I'm going to buy a laptop (not for trading - spreadsheets, PowerPoint, etc.) and I've narrowed it down to two models, both Toshibas: The Satellite 1905-S301 and the Satellite 2415-S205. Their tech specs seem virtually identical, and via comparison shopping I've managed to find deals that would enable me to buy them at about the same price. Just wondering if there are any Toshiba laptop owners out there who can give me some advice as to which one to purchase. Much obliged.
cannot tell you which one to buy BUT i have an important piece of advice. if you ever need servicing of your toshiba laptop computer NEVER let anyone touch it but the ACTUAL DIRECT TOSHIBA SERCIE HEADQUARTERS.
hapaboy - Mostly difference in weight (1905 is about a pound heavier) and different video (think the 1905 has S-video output option). External video output also has a higher resolution on the 1905. The 2415 has 3 USBs vs. the 1905's 2 USBs. The 1905 has a Firewire connector that the 2415 doesn't. The 1905 has a better sound system. The 1905's disk drive is also approximately 10% faster. Note that the 1905-S303 (instead of 301) is a 2.4 Ghz P4 and has 512 MB of RAM and video with 32 MB for a a few hundred bucks more. You get more capability with the 1905 but you pay for it with it weighing more. My personal preference in the Toshibas is the Portege line, but when I'm using a portable I'm looking for it to be as lightweight and have as much battery time as possible as well as being powerful. In that context, I'd take a somewhat slower processor in exchange for half the weight, twice the battery life, and fits in my brief case. Depends on what you're overall operational requirements are for a portable. Good luck.
if you need more power than a laptop (I did) for less money, I'd recommend one of these: http://us.shuttle.com/specs2.asp?pro_id=155 you can also grab a 15" TFT and stow everything in a carryon (granted, one of the larger, wheeled carryons)
I just built two setups based on these to act as music servers for a local roller rink. They work great.
I must have missed something. The specs don't seem to show that much (if any) more power than those Toshiba laptops. What extra do you get in exchange for having to lug it around in a steamer trunk?
you've got pretty good commentary in such a short space, whilest the market quitely sneeks above +108. pretty good on a slow day. toshiba is excellent. other threads dismantly Dell. I've been on a 15" UXGA Dell Inspiron for some time, and found it excellent, with competent telephone techs. Toshiba should improve in this area. Other features that you should consider are the RW's whether DVD/RW or DVD-R/CDRW's. Backups to CDR's are essential when talking such huge HDD spaces. Laptops that are at or over 2" thick should be avoided. I'm presuming that you're using this as a sole trading platform. Then getting the 1600x1200 that the UXGA offers is essential. Screen real estate is essential to these direct access trading platforms and having the room to add yet again another text or graph never ends. Be careful that some of the SXGA's provide for a scrolling 1600x1200, what I'm in referenced to are singular screen fixed display, not scrolling screen displays. Speed of processor is 2ndry to the OptSys. In this Win2000 Professional vastly exceeds WinXP Home/Pro. The latter has such a huge footprint on the processor that many have commented that they are totally disappointed over the slower response times with these huge P4 2.xGhz's running XP vs. Win2K. Unscientifically, I've heard that a P4 1.6/1.8 running Win2000 beats a P4 2.2/2.4/2.53/2.8 running XP. All things being the same, that's hugely disappointing. Whether that's exactly true or not, it at least gives you something to consider regarding processor speeds, money saved and maximizing your investment. Let us know what you choose. Also, you might consider the Satellite S series, which also includes the Wi-Fi's within the laptop instead of getting a card add on. Also, whilest the thin footprint laptops will run trading apps, you'll far exceed the weight component with all the additional connectors you'll have to carry, as verses getting a fully complete laptop that doesn't need so much accessories. Cheers
hehe...point well made... these were the big pros for me (and why i ditched my laptop for the SS40G, which came out earlier than the model that i linked here): -ability to use SCSI devices -ability to support 8 monitors -cheaper -faster than any laptop -cheaper to upgrade RAM and storage devices -can hold more storage devices -PCI/AGP slot -better audio than a laptop -comes with 3 firewire + 4 USB 2.0 ports
bungrider - If the choice were between XYZ desktop and a shuttle-based config or someone had a uniquely compelling need to routinely lug around a fairly ruggedized desktop equivalent, those are all key differentiating factors. But laptops have made a big leap in the last year or so and 99.99% of the people looking at a laptop aren't likely to exceed the capacity of a 2GHz Pentium 4 with up to 80 GB of disk, up to 1GB of RAM, integral DVD/CD, AGP video, Yamaha 3D sound system, firewire, dual USB, 100 Mb network, and Wi-Fi capabilities. The factors that you mentioned that could dictate otherwise though are valid - Running multiple monitors - an exceedingly rare requirement for a portable machine, but for those unique instances you can't do with a laptop (at least not without using a docking device) Needing more disk capacity - also fairly rare for a portable machine to need more than 80 Gig but it might be easier to carry one of the latest generation external high capacity storage devices if you do than lug around the bulkier config SCSI devices - can't think of too many (if any) situations that mandate SCSI (especially for portable use) but if there is then you either have to connect the SCSI devices to the laptop externally or go with something like the Shuttle config Faster - you definitely can load up something like the Shuttle with a 3+ GHz P4, but it's hard to imagine too many applications (especially portable ones) that need more than the laptop's available 2GHz P4 - heck, you can do video editing on one of these laptops Cheaper RAM and storage upgrade - absolutely true, but how many portable uses need to upgrade beyond 1GB of RAM and 80 GB disk? PCI/AGP - the laptop video is already AGP, but if you absolutely need PCI expansion, then the laptop can't do it without a docking station - you have to go with PCM or USB expansion on the laptop Better audio - if you output the audio output of the laptop's integral 3D sound system to a good speaker system will anyone be able to tell the difference? I've seen several commercial dance floors, traveling DJs, and entertainment facilities use this type laptop as their whole digital music (and even video) center 3 Firewire and 4 USBs - it's hard to imagine a portable application needing that many connected firewire and USB devices, but if there is, then the laptop couldn't do it - it can only handle 1 firewire and 2 USBs (unless you use a USB extender anyway) Cheaper - probably, although except for the high-end sub-notebooks or tablets that are pretty pricey, I believe that the notebooks in question are around $1100-1300 and they're only a small fraction of the weight and bulk of the alternative (so you've got to factor in how much that's worth to you).