Laptop Recommendations?
 

Hey guys, I posted this over at notebookforums.com, but I figured I'd throw it up here too and see if you guys have any suggestions:

When I originally came to this site, I was really hyped up on getting one of the newest rigs, you know, the XPS, or even a top of the line Sager. While these laptops are great, they might be more machine than I really need. I'm not a big FPS gamer, and tend to gravitate towards console sports games. So I thought about what I really wanted in a laptop, and came up with a few basic applications:

1) Web browsing - Basic stuff, posting on various forums, reading newspapers online, going on espn, the basics.

2) Occasional Office Application - Excel, Word, etc - Although I'll never be in a situation where I'll need 5 Excel windows open at the same time. Basically if I wanted to do some *LIGHT* work on the weekend, I'd be able to do it.

3) Steaming video - I'm planning on signing up for MLB.COM's online steaming video package. My ultimate goal is to sit on my deck in the summer watching baseball on the laptop

4) Other video - I'd like to be able to watch various Divx files that I might download off the internet (ie. the office, and other shows)

5) Text Sims - Not sure if any of you play any Text Sports Sims (OOTP, FOF, etc), but they are very basic and shouldn't be too taxing on the system.

Thats it. Again, I stress that I'm not going to be playing ANY graphical games on this laptop whatsoever.

Can anyone recommend a good machine? I think my requirements are very basic, and can probably keep it under 1K. Circuit City & CompUSA are having nice no interest options right now, but it doesn't have to be from there. I'll order custom online if thats the best deal.

Basically, I don't think I'll need dedicated video, can anyone tell me otherwise? It seems like thats really the difference maker in terms of price. I think I should be able to watch DivX & Streaming video from the web with shared memory, but not too sure.

So what do you guys think? Thanks again in advance!

Look at the Apple site. Check out the Macbook pro

Grab the cheapest Dell and make sure you get 512mbs of ram. Ive recently purchased five B120's for a client and they should be great for what you need. Real cheap too.
http://www1.us.dell.com/content/prod...=19&l=en&s=dhs

If money isnt a issue, I really like this Gateway series, theyre incredibly light...
http://gateway.com/products/gconfig/...dhmseries~~asp

Looking for an IBM compatible, thanks though.

Thanks, those Dell's look pretty good. I can get something for my needs in the 700-800 range, which is perfect.

Anyone have any suggestions from a brick and mortar store?

If youre looking for the 7-8 range, checkout the Gateway stores. Avoid CompUSA's, etc like the plague.

Yeah, not a big fan of CompUSA at all. Mind glancing over the laptops at circuitcity.com and seeing if there's anything that strikes you as decent?

I avoid all national computer stores, unless im buying software. I checked out circuitcity.com and yea, stay away from them too :) They dont stock anything you couldnt buy direct from the laptop mfg. but, if I had to take any from here, this Toshiba looks pretty good. i've always liked the Satellites.
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Toshi...oductDetail.do

Thanks for checking that out. That one looks to be the best one to me so far. Is there anything out there thats a better value for $719.00 I would spend on this? I should have mentioned in my original post that I'm partial to 15.4's. This one has built in wireless too, which is nice. 512 meg is a little light, but for what I'm doing it shold be fine.

Looks good.

But wondering about the Celeron® M processor 370?

Wont an AMD or Pentium be better?

I'm sure than an AMD or Pentium would be better, but you've got to remember, this thing will never touch a graphical game. I really want to pay for what I need, and nothing else. Do I really need it for web browsing? The most intense thing that this computer will be doing is playing steaming video and divx files. Anyone think that the processor listed above won't do the job?

Nah, the Celeron M's are great laptop processors. Very low power consumption. You really dont need anything but a Celeron if youre not doing heavy duty computing.

Stay away from Dell, period. Desktops are fine, but I'm telling you to stay away from the Latitudes AT LEAST.

I would look into the HP DV series laptop.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/sh...ion&catLevel=1

I have the Dell Inspiron 9300, this was purchased last October to replace my Inspiron 8000 that I had for about 4 or 5 years...I love the Dell systems and they customer service is amazing. We ended up paying about $1300 for this system including taxes and shipping, but we upgraded quite a few things while spec'ing it out. I am not a game player, I use it for general stuff - all my PTA work, my (very) small business, etc...it has plenty of speed and memory to serve my purposes very well :)

If youre in no hurry, I can do some research on this for ya. I bet there's something out there somewhere that is better for $720.

Great thanks! I'd like to have something ordered sometime today, not sure if thats a hurry for ya :).

I appreciate your help through this.

