Laptop under $2000

[The Pentium Guy]

Hey guys.

I'm looking around for laptop, for a friend of mine. The kid's got about a $2000 budget, but he's relatively new to comptuers.

I found a great deal at ABS PC - their Mayhem G3: Athlon64 3700+, 9700, 2x512MB. Not too shabby. Unfortunately, he said he wanted something "reliable". So he decided, after talking with a few friends, to buy from a store so he could return it if he wanted.

He did, however, say he'll buy from a "reputable" and "reliable" company online (I'm assuming he means HP/Dell).

Obviously since this is a laptop, he's concerned with mobility (so it can't be big and bulky - but this isn't a deciding factor) and battery life (since this is a gaming laptop, you can't expect much anyways).

I did find a great deal on the HP zd8000 series, with 256MB X600, 3.2 ghz Pentium 4 "640", and 1 GB of RAM - not shabby at all, it meets the budget as well.

If anyone could make a recommendation, that would be greatly appreciated.

-The Pentium Guy

 

[imported_Kensai]

Dell. They have a nice deal on their XPS serie s. (20% off )

 

[fbrdphreak]

The problem with the zd8000, Dell 9300, and Dell XPS is that all of these are by no means mobile. They all have 17" screens and weight 7+ lbs. If that is acceptable to your friend, tell him to go for the Dell 9300. You can get a well loaded 9300 w/256MB 6800 card for under $1500 w/the right coupons.

For a more mobile solution, look at the offerings from Acer & Asus w/the GF 6600. The 6600 isn't the best mobile card out there, but should do better than the 9700. I believe the Acer 8104's use the X700, which I hear rocks for a notebook card.
Hope this helps

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Thanks for the input guys, I'll ask him about it

 

[bobsmith1492]

Sager 3790 is what I've got; was a bit over 2k at the time but has dropped under since for a setup including P-M 1.8 (easily OCable), 9700 128 meg, 60 gig 7200 rpmer, and best of all, a 15.4" 1920x1200 WUXGA screen. The battery lasts forever; I've only run it out twice and I take it with me to use all day. Highly recommended.

 

[NeBaWONG]

ASUS W3

www.proportable.com

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Although that site got great reviews, I'm not too sure about the reliablity of that site.... it won't even let you configure, and the overall site layout isn't all that great - it makes you question the site. When you go to configure the ones that are configurable, it doesn't even update the price. .

And the guy includes his AIM so you could message him about his site...Sorry, but I think I'll pass .

I gotta figure out where else yuo can buy ASUS notebooks, cuz they make sonys and Apples as well. Apparently he liked Apples, so that might convince him of ASUS .

-The Pentium Guy

 

[Octave]

i would recommend the dell 6000D.........IF it had a better video card option
i want an x700 in this bad boy
at least....heh

 

[mdahc]

Toshiba Tecra A4 (customized with a Geforce Go 6600).

 

[fbrdphreak]

Toshiba is a good option; they also have the...M45? I think that's what it is; should be nice w/an SXGA+ 14" screen & 6600