I have owned one of every generation of notebook/laptop computers. I migrated from the original Radio Shack/NEC notebook (made by Kyocera) to the first DOS Toshiba T1100 laptop to a Zeos laptop and, most recently, to the Dell 320SLi notebook. Each has strengths and weaknesses, but each generation comes closer to my ideal.
My most recent quest, begun last fall, specified a machine that weighs less than 6 pounds, with at least three hours of battery life using the new nickel metal-hydride, or NiMH, batteries, with a 386SL microprocessor and a 60-megabyte hard drive. This combination could run all my applications on a flight from Chicago to Los Angeles and, just as important, wouldn’t slow my airport run from gate B22 to C1.
The NiMH batteries get the nod because they pack more power per ounce and are more robust than traditional nickel-cadmium, or nicad, batteries. A nicad battery has a memory, meaning it must be fully discharged and then recharged each time for maximum life; the NiMH has no memory effect, so this simplifies recharging.
Another recent innovation is the PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association) slot for credit card-size peripherals. The slot allows you to enhance the computer without internal modifications. PCMCIA modems are available now, and flash memory cards that rival a hard drive will arrive soon. I wanted this feature.
A credit card and an 800 telephone number spell danger for a computer buyer. The combination makes it too easy to order the latest model advertised. When I began my search for a new traveling companion about a year ago, I lusted after Dell Computer Corp.’s 320SLi, the first of a new breed of notebook computers. At 3 1/2 pounds, it was the lightest and slimmest full-featured 386 on the market. It even had a standard enhanced keyboard with a full complement of cursor keys. However, it lacked an illuminated screen.
After comparing the Dell with larger, heavier machines from Zenith Data Systems, Toshiba Inc. and International Business Machines Corp., I chose the Dell. All offered first-class performance and construction and were priced at about $2,000. While performance differences were minimal, the Dell was 2 to 3 pounds lighter than the competition.
The lower weight comes from making the floppy drive external and using a reflective screen rather than an illuminated one. Few people need a floppy drive on the road; you rarely need to upload or download files, and a modem serves this function. I decided to trade arm strain for eyestrain. Because my notebook travels everywhere I go, every pound counts.
But within two months of buying the Dell, I felt pangs of regret.
Zenith introduced a similar notebook, the Z-Lite 320L, with a terrific illuminated screen and a snap-on track-ball mouse, at the same price as the Dell. However, this price equity lasted just a few weeks, until Dell dropped the sticker on the 320SLi by $200 and upgraded the model to the 325SLi: 25MHz and a 60 megabyte hard drive, with the option of getting a larger drive.
But even that failed to keep Dell among the front-runners. Soon Zeos International Ltd., IBM, NEC Technologies and CompUSA Inc. were offering souped-up notebooks. They all weigh in at 3 1/2 to 5 pounds, with 386 processors running at 25 MHz. Zeos’ Contenda is smaller in width and length than the Dell, at a similar price. The new IBM $2,000 ThinkPad 500, slightly smaller than the Dell, uses IBM’s unique TrackPoint II, a nifty nub in the middle of the keyboard that substitutes for a mouse. An outboard track ball is the bane of laptop users.
Rubbing salt in the wound, each issue of PC Magazine has carried ads proclaiming the “newest” “ultimate” notebook model. The August issue reviewed 68 notebook models priced from $1,200 to $5,000. Six months after my purchase, manufacturers began offering notebooks with the 486 processor. This chip leaves the 386 at the gate. Microsoft’s Windows runs dramatically faster on a 486 machine.
I also have noticed the price of my Dell falling with every issue of the magazine. A month ago it was selling for half what I paid for it. If I sell my Dell I’ll barely get back a third of my investment.
“Laptops are changing faster than desktops. The primary useful life is 18 to 24 months. The pace of development is much, much faster-we’re seeing as many as three product turns a year on portables,” noted Leslie Fiering, program director in the PC service department of the Santa Clara, Calif., office of Gartner Group, a computer industry market-research firm.
“There’s a real exciting shift going on, with color coming in and an even smaller class of notebook called subnotebook. It’s a very accelerated category,” said Bruce Stephen, director of the PC Hardware Research department for International Data Corp., a market-research and consulting firm based in Framingham, Mass.
The machines can be shrunk to a only point, Stephen noted: “As you go down the scale in weight and size, you tend to lose features and lose performance. If you go into a (machine smaller than a notebook), you lose a certain amount of functionality.”
As soon as you decide to upgrade to a new model, sell your old one-keeping an outmoded computer in your desk drawer is about as useful as keeping an old car on concrete blocks in your driveway. Used-computer prices seem to fall weekly, so don’t waste a day.
First, check with friends and co-workers, who may want to upgrade from a model that’s older than yours or who are buying their first laptops. Selling to someone you know saves the hassle and expense of advertising.
The next step is running an ad in the classifieds of a major newspaper or computer publication; if you have a modem, you can go on-line and place your ad on a bulletin-board service.
Another route is to sell to a computer exchange, which functions like a used-car dealer: A market is created by buying and selling used computers. Some even publish stock market-type quotes for specific machines by brand and year.
New-computer business is so competitive that it often doesn’t make sense to buy something used, said Paul Roberts, partner in the Chicago Computer Exchange, which opened five years ago in Hyde Park.
Despite that, he added, “The used business is as busy as ever. . . . Demand for honest used notebooks and laptops is much greater than supply. I said `honest used laptops,’ because probably half the used laptops offered to us we suspect are stolen.”
Roberts estimated that most people are willing to pay less than $1,000 for a good used notebook. “People are willing to pay a little more for a Toshiba or Compaq, and they expect to pay a lot less for a Bondwell or a Tandy,” he said.
At the exchange, you can sell a used notebook on consignment, or the exchange will buy it from you. If you don’t have the original sales receipt or acceptable proof of ownership, Roberts said, don’t bring in your computer.
I’m still glad I bought the Dell when I did.
Computers, like many high-technology products, continue to function even as they become outdated-few people, after all, would hesitate to buy a color TV now just because high-definition TV is coming soon.
I’ve enjoyed almost a year of trouble-free use from a machine that’s easy on my arm and back, though I’d prefer an illuminated screen to reduce eyestrain. Had I waited, I might have had the brighter screen, but I’d have lost a few months of productivity-I’m writing this article on the Dell in the air.
However, you’ll do less laptop computing aboard airplanes these days. Airlines recently began limiting the use of laptops because of possible interference with airplane electronics. The major U.S. carriers, such as American Airlines and United Airlines, restrict use during roughly the first and last 10 minutes of flight. Others, such as Japan Air Lines and British Airways, prohibit their use at any time. The predominantly plastic construction of the models I evaluated turned out to be a bonus. Airport security requires that previous generations of laptops, which contain a much higher percentage of metal, be booted each time you go through a security check, to make sure they are computers. Plastic doesn’t block the X-ray scanner, so guards can see the inner works to verify it’s a computer.
In the shoulder bag that formerly held only my computer, I now can carry the computer, a Walkman, tapes and a couple paperback novels.
With the new machine, I’ve also improved my record time running my spell checker-and running between gates B22 and C1.
