And I'm sitting in the middle of it.

7 Apr 06

I still haven't found a laptop yet. I think laptops must be hard to buy unless you don't care about cost. You've got so many considerations. Processor power, screen size, memory, video cards (or integrated graphics), battery life, form factor, additional functionality and hard drives. All those have to be balanced based on the projected use of the notebook.

Unfortunately, browsing through ads doesn't give you all that information. It takes time to find the make and model and then dig through the stats. I started doing some of that when I realized that most of key stats were different for notebooks. The processors have different functionality and ratings compared to their desktop counterparts. The video cards are related similarly numbered desktop versions (except for the high end desktop replacements), but have differing performance.

I was initially confounded. On the Intel side, the core solo seems to be the most battery friendly with decent power. The core duo has two cores (as you might expect) so you get better performance if multitasking or if your application can use the second core. I think the core line (marketed Viiv) is replacing the Pentium M line (Centrino). I'm thinking the premium prices associated with Viiv are pushing it out of consideration. Plus I haven't seen many systems sporting it. The other options are the Pentium M, the AMD Turion 64 or a desktop chip. If you go the latter route, forget about battery life.

Most of the ones I like seem to have a Pentium M and a mobile Radeon X700. Part of me is not sure I need even that much power, but it's fighting the part that wants a desktop replacement. I'll try to keep the difficulty of wading through the information from paralyzing me and preventing a purchase. As always, any advice is appreciated.

Did I mention this link (from Slashdot) where the National Review defends video games. Maybe the tide is starting to turn.

Don't forget about the GalCiv 2 contest.

This week's game is from the makers of the Codename: Panzers series. It's Rush for Berlin (official site) from Stormregion. It's a World War II RTS set in the closing months of the war. The Western Allies and the Soviet Union are the competitors in the race. The Germans don't want either side to win. Rush adds some new twists in the form of hero units. They're the officers in your command with special abilities that can help turn battles. You can play as the Americans, British, French, or Soviets racing for Berlin. If you play as the Germans, they get to tinker with history a bit. Stormregion gives you access to some of the prototype technologies that the Germans were working on. It's up to you to figure out how to use them to keep history from repeating itself. Look for Rush for Berlin next month.

Jason