After being spoiled by Apple, all the PC laptops out there look like they are missing one thing or another, some are more expensive and lack an optical drive but are nice and small, some are cheap, fast, but at 8-10 pounds, no. Some are midrange, have DVD burners and nice screens and processors, but they have a cheap plastiky feel to it.

So after looking around I wonder what you guys use. Here are my criteria:

-Reliable company (seems like everyone has something bad to say about one of any PC company)
-Moderately fast (preferrably that Pentium M processor)
-Moderate to good components (no integrated graphics or anything like that)
-a CD/DVD burner (or a DVD burner, doesn't matter)
-less than 7 pounds
-a screen that is bigger than 14.1inches with high quality (i myself am confused about all that WXSHAGA stuff, so please fill me in )
-nice solid feel
-wireless G (802.11b/g) or whatever PC companies call it
-couple of USB ports here, a Firewire port there, maybe some card slots would be nice
-just something that would last some spreadsheeting/word/internet use for the next 2 or 3 years.
-Windows 2000pro or XP pro
-at or under $1500us.


Is that too much to ask or will I be able to find a few that can choose from?

 

go to http://www.dell.com and check out the deals they've got going on over there...

 

We are exclusively Dell at work. I like thier desktops both at work and for home.

However, I also have a Dell laptop at work and it is a total POS. I take prety good care of electronics, but in about a year and a half, I have had to turn the pointing stick off because it makes the mouse pointer go nuts and the touchpad is also acting up. Just about everyone at work has some complaint about their Dell laptop.

I occasionally order stuff from PC Connection and our rep confirmed that other that our company and one or two others he works with, most large companies do not buy Dell laptops even if they buy Dell desktops exclusively. For the most part it's IBM or Toshiba laptops.

 

"IF" this isn't a blantant attempt to start a pc/mac war, then by all means, your one and only stop for pure mobile PCin, is of course, the:

Acer Ferrari Laptop.

 

I agree with nVz2000 and DaveZ on this one, Dell all the way.

 

Seriously, $1500 would get you a pretty good PC laptop. Certainly better than any Apple laptop at the price, looking at hardware specs alone.

I'm using a Dell laptop from work, and it seems ok, so far (though I've only been using this laptop a couple of weeks). I've also had a Dell laptop at an old job (this was three years ago) and had to replace the battery twice within a year. So it seems like Dells are hit or miss.

While I have no personal experiences with them, I've heard lots of good things about Toshiba laptops. IBMs are good too, but a little on the pricey side.

Definitely look into student discounts when you do get one.

 

you could get a Celeron M instead of a Pentium M and you would save a few hundred.

BTW, Celeron M is not crap like the celeron and celeron D. The Celeron M is based on the Pentium M except it has 512K of L2 cache instead of 2MB. The architecture has a short pipeline so it doesn't NEED cache to perform like the P4 does.

I would also consider an Athlon64 based laptop. You simply cannot buy anything faster. They are good on power, too. For graphics, I would look for a mobility radeon 9600 or above.

 

toshiba.

 

Nothing wrong with Dell but they rip you off... if you are gonna get a decent graphics card.. $1500 aint enough for dell.... and don't get a toshiba...

My first pick would be the Sager 3790... visit www.sagernotebook.com
just bought mine about 3 weeks ago from discountlaptops.com around $1600... and if i had the same specs from dell it would've costed over $2000 easily... and Sager's built quality is pretty good too.... i'm very satisfied with my laptop..


My other picks are any species of a ASUS M6BN...here..... http://usa.asus.com/products/notebo...0n_overview.htm

or

UNIWILL 258KA0....