Lightweight Reliable Notebook

[GoodRevrnd]

Should be:
*Light as possible
*14"-15.4" screen
*C2D
*dedicated GPU preferred
*long long long battery life
*still have a cd-rom
*not dell
*probably under $2k

I've been out of the notebook loop for a while. I always used to like the Panasonics for their size and form, but those things look like they've become really outdated.

 

[Brainonska511]

Asus A8J series (you can get it with any of the following 7700Go>> X1700 > X2300). I don't know how you'll get "long, long" battery life with a dedicated GPU. My W3J with an older style 8-cell battery and a MR X1600 gets about 3-3.5 hours on battery.

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: Brainonska511
Asus A8J series (you can get it with any of the following 7700Go>> X1700 > X2300). I don't know how you'll get "long, long" battery life with a dedicated GPU. My W3J with an older style 8-cell battery and a MR X1600 gets about 3-3.5 hours on battery.

yea dedicated gpu laptops aren't great when it comes to battery life. i hear macbook pros get decent battery life...maybe you can get a 15"? or the Asus A8J?

what are you going to be using this for? can u be a little more specific on the battery lfie?

 

[firewolfsm]

Why not Dell? The 1505 is perfect for your situation.

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: firewolfsm
Why not Dell? The 1505 is perfect for your situation.

6.2lbs isn't exactly lightweight. i think the OP is limited to 14.1" laptops.

OP, if you only want a dedicated GPU for vista, it's not needed. your options greatly widen if you choose to look for integrated graphics laptops as well. asus is perfect for what you've listed. if you want to go cheaper, however, integrated would be your best option

 

[GoodRevrnd]

I suppose I could forgo the dedicated gpu if that'll give me noticeably more battery time and drop a pound or so off the weight.

 

[thudia]

HP dv6258se.

 

[Brainonska511]

How about the Dell Latitude D620 or a Lenovo T series notebook?

 

[GoodRevrnd]

Originally posted by: thudia
HP dv6258se.

Weight 6.8lbs

GG

 

[russdaren]

my Lenovo 3000 C200 gets about 2-3 hours on the lame battery. It would get much more if I had sprung for the med or long life battery. Of course this is with the modem and wifi turned off and a lot of services and such killed.
Oh I didnt see light. Mine is not heavy, but its not less than 6 lbs. The Sony and Toshiba ultra lights are pretty excellent. Especially the Sony ones.

 

[jchu14]

You should look in to the HP nc6400. It's the 14.1" business offering from HP. It only weighs 4.6 lb and only 1.1" thick. It comes with radeon x1300 or integrated graphics. The x1300 is no powerhouse by any means, but a lot better than integrated. It also comes standar with 3 year HP warranty.

I have the core duo version of the nc6400 with the x1300 and no complaints here.

 

[GoodRevrnd]

are the 2mb cache c2d's gonna give me better battery life than the 4mb ones?
and how much more juice does the x1300 suck than the integrated?

this hp here looks like a good option.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: GoodRevrnd
are the 2mb cache c2d's gonna give me better battery life than the 4mb ones?
and how much more juice does the x1300 suck than the integrated?

this hp here looks like a good option.

I'd say that the cache amount of the C2D does not affect battery life. You'd see more battery life by going with the lowest clocked C2D.

Dedicated graphics suck a significant amount of power over integrated. If you don't need the graphics card, just go with the integrated solution, as you won't see any difference by going with an X1300 if you are only going to be doing office work/internet on the computer.

 

[Treripica]

I'd go with the Lenovo Thinkpad X60's.

It's 2.7lbs. and the keyboard is a good size. I'd tack on the hi-cap battery for $10 more, 2GB RAM and upgrade to a 7200RPM drive. The downsides aside from integrated graphics is no integrated optical drive and a 12.1" screen. The battery life with the hi cap is quite good, however.