Getting a Laptop

[HatterMadness]

I just graduated college and my father, tonight, offered to buy me a laptop as a congratuations.

I have read only a little bit on new laptop tech, i usually just focus on the desktop stuff.

So i would like any advice you guys can offer about the newest in laptop stuff. A few suggestions on what is a good mobile vid card or some good laptop models to aim for. I already know to shoot for a Core 2 duo, that is unless you guys know of a few other chips that can compete.

Come on, hit me with the know.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Best bet.

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey
Best bet.

agreed.

but as that's the first forum i look in i suppose answering here wouldn't hurt

alright so IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad series is basically the best for PC laptops...MacBookPros are pretty comparable but unless you're going to be using the Mac OS, there is no point in paying the premium. both have great service, build quality, extras (like shutting off the hard drive and an impact cage or something when the laptop is in freefall to prevent dataloss), etc.

Asus, is the brand of choice for gaming laptops. 1gb of ram, core 2 duo, MR X1700 dedicated graphics card for ~$1500. i have never seen an Asus laptop but i hear the build quality is pretty good and so is the service.

Dell Latitude is something to consider for an alternative to the Lenovo Thinkpad. do NOT confuse this with the Inspiron line. it's a business line laptop so the video card isn't geared for games per se, but it shouldn't be bad. also, business class service

if you're on a budget, HP is certainly worth taking a look at. i have an HP dv2000t so i can comment on the build quality and bang-for-buck for the laptop (which both are good, especially for a consumer-line laptop) but i've never had to use the warranty service. from what i hear, it's pretty good and loads better than dell support.

a budget would definitely be nice to work with. screen sizes you're comfortable with, battery life, weight, etc. would help too.

you mentioned a good mobile video card. if you play newer games or prefer some eye candy, get at least a 7600/7700 Go or MR X1600/X1700. if you go into the 17" range, you could get a 79xx, but obviously the budget must allow for it. i would say Asus would be your best bet for an affordable gaming laptop.

core 2 duo is currently the best option for laptop cpus. they're the fatest clock-for-clock, and have better battery life than the turion x2's. the T7200 and higher come with 4mb of cache, while the T5600 and lower come with only 2mb. if you consider core duo, due note that it does not support 64-bit (while the core2duo and turion x2 do) and is ~5-10% slower per clock than the core2duo.

also, definitely get a gig of ram on the laptop. if bluetooth, fingerprint reader, webcam, microphone, etc. is important for you, weigh the value of the option as not all brands/models come with them.

feel free to ask anymore questions. also, is there an approximate budget? and what'll your uses be for the laptop?

 

[UMfanatic]

Dell Inspirons are good as well, just do not get the ATI video card because it is hyper memory which means it will just use your ram for memory the GO 7600 or 7800 is a pretty nice option, plus you get HD built in sound, you can get built in bluetooth, and they will give you a free upgrade to vista

 

[HatterMadness]

Originally posted by: alimoalem

feel free to ask anymore questions. also, is there an approximate budget? and what'll your uses be for the laptop?

There is no specific budget to this purchase, i just have to be sure not to go overboard on the buy.
My desktop computer is currently down for the count, so this new laptop will need to fill in for most of all the normal stuff. I would end up using it for lost of small things like music, movies, and websurfing.
But the big use for it would be gaming.

I'll check out those other forums, now that i noticed them. And thanks for the help, i'm going to look into some of your advised parts.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Correction: The ATI cards Dell sells do have onbaord memory as well as the (useless) ability to also use shared memory if the card needs more than its own.

The X1300 is roughly as fast as the nv 7300, which is to say both are not very good unless you like to game at 800x600 low quality