Which laptop to buy?

[SilverLining]

I am sure you are tired of "hearing" this question, but technology changes so often, that I guess the answer to this question does too.

I need a new laptop with at least 2GB RAM, 120GB HD, 128MB dedicated graphics card (or is 256MB necessary?) and card reader etc. Must have a Core 2 Duo processor (2GHz).

Most of you will say that one can get any laptop with these specs, however I think some brands are better than others - as expected.

I am leaning towards getting a Toshiba or HP, though don't really like HP's metal touchpad (!). What should I look out for? This will mostly be used for standard web development.

[Marshall]

IMHO, an HP. Last year I got two dv8000 because they had wider screens and built in keypads (which comes in handy doing e-commerce sites, you know, price calculations, etc.) and it has many of the specs you mentioned, plus it's easily upgraded. I've been using HP's for over 7 years without a problem. The ONLY drawback is that you have to get VISTA now (got XP Professional myself). Regardless, I think it all comes down to opinions, kind of like arguing over MAC vs. IBM or FrontPage vs. Dreamweaver, etc. Best thing I can suggest is go to their respective web sites and "build" what you want and compare.

In the end, I suggest getting one step higher in whatever - memory, processor etc - than you need now. You may spend more up front, but will save in the long run.

Marshall

[kaled]

I need a new laptop

... to do what? Play games, run Vista, develop software, develop websites, take on the road, access email.

Personally, given that most screens are pretty good these days (unless they are shiny - yuck!) I'd say the most important factors are things like weight, battery life, keyboard feel and layout. Unless you plan to play games, any old CPU/graphics card will do. I'm typing this with a Dell Inspiron 1501 with dual-core Turion. It's ok but whilst the keyboard layout is good the quality is much poorer than my Thinkpad.

Kaled.

[Marshall]

kaled, it's at the end:

This will mostly be used for standard web development.

Marshall

[SilverLining]

Thank you for your responses. I haven't had much exposure to VISTA, so at the moment don't really see this as a drawback.

kaled, I've always had the opinion that IBM is a robust machine, however I've assumed that it would be out of my price range and thought that IBM has been replaced by Lenovo.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that I still need to do quite a bit of research. If anyone knows a good laptop review site (and please don't say "just Google it"), please sticky me.

At the end of the day I do find WebmasterWorld opinions, suggestions and criticism really useful.