Hi all

Just wanted to start a topic regarding laptops and what everyone's personal choice would be in getting one, based on performance (dur!).

Another reason is that I'm looking to get one in the coming months and as I dont deal with laptops much from day-to-day, I was wondering what everyone thought.

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EDIT: Finally, I've saved enough and have ordered the laptop I've chosen. Take a look forward to *this* post to find out the details.

I'll leave the rest of this post to show what I was weighing up previously. Thanks everyone.
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To give you a rough idea what I'm after, I was looking at something like the Acer TravelMate 4502WLMi or the 4502LCi but i've no idea what they are like and how reliable they are.

I like batt life of centrino's and i've heard that they are quick machines for what they are but how do they fair games-wise? I'm not talking Far Cry or anything, but games like C&C:Generals I'd like to play on it - not super high resolution either.

Anyhow, please post comments or thoughts on what you feel a great laptop is for performance, price & reliability.

PS Probably gonna get some laptop insurance [just in case my girlfriend drops it hehe]

Regards,
Nathan.

This post has been edited by it_ybd: Mar 24 2005, 10:33 AM

the new sony vaios are out

but be warned they are super expensive

i hv a z series 3 lbs notebook i just love it.

I have an Asus W1N w/ Centrino 1.7Ghz, 1GBDDR400 , 80GB HDD, 4x DVD+/-RW, 15.4in WSXGA+, Radeon 9600........it rocks! Cost a bundle though......

totoymola also has a nice laptop ask him.

Astalavista - i think it would take me a lot longer than a few months to have enough for one of those sony viao's hehe The cheaper of the range are good, but unfortunately, have only the Intel Extreme VGA chipset on them which of course is no good.....

....just can't justify spending that much cash on a laptop.

bart of borg sounds nice, but if it costs a bundle - unfortunately - no good. Plus my supplier, where i can get a bit of a saving, doesnt sell Asus laptops - only the usual manufacturers like hp/compaq, toshiba, acer, IBM, Sony, etc

Anyone else? anyone rate the acer laptops and which one if so?

emachines does make laptops, they're all over ebay.

check overstock.com for factory refurbs.

Just as I wouldn't spend more than $500 on a desktop machine, I wouldn't spend more than $1000 on a laptop.

thanks for your post newsposter

I know emachines make laptops hehe i wouldnt get one of them tho

refurbs are no good to me as if i'm gonna spend a good amount of money on a laptop, I wouldnt buy a 2nd-hand/refurbished one - just like i wouldnt with a desktop (with desktops, there really isnt a need in my case).

This is on the basis that I could buy one and 4 months down the line (or even a month), it could die on me and then I'll have spent a fair amount on something that is now of no use.

For me, it's better to buy new and in the case of a laptop, get insurance on it as it wont be sitting at home all the time - i'll be taking it to work and taking it further afield on the train - so I wouldnt want to risk something happening to it or it accidentally getting damaged, thus the need for the insurance. I may be able to get work to pay for the 3 yr insurance on it @ about £150.

I agree tho, I would spend stupid amounts on one as there isnt a need (in my case) to do so. My maximum is about £900-£1000 (GB pounds) which will take me a fair amount of months to save for.

As it will be connecting to a domain at work, it's gonna have to be XP Pro too :S altho maybe i could get a license thru work for that and just get the laptop with xp home

Cheers,
N.

whatever you do do NOT get a emachines they SUCK

if u want to get a descent sony u need to spend about 3000 dollars

my sony vaio comes with the latest ATI mobility 1600 1400 standard resolution xga

here is my next sony purchase when the prices comes down a little

http://vaio.sony.co.jp/Products/VGN-FS70B/feat1.html

1000 Pounds is about 2200.00 Canadian and you can get a pretty nice laptop around here for that much! Acer laptops are a good buy for the price, My sister bought a Acer travelmate wide screen 1.6 Centrino for 1899.00 Canadian and it has wireless - G, 80 gig drive and 512 Meg DDR with Geforce FX Go 5200 64 Meg Video.

hum.... mac power book nices laptop ever, biggest screen, fastest cpu, unstoppable lol

hehe guess I was waiting for that to be said hehe

no good to me tho but there we have it...

...um....u didnt mention price

Regards,
N.

i have a centrino based laptop and it's not excellent at games (intel baed graphics, 64MB shared memory), but it's light. I got it for $1000 from www.ibuypower.com. Its their slim series notebooks

intel extreme graphics chipset's are notoriously crap at games - thats why i'm after a radeon mobility 9700 (orr similar) based centrino machine.

Light definately a good thing tho - i'm a weakling hehe

thanks for your post rendrag

Regards,
Nath

I like the Sony's - but they are too costly. you are paying more for the Name. But if you own A Sony TV, Sony PDA and a Sony Dig. Camera, they can all use the built in Sony Stick Reader. Also Sony is known for being more multi media ready. By giving you more software, made by them of curse...

