I'm shopping laptops and had narrowed my choice down to the Sony Vaio FX370 and the Hewlett Packard 5495. Unfortunately, I visited Fry's Electronics a week ago and that blew all that research out of the water. Basically, it is to be used for small business-home use, very little if any internet activity. I am interested in it's portability for DVD's and was unaware that pc's can be used for actual cable viewing as is described in another thread so would be interested in that as well.

Any advice or other considerations?

 

Jennifer Love Hewitt for starters!!!

 

what type of money do you want to spend? The sony's are nice but my personal preference is either toshiba or ibm.

 

I've been looking at under $2000. With all the rebates, seems to be a pretty good selection in that price range.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by jpotts
[B]what type of money do you want to spend?

 

here are a few from costco.com under $2000:

Toshiba Satellite 3000 PIII 1.0GHz 256MB DVD/CDRW 14.1"TFT
Windows XP PRO
Operating System

$1,599.99

Item # 442118
Shipping & Handling included

Toshiba Satellite 1800 PIII 1.0GHz 256MB RAM 8xDVD 20GB HD
Windows XP PRO
Operating System

$1,299.99

Item # 426338
Shipping & Handling included


You may also want to checkout the ibms from ibm.com - the ThinkPad A Series may be something you are looking for. I don't know if you can get a P4 with the dvd and cdrw for under $2000 yet, but it's worth looking for. The Toshiba above for 1599 should be able to do everything and more for your small business. I know there are some serious IT guys on the board which may contribute as well. Good luck.

 

I will take IBM laptop. If you are going to use this laptop over a long period of time, there is nothing better than IBM. Sony does look cool. but, you can only go so far with the look. I have been working with various laptops for work. IBM defintely come out at the top. I will not trade anything for a IBM. If money is a concern, look at here.

http://www.ebaystores.com/ibm

It is a official IBM store using ebay store front. They have several good laptops for you to choose from.

Good Luck.

 

Wow! Thanks for all the good info! I've seen the Toshiba's but am not familiar with their product. I'll certainly give it a closer look. Really appreciate the research JPotts! The previously mentioned Sony and HP was in the same price range at Circuit City. I could go higher but don't want to spend more than I need. I tend to get caught up in buying the latest technology and then don't use the pricey features. Trying to avoid that character flaw this time out.

 

no problem - I would definitely check the ebay store above - IBM's are the best, but they are generally much more money and the toshibas work very well. I have had both and currently I am running a toshiba tecra 8000 - a little older, but it is my second computer anyway - and it plays dvd movies when traveling

 

Since I work for IBM, I am bias but our laptops usually rank among the best for reliability. If you are looking for one in particular let me know I can check if we have it available in the Employee Purchase Program.