Technology You've decided to spend $2000+ or so on a laptop...

[Idiopathic]

---

Members don't see this ad.

What do you get?

Im looking at the tricked out 11" VAIO or the new MacBook, although I want a smaller screen.

Any other considerations out there?

 

[16846]

I would say neither.

Sony's are generally overpriced and underpowered.

Even if you are a mac lover, I would stay away from the new Macbook until the next revision of the hardware. Nothing screams trouble like a 1st gen. platform on totally new hardware.

If you are going to spend major cash on a laptop, look at Voodoo or Alienware. Both of those companies are top notch, but you are going to pay through the nose for it. If you really want a mac then your choices are, of course, limited.

Personally, I like Dell. I think they are the best cross between performance and price. My next $2500+ system is going to be a Dell.

 

[Idiopathic]

I wish I could get a 3 pound Dell. I like lighter notebooks with smaller screens that get my 7 hours of battery life.

 

[Stroganoff]

Asus ultraportables have won some awards. Check them out.

 

[Dr Trek 1]

I'm going with the Sony Vaio TX 650 or 670.

Bottom line: most portable/longest battery life/most functions for category. They are also the best looking laptop on the market.

 

[Idiopathic]

I'm going with the Sony Vaio TX 650 or 670.

Bottom line: most portable/longest battery life/most functions for category. They are also the best looking laptop on the market.

i agree on this. they also have the interesting trade in policy, and offered me $500 for my HP for 2003

 

[spyyder]

only an idiot would spend $2000 dollars on a laptop. Technology changes much too quickly to spend that much money for a machine to be obsolete in 6 months. While macs are great, in fact I want to get one for its "cultural appeal", they are nothing but a fad product, like starbucks, ipods, and blogs. It is much better to buy a cheap laptop (less then $900) and replace it in 1.5-2 years. That way you get the latest technology and aren't stuck with an expensive book stand. I would advise against sony and dell. I would go for HP/Compaq, Acer, or Toshiba. The very best laptops are white box laptops from third party companies. Shop around, don't buy online, you will find a steal with instore deals. However if you really are bent on buying a laptop that neighbors miles away will envy, then go for an alienware or voodoo system. One thing to keep in mind is the higher the processing power/graphics the more battery life you will lose. 6-8 Cell batteries on low voltage Intel Celerons or AMD Semprons will give you about 7+ hours.

 

[deleted87716]

While macs are great...they are nothing but a fad product...It is much better to buy a cheap laptop (less then $900) and replace it in 1.5-2 years.

Well, a 22-year-old fad is alright by me. 😉

Anybody who can get by with a $900 WinTel laptop doesn't need a $1999 MacBook Pro. They'd be much better off buying a $999 iBook G4 instead, and I seriously doubt they'll need to replace it in a year-and-a-half, either. My G3 iBook is three years old, and still going strong.

 

[Idiopathic]

my current "out of date" laptop is great except its always been too loud and is not light and portable.

its three years old:
p4 2.66, 256 ram, 100 gb hd, bluetooth, wifi, cd-rw/dvd-rom


what i want is:

13" screen max
3-4 pounds max
fast processor (dual core?)
1gb ram
dvd-rw (preferrably dual layer)
5+ hours battery life

I dont really care about super graphics or whatnot, but what i do want is power, something that I can take off the wall for a long time and something that will carry easily.

Im thinking:

VAIO TX
Latitude X1
Powerbook G4 (or wait until they come out with a 12" MacBook)

I looked at the alienware, acer, averatec, voodoo, gateway, HP and toshiba. For what I want in a notebook, all cost about the same (except for alien and voodoo)

 

[spyyder]

with the specs you ask, an IBM lappy is perfect. Dualcore processers will drain power like a mother. I have an athlon64 3400+ get max 2 hrs of power even less when I start up the counterstrike. IBM lappy's with centrinos get about 6-7hrs. Might want to even take a run out to circuit city if they are in your area, currently have some good acers($999) and hp($899) that match your requests.

 

[DrMom]

Definitely stay away from acer. ****ty computer & horrible customer service. We weren't too pleased with Toshiba either...computer crumped after little over a year.

