Cheap (<$1200) laptop for a writer?

[Biznatcho]

I'm looking for a laptop in the $1000-1200 range to use mainly for writing screenplays and short stories, so battery life, portability, and ergonomics are top priorities. This is strictly a second machine and I realize that any new lappy will do the job, but I still want the most bang for the buck.

I really like the feel of the Toshibas and Compaqs at Best Buy (!), but I've heard mixed reviews. Dells seem to be solid, but expensive if there isn't a rebate floating around, and I've been warned to stay away from Gateways. I am tempted by the cheapies on PowerNotebooks and XtremeNotebooks but I hesitate to get something so expensive and relatively unreliable from a small online vendor.

Besides being a PC, only musts for me are DVD and NIC, with 802.11b and Firewire being wishlist items.

Any recommendations?

 

[MWink]

If you care about battery life make sure you get one with a mobile processor. Some of the Sager's sold by Powernotebooks do not use mobile processors. I would stay away from Compaq. I have had some VERY bad experiences with their laptops. I used to think Toshiba's were good but I recently had a chance to work with one of their newer high end Satellite laptops and I was very unimpressed with it. My main complaint was the battery life was a mere 1 hour 10 minutes :Q !

You can get the following Dell Inspiron 2600 for $1100.

14.1" XGA LCD
Celeron 1.06GHz
128MB SDRAM
20GB HD
Floppy
10/100 NIC
56k V.92 Modem
8X DVD-ROM
Li-Ion battery
MS Works 2002
Windows XP Home

1 year mail-in warranty

 

[mcveigh]

dude get a dell

2600 or 4100

 

[manko]

This current Hot Deal might be good for you...

Compaq Laptop PIII-1.13ghz/14.1"TFT/256mb/20g/8mbRad/CDRW-DVD -- $994 after PM & MIR!