Looking for a New Project Laptop

[Anonymoose]

Hello!
Per the subject, I’m looking for a portable laptop I can do some writing on. Since there’s so many out there, I thought I’d ask for your opinions.

My main requirement is, I’d like the battery to be fixable. I’d like to be able to use it without the power adapter. Other than that, nothing too exciting, a 386/486 would be nice (I’m keen on running some FastDoom/POP/etc) although I don’t mind a 8088/286. Screen wise I’d like to play some games so 640x480 is ideal (I’ve never tried 640x200, how is that?).

I don’t wanna spend too much money ($0-200ish?), but I’m never sure if the prices are reasonable (I just love reading $500 ebay listings screaming “RARE!”). Thoughts? Thanks!

 

[twolazy]

Compaq Armadas (15xx to 17xx) are a good in between of everything, and fairly cheap if you are patient. I got mine for $20. Regular socket 7 versions are great, as you can upgrade to anything you want really. Upgraded mine to a k6-2. They have an ESS ES1878 which is a pretty decent soundcard for MSDOS. And they use standard modern 19v power supplies. Cdrom's are a pain to replace, but are standard PATA. Has built in USB which is junk tbh, but do support cardbus, so you can use a usb 2.0 card (only in windows sadly).

 

[Anonymoose]

Awesome! Thanks, anything you’d recommend for something DOS based?

 

[twolazy]

That machine works great for dos games...

 

[syntax error]

Awesome! Thanks, anything you’d recommend for something DOS based?

A IBM thinkpad 300 of 700 series is nice. Great keyboard, nice screen if you get a model with a TFT screen, and a floppy drive that works. I would recommend a Toshiba but the Citizen floppy drive is a pain and will need a new belt to be reliable. If you're up to doing that repair, they can be really nice laptops.