace it with.

I've looked at a bunch of netbooks, and most of the ones out there seem like they would work well enough as replacements, but they all seem to have one glaring issue: they're powered by Intel Atoms. 😜 As pathetic as it is, the Intel Atom architecture actually has only HALF the processing power of an equivalently-clocked Pentium M in single-threaded tasks, and I sure as hell don't want a downgrade. I just want something cheap (in the $200-$350 Canadian range) that has equal or better specs.

Reply 1 of 16, by FaSMaN

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Have you considered maybe looking at the local second hand market or posting a wanted advert on amibay?

You can probably get a pretty decent little laptop if you go for the used not new option.

New in that price range are all basically intel atoms like you mentioned 🙁

Reply 2 of 16, by MatthewBrian

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Atom processors -- even the early ones -- have nearly the same power with your Pentium M.

Check here. http://www.cpubenchmark.net/

Atom subnotebooks has an incredible battery life (up to 8hrs with 6-cell batteries).

Reply 3 of 16, by Mau1wurf1977

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In terms of performance, avoid the Atom and AMDs E-range (APUs like the E-450 or E-1800). While the Atom can only be found in netbooks, the AMD APu does appear in 15" machines 😳

Good are the AMD Triniy (A4, A6 and A8) and anything from Intel with Celeron or higher.

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Reply 4 of 16, by Old Thrashbarg

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Honestly, I think something with the AMD E-series would be about perfect for the task. The goal here isn't a high-end gaming notebook, it's a cheap notebook that sucks somewhat less than the busted old one. The E-series is at least as good clock-for-clock as an old Pentium-M, plus they're dual core.

I mean, for dicking around on the internet and playing some light games, pretty much any processor made in the last few years is going to be good enough. The graphics horsepower matters if you're playing games, but the E-series have halfway decent integrated graphics... at least better than the Mobility 9700, plus it gives you the hardware video acceleration to take the load off the CPU when watching Youtube and Redtube and torrented TV shows (which, realistically, is about the most taxing thing most people do on laptops these days).

Reply 5 of 16, by Mau1wurf1977

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Yes the E series have at least decent graphics and drivers. That's a good point.

mr_bigmouth_502 I used to sell notebooks full-time and my tip is to skip the netbooks and look at the 11" screen size. There are models only slightly more expensive vs. netbooks but with more features.

To be considered a netbook there are limitations:

- Low res screen
- 1 GB Ram
- Windows Starter
- HDD capacity cap and so on...

In the 11" size you usually get:

- 2 GB Ram (and upgrade-able)
- 1366 x 768 resolution
- Windows Home Premium
- Larger HDD sizes

E- series chips come with usually 1.3 or 1.6 GHz clock speeds. Avoid the 1.3 model. I have one and it's a dog. It performs no better than a netbook. You have to accept this. While it does have better graphics, the E series is a netbook CPU. The latest Atom is often faster because of Hyper-threading and also more energy efficient.

Now if you can find a Intel Celeron or Pentium in a 11" you are set.

I made a video a while ago warning potential buyers from getting an E- series machine in a 14" or 15" machine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPMKG3WMlss

Buyer beware!

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Reply 6 of 16, by mr_bigmouth_502

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Old Thrashbarg wrote:

Honestly, I think something with the AMD E-series would be about perfect for the task. The goal here isn't a high-end gaming notebook, it's a cheap notebook that sucks somewhat less than the busted old one. The E-series is at least as good clock-for-clock as an old Pentium-M, plus they're dual core.

I mean, for dicking around on the internet and playing some light games, pretty much any processor made in the last few years is going to be good enough. The graphics horsepower matters if you're playing games, but the E-series have halfway decent integrated graphics... at least better than the Mobility 9700, plus it gives you the hardware video acceleration to take the load off the CPU when watching Youtube and Redtube and torrented TV shows (which, realistically, is about the most taxing thing most people do on laptops these days).

That sounds about right for my requirements. I mean, the Pentium M is sufficient for me in terms of processing power, but to have that sort of horsepower along with dual-cores AND better accelerated graphics just makes it all that sweeter.

One thing I wonder though, how well supported are the AMD E-series' graphics on Linux? I like the idea of using Linux as a portable OS because it's lighter-weight and more secure, but I remember on my old laptop with its relatively old Intel onboard graphics, that many Linux distros flat-out refused to do any sort of hardware-based graphics acceleration, if they even worked in the first place. 😜

Mau1wurf1977 wrote:
Yes the E series have at least decent graphics and drivers. That's a good point. […]
Show full quote

Yes the E series have at least decent graphics and drivers. That's a good point.

mr_bigmouth_502 I used to sell notebooks full-time and my tip is to skip the netbooks and look at the 11" screen size. There are models only slightly more expensive vs. netbooks but with more features.

To be considered a netbook there are limitations:

- Low res screen
- 1 GB Ram
- Windows Starter
- HDD capacity cap and so on...

