Looking for a decent laptop

[Fierce Llama]

Im going to be going to college soon and I travel ALOT, im looking into buying a laptop mainly for listening to alot of music, playins some rts's (civ IV, AoE3, Rise of Nations) and maybe a couple of mmos, not very likely but anyways.

I need a laptop that I could listen to music, internet, instant messaging, games listed above and without the thrid party bullshit that comes with computers like Dell which is what I have now. Help is apprectiated, ty

Price range, im trying to be around $1,000 with a definite limit of $1,300

Thanks

[Ender]

Dell has some pretty good deals once you get their higher education discount, something like 12%, plus any outstanding previous offers. More money off if you purhcase a prebuilt recommended setup.

I've done a lot of research into this, and they're what I plan on investing into, but I don't plan on putting a lot of money into it. THe rate for laptops getting stolen is outrageous. :/

So, look at dell. Toshiba has some good deals on their satallites, or some select acers, but its a bitch trying to find an easily navigatable site. (acer, that is)

[Fierce Llama]

But these Dells come with so much third party shit I dont know if I want another one

[InnerLogic]

But these Dells come with so much third party shit I dont know if I want another one

Reformat and Reinstall

That gets rid of that issue :-D

newegg.com usually has good laptop deals for under $1000, check there first to see if they got anything there.

[gk128]

I said it before and I'll say it again. I love my Dell inspiron 9300. The 256MB GeForce 6800 makes gaming great.

[AcquiredTarget]

Reformat and Reinstall

That gets rid of that issue :-DThis is one rule I follow with new hardware. Makes it soooo much easier.

[Fierce Llama]

Oh and dont forget the price limit, can you guys recomend a laptop for around that price for what i need?

[Regole]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834224014

Too bad it's a weekend sale (ends Monday), because it's $180 off.

[Fierce Llama]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834224014

Too bad it's a weekend sale (ends Monday), because it's $180 off.

That looked great too!

thanks

[Emptythought]

base model IBM Z (http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?catalogId=-840&storeId=10000001&langId=-1&dualCurrId=1000073&categoryId=4611686018425039802&re=nbhome_middle)

im gonna be buying one of these soon myself, based on the IBM T series which is the best laptop ever made. has an ati x300 or close to that, great screen, good battery life, pentium M, decent ammount of ram and disk space, and its ZOMG ALUMINIUM like the powerbooks. and you get A/b/g/ wifi with every model of it, and a lit keyboard for fapping at 2am.

i would also recomend looking at toshiba satelites(havent used one personally, but both of my parents have them and beat the crap out of them, one of them is 8 years old and the battery even still holds a charge like it should) and possibly the basic alienware's, which are close to straight up $1000.

whatever you do, never get a dell. they use the worst quality everything.

[gk128]

Those IBM PCs are underpowered and over priced. Dell is really the way to go when you can get a deal.

[masman]

Before you even start this Dell vs. IBM fight

http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=Dell&word2=IBM

:D

[Emptythought]

Before you even start this Dell vs. IBM fight

http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=Dell&word2=IBM

:D
lame, but lol.

and dell is power Vs. price, whereas ibm is quailty Vs price.

i wont argue that youll get a faster pc for cheaper from dell, but wouldnt it be more wise to get one thats less likely to fail in 6 months from ibm(or toshiba..). and any one of the selections named from ANY company would have more than enough power to do what he said he wanted to do, hell, a 600mhz laptop could do what he needs to do.

[alexsan]

if you don't care about macs, then get a 12" iBook. My friend has one and god damn is it great. built in wifi dectector(sp?), durable, and comes with iLife 2005 that has TONS of great, great applications. Only $999 dollars. Seems like alot, but you can get a worse laptop for much more. link (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/70203/wo/A653Z3xad7JQ3yPYEo1ffrpzTnG/0.SLID?nclm=iBook&mco=59FA8676)

[Fierce Llama]

Got a nice deal on one for $1,149 but Im not too sure because its a apple.... Talk me into buying one somebody please. I use MSN, Play strategy games and such (are most of these games available on the mac?), Microsoft Word, and listening to music... fill me in please

and it says the video card is a ATI mobility radeon 5500, what size is that? and how well will it run what I need?

