My personal choice was RStudio: it is good-looking, intuitive, easy-to-use, while powerful.

Next step would be using some R-equivalent of the excellent ipython’s Mathematica-like Notebook webinterface…

Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with LG, and I have no personal benefits from this post. Text is provided AS IS, and no liabilities are assumed based on it. Use it at your own risk – though all efforts were put into making this text accurate and non-biased.

Before going to vacations this summer (you may want to see the photos), I wanted to by a notebook, in order to be able to work a bit on my important projects while I’m away. Frankly speaking, I used my new and shiny notebook more for gaming, and not for work.

I was short of time, and had to make a fast decision on what notebook I wanted. My requirements were: lightweight (NOT 3 kg), WiFi, 15-inch display with resolution not lower than 1280×800, long battery life, discrete graphics solution, DVD-RW super-multi drive, and Centrino platform. I wanted all of this to be somewhere around 1000$.

From the very start I had to put away a number of Celeron-based notebooks, as “Celeron is not Pentium” , and to the best of my knowledge it lacks energy-saving features.

Having a couple of good choices, I bought LG Express series notebook LM70-32HR. It was the only one from those I liked weighing 2.3 kg; for me, the drawbacks of this model’s configuration are combo DVD/CD-RW drive instead of DVD-RW, and the absence of built-in Bluetooth (FIR/IrDA is also absent, but I don’t think I’ll be ever using those).

LM70-32HR is solidly built with light but sturdy casing. The design is good – the notebook looks like it’s worth the price I paid for it, but still nothing outstanding (what else would you expect from a serial model?). Due to the 15″ display, the notebook is rather large, but it’s thinner and lighter than the majority of other 15″ notebooks available, and this is a great benefit I enjoyed carrying it from home to the institute every day during my stay in Gliwice, Poland. The only trouble might be the size – with its roughly 20×30 cm size, it might not fit into your backpack, if you like smaller ones. But personally I prefer 15″ displays over any smaller…

Keyboard is fine, and LG claims they use some special “ER” technology to improve the feel. It doesn’t “click” loudly as you type, but you still know that you did press the button even not looking at the screen/keyboard. The “function” key is the leftmost in the bottom row, where the Control key is usually located (the same layout is used by ASUS, from what I’ve seen). At first this is highly inconvenient, but now I’m a bit used to it. Still, switching from notebook to desktop is uncomfortable because of this “function” key.

Touchpad is covered with a thin plastic layer, which does not impede any of its functions. There are both well-marked vertical and unmarked horizontal scrolls on the touchpad. Anyway, I’m not using it too much, as I think that a wireless mouse is still much more comfortable and precise.

The TFT screen is good. It is not mirroring light into your eyes, like the glossy “glass-like” screens do. Only in the worst-case scenario (working in dimly lit environment with a light source a little bit behind and sidewards from you) you may get visible blurred flare on the screen. The flare-protection of the screen is not the top I had ever seen, but it is really good – might be one of the best, IMO.

It’s pleasant to have native 1400×1050 resolution – you can fit lots on the screen :), however don’t use tiny fonts, unless you have eagle’s eyes. Interpolation to lower resolutions works fine in games, but not that fine for desktop; however, the problem of “good native” and “bad lower” resolutions is a well-known one for all TFT displays. As for brightness – I didn’t test it outdoors yet, but for any in-office lighting conditions the brightness range was sufficient for comfortable operation. Despite the energy mode (battery or AC power), you can set the brightness you like – of course, at the expense of the battery life, if you are on battery.

Battery life at first was very disappointing – it was around two hours on a complete charge; but that appeared to be some initial temporal effect, as after some time I could work up to three hours (no heavy load or game playing). I didn’t do the “last man standing” test for the battery in “games-only mode”, but I can estimate the time on battery under heavy load as 2+ hours. I don’t know if this battery life is specific only to my exact item (which, according to BIOS dates, was manufactured nearly a year ago), or if it’s common for other LM70 models as well. I’d say that battery life is average.

As I mentioned earlier, the drawback of my model is a combo drive, and not Super-multi DVD+RW – but this can be upgraded, what I plan to do a bit later, simultaneously with adding more RAM – my current 512MB are enough for usual tasks, but hardly sufficient even for the simplest microarrays analysis using R. Another single thing which I dislike a bit, and which cannot be changed, is the seemingly software volume control – i.e., if you did not mute sounds when shutting down the previous time, you won’t be able to mute before Windows plays its startup sound :(. I also do not know yet if volume control functions under Linux, which is going to become my optional bootable system.

LM70 has two speakers (0.8 Watt together) under the front panel. The sound is fine, with no distortion on over-amplified tracks. Headphones performance is good. There is also SPDIF combined with headphones plug. Nothing else to say here :).

