Topic: Need Laptop Recommendations

[ober]

My wife and I are going to get a laptop, and I need some recommendations.  I really like Toshibas (Tecra or Satellite) and I've heard good things about them.  Dell is also on the list, but I'd take suggestions from others as well.

Budget is ~$1000 to $1200 or so.  I want Centrino, with a 1.4GHz processor or better and a decent screen (something that wouldn't be horrible to watch movies on).  It doesn't have to be anything super great otherwise.  We're just going to use it as a business/study PC.

So... let's have em.  

EDIT: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?ec=BC-EC5-Cat84&pos=3&whse=&topnav=&prodid=11067833 also sounds pretty good, but HP scares me.

[jkim]

I had Toshibas and Thinkpads recommended to me, but I ended up getting the HP dv1000.  

I really like it except for the integrated graphics and ridiculous amount of software needed to run the quicklaunch buttons, but I guess you don't need to worry about that with your model.  There were also a few dead pixels in the lcd, but I sent it back because a few drops chipped some of the hinge (yeah, don't choose HP if you don't like plasticy feeling laptops), and they replaced the entire thing since it was still under warranty.  Their Customer Service is really good, on that note.

If you do choose to get it (or any laptop from a reseller), I'd first check out the manufacturer website first and see how much it costs to customize one yourself.

[ober]

Hmm... I don't like the plasticy feel, so maybe I'll steer clear of HP.  Thanks for the tip.

[JaWiB]

I'm hoping to get a laptop at some point in the future (whenever I get the cash, heh) and I thought ibms looked pretty good. They all seemed pretty light and portable with good battery life anyhow, and you can customize a lot of stuff (check out the notebook finder at ibm.com)

Anyways, my sister has a dell, and it works pretty well, never had any problems. It's pretty heavy, though...

[ober]

So can someone break down the Toshiba models for me (any I should avoid, any that are pretty sweet?)

[Perspective]

If your looking for portability than Toshiba probably isnt your best bet. They tend to be rather large. Ive had my Dell 600m for 2 years and Im very happy with it. I havn't really been following the laptop scene lately though so I don't know whats new and great.

overall it really depends on whether you want portability or power...

[ober]

I'm not looking for a gaming machine... just something that will run a web IDE and to write papers and do school work.

I'm leaning towards a 15.4" or a 14.1" screen... nothing huge, and certainly not one that is designed specifically for entertainment purposes.

[salvelinus]

I've got the Dell 600M, works great. Even runs Half Like ok, though not H2.

[ygfperson]

i'm happy with my thinkpad. it's around 5 pounds, although battery life sucks now (it didn't 2 years ago when they assigned them to us.)

[ober]

I ended up ordering a Dell 600M.  1.6 Pentium M, 14.1" display, Centrino, 40Gb drive, 512MB DDR, Bluetooth enabled, but only a 32mb video card (didn't get it for gaming).

Should do me quite well, I think.

[webwhy]

For the most part i've enjoyed mine.  You've spec'd the exact same computer i bought just over a year ago...wish i would have wated... i paid around 1800 bucks for mine.  That was with the XP pro and WIndows Office 2003 upgrades though

The disk access is slow on my machine.  hopefully they're putting faster harddrives in the 600m these days.  Otherwise i'm very happy with my decision.

[Perspective]

My 600m is a 1.4 Ghz Centrino, 14.1 SXGA, 40GB HD, 1 GB RAM, and 64MB Radeon 9000.
I paid $2,200 CDN 2 years ago. (the 1 GB RAM was a free upgrade from the 256 I paid for).

This laptop replaced my desktop (though not intentionally) and has served me well. My battery died a month or so ago and i had to pick up a new one, but other than that, no problems at all. I think you'll be happy with your choice.

[ober]

I had a hard time deciding on the main option (processor + video).  I couldn't find anything that really told me a lot of differences between XGA and SXGA, but Dell said SXGA is crisper and provides higher resolutions at better quality, so that's what I went for.  Sadly, however, the video card is only 32mb, but I won't be using it for gaming, so I guess that's not a big deal.

[Perspective]

SXGA will have a 1400x1050 max res... its just plain... beutiful   ... my friends always ogle over my laptops LCD, it really is one of the nicest laptop LCDs ive seen.

32mb radeon will be more than enough for anything non-gaming related.

[ober]

Awesome... I was hoping that would be worth the $75 upgrade.