[Regole]

Got a nice deal on one for $1,149 but Im not too sure because its a apple.... Talk me into buying one somebody please. I use MSN, Play strategy games and such (are most of these games available on the mac?), Microsoft Word, and listening to music... fill me in please

and it says the video card is a ATI mobility radeon 5500, what size is that? and how well will it run what I need?

Don't buy an Apple notebook unless you don't care about games.

[Fierce Llama]

Don't buy an Apple notebook unless you don't care about games.

Well so much for that one then

[gk128]

HP/Compaq have some laptops you could be looking at.

No matter what you buy it will be full of crap only a format will get rid of.

[Fierce Llama]

HP/Compaq have some laptops you could be looking at.

No matter what you buy it will be full of crap only a format will get rid of.

I refuse to buy a HP/Compaq, I have a personal vendetta against them

[InnerLogic]

The Major reason not to get a Mac right now is because of Apples switch from PowerPC to Intel chips. You would be better off waiting untill then and getting one then so you could put Windows Xp or Linux on it, as well as for better speed.

[Fierce Llama]

The Major reason not to get a Mac right now is because of Apples switch from PowerPC to Intel chips. You would be better off waiting untill then and getting one then so you could put Windows Xp or Linux on it, as well as for better speed.

Sounds good, I just payed my insurance and im buying an xbox 360 so I wont have enough for one until probably around feburary.

thanks for the help guys

[Regole]

Sounds good, I just payed my insurance and im buying an xbox 360 so I wont have enough for one until probably around feburary.

thanks for the help guys

Good thing, because they're switching to Intel in January.

[AcquiredTarget]

Good thing, because they're switching to Intel in January.That's good to hear. I get the feeling that my current sMac will crap out by then (one way or another). Though I have to admit I'm liking OS X.

[Emptythought]

Well so much for that one then
what? most strategy games are available on mac(starcraft, warcraft 3, etc) and the official msn client for mac is as good if not better than the windows one.

i would say go for it.

but i agree with the people saying wait untill january-february when the new ones come out AT THE SAME PRICE

[Fierce Llama]

what? most strategy games are available on mac(starcraft, warcraft 3, etc) and the official msn client for mac is as good if not better than the windows one.

i would say go for it.

but i agree with the people saying wait untill january-february when the new ones come out AT THE SAME PRICE

Oh, well I still have a question about the gpu... How many MB is the Radeon 9500?

Edit

Nvm its 32MB, but isnt that kinda low? I mean how long would that last me? What if I wanted to play F.E.A.R or something like that? Would it be able to handle it or could I upgrade the gpu later on if I wanted to?

[InnerLogic]

I've been looking at ThinkPad's and I think This one (http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=4611686018425093186&storeId=10000001&langId=-1&categoryId=2302835&dualCurrId=1000073&catalogId=-840) may be a good pick, $950, got pretty good specs.

EDIT: This one also seems good (http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=4611686018425010012&storeId=10000001&langId=-1&categoryId=2302835&dualCurrId=1000073&catalogId=-840) $100 more, but better specs and has Intel Centrino on it.

[gk128]

I've been looking at ThinkPad's and I think This one (http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=4611686018425093186&storeId=10000001&langId=-1&categoryId=2302835&dualCurrId=1000073&catalogId=-840) may be a good pick, $950, got pretty good specs.

EDIT: This one also seems good (http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=4611686018425010012&storeId=10000001&langId=-1&categoryId=2302835&dualCurrId=1000073&catalogId=-840) $100 more, but better specs and has Intel Centrino on it.

If you want to play games you don't want IBM or Intel intergrated graphics.

A good place to get reviews on laptops is Notebookreview.com (www.notebookreview.com) and Notebookforums.com (http://www.notebookforums.com.) .

[Fierce Llama]

Yeah I definitly dont want integrated graphics I was looking for maybe at least a 64 mb gpu or better, gig of ram, 60 gig hd, and a decent processor....