Thanks for the tip MizzouRah. I've heard mixed things as well about Dell.

man, quit rushing me! ;)

Ok, I didnt really research much, I got stuck on this gateway and couldnt get away from it. I checked Dell, Gateway, Toshiba and HP. This one here....
http://gateway.com/products/GConfig/...=nx500s&seg=hm

Seems to be the best bargain. Only $699! (w/rebate) - free printer, free memory upgrade to 512, free wireless router, free upgrade to 80 gig harddrive. I cant find anything that comes close, so much free junk, double the harddrive size as all the rest, printer. I dont think this can be beat.

Thanks for the work!

Its going to between this and the Toshiba from CC. The Toshiba is only $20 more, and I think they have an instore deal that lets you double the ram to 1 gig for only $50 more. Not that its a huge purchase, but 18 months no interest is pretty nice as well.

What have you heard about the Latitudes? I have a Latitude 610 that work gave me a month ago and so far it's been far better than the Thinkpad T40 that I had at my previous job.

Have only started to get the D610's in at work. The D600's are the biggest pieces of doo-doo I've ever supported in my life as a technician.. ok Toshiba's are VERY close. :)

Terrible design, causing the bluetooth connection to break and system board needing replaced (over and over again), HD's that go bad due to the refurbished crap Dell now uses and well, overall displeasure by many employees where I work. The D610's have the bluetooth in a different spot, so hopefully that takes care of that issue, but I still don't like the many, many, HD's that go bad.

Everybody has an opinion and what has been great for someone, might have been junk for another. I read a lot about PC's from various sources and right now HP has glaring reviews in their DV series laptop pc's. Toshiba and Gateway do not, period... but if you want to go that route, make sure you get a warranty that covers everything and for at least 1 year.. and also think about an extended contract.

Again, protect yourself.. you DO NOT want to pay for a system board right after the warranty runs out - nor do you want someone charging you $165/hr to replace it. :)

Keep in mind... even a game like CivIV requires a decent graphics processor... my biggest peeve about my ThinkPad T42 is the weak graphics...

Well, based on Mizzou's recommendation, I think I might go with this

http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/oid/...Review.do#tabs

Its about $100-150 more than I wanted to spend, but I plan on keeping this for years (unless web surfing and text sims reach new levels of complexity!). Any final opinions?

I hate rebates. :)

Haha, so do I! Half the time I never get them.

No. Do not buy anything with intergrated video memory. I know you expect never to play graphic games, but you don't want to cut yourself out of as many games and software you are losing by intergrated video. Get something with an actual video card (Nvidia or Ati) or you'll live to regret it.

This Toshiba looks better:
http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/oid/...Detail.do#tabs

What he said. You'll thank yourself later.

This link isn't working for me, can you describe what it is, and how much so I can look at it on the website myself?

Dola.

Just went down to DE (in an attempt to save sales tax) to the CC to grab the HP that I had mentioned earlier in the thread (799 after rebate). Unfort, they don't carry that model, so I'm forced to get it in PA. I figured I'd stop home first.. and now....

So I really need a dedicated graphics chip? Isn't that going to throw this over 1k?

Edit:

We also have a Toshiba vs HP war brewing, really confused now. I've built tons of desktops, but am fairly green with laptops.

This one:

Toshiba Satellite A105-S1014 Notebook PC

Price after rebate:

$719.99

Toshiba Satellite Notebook PC (A105-S1014)

The basics: This capable PC features the Celeron® M processor 370 (1.5GHz), 512MB of DDR2 memory, 1MB L2 cache and a 60GB 5400RPM hard drive. Bright display: The 15.4" WXGA display features TruBrite™ and TFT active matrix technologies for viewing that’s crisp, vivid and bright. CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive: The CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive lets you backup data, burn and enjoy music CDs, watch DVD movies or play games. Designed to entertain: The Express Media Player starts your favorite DVD or CD with push-button ease—without booting Windows®. Ready for your multimedia: The powerful ATI Mobility™ Radeon® Xpress 200M graphics card and SRS TruSurround XT® virtual surround sound will elevate your multimedia experience. Go wireless: Built-in 802.11g/b wireless capability lets you roam while online, as well as connect to wireless networks and public hotspots. Get connected: One S-Video and three USB 2.0 ports will let you connect to your video gear and favorite peripherals. Software: This notebook runs on Microsoft Windows® XP Home Edition.

Yes, and no.

Thanks GrantDawg,

Thats the one I was originally going to buy. Todd (and I value his opinion) didn't think too highly of Toshiba's so I basically crossed that one off the list.

Todd, I know you detailed some specific issues with Dell , but I haven't heard anything bad about Toshiba's. I know its not scientific, or the most sophisticated users, but the individuals on the website (judging from user reviews) seem to think its decent.

