New Laptop

[Champ]

Hey, I am looking for a Laptop to use in college, which will start next August. I understand that technology changes quickly, but I thought that I'd better get back into the groove of things now so that by the time I buy it, I will be knowledgeable enough to make a good decision.

I would like:
-Mobile Internet/ethernet cable Capabilities
-Large hard Drive
-PC, Not Mac (unless there is a very very strong argument otherwise)
-At least 15 inch screen
-DVD Burner

Would you suggest AMD or Intel, the desktop I built has AMD Athlon XP 2500 which I have been pleased with, I just do not know much about mobile processors or the recent ones seeing as I built it 1 and a half years ago.

Would you suggest going with a New egg laptop like where I pick the components, or a Dell, HP or other brandname?

Price is not too big of a deal, I will do work, watch movies, listen to music, and play the occasional game, nothing much though, however I enjoy having a high end computer!

All other input related to notebooks is welcome, thank you.

[Santa]

This site has reliable reviews for laptops of all classes & prices
http://www.whatlaptop.co.uk/aPlnJBk.html

i wouldnt go for the latest hottest cause the prices tend to be over blown and the machine will be outdated a few months later

[Champ]

My College has ncie deals on four laptops which are: (they configure them to work with the college system for you)

Dell Latitude D810
Dell Latitude D610

iBook 12" 1.2GHz Combo
• 512MB DDR266 SDRAM (256MB built-in & 256MB SO-DIMM)
• 60GB Ultra ATA drive
• Combo drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
• AirPort Extreme Card
• Keyboard & Mac OS X - U.S. English
• 12-inch TFT XGA display
• 1.2GHz PowerPC G4
• ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 w/ 32MB DDR video memory
• AppleCare Protection Plan for iBook


PowerBook 15" 1.5GHz Combo
• 1.5GHz PowerPC G4 w/ 64MB VRAM
• 512MB DDR333 SDRAM - 1 SO-DIMM
• 80GB Ultra ATA drive @ 5400 rpm
• Combo Drive (DVD-ROM/CD-RW)
• AirPort Extreme Card
• Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
• ATI Mobility Radeon 9700
• 15.2-inch TFT Display
• AppleCare Protection Plan for PowerBook (w/ or w/o Display)

[Champ]

HP L2000 here are the specs that I like (1566.96 USD) Just and idea of what I liked

Operating System Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Professional with SP2

Processor AMD Turion(TM) 64 ML-37 (2.0GHz/1MB L2 Cache)

Display 14.0 WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x768)

Graphics Card ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/productivity ports

Memory 1.0GB DDR SDRAM (2x512MB)

Hard Drive 100 GB 4200 RPM Hard Drive

Primary CD/DVD Drive FREE Upgrade DVD+/-RW/R CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer

Networking 54g(TM) Integ. Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN & Bluetooth

Primary Battery 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

Productivity Software Microsoft(R) Works/Money

Carrying Cases Targus Blacktop Messenger Case
edit

AC Adapters & Batteries HP 65W AC Adapter
edit

Mice & Keyboards HP Special Edition L2000 Mobile Mouse
edit

[lynx]

HP L2000 here are the specs that I like (1566.96 USD) Just and idea of what I liked

Operating System Microsoft(R) Windows(R) XP Professional with SP2

Processor AMD Turion(TM) 64 ML-37 (2.0GHz/1MB L2 Cache)

Display 14.0 WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x768)

Graphics Card ATI RADEON(R) XPRESS 200M w/productivity ports

Memory 1.0GB DDR SDRAM (2x512MB)

Hard Drive 100 GB 4200 RPM Hard Drive

Primary CD/DVD Drive FREE Upgrade DVD+/-RW/R CD-RW Combo w/Double Layer

Networking 54g(TM) Integ. Broadcom 802.11b/g WLAN & Bluetooth

Primary Battery 12 Cell Lithium Ion Battery

Productivity Software Microsoft(R) Works/Money

Carrying Cases Targus Blacktop Messenger Case
edit

AC Adapters & Batteries HP 65W AC Adapter
edit

Mice & Keyboards HP Special Edition L2000 Mobile Mouse
edit
That looks expensive for what you get.

First off, go for a system with an MT(25W) processor rather than ML(35W). Runs cooler, better battery life.
Second, get a 5400rpm drive.
Third, I thought you wanted at least 15" screen.

Look around at some recent posts, I found the new Asus series had all those features and DVD-RW DL as standard (not a free (read "may be chargeable later") add-on), for about the same price. I don't think they are available in the US just yet, but I'm sure they will be in 6 months

[Champ]

alrite, thanks alot this is why i posted, cause i'm too stupid to figure it out on my own

[adamp2p]

I am looking into getting a new laptop as well. I am unclear about whether to go with AMD or Intel. I have been reading many postive reviews of Intel's Centrino platform, and have not heard many reviews at all about AMD's mobile line. I self-configured a laptop with a very powerful, "spec" wise with an Athlon64 mobile processor at HPs website and it cost about $1,500; however, it has the disadvantage of only having a 5400 RPM drive.

