Where can I find a decend laptop?

Well I'm in need of one soon enough and I'm completely new to the field. I've used Apple iBooks for about half a year, but I'm looking for a notebook that runs windows xp.

Where can I find a good one for around $1,000? (no more than $1,500)

I'm not going to be doing major 3d gaming.

I need a wireless connection (hopefully one of those built-in deals) My ISPs modem has wireless capability already, so that's not a problem. I know of a few "hot spots" as well downtown.

The hardrive should be at least 60GB. (I've got a big amount of HD space on my home computer, so I can always copy over old files...yadda yadda)

Microphone: I "definately" need a microphone on this laptop. Preferabbly a nice built-in one. Otherwise, I'll have to mod a tiny one onto it, because I'm going to be recording a lot of sound with it. Quality isn't an issue because the recordings will only be of discussion.

Speakers: I'm sure their all the same...laptops arn't the best quality when it comes to sound, so I'll probably be using my headphones really. I need a headphone jack atleast.

RAM: At least 512MB (1GB would be best)

CPU: At least an AMD 64 (Turon appears to be a good one)

Video card/memory (Not going to be 3D gaming, so 64mb should do the trick)...I do want the brand to be ATI or Nvidia though. I've used an onboard 64mb SiS card years ago and it was terrible. No comparison to 64mb ATI or Nvidia card's speed. (My home computer uses an Nvidia 7800GT and that baby woops ass in FPS rates)

DVD drive (Burner would be nice, but it's not exactly necessary.)

Screen size: 15.4" is fine.

how does this one look: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115196 ?

This one is pretty decent in price too, but it's got an SiS graphics card (might be alright really...) and it doesnt have as good of a case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834224034
^ $200 less, but 200mhz faster cpu? wtf? Crappy graphics brand and case combined with extra cpu speed confuses me. Acer must be better than ABS I'm guessing.

Dell. Dells site has 24hr sales that offer huge savings. Imo Dell besides Apple is the way to go in notebooks. I'd check Dell's site 3-4x day & ready to pull the trigger. Also BensBargains has Dell promo codes for $$$ savings every week. You'll have no problem in your price range.

not a big intel fan.

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Originally Posted by Wolfmight

not a big intel fan.

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That's a good point when you're familiar with products but you did say:

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and I'm completely new to the field.

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Laptops and desktop computers are quite different beasts. If someone is recommending Intel over AMD then you should at least look into it before dismissing their help.

i got this labtop 2 days ago for school
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834114190
its pretty nice plus its widescreen

if you want pics just ask

CHECK OUT THESE AMAZING DEALS:

Acer Aspire AS5003WLMi NoteBook AMD Turion 64 ML-32(1.8GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 1GB DDR333 100GB DVD±R/RW Dual Layer SiS Mirage 2 - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115328

$989!!! And no rebates! Its got a shitty gpu, but doesnt matter because its not going to be for gaming...


However, if you do decide to play the occasional games, here's another one for $150 more but with 20GB bigger HD and a x700 gpu:


Acer TravelMate TM4404WLMi NoteBook AMD Turion 64 1.8GHz 15.4" 1GB DDR333 120GB 4200rpm Integrated DVD-Super Multi double-layer drive ATI Mobility RADEON X700 - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115218

This is priced at $1150 USD.


So both lappies have DVD DL +/- burners, widescreen, 1 gig ram, amd processors and huge hard drives...what more can you ask for for only $1000 bucks? Too bad i'm not buying a lappy, this is a frigging steal...

wow thanks. They both look great.
I might fork out the extra $150 for the graphics...or maybe not. Hard to decide.
It would be better to be able to play games tho, so I probably will.