In the 11" size you usually get:

- 2 GB Ram (and upgrade-able)
- 1366 x 768 resolution
- Windows Home Premium
- Larger HDD sizes

E- series chips come with usually 1.3 or 1.6 GHz clock speeds. Avoid the 1.3 model. I have one and it's a dog. It performs no better than a netbook. You have to accept this. While it does have better graphics, the E series is a netbook CPU. The latest Atom is often faster because of Hyper-threading and also more energy efficient.

Now if you can find a Intel Celeron or Pentium in a 11" you are set.

I made a video a while ago warning potential buyers from getting an E- series machine in a 14" or 15" machine:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPMKG3WMlss

Buyer beware!

Thanks for that heads-up. I'm definitely going to avoid getting a netbook now. 😜

Another thing I would like to add, someone here mentioned getting a laptop from the secondary market. I don't actually mind the idea of doing this, because the laptop I'll be replacing is ancient as it is, and I'm pretty sure that there are probably a lot of laptops from 2006-2008 that could replace it nicely and still be easy on the wallet.

Last edited by mr_bigmouth_502 on 2013-01-10, 23:50. Edited 1 time in total.

Reply 7 of 16, by Mau1wurf1977

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I have a 11" HP/Compaq with the E-450 and after maxing out the RAM and using a a SSD drive it's a great ultra portable.

Still, a cheap 14" notebook with a Celeron totally kills it in terms of performance. But in the 11" size there is not much else available. At least not if you want a good price.

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Reply 8 of 16, by mr_bigmouth_502

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This is an older model, but how does it look? The specs/features look awesome for what I'm looking for, and the price is great too! 😁

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Ite … N82E16834200469

Reply 9 of 16, by Mau1wurf1977

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mr_bigmouth_502 wrote:

This is an older model, but how does it look?

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Ite … N82E16834200469

That's basically a second hard. What budget do you have? There must have been fantastic notebook sales over xmas and likely now all over the place.

My website with reviews, demos, drivers, tutorials and more...
My YouTube channel

Reply 10 of 16, by mr_bigmouth_502

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$200 to $350 Canadian. 😜 I'm cheap, and I don't mind buying secondhand. In fact, my Acer was actually obtained as a secondhand refurb. 🤣 The only thing that really concerns me is if the battery life is going to be any good. 😜

Reply 11 of 16, by Mau1wurf1977

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Check the sales from the main electrical outlets. Over here we have Dicksmith, JB HiFi, Harvey Norman, Office Works. When they have a notebook sale they are quite cheap.

At your budget, spending that 50-100 more will often give you something that's double the speed. E.g. getting an A6 instead of an E-300 machine.

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My YouTube channel

Reply 12 of 16, by nforce4max

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Look for a used Llano A4 machine or comparable Intel as an Intel atom and E-350 isn't fast at all. I've seen in person just how slow they all are when against older hardware. Your machine cpu wise is close to the performance of these common $200-350 range new laptops. I am glad that I knew as I am having to start over from scratch after losing everything in a house fire.

On a far away planet reading your posts in the year 10,191.

Reply 13 of 16, by Anonymous Coward

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I really really like my Acer One AO752. It's based on a CULV dualcore Celeron with 11.6" screen. Has better memory expansion and much faster than netbooks. They now sell an upgraded version called AO756. Price runs around $300US. It's actually a stripped down version of one of their higher end products, so the build quality is high. Just make sure you get a model with a 6 cell battery.

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Reply 14 of 16, by mr_bigmouth_502

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nforce4max wrote:

Look for a used Llano A4 machine or comparable Intel as an Intel atom and E-350 isn't fast at all. I've seen in person just how slow they all are when against older hardware. Your machine cpu wise is close to the performance of these common $200-350 range new laptops. I am glad that I knew as I am having to start over from scratch after losing everything in a house fire.

Anonymous Coward wrote:

I really really like my Acer One AO752. It's based on a CULV dualcore Celeron with 11.6" screen. Has better memory expansion and much faster than netbooks. They now sell an upgraded version called AO756. Price runs around $300US. It's actually a stripped down version of one of their higher end products, so the build quality is high. Just make sure you get a model with a 6 cell battery.

I like these recommendations. 😀

Just something I was thinking about though, what kind of hoops would I have to jump through to retrofit my Travelmate with an SSD? Since the slow hard drive appears to be the main root of this machine's performance problems, I think an SSD would improve things a lot.

Reply 15 of 16, by idspispopd

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The Travelmate 4500 (probably holds true for all notebooks from 2004 and/or with a Pentium M cpu) has an IDE hard disk.
Although there are IDE SSDs on the market they are neither particularly fast nor cost efficient. And while IDE-to-SATA adapters exist in most cases you can't even fit the smallest one inside a notebook.

If you want to upgrade an older notebook with an SSD you should get a model with Core 2 Duo and SATA. One thing more I'd look in a used notebook would be a graphics chip that supports video acceleration in Adobe Flash (if you watch videos online that is).
And you'd have to avoid models with those nvidia chips which where prone to failure (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_8_Series#Problems).

Reply 16 of 16, by mr_bigmouth_502

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I'm well aware that my laptop uses an IDE interface, but I was thinking of maybe modifying the case and putting in an IDE to SATA converter.

Like, maybe I could pair something like this with a 2.5" SSD http://www.cooldrives.com/2sahadrtoide.html