The Dells has better hard drives, and I am sure better repair support than HP, and I have had generally good experiences with Dell products (as far as value); however, Dell does not have AMD processors.

If my maximum spending is $2,000 USD, what should I get?

Thanks for any replies in advance!

[lynx]

Dell's standard notebook hard drive specs are exactly the same as HP's standard drives - 5400rpm in 60,80 and 100GB sizes. Both have the option of 7200rpm drives at (vastly inflated) extra cost. Since neither specify the origin of their drives it is impossible to say which are better, supposedly identical models could have different drives.

My personal advice would be to stay away from any of the major suppliers (Sony, HP, Dell, Toshiba, maybe others). All of them seem intent on interfering with how you run your system by installing their own "system monitoring software", and since all software is expensive to develop they don't put it on there for free, it is reflected in the price.

It appears that Dell are now installing Myway spyware too. There appears to something of a stink developing about this, since the uninstaller doesn't uninstall all of it, but it disables the uninstaller.

[d5dd]

Totally agree with lynx...

You could get a better or on par laptop from www.cyberpowerinc.com or www.ibuypower.com ...I have purchased 3 computers from ibuypower and so far the 1 laptop that i've got from cyperpower is still kicking(2 years). THe one thing I warn you about these companies is that there tech support arent on par with Dell. I purchased a Dell for my sister only because of this reason being that she's not really computer literate and dell has by far the best tech support. Plus the price for what you get from those 2 companies are pretty good. notebookforums.com has detail info on comparisons and such on these two companies and there respected systems.
Goodluck on yer purchase.

:unsure:

[Champ]

Lynx and d5dd thanks alot that really helps, i cant beleive that dell puts spyware on... its such a problem, it seems like it makes there systems worse... strange but thank you

[Champ]

Intel Centrino, Athlon Turion or Mobile Athlon 64?

[adamp2p]

Dell's standard notebook hard drive specs are exactly the same as HP's standard drives - 5400rpm in 60,80 and 100GB sizes. Both have the option of 7200rpm drives at (vastly inflated) extra cost. Since neither specify the origin of their drives it is impossible to say which are better, supposedly identical models could have different drives.

My personal advice would be to stay away from any of the major suppliers (Sony, HP, Dell, Toshiba, maybe others). All of them seem intent on interfering with how you run your system by installing their own "system monitoring software", and since all software is expensive to develop they don't put it on there for free, it is reflected in the price.

It appears that Dell are now installing Myway spyware too. There appears to something of a stink developing about this, since the uninstaller doesn't uninstall all of it, but it disables the uninstaller.

But lynx, I am pretty computer literate myself; so the first thing I would do is re-install Windows as the Dell install has so much crap it stinks.

Are you inferring that if I re-install Windows on a Dell laptop I would necessarily need to re-install the Dell "monitoring" software? I did not have to re-install this software on either of my Dell desktops...

Thank you again for your help.

[lynx]

Obviously, you don't need to re-install the Dell software, but AFAIK that means you can't use the standard recovery disk, which in turn means you can't use the supplied product key. So you paid for a version of XP which you aren't using.

[sArA]

Aren't we all ;)

[clocker]

Obviously, you don't need to re-install the Dell software, but AFAIK that means you can't use the standard recovery disk, which in turn means you can't use the supplied product key. So you paid for a version of XP which you aren't using.
AND you'll have to dig up all your own drivers.

[zapjb]

You can save the drivers first. Using DriverMAGIC Pro or a similar app.

[silent h3ro]

Just buy the laptop with no O/S then buy ur own.

[Virtualbody1234]

Just buy the laptop with no O/S then buy ur own.
Not many suppliers do that. Can you name some?

[silent h3ro]

Just buy the laptop with no O/S then buy ur own.
Not many suppliers do that. Can you name some?

Here's (http://www.pugetsystems.com/) one and here's (http://www.discountlaptops.com/index.html) another. I'm sure there are more out there but these were the first few I found on google.

[lynx]

But...

None of those has the Dell/HP/Sony overclocking-by-badge enhancement. :cry:

[silent h3ro]

But...

None of those has the Dell/HP/Sony overclocking-by-badge enhancement. :cry:wtf is that????

[lynx]

It's special badge-checking micro-circuitry activated by secret software only supplied to certain manufacturers. It increases cpu performance by 25%, yet only requires the presence of the badge to be verified every 4 clock cycles. :unsure:

[silent h3ro]

:blink: Sounds pretty awesome.