Monster Techie

Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Canada!
Posts: 5247

Looking to buy a laptop for school this fall....spend well, tops 3500 but that's pushing it...I'd rather save a bit of money.
Basic specs:
p4 2.4ghz or higher
512mb's ddr
40gb hd
15" screen (I would prefer a high res one)
dvd/cdrw (combo is ok)
and well I'd like the radeon 9500 mobile when it comes out (I think that's the model) but right now a 9000 would be okay...or even the gf go...as long as it's got power

Anyway CND so try

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Registered: Dec 2001
Location: UBC
Posts: 5830

I hate Dell, but I love their inspiron 8500...

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True Techie

Registered: Aug 2002
Location: Vancouver, that means CANADA!
Posts: 231

Dells sells good lappies and PDAs

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Junior Techie

Registered: Jul 2002
Location:
Posts: 67

I agree with AnimeEd, but you can definitely get more laptop for your money with other manufacturers. Dell do provide excellent after sales service, and on-site warranty; all of our company laptops are Dell, as are most of the others i see when i'm working away on-site.

My Toshiba Satellite 5100-603 has pretty much everything you're looking for (P4 1.9GHz, 512MB, 60GB, 15" UXGA maxes at 1600x1200, GeForce Go, CDRW/DVD combo), and was about £800 cheaper than the equivalent Dell machine (that's UK £), but maybe out of your budget. It has built in wireless networking, and bluetooth (which has been extremely useful), 3 USB ports and no serial or PS/2 ports (using a USB/serial adapter when it's needed, which is not very often). Drive A comes in the form of a USB floppy drive (which again is rarely used).

I wouldn't concentrate too much on raw clock speed or video power, more on HDD/RAM size, and on-board extras (such as BT, Wi-Fi, ethernet, PCMCIA, USB, etc.), the less of those you'll have to add on yourself afterwards, the better.

You buyin brand new, or used?

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Monster Techie

Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Canada!
Posts: 5247

Buying new for sure!

I want power though ahaha with a more powerful laptop usually it comes with all the extra's anyway so that would just go right along ya know! Toshiba I've heard are real nice laptops but never really tried one out. I love the alienware's grr

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Registered: Dec 2001
Location: PA
Posts: 2987

Do you care about battery life?

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Lian-Li PC 65 USB | 20GB & 120GB Maxtor 7200 RPM
Abit KR7A-133 | Radeon 8500 Retail
AMD 1900+ XP @ 1.72 Ghz | Vantec Aeroflow HSF
512MB Kingston HyperX @ cl2 | OS: Ubuntu Feisty / Windows XP Pro

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Monster Techie

Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Canada!
Posts: 5247

As long as it's got a couple hours I should be good. Most of it's use will be in a classroom that has plugins for laptops on the desks and at home which I can plugin. Any other use will be in the study labs which also have plugins so more less 90% of the time I will be plugged in, except maybe when I'm just walking around on campas and taking advantage of the wireless network they have there

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Junior Techie

Registered: Jul 2002
Location:
Posts: 67

Hehe, power good yes. Doubtless, increasing power will shorten battery life. MY Tosh gives about an hour and three quarters before shutting itself off; i've come very close to that quite often, but if you plan your day well enough you can avoid having a flat battery and nowhere to hook up. Some of the guys i work with use a dual battery setup, and as their Dells are "only" 1GHz Pent 3 at most, they can squeeze out over 4 hours. The Samsung T10 has finger-print recognition capability built in, and reasonably good screen, but there are better spec'd units. Haven't seen enough Samsungs to form a proper opinion.

I'll stand by me original statement of just buying one which has a good screen, and plenty of stuff packed into it. Power being good, my desktop (floor) PC has plenty, pity it isn't portable! My only concern with graphics would be if the TV-out works properly, and if multiple monitoring under Windows allows for two separate displays. This probably seems obvious, but go and try a few out in a shop or ask your mates if you can try theirs.

Have you considered a Tablet PC?

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Ultra Techie

Registered: Apr 2002
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Posts: 632

Hey #1...

Check out this site....

Power Notebooks

I have personally purchased from them as have many of my good friends. Check them out on ResellerRatings.com as well. They have one of the highest ratings. Their systems are basically Alienware components, but without the logo. So, you are getting a massive gaming laptop for half the price. You could get probably the best laptop possible if you are willing to spend $3500.

Check out this one...

3.06 Northwood
1.0 GIG PC2100
128 MEG Embedded ATi 9000

Can be configured up to 160 gig of drive space as well as coming with a CDRW or a DVD-R/CDRW...All for under $3000....