As for the performance – soon I’ll post the results of running Super Pi on a number of machines, including LM70. Preliminary – it appears that Pentium M is faster than Pentium 4 with equal core frequency. Come back soon to see actual numbers.

Dedicated X600 graphics card makes LM70 a machine suitable for playing games. Such games as X2: The Threat, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic were playable (not on max settings). However, when playing either in a hot environment, or for over than an hour, the video card will heat over, and will automatically slow down, causing framerate to fall. Actually, in this setup video card looks beneficial mostly to some rendering software, which can make use of video card’s capabilities to speed up rendering – here, frame rate won’t be that much a limiting factor. As for over-night gaming, you should look for some literally “cool” places :).

Instead of the summary. I like this notebook, and do not regret buying it. I think it’s a good feature pack as for its weight and size, and probably just a little bit overpriced – due to being slim and light. Recently I noticed that more models from the portable LM70 series appeared, and with good prices. For just a bit over $1000 you will readily get DVD super-multi, 2GHz Pentium M, 80GB SATA HDD and some other nice features – and all of that in the same form-factor as my LM70-32HR, and even a bit lighter – just 2.2 kg. I might even consider buying another LG notebook next year for my wife :), especially if prices continue to drop as they did recently . Core Duo and Core 2 Duo are really pushing good old Pentium M’s to lower-price segment.

Update: see my post on the performance of Pentium M as compared to Pentium 4 using Super Pi.

Update 2: sometimes, after booting up my Windows XP Home Edition (russian, came pre-installed ), it appears impossible to type the password: instead of a new symbol in the password field, the cursors might just move left or right (for letter ‘U’ and and ‘O’, respectively). It appears as some minor keyboard drivers bug, which results in keyboard malfunctioning (mis-functioning?) after booting up. To fix: just enable the numeric keyboard (Fn + NumLk/ScrLk, the numeric light should light-up), and then disable it (same keys, numeric ligh should go off). After this you must be able to enter your password whatever symbols you have in it :).

Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with LG, and I have no personal benefits from this post. Text is provided AS IS, and no liabilities are assumed based on it. Use it at your own risk – though all efforts were put into making this text accurate and non-biased.

Here I will list parameters you will most probably consider when bying a new notebook. I hope this post will help you choose what you really need.

Weight: ranges from under 2kg (1.6 for yet-fully-functional notebook) and up to 6 kg (DTR). Most of the notebooks you’ll encounter weigh around 2.5-3 kg. If you want less kilos – you’ll have to pay noticeable extra for portability.

Screen size: ranges from approx. 12″ up to 20″ (is that still a ‘notebook’ with 20″, how do you think?). The most common screen sizes are 14.1-15.4 inches. As for any other LCD display, the most important features are the reaction time (pixel on/off times), brightness and contrast. Usually you will not get those details in notebook specs; so you have to see for yourself. I just should note that cheaper notebooks (those in 600-800$ range) usually come with noticeably worse displays than more expensive laptops.

Screen resolution: usually ranges from 1024×768 up to something like 1680×1050 and 1600×1200 (WUXGA+). The higher the resolution – the more you can fit at once on the screen. But take into account also the physical display size: if you happen to buy 14″ with 1680×1050 resolution, you either have perfect eye-sight, or you do not care about the eye-strain at all. I think that for a 15″-15.4″ display a resolution of 1280×800 (very common) is acceptable. My notebook has the resolution 1400×1050 at 15.4″ in diagonal, and not everybody feels comfortable working with that :). Of course you can switch from 1400×1050 down to 1024×768 (and not vice versa), but LCDs usually work best at their maximum resolution. At lower resolutions, the quality of the picture will be worse.

CPU: Single core, Double core. Double core means that you have something like 2 CPUs; single core – just one CPU. You will need double core only if you really do edit lots of videos – video compression and decompression can be split into separate threads (processes), which gain speed by using both CPU cores. You might also consider double core if you need hardcore gaming notebook. For the majority of office tasks, and also for gaming with not-maximal graphics settings, single core should be enough (for gaming: strongly depends on the video card type, see below for this).

CPU: 32bit, 64bit. You will definitely come across some CPUs which have two numbers – ’64′ – in their name. Those CPUs support 64bit commands. Frankly speaking, 64bit CPUs do not have any advantage over usual 32bit – at least now. Don’t pay attention if you are being told that those 64bit will help your notebook gain performance.

CPU: Celeron, Pentium M. I am not quite sure, but Celerons are not only slower than Pentiums with the same clock speed, they also lack some energy-saving features. Thus, buying a Celeron-based notebook, you should be aware that it will not perfrom the same as Pentium-based, and you may also expect shorter battery life.

Memory (RAM): ranges from 256 MB up to 4 GB. DO NOT take less than 512: you will suffer from slow response and slow program loading with that amount of memory for sure. 512MB or 1GB are currently optimal. The more memory – the better. Usually you can install some more RAM later (do an upgrade), but the maximal installable memory is model-dependent. For a highly portable notebook you may be limited with 1 or 1.5 GB of upgrade RAM, and for DTR up to 4GB are usually installable.