But on the other hand get a HP computer if money and value is more important. You will get a good decent laptop at around $1,000.00.

Spend a little more and get a Toshiba. They make better laptops. Around $1,250.00.

Or if money is not a issue get a really nice Fujitsu laptop!!! They make some of the best PC based ones around. Light weight, clear bright screens, long battery life, good accessory’s.... $3,000.00.

Of curse almost any brands offer you more features the more $$$$ you spend!

Don't get a E-machine, Gateway, or any other no-name brand. Dell is ok I guess.

If you want a gamer Laptop, you should get it specialized by Alienware. They do both Desktop and Laptop Computers.

More info: Alienware

I also would buy a good Warranty. Laptops are Preparatory and that makes it very hard to work on them and get parts.

But really I personally wouldn't spend more $1,500.00 on a laptop if only using for Word processing, School. Since as we all know the minute you open that brand new box, it is already old and outdated.

hi Blam-O!

A very handy post - especially for people after general advice. In fact, I was thinking pretty much everythng you said

I'll comment on some of the posts tho - just for fun...

Indeed....very nice laptop's - very good value stuff.

However, for the spec I'm sort of after, they become more expensive than others tho.



Again, very true, although have noticed them noticably more expensive than a HP laptop in comparison.

Really? Never seen or known anyone that has one so I didnt realise this....

...guessing that you have one then!?



Yet again, I know that. I'd hope most people also know that too



Indeed... i hear and have read in the past that they are very good. I had a look but the Centrino-based ones only have the option of the Intel Extreme graphics chipset - not particularly a good thing is it? hehe

If i had that sort of money tho, i'd definately go for the mid or high range laptop's they produce.

If i needed to, I'd go for a decent desktop from them also - tho i can make a decent gamer machine for a lot less ....plus, there's no fun if u dont make it yourself hehe Wouldnt even an attempt at "making" a laptop lol

Would have to agree that a good warranty is definately worth it - unless its stupidly expensive and yes, to a repair some problem's with laptop's are hard at best when hardware is concerned - most would require specialist repairing. somwthing which is very costly so its always better to get a warranty of 3 yrs if u can afford the extra.

And also true is that there's no reason to spend a silly amount of money on something which is the best when you buy it, only for it to be out of date shortly afterwards.

I follow the same rule with building my pc's too. Getting quality mid-range stuff which is alot less that the top-spec stuff, which is good enough for most of the games/software out at the current time and for a long while afterwards. You can always crank-up the detail when u next buy a new system/custom-make a new one.

As I havent really so far, this is (roughly) the sort of spec i'm after:

- Intel Centrino M 1.6/1.7
- 15" or higher screen
- approx 4 hrs batt runtime (obviously not the Batt time of constant gaming/wireless use hehe)
- 40G HD 5400 or higher preferably
- 512MB PC2700 DDR
- CD-RW/DVD combo drive or better
- ATI Radeon Mobility 9700 or better (or Nvidia equivelent) with 64 or more RAM (not shared)
- XP Home (Professional is prefered tho)

3yr Warranty wud be good also but I'm probably gonna get notebook insurance if i can which wont cost that much so that the quite probable accidental damage is covered - has any had the acer extended warranty with accidental damage before and if so, anyone claimed on it and was it worth it?

I'm after a good rucksack style case as it'll be more handy that the carry case variety - i have some in mind already tho but if there are any recomendations, that's always welcome too

Regards
N.

Just wanted to show how much the name cost:

Sony VAIO Notebook A690 - $2,900.00

Almost the Same: (No Sony Software)

HP zd8080 - $2,400.00

That’s $500.00 difference! You could buy a nice 3year warranty.

Here's some more I recommend:

Fry's Electronics (Fry's Electronics - Outpost #: 4298794) I really like this one, good name, good price, lots of features... $1,500.00

If you need Firewire, bigger Hard drive, Nicer screen, And faster CPU
Fry's Electronics (Fry's Electronics - Outpost #: 4298704) My favorite - $1,700.00, only $200.00 more!


The Fujitsu LifeBooks are really nice:

Fujitsu LifeBook T3010 - $3,000.00
Fujitsu LifeBook P7010 - $1,500.00

Toshiba:

Qosmio G15 - $3,000.00
Qosmio E15 - $2,500.00

Tecra M2 - $1,300.00

Budget; Anything that’s a "Satellite" series.
Satellite A70, A75, P35 - $800.00-$1,700.00

If you can afford it, get a notebook, not a Laptop. They are smaller, look nicer, and usually are lighter. Without sacrificing features!

Regards,
Blam-O!

If you had my opinion I would suggest an IBM Thinkpad.

Yah those are also nice. They also have the best security! You can install Linux Too...

IBM Thinkpad has a "Let me build it:" feature... cool

Don't have any recomendations at the time though....

Hard to beat the HP Presario Athlon64 3200. Ready for 64 bit XP! Can't get there on any Intel laptop...