Buying Two Laptops

[socno24]

I am looking to buy two laptops for different people.

The first is going to be used for minimal gaming (Civ IV). The recommended specs for the game are a 128mb gpu and a P4 1.8ghz or something equivalent. The budget for the laptop is about $2000 however if necessary I am willing to spend more. Hard drive space isn't much of an issue, a 60 or 80 gb hard drive should be fine. The only other specs that I want are a 15" screen and a dvd-rom drive. Would dual core be beneficial for minimal gaming, an occasional DVD, surfing the net and word processing? Some brands that I've taken a look at are Acer, Toshiba, ABS, and MSI.

The second laptop is going to be for word processing, emailing, surfing the net...nothing to intense. I'm looking for a dvd-rom drive, a 40 gb hard drive, a celeron or sempron processor, a 14" lcd and either 512mb or 1gb of ram. I was looking at the Dell B120, however the person who will be using it doesn't particularly like the looks. There is no budget for this laptop, however I see no reason to spend more than $700 or $800 for something so minimal.

Another requirement for each is a built in wireless card for at least b/g and possibly a on the first laptop.

Thanks in advance!

 

[pkme2]

Check these Dells This should get you started. They are more links available where you can get Dell coupons. Google them.

 

[tokamak]

$2000 can get you a whole lot of laptop these days. This Acer gives you a lot of bang for your buck. Dell isn't offering any discrete graphics (which you'll want for Civ IV) in a 15.4" screen right now, only on their 17" models. That may change in a month or two. From what it sounds like, Dual Core wouldn't be a huge benefit to you. Its main strength is multitasking. I don't think the Core Duos have quite the battery life that the P-M does. Also, most of the Core Duo machines are just now hitting the market, and I'm not seeing them being paired with very interesting graphics options right now. If I were buying right now and I were you, I'd stick to P-M or Turion. If you're worried about the future or could wait a couple months, then maybe take a look at the Core Duos.

For the second option, I'd just wait until next Sunday, check the B&M store circulars, and pick out the best deal. Usually one will have something in the $600-$700 range that will give you everthing you need.

check out the forums at www.notebookreview.com . Very helpful.

 

[keeleysam]

I'm typing from this and love it:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834115224