i am looking for a laptop for mainly use around the home, indoors and out. internet, IM, connecting to work through VPN, connecting to locally networked PC's through VNC, DVD, MP3 playback. using word, excel, access.
i would like:
-win xp pro
-512 mb RAM
-don't care about hard drive size, just need it to not be a huge bottleneck RPM wise
-decent graphics, nothing to play hardcore games on, maybe some kids games (i.e. backyard baseball, etc). any comment about chipset or card performance would be great.
-wifi g
-good battery life
-kinda like the widescreen laptops, would like to be able to watch DVD's. i like the quick play stuff by HP for some reason, DV4000. anything out there similar to HP's quick play?
-DVD ROM (no burner)
- don't really care either way about Intel or AMD, just best bang for my buck
-low heat, don't want it to burn my lap
-portable, that i could take in the car or on an airplane, doesn't have to be super light, but don't really want a DTR
i've been looking at HP and Compaq mainly, not really a huge fan of dell's. i know IBM's are the best, but I don't think i can config one the way i want for my price range.
i have a mac powerbook G3 that i have been playing around with, but it needs a new battery, so i would probably stay away from apple's just cause i can use that if i want to play with a mac.
i would like:
-win xp pro
-512 mb RAM
-don't care about hard drive size, just need it to not be a huge bottleneck RPM wise
-decent graphics, nothing to play hardcore games on, maybe some kids games (i.e. backyard baseball, etc). any comment about chipset or card performance would be great.
-wifi g
-good battery life
-kinda like the widescreen laptops, would like to be able to watch DVD's. i like the quick play stuff by HP for some reason, DV4000. anything out there similar to HP's quick play?
-DVD ROM (no burner)
- don't really care either way about Intel or AMD, just best bang for my buck
-low heat, don't want it to burn my lap
-portable, that i could take in the car or on an airplane, doesn't have to be super light, but don't really want a DTR
i've been looking at HP and Compaq mainly, not really a huge fan of dell's. i know IBM's are the best, but I don't think i can config one the way i want for my price range.
i have a mac powerbook G3 that i have been playing around with, but it needs a new battery, so i would probably stay away from apple's just cause i can use that if i want to play with a mac.