New Laptop

[chrispadfield]

I need to get a new laptop (from the US) and havn't nevered ordered a laptop out here don't know the brands as well ... so ...

What would you recommend. I already have an ultra-portable so weight/battery life are not a relevant issue, it will be pluggined in 99% of time. I am interested in:

- max resolution (and screen size)
- power
- XP Professional needed
- Preferably with an Office 2003 bundle
- Hard drive size
- I guess being able to play the odd game
- DVD-RW

Looking to pay $1,500 to $2,000. Any suggestions?

[Dean C]

Sony Vaio ! (There's lots of models)

Although I got my laptop from www.evesham.co.uk - it's done me well so far apart from the silver coating fading where my hand has been in my marathon coding sessions

[chrispadfield]

Yeah, sony was where i started but the pricing dosen't seem that competitive for what i want. From Dell I get this:

3.06GHZ
XP PRO
Office Small Business 2003
80GB Drive
DVD+RW+R Drive
32MB GEforce FX Go5200 AGP 4x (means nothing to me)
Wireless LAN mini PCI Card
512MB RAM

Total is $1,964

So basically just tryin to find all of the above (preferably big hard drive) for less

[Chris Gwynne]

There's some nice Vaio's on Sony Style. I'm looking into getting one myself.

http://www.sonystyle.com/ - Both the V505 and Z1 series are supposedly excellent, as told by a friend who has one.

[rylin]

I've ordered a Fujitsu Siemens AMILO D 1840 that should be arriving shortly.
3.06ghz mobile p4
1gb ram
dvd+rw+r
128mb radeon 9600
15.4" widescreen display

I think it'll work pretty nicely as a laptop & workstation combo

though, anything centrino based is really nice (look into HP's centrino laptops.. yum yum)

[chrispadfield]

I was avoding the centrio laptops, i was under the impression they are designed for light weight and high battery life, two things i don't need .. is that true?

[chrispadfield]

The sony I can configure with the specs I want comes out at $2,300 but it is out of stock

[Tungsten]

Chris...

I just last week purchased a new IBM Thinkpad R40 for my mobile computer courtesy of my employer. I paid $1500 for it out the door from www.cdw.com and it came configured with the following:

• 1.4GHz Intel Centrino processor
• 512MB memory
• 40GB drive
• CD-RW / DVD drive
• Integrated 802.11b wireless
• Integrated 10/100 ethernet
• Integrated 56K modem
• Touchpad and touch-point (eraser mouse)
• 15" SVGA display
• 4hr runtime LiIon battery
• MS Windows XP Professional

I added a MS portable mouse and a Kensington case and those two together cost me an additional $60. Not a bad deal!

One of my colleagues has started shopping for a new laptop now as well and he has decided on the Toshiba M2. It's in the $1900 pricerange but comes with more toys than my IBM Thinkpad and has an insane battery life of something like 12 hours with the optional 12-cell battery.

I am very satisifed with my Thinkpad, though.

[Tungsten]

Oh, and a PS here...

The sony I can configure with the specs I want comes out at $2,300 but it is out of stock

Every Sony VAIO laptop we have used at work has ended up failing shortly after the warranty expired. I doubt Sony has built-in obsolescence with their equipment but for some reason this has been the dumb luck we have experienced.

Furthermore, our rep at CDW told me flatly that he has seen customers with a lot of problems out of Sony laptops. Dead displays, hard drives going bad, etc.

If it were me, based on what I have heard, I would avoid Sony's laptops.

[okrogius]

If you're looking more toward a powerhouse laptop (but easily portable), opposed to say extremely light/thin (but not so powerful) you should look at Sager. Most people do not know who/what Sager is, but they do recognize the name of who resells Sagers (with a customized paintjob and heavier price tag) - alienware. If you get them direct from sager you get a rather nice price while maintaning a very nice featureset.

http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.html

(also sold at http://www.powernotebooks.com)

[the Sandman]

If you're interested in the Clevo products (that's where Sager and others get their notebooks), check out This Board.

[chrispadfield]

Yeah, heard of alienware, will look at sager. The key for me is to get MS office include, getting MS office small biz is only $250 generally when you buy a new machine, i can't upgrade my last version as it is an educational license.

[chrispadfield]

Sager same config is about $2,300 as well, so dell is still easily cheapest.

[Chris Gwynne]

Sager same config is about $2,300 as well, so dell is still easily cheapest.

Does look tempting that Dell. You got a link for it?

[WildWayz]

I know it's not in the US (but I noticed u are in the UK) - Aldi are doing a special on laptops:

3Ghz Intel P4
CD-RW, DVD-RW burner (not a combo, DVD writer!)
Wireless LAN 11 mbit
Nvidia Geforce 128MB FX5600
60GB Toshiba 4200rpm HD
512 MB DDR 333mhz RAM
3 in 1 card reader
24 month warranty
15.1" display
4 x USB2, Firewire, S-Video, Pararrel, PS/2, VGA out
Modem, LAN
1 Cardbus type II
Spec says 1400x1050 LCD

All for £999. Offers starts 26th Feb