I really like my VAIO & we've also liked Compaq.

 

[16846]

with the specs you ask, an IBM lappy is perfect. Dualcore processers will drain power like a mother. I have an athlon64 3400+ get max 2 hrs of power even less when I start up the counterstrike. IBM lappy's with centrinos get about 6-7hrs. Might want to even take a run out to circuit city if they are in your area, currently have some good acers($999) and hp($899) that match your requests.

Actually, they discovered that the unusual power drain with dual core processors is a flaw in the Windows power managment system and not a problem with the dual core systems design. Apparently its a deep bug that they haven't been able to patch yet. Once they get that fixed dual core systems should be as good or better than the centrino systems concerning battery life.

 

[16846]

Definitely stay away from acer. ****ty computer & horrible customer service. We weren't too pleased with Toshiba either...computer crumped after little over a year.

I really like my VAIO & we've also liked Compaq.

I agree with DM regarding Toshibas. I have had two and neither lasted more than 8-12 months without a major failure.

 

[Idiopathic]

Actually, they discovered that the unusual power drain with dual core processors is a flaw in the Windows power managment system and not a problem with the dual core systems design. Apparently its a deep bug that they haven't been able to patch yet. Once they get that fixed dual core systems should be as good or better than the centrino systems concerning battery life.

so should i wait? and how long?

or just get a mac?

 

[stoic]

If you can, wait for the next revision of the macbook pro.

I haven't heard any timelines, but my gut feeling is that sometime this summer they'll do a revision.

There are also some interesting rumors about the ibook replacement, supposedly coming out in mid march/early april. 13.3 widescreen w/the intel core.

I switched from a POS HP notebook to a powerbook almost exactly a year ago and I've been ever so pleased. Unless someone puts a gun to my head, I won't ever be buying a windows machine again. My powerbook has never caused me any trouble with software or hardware; which is amazing considering I use it several hours each day. And there is some intangible factor I can't put my finger on. They really are a pleasure to use. I mean, imagine, I haven't had to trouble shoot ANYTHING, EVER on this computer....

I'm hoping to get a 20" intel imac this summer.....

The only compatability issue I've had is with the cerner echarting software our school uses; it's not supported on the mac platform at KUMC. Cerner actually does support macs, but our school didn't buy that option with charting package. So this just means I have to chart at school on one of their computers instead of doing it on my system... it's sort of a moot point, though, b/c they provide PC's whenever we are charting.

 

[southerndoc]

I've also heard rumors of the new iBooks coming out in early April. The new MacBook Pros will be out in July, but I do not have much hope of them continuing the 12" (or 13") laptops as MacBook Pros. I think the iBook will be offered in 13 and 15" varieties, and the MacBook Pros offered in the 15 and 17" varieties.

 

[drayur]

If you are okay with Dell, 700m from dell comes with 12" screen and is powerfull. Typically you can get it under $900, I have also seen it for $750.
If you buy it from dell you will have to look for coupons to get to these low price. Keep an eye on deal sites like http://www.dealsofamerica.com or so.

Apple is great with looks and okay for day-to-day work but is not as powerfull as intel based laptops are!

I have sony but with bigger screen and I like it.

 

[Idiopathic]

Well heres what happened.

I went into Circuit City to look around and found the last Toshiba Sattellite M55-S329 they had, knocked down from 1250 to 979. So, this one has Centrino 750 1.86 processor, 512 memory, 100 gb hard drive, DVD writer, wireless and is only about 5 pounds. So, I decide to buy it and the guy says "hey, thats actually $879, not $979"


Actually a pretty good deal. Toshiba even will allegedly give me $500 for my old laptop...its almost an even swap 😉

So thats how that went down.

 

[BillSPreston]

Sounds like you did ok.

I agree that there's no reason to spend $2000 unless you absolutely need to play games on your laptop.

I bought a Fujitsu S Series notebook and it's been awesome.
Nice and portable but not quite as small as the Dell ultraportables.
Beautiful 14inch screen, 4 lbs, 80gigHD, and a DVDRW.
Highly recommended.

 

[TexPre-Med]

Anyone checked out or have advise about the Sharp M4000's?