Sager Notebook

Like I said, I've bought from them and the system is a year old and working great still. Best purchase I've ever made.

~Arvida~

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Monster Techie

Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Canada!
Posts: 5247

Damn that's pretty good...can't get the cool colours I guess? But damn that's fast laptops for cheap prices!

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Ultra Techie

Registered: Apr 2002
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Posts: 632

Yeah...I was skeptical at first, since it wasn't "name brand". But then I did some research, check them out on ResellerRatings, and searched part numbers and concluded that they were building almost identical systems to Alienware, but not selling the name. I haven't had a single problem with mine.

~Arvida~

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Junior Techie

Registered: Jul 2002
Location:
Posts: 67

Oof! That kicks ass. Pity they don't ship to the UK. Now if only there was something similar available over here.. maybe i haven't looked hard enough (but then again, maybe not).

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Ultra Techie

Registered: Apr 2002
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Posts: 632

Hey Fargis,

Check out...

Sager Notebooks

They ship internationally. They are the acutal manufacturer of the notebooks that PowerNotebooks sells. You won't get as good of a price as you would through PowerNotebooks, but it will still be very well priced.

~Arvida~

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Monster Techie

Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Posts: 6449

Gateway seems to have good deals on laptops, but I always recommend toshiba over all other laptops. Dell also has a very good warranty system.

The Centrino has incredible battery life and performance is excellent. Prepare to spend an arm and a leg.

Otherwise, go with the standard AMD/Pentium 4 solutions for price effectiveness.

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Ultra Techie

Registered: Dec 2001
Location: Memphis
Posts: 613

I've owned/worked on a few Sager notebooks in the past (way past, classic pentium/p2 range), and they were always good machines. My only complaint back then was that they ran hot. Note, I did say that was a while back, they might have improved since then.

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www.cautioninc.com

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Ultra Techie

Registered: Apr 2002
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Posts: 632

Jred,

Mind actually does run a bit warm. But that is comparing it to my desktop which runs just a bit over 30 degrees celsius under load. I do understand what you mean. I haven't had any lockups or any type of crash due to heat though.

~Arvida~

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Junior Techie

Registered: Jun 2002
Location:
Posts: 47

Go to www.pctorque.com too. They have a 10 on resellerratings and sell those sagers. Check out this thread found on the sagerforums. The first and second model listed look amazing. The second one has some sweet hardware, but the first looks like an all metal, thin construction with a massive 17" screen.

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Junior Techie

Registered: Jul 2002
Location:
Posts: 56

I'm also looking for a laptop for school in the fall...I have a display question:
How much better is an SXGA display compared to a normal XGA display and by the same token how about the UXGA to the SXGA...is it worth shelling out the extra $100-$200 for the better display?

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Ultra Techie

Registered: Apr 2002
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Posts: 632

Yeah, it really is worth the money. The clarity and refresh is much better.

~Arvida~

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Registered: Jun 2003
Location:
Posts: 2

Arvida is correct. I have had alot of dealings with www.powernotebooks.com and have been completely satisfied both with the equipment but more importantly the service that they provide after you receive your laptop. So many resellers, once you drop your money, could care less. But Donald Stratton, Salesman for powernotebooks cares and that is evident in the 9.8 rating they have on resellerreview.com. I have bought 2 laptops from them, all recently. An Np5660, and an NP8887 Force(which is their powerhouse). You might see comments regarding the up and coming laptops on Sagerforums.com. Well they are not slated to possibly come out until late July/early August and that is not a firm date. Just wanted to make that clear. The 8887 was the 3.06ghz Hyper, 1gig of ram, 40gm 5400rpm hd, combo dvd/cd-r/cd-rw etc and it is a powerhouse. Mine gets luke warm underneath at best and that is when I put it under a heavy load, gaming. Their cooling technology is very efficient in keeping the system cool. Just to help, I bought a laptop cooler with heat pipe tech to assist in keeping it a little cooler. Oh and by the way, Alienware and Powernotebooks sells the exact same laptops made by the same people. Clevo. So you can save the money on the paint job and get the same exact system, cheaper. You want the UXGA, trust me. You can go up to 1600x1200 where the SXGA is 1280x1024. I was going to buy a Dell Inspirion 8200 but it did not have enough power for me so I am glad I did not. These sagers are well built and come full of features. Donald also will give you very personalized service no matter what your issue is and when you order, you can have your laptop in a few days and if you really need it quick, they will expedite it just to make the customer happy. Order a Dell and you wait weeks. If you are going to shell out that kinda money, you should look at all your options before deciding.........include powernotebooks.com and you will get a great laptop and save alot of cash...........IMHO.

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