No war going on... ask anything PC related on FOFC and you'll get a bunch of different answers. :) Everyone has their taste, just like food.

If you're bent on CC, go to the store and check them out side by side. Load something on each one, I'm sure they have some game built in you could load and see how it plays on each PC. Check the case for durability, check the battery life specs, reboot them and see which one(s) come up the quickest, etc.. $800+ is a decent amount of cash you're spending. Just stay away from the Dell D600 Latitudes, although I don't think you can buy them new anymore. :)

If CC isn't the only store you're open to, check out the rest of the stores, Best Buy, Comp USA, etc..

Tiger Direct has good deals on refurbished laptops as well as Dell.

Well, I'm type this on a HP, so I have nothing against a HP. Just don't buy one with a "shared" memory video card.

Doesn't the ATI Mobility still work off shared memory? Its not dedicated like the X700, or am I wrong?

No, you're right. I didn't know ATI made a piece of crap, er, I mean intergrated card.

Here's a good discussion on notebook video. I'd recommend getting at least the low end cards.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=39568

How crazy would it be to get a PS2 and a new laptop on the same night :)

But yeah, I agree with you on the tests. When I was down in DE earlier, I checked out the BestBuy and CompUSA (which I hate) and they both didn't have anything that caught my eye. Everything was pretty much over 1K. I really want to like that Toshiba, as it has everything that I really need (on paper). But if its unreliable (in the near, or long), then it doesn't matter if its only $300, it does me no good.

Thanks for your input, all this stuff goes a long way in making a decision.

Toshiba's were crap years ago. :) I don't know anything about them other than reviews in various magazines I read. That one spec wise does look better than the HP though, GD is right.

Going on pure specs, I would get the Toshiba as well... it's also $80 cheaper. ;)

Actually the Toshiba is a much better buy. Faster HD, excellent graphics card (for integrated ones), expandable to 2GB of memory... yes indeed. The $80 you're saving might get it covered for another 2-4 years to boot.

Edit: In your price range, anything more graphics wise, memory, etc.. is going to get you into the $1000 range.

I guess its just a ATI chip attached to the MB?

Regardless, getting back to my original focus, I've done my scouting, and I think (unless I'm missing something) that anything with a seperate video card is going to push this over 1K. I'm perfectly ok saying "I'll never be able to play a graphical game on this in my life". I agree ideally, sure I'd like to have a seperate video card.

You had mentioned earlier that I might not be able to run some other progams because of the video situation. Can you be specific? Maybe its something that I'm not thinking of. IE should be fine. Even playing DVD's/DIVX/Streaming video should be fine, unless I'm mistaken?

I know that by not getting a graphic card, I'm shutting the doors to a lot of games, but thats ok. I'll be in line for a PS3 and in my opinion, thats where the games are going anyway. I just hope that programmers start implementing keyboards/mice and start programming some RTS type games for those consoles, but thats for another thread :).

My wife's computer (desktop) had an intergrated video card, and it had problems with anything that used directx. She also had hang-ups with her picture programs and such. Adding a low-end PCI card did the trick. Take a little more time and look further. If this is a long-term purchase, think long and hard about shutting a door you might regret. You can't go back and "add" a video card later.

Cool - I wonder whats up with the ATI Integrated graphics anyway? Is it a slight step up from the intel integrated graphics that are on the HP model? I just don't see where ATI really gets in on the deal. If they aren't providing the card, what are they doing? (maybe its just the chip that "manages" the total system ram between graphics and other functions?)

Hey Phillies, what kind of laptop did you get?

I'm start to shop around a little for one. My uses as pretty much the same as those listed in the first post, with some notable exceptions. My current laptop can't play Civ4, so it's a big deal that if I get a new one, it has the video capabilities to run Civ4. Also, I play FM on my current pathetic system, so I'd like something that can run that more quickly (not sure whether to put an emphasis on processor speed or memory, though). Also, I like to have a ton of music and video stored, so more space would be nice. Anyone have any suggestions?

what's a text sports sim?

I purchased a Toshiba A105-S4004 at Circuit City recently. After the $100 mail in rebate, it was just under a grand. It is an upgrade from an old P3 IBM Thinkpad. I love it.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ccd/Searc...go.x=18&go.y=8

The wife bought a Toshiba Satellite A105-S2051 Notebook at Best Buy two weeks ago for $599. Specs look very similar to this and she really likes it.
She didn't need a super machine, mostly surfs and does stuff with her photos.
She had been looking for awhile and since I put a wireless router in the house
she decided it was time.

Oh, also, my current laptop gets pretty hot on the bottom, so I'd like to find one that doesn't.