Need a laptop

What would you recommend?

[le_gber]

Hi all,

Here are the specs:
CPU: between 2 and 3 gig
HD (up to 40Gig - at the mo I have a 20Gig and it's not even half full)
RAM (enough to be able to run WYSIWYG and photo editing soft - I believe 512 DDR should be enough)
Battery: at least 2 hours runing light flash demos
Screen: TFT if possible (SXGA or UXGA)
Drive: floppy and CDRW (could be external)
Need to be able to replace my desktop i.e. leave it on for the whole day (10-12 hours) and not overheat.

Make: need portability (~3kg) and RELIABILITY

No need for mobile technology or DVD/DVDRW

Do I forgot something?
What do u guy use and cherish?

Thanks for your help

Leo

[chris_f]

Hi Leo,

I think you have pretty much covered all you bases. Laptop's are generally of the same caliber nowadays, so branding is to necessarily important. Have a hunt on some price comparison sites and I'm sure you'll find the right one for you.

atob, c

btw, have you thought about tablet pc's instead of a laptop (or even a combination of the two - h*ttp://www.vnunet.com/Products/Hardware/1150628)

[vibgyor79]

CNET is the best place to read reviews of laptops. It is updated atleast twice a week with the latest reviews.
http://reviews.cnet.com/Notebooks/2001-3121_7-0.html?tag=cnetfd.glnav

I like Toshibas because they come with the best laptop speakers (Harmon Kardon)in business.

[le_gber]

Thanks for your help guys.

I have some reading ahead of me :)

Leo

[chadmg]

The Dell Inspiron 1100 is $699 right now.

[dillonstars]

I have had some dodgy laptops in the past but have an IBM thinkpad now that I love! Would recommend them to everyone. I got it from Insight and it was cheap too :)

[le_gber]

I found the cnet reviews quite interesting, but the laptops that weren't Dell's I cannot find in the UK - or they have been renamed something else :(.

[vibgyor79]

Always wanted to ask an IBM lover. Why buy IBMs? Why pay 20 to 30% premium for those black ugly corporate-ish things?

[Brett_Tabke]

> CNET is the best place to read reviews of laptops

LOL. You would be better served reading at Amazon. Atleast at amazon, you KNOW the reviews are rosy on purpose. If it were high noon, and Cnet said it was light outside, I'd want to look out the window to verify that. Next to Amazon, Cnet is the largest affiliate farm on the net, and rarely review a product they don't like or a product they don't have an affiliate link coded into the click.

>laptop

HP or Compaq. Had an HP 4560 I bought a month ago. It died after two weeks. Just bought another one.

[PCInk]

>>> Why buy IBMs?

Also, why buy Dell?

I worked for one company that had hundreds of laptops. They taught computer classes, but needed the room for teaching other subjects too (which is why they had laptops). A laptop with paint (from an art class or china painting) wasn't a good thing to have and certainly putting sewing machines on top of them is an even worse idea!

Anyway, back to the matter at hand, whenever they went faulty, it was always easier and faster to speak to Dell or IBM. Toshiba were not as helpful, and many brands just did not even know what parts were inside their machines! Speak to Dell or IBM and they'll know from the serial number exactly what is in their. Which brand of HD, which size etc... Speak to a different company and some of them want you to take the cases off and read out what is written on various parts!

Why don't these companies know what's in their machines? Because they use the cheapest. The cheapest is not the best.

[vibgyor79]

>>> largest affiliate farm

Give them a break, will ya? Those poor chaps have kids to feed and have to make a living too.

CNET is the most comprehensive of review sites - PCWorld reviews are too small. Read the review, know the features and check out benchmark numbers (I feel they are fairly accurate) and make your own decision.

I always knew notebooks with Editor's Choice award gives CNET the biggest commission! ;)

[le_gber]

Brett you want me to buy a laptop that lasted you only 2 weeks? Sorry! I cannot afford to change laptop every fortnights ;)

After what I read on CNET (in the customer comments) I think that I will go a desktop replacement and either for an IBM , a Toshiba or a Sony.
What do you guys think? (sorry I need you to hold my hand it's a bit spend for my company - heuuuuuuuu ... well me :))

One think I am not sure of and you can probably help, is that what's the difference between a P4 and a P4-M? Is it just the mobility (ie smaller and lighter chip) or for a similar speed one will work 'faster' (ie is a 1.7Gig P4 as fast as a 1.7Gig P4-M?)

Thanks for your help.

Leo

[dillonstars]

Always wanted to ask an IBM lover. Why buy IBMs? Why pay 20 to 30% premium for those black ugly corporate-ish things?

Well. I got my ThinkPad much cheaper than I could find an equivalent spec anywhere else... so you've just got to look around for a good price... as I said, Insight was very cheap.

Yes I agree that they aren't as pretty as some, but they are very solidly built, mine has a great battery life, I like the pointing sticks (touchpads always seem to die on me after a while) .. and they have superb support. The size/weight compared to the screen size is also very good.

I have to admit though, that the good price was the main reason I bought mine, but now I have it, I do appreciate how much better than my previous laptops (Asus, Acer, Dell) it is.

[figment88]

I think spec's should include built in wi-fi.

I use a Fujitsu Lifebook. Fujitsu laptops are great - they match all of the big dogs for quality, style, and innovation and kick butt on price.

[Craig_F]

I have two toshiba's now and they are both great. Haven't had a problem yet.