Hey all

I'm pretty clueless here. I'm looking for a laptop.
My only criteria are: lightweight, windows XP pro, DVD players, cd burner and of course sufficient speed and memory. I would like to use wireless internet as well. I will be using it mainly for work and will have a desktop PC in addition.

Here is where I'm clueless:
Where to buy? Besides the obvious dell or best buy, are there good websites that have laptops at good prices?
Brands? Are there any brands that are notoriously good or notoriously bad? (btw, I'm not looking for a Mac). I've heard some great feedback about Dell- any others?

Thanks a million for your input. I really appreciate it.

~Kristin

 

Just go to www.dell.com and pick one out. I would recommend atleast 1.8 ghz p4 and 256ram (of course more is better, just don't get less). You can add the features you want and delete the ones you don't want. Just post here the one you picked out and we should be able to tell you if it is a good deal or not.

 

check out laptops with the Centrino processor. It saves more battery and has built in wireless.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JDM Mugen
check out laptops with the Centrino processor.

 

It seems that most of the pentium M notebooks are lower processor speeds for the same price, Is a 1.6GhzPM the same speed as a 1.6GhzP4? Or is it really that beneficial to have the longer battery life that the slower processor doesn't matter?

 

I recently purchased a Dell Inspiron 5100 P4 2.8GHZ. It is a great product, however, having had the PC for a month now, have observed several limitations. The 5100 specifically is a rather heavy PC, at almost 8lbs in weight. It has no serial ports, making the addition of peripherals a bit of a pain. This pain is worsened considering I only have two USB ports on the rear of the PC. Since I am rarely mobile with my PC, this kind of flexibility would have been important. The 5100, and from what I gather, most Dell laptops, do use more battery power and are less efficient than competitors models. Introduction of Centrino technology may eliminate this qualm however (see below).

In retrospect however, I would have been able to find a comparable product with similar componentry locally for $100-$125 less than what I paid for Dell. With Dell however, you do get the support, and brand-recognition that comes with the name.

As alluded to briefly, I too endorse the Pentium-M processor. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say. As mentioned above, the Centrino processor runs far more efficiently and will save you battery power. I get appx. 3.5 hrs on a full charge with my conventional P4. Centrino users report as long as 5 hours on similarly equipped lap tops with the same kind of usage. Don't settle for anything less than 512 MB of ram, and get yourself a healthy sized hard drive. You'll be amazed at how fast they fill up.

Also, while a 14.1" screen is the norm, more and more laptop manufacturers are including a 15" screen as standard. Keep this in mind while shopping around.

My apologies for the rambling. I hope the above is as clear as mud for you. As a disclaimer, this is purely subjective opinion, and of course, your mileage may vary.

Good luck!
Asif

 

it really does suck when batter life dies after only 2 hours. I'd go for batter life. you wont notice that much as far as speed. and if you want to play games, get one with a good video "card"

 

Oh...and, to the best of my knowledge, a Centrino-M processor running at 1.4GHZ is the same as a conventional P4 processor running at 2.2GHZ, or thereabouts.

Asif

 

I say go with Dell Latitude D600

 

Techbargains.com thats all I got to say, sweet site for all the tech mumbo jumbo.