Does a Patzer need a notebook ?

Posted by GilaChess
July 14, 2006

I was walking in Low Yat Plaza yesterday and was surprise how much notebook prices has fallen recently.

One budget notebook that impressed me was the Compaq Presario V5100 series.

compaq5100.jpg

It was priced only RM 1999 (USD 550). It’s features were really basic such as 256Mb RAM and 40Gb harddisk with WiFi.

I have been using a PDA for my chess studies for some time but there are some limitations such as searching a large database.

Here are the full specs for that notebook:
Compaq Presario V5208TU
Specifications

  • Operating system - FreeDOS
  • Processor - Intel® Celeron® M Processor 410 (#) (1.46GHz, 1MB L2 cache, 533MHz FSB)
  • Standard memory - 256MB (1 x 256MB) DDR2 SDRAM (667MHz)
  • Maximum memory - Upgradeable to 2GB
  • System memory - 256MB (1 x 256MB) DDR2 SDRAM (667MHz), upgradeable to 2GB
  • Cache - 1MB Level-2 Cache
  • Hard drive - 40GB (5400 rpm)
  • Optical drive - DVD/CD-RW combo
  • Graphics - Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950 (up to 64MB shared with <512MB system memory)
  • Modem - High speed 56K modem
  • Network - Integrated 10/100 LAN, Intel® PRO/Wireless 802.11 b/g integrated WLAN
  • Battery - 6-cell Lithium-Ion battery
  • Display - 15.4″ colour WXGA BrightView
  • Pointing device - Touchpad pointing device with 2-way scroll
  • I/O interfaces - (1) S-video port, (1) VGA port, (1) Notebook Expansion Slot, (1) Headphone, (1) External Microphone, (1) AC power adapter, (1) RJ-11, (1) RJ-45, (2) USB 2.0 ports
  • Security features - Kensington MicroSaver lock slot, power-on password: accepts 3rd party security lock devices
  • PC card slots - (1) ExpressCard/54 Slot
  • Status display - System Power, NUM Lock, CAPS Lock, SCROLL Lock, Battery Charging, HDD/Optical activity, Media Slot, Mute, Wireless
    c:
  • Audio - Altec Lansing branded speaker
  • Keyboard - Full-sized keyboard with touchpad
  • Dimensions - 4.49cm(H) x 25.91cm(W) x 35.79cm(D)
  • Weight - 2.99kg - may vary, depending on configuration and components

    So what do you think?

    Should a patzer like me get a notebook?

    I already have a PC at home. But I have no internet. With a notebook I can work on the net as long as there is WiFi. I can see how helpful it will be especially in doing chess reporting. Photos can easily be edited and posted on the net very easily.

    I can see that as a blogger and webmaster for several chess related sites, it would come in handy.

    • Popularity: 70% [?]

    Chess Gadget, Chess Notebook, Personal Blog

    Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.

    Related posts:-

    Comments

    It’s using Celeron, that’s why it’s cheap.

    Comment by sherrina on July 14, 2006 @ 1:28 pm

    Yeah I know. At home and at work I’m just using a Pentium III. So I guess I can live with a Celeron which I suppose is faster than my PCs !! :)

    Anyway for office work, internet, website maintenance and chess databases / analysis a Celeron notebook should be quite ok.

    Comment by GilaChess on July 14, 2006 @ 3:28 pm

    =O I was looking for a notebook myself and this one might just do. Thanks Andrew.

    Oh, and Why Does A Patzer Need a Notebook?:

    1. To install chess tactics programs like Renko’s Intensive Tactics Course or other teaching softwares like Chess Mentor etc so you could train on the go.

    2. To become your playing partner and game annotator (Fritz) when you go to a tournament being held somewhere far from where you live…

    3. Notebooks are cool. =/

    Comment by Papyn Chase on July 14, 2006 @ 7:52 pm

    pentium3?!
    I suppose you can live with it if you don’t play the latest games (counting 2005)

    personally, I think any electronic gadget is cool, if I can afford that is =p

    Comment by ark on July 18, 2006 @ 12:18 pm

    Yeah I definitely can live with it. Most of my programming work is done on a Pentium 3 anyway. Software I use is not CPU or graphic intensive.

    Now I’m just asking around and looking for opinions of others who are familiar with this notebook.

    The money ? Probably have to beg and borrow :(

    Comment by GilaChess on July 18, 2006 @ 12:42 pm

    hmm…considering your conservative usage, say you just want something like your current desktop but portable, if you want to save even more $$ can look for second hand deals (although I dunno how this would work out in malaysia)

    Comment by ark on July 18, 2006 @ 1:04 pm

    Second hand deals are a few hundred ringgit cheaper but not worth it. The battery for the notebook is half dead by then and replacing it would be a couple of hundred ringgit more. So 2nd notebooks are not really appealing to me. 2nd desktops are ok I guess.

    Comment by GilaChess on July 18, 2006 @ 3:19 pm

    [...] If you remember the notebook I was interested in was a budget Compaq notebook at RM2000. [...]

    Pingback by Chess Patzer Theory» Blog Archive » Does a Patzer need this notebook? on August 15, 2006 @ 9:47 am

    [...] Since my question to whether a chess Patzer needs a notebook ? is a resounding YES, I’ve been on the lookout for a notebook that hits the sweet spot. I.e. not too powerful that it is overpriced and not underpowered that is utterly useless. [...]

    Pingback by Chess Patzer Notebook - the sweetspot :: Chess Patzer Theories on November 24, 2006 @ 10:10 am
    Leave a comment

    (required)

    (required)