[InnerLogic]

If you want to play games you don't want IBM or Intel intergrated graphics.

A good place to get reviews on laptops is Notebookreview.com (www.notebookreview.com) and Notebookforums.com (http://www.notebookforums.com.) .

Thinkpad != IBM

IBM stoped making the laptops, it's Lenovo now.

Just saying ;)

EDIT: Gaming should be fine on a laptop with intergrated graphics... DEPENDING on the game at hand.

Doom 3? No

Doom 1-2? Yes

World of Warcraft? Depends on settings, but why would you want to play it on your laptop anyway?

Warcraft 3? Yes

Quake 4? No

Quake 3-2-1? Yes

Diablo 1-2? Yes

Most emulators? Yes

Seems good to me.

[Fierce Llama]

I found a alienware Area-51 m5500 with these specs:

Windows XP
15.4 screen
Intel Pentium M 1.73
a/b/g wireless card
1 gig dual channel ddr2 ram at 533 mhz
60 gig 5400 rpm ata100 hard drive
256 mb Nvidia 6600
24x10x24 cd burner


for $1,672.00


Is that a good deal? how will the processor handle?

and heres a diagram of it:

Link (http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pages/Area-51_m5500/area-51m_gallery_ports.aspx?SysCode=PC-LT-AREA51-M-5500&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT#sub)

[gk128]

The Pentium M is a damn fine processor.

[Fierce Llama]

The Pentium M is a damn fine processor.

Do you think that is worth the $1700 price tag?

[Emptythought]

Oh, well I still have a question about the gpu... How many MB is the Radeon 9500?

Edit

Nvm its 32MB, but isnt that kinda low? I mean how long would that last me? What if I wanted to play F.E.A.R or something like that? Would it be able to handle it or could I upgrade the gpu later on if I wanted to?
no, you wouldnt, but your not going to get a laptop for $1300 that can play fear worth a shit. and almost all laptops dont have upgradeable cpu's, besides some old models of alienwares. and they never released any upgrade modules for those.
Thinkpad != IBM

IBM stoped making the laptops, it's Lenovo now.

Just saying ;)
actually, the only ones lenovo has any involvement in are the Z series, which they partially designed and ibm's thinkpad team ok'd, all of them are still made at the same factories they always were, and most even still have the ibm logo's.

and i agree with what you said about games
I found a alienware Area-51 m5500 with these specs:

Windows XP
15.4 screen
Intel Pentium M 1.73
a/b/g wireless card
1 gig dual channel ddr2 ram at 533 mhz
60 gig 5400 rpm ata100 hard drive
256 mb Nvidia 6600
24x10x24 cd burner


for $1,672.00


Is that a good deal? how will the processor handle?

and heres a diagram of it:

Link (http://www.alienware.com/product_detail_pages/Area-51_m5500/area-51m_gallery_ports.aspx?SysCode=PC-LT-AREA51-M-5500&SubCode=SKU-DEFAULT#sub)
shit, thats about as good as my desktop, with a better graphics card. that would play basically any game you could throw at it.

buy it if you can afford the $1600, for sure. just note that the battery life will suck when playing games, or if you dont enable speedstep when your just browsing the internet
Do you think that is worth the $1700 price tag?
see above, so yea :P

[InnerLogic]

actually, the only ones lenovo has any involvement in are the Z series, which they partially designed and ibm's thinkpad team ok'd, all of them are still made at the same factories they always were, and most even still have the ibm logo's.

and i agree with what you said about games


Well, They were talking about the Lenovo deal on slashdot comments alot, and thats where It from, so I won't listen to them anymore... like I should have to begin with ;)

[Emptythought]

Well, They were talking about the Lenovo deal on slashdot comments alot, and thats where It from, so I won't listen to them anymore... like I should have to begin with ;)
slashdot comments are only a good source of information if the person posting them either is confirmed to work for the company he's talking about, or has some links to back up what he's saying

otherwise its just opinions and hopes :P its sad that most people dont seem to get that :(