Hard disk drive (HDD) capacity, speed, interface: capacities vary between 20GB and 200GB, with 40-80GB most frequently available. 40GB might be sufficient, especially if you work only with texts, and do not store movies and MP3s on your hard-drive. But this is already an outdated storage capacity; I would recommend taking 60 or 80 GB of storage, and more – if you need to store lots of videos. Usually, the more portable your notebook – the less storage you have with it. HDD rotation speed (also known as rpm – rotations per minute) strongly influences data transfer rates – i.e. how fast your programs and data will load, given enough other system resources. 4200rpm is most common; 5400rpm is noticeably better and also available for fair price; 7200rpm is probably the highest available, and the fastest as well. I would recommend taking either 5400 or 7200. Notebook’s hard drive can have ATA and Serial ATA (SATA) interface. SATA is more modern, but for 4200rpm or even 5400 rpm it gives no real advantage over ATA. 7200rpm on ATA is faster than 5400rpm on SATA. For future upgrades – SATA drives will be more common and generally better than outdated ATA drives.

Graphics accelerator: can be integrated or discrete; can have shared memory or own memory. Integrated is usually Intel’s GMA900 series, which uses shared memory (taken from RAM). On integrated solution you cannot expect sufficient gaming experience even with a powerful CPU. You’ll be able to play games, but only those which are at least 2-3 years old, or do not require graphics acceleration. For office use, integrated solution is sufficient. Discrete graphics accelerator (most frequently you’ll come across ATI’s X600, X700, nVidia’s Go 7300-7700) is usually much better than integrated. However, discrete accelerator may still have shared memory, which impedes performance. So the best is to take discrete graphics with something like 128MB of own memory. This will make almost all of the games playable – probably not in highest resolutions, unless you will also take the double-core CPU.

Wireless communication protocols: most commonly you’ll need WiFi b/g to stay connected. To get WiFi a/b/g you will most probably pay an extra (b and g protocols use the same frequency, but ‘a’ protocol uses a different one). Bluetooth is highly recommended as an option to upgrade or built-in; however, you can always buy a Bluetooth USB dongle starting at around 20$ and be happy :), so that is not really a factor. IrDA/FIR in my personal opinion are less usable than bluetooth, so consider this only when you already have some IrDA-enabled devices, or plan to buy those.

Ports and connectors: most of the time you will be using USB to connect various devices to your notebook, so it is good to have at least 3 of them; four is a good number of ports. You can always use USB replicator, but this is additional hassle which can be avoided with just more USBs built-in. Also note how your USBs are arranged: if stacked close together, you may find it hard to use all at once; it’s better when USB’s are spread to different locations on the notebook’s case. FireWire (IEEE 1394) is a de facto standard for transmitting high-volume data, such as videos. Highly recommended. VGA output is important if you plan to make presentations using your notebook and some large-screen projector, or just want to plug your notebook to the desktop 23″ display for more comfortable work. There is also DVI output, but it is rare in the notebook field, and as for the large-screen projectors – even more rare. Headphones out and microphone in are standard; you may want to have hardware controlled volume – this allows to turn off sounds before your OS makes any noise, if you had forgotten to ‘mute’ sounds in software. Notebooks often come with built-in microphone, which is usually sufficient for some voice-chat (but not more, of course). LPT is an old, bulky port, used to connect to older printers; I would say you don’t need it, unless your company extensively uses LPT printers. SPDIF is good if you have 5.1 sound system, and your notebook has a sound processor of the sufficient quality. Video out is a frequent option, though personally I didn’t use it a lot yet. Ethernet (RJ45) and modem plugs – the first is strongly recommended – probably that (except for WiFi) will be the most frequent option for connectin to networks and internet. Modem plug is needed if you know that you will happen to visit some pretty wild places, where only the phone will be available.

CDRW, Combo or DVD-RW: evidently, the best option is DVD-RW (double-layer, super-multi), which will allow you to read and write most of the disk formats available (except for the long-coming blueray and/or HD). Combo is worse, but might be a solution for an ultra-portable notebook – you’ll read pretty much everything, and will be able to dump backups to CDs. Simple CDRW is not a recommended option, and you will hardly find that in modern notebooks.

Card reader: a convenient feature, which saves some cable-handling time and allows to get digital content even if your camera is dead on batteries. Most commonly readers support 4 or 6 card formats. You may want to have a look at the memory solutions of your other smaller devices to know which formats you really need.

That seems to be it. Any corrections, comments, suggestions and questions are welcome. This article is valid as of date of publishing, but of course will be getting older each month; if you need my advice on your specific case – do not hesitate to contact me, for a tiny fee I will propose you 2-3 notebook models which suit you the most to choose from.