Buying a laptop/notebook

Input is needed. The minimum specs I want for the laptop are as follows:

At least 512MB PC2100 RAM, can have more RAM or can be faster
At least a 1.5GHz processor, preferably 2GHz
At least 14in screen
At least a 40GB hard drive
Windows XP Home or Pro
Intel Processor not AMD
New, not refurbished/used
Also, Id like the network card to be Ethernet, not wireless

So far Ive found these to meet my specs:
HP (Hewlett-Packard) Presario R3230US Notebook
Sony VAIO A130 Notebook
Toshiba Satellite M35X-S329 Notebook

I hear HP has piss poor support, that Sony doesn't offer much but looks nice, and that Toshiba is the best value, a good machine, and also the cheapest of the 3.

So if I missed any other good brand name notebooks that meet those specs, tell me about them, or about the 3 I've already listed. Thanks a bunch.

Quote:

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At least 512MB PC2100 RAM, can have more RAM or can be faster

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have you researched ASUS, Microstar international (MSI)..
I take it that there is also a price point issue as well?
I doubt you will find many companies with super Tech support.. with the good prices comes a tradeoff.. tech support is the first to suffer.. in OZ 3 years ago i would have given HP/Compaq an A++ on its tech support network.. today they rat in the top ten.. but none of the companies DELL included get an A let alone a +...

and why did I quote the above..

Do you belive that your apps will open quicker with a lot more memory.. or are you useing memory intensive apps (video/photo editing streaming vidio/audio)
It is a phurphy that more memory will mnake a computer faster.. agreed that below 256MB systems are dogs because of disk churning.. but above 512.. it is the number of applications and the type of applications that the amount of memory will have an effect on not normal system speed. certainly above 512MB you will see a performance improvement by disabling virtual memory, not a massive boost .. we are talking less than 10% on benchmarks..

No I havent looked at anything ASUS or MSI for notebooks. I dont really need tech support, I handle things on my own.

I run photo editing software from Adobe and software from Macromedia, plus I play games a lot.

ohhh... lappy's I love lappy's they are always fun to look for. I remember when I was going to try to get a laptop, I was going to get an Allienware, then I did my homework and found out alienware and Vodoo are over cost. And not really worth what you pay for them. So I did a little searching, some hard looking. I think I spent an entire month reading about different specs etc... Until I came up on one site.

http://www.pugetsystems.com/laptop.php

They are a nice place and

http://www.m-techlaptops.com
is a good place, now the question that I wonder is how much are you going to try to drop on your lappy. If you are going all out, the first link is for you. You can build a lappy from scratch and put everything you could ever dream of in it.

<< presently trying to save so he can have 4 gigs of ram in a lappy.

*drool*

Im looking to spend as little as possible, and although I have about no money right now I could always work up for it. I dont really know how much to spend but definatly no more than $1500.

If you are going for no more than 1500, I would recommend you going with dell, there lappys aren't that bad and all there lappy's come with a 1-3 yr warranty on parts and labor. There service is pretty decent also.

If I remember correctly they have an Inspiron 2100 they are selling which is under 1300 and I believe it meets all your requirements. They might not still be selling it. There are plenty of Dell laptops to look at though.

If you need a specific question on mod chooses let me know. If I remember correctly they also let you mod in and out parts.

Toshiba Notebook

This is the current notebook Im looking at. Its just under $1,000. All I hear from Dell is crap crap and more crap. Id never get one.
Thanks everyone for your help and any help in the future. :D

I used to repair Compaq and Toshiba notebooks.. Both used to have very decent hardware.. Toshibas are almost indestructible...

Dell support crap? Hmm. I bought a Dell Inspiron 9100. The first one that got delivered had a fault with it's display.. I had to switch it on/off several times before it would work properly. Phoned Dell, 2 days later I had 2 Inspirons on my desk. Dell gave me a chance to copy the data. Phoned Dell again to get them to pick up the broken one. Worked fine ever since.. Apart from one little incident with it's power supply.. I noticed a rattle inside it but ignored it.. Then one day when I needed it for a VJ performance I plugged in the power supply and blew a few fuses.. PSU smelled funny after that too... Fortunately the PSU wasn't connected to the laptop.. Phoned Dell again.. The next day I had a new power supply unit.. So Dell support is OK by my standards..

Two things to consider:

1. Proper video card.............the onboard stuff is crap.
2. Recovery CD/OEM CD/hidden partition?How would you recover if you had to replace the HDD or MoBo out of warranty?

Remember you are talking Windows XP here, and it is very fussy about hardware.



;)

Replacing a Mobo out of warrenty usually means buying a new laptop. The replacements are quite expensive.
And it's not like you can fit any type of Mobo in there. 999 out of a 1000 times the exact same mobo needs to be placed..
I also never ever encountered a laptop that didn't have an onboard videocard..

You can certainly get third party MoBos to fit brand name laptops.

Alienware and some others also do removable video.

I guess if you buy cheap you get what you pay for?

:)

Thanks everyone for your help. I'll probablly end up with a Toshiba. Do you guys suggest I stick with their default (which I guess is onboard) video card, or somehow get one that fits in their that isnt onboard?

I am afraid that you will be stuck with the onboard video.

Remember that laptops are not designed for graphics intensive applications.

:)

Okay well thanks again for your help. :)

I have a toshiba laptop and I have had it for about 2 years now and have been extremely happy with it. And yes, they pretty much are virtually indestructable. I had it sitting on my table once. It was plugged into the wall and my dog ran under the table and caught the wire, and my dog took the laptop with it! Well the toshiba came crashing to the floor. I shouted at my dog and told him how worthless he was, then picked up my laptop to find that it was working just fine, not a scratch on it...

After I made sure everything was fine I apologized to my dog and gave him a bone :)...

I strongly recommend toshiba laptops, over any laptop I can think of...

Only downside is their technical support can barely speak english... :rolleyes:

I can get the video card out of my Inspiron in less than 5 minutes. Apart from the lid cracking around the hinges ( fixed with super glue). Its been a great box.

If and when I replace it, I will look at the Sony Vao range............The once I have seen so far look much better, build quality wise.

Thanks again for everyones' support. I'll definatly get a Toshiba.

If it's not too late take a look at Acer laptops.

I've used a couple and although possibly not the prettiest laptops they do seem to be well made and have a nice solid feel to them. They're usually well specced for the price.

i too can speak very well of acers.

mine is a bit of the lowend system as i yust wanted something to take to the different sites i travebetween but it served me very well.