Need reccomendations for a laptop.

[thelush84]

This is what I am looking for and any help is much appreciated, thank you in advance.

-Either 15.4" or 17" widescreen display with a 16ms responce time or better and a native resolution of at least 1280x1024
-2ghz or better Turion64 cpu with a 1mb L2 cache, if possible
-1 gig of system memory or better
-80gb or better hard drive running at 7200
-cd-burning and dvd-playing capabilities

I'm looking to spend around $2000 give or take a few hundred, and the graphics card won't be used for games exactly, and if it is they will be either The Sims, Sim City, WoW and the like. I'm not looking for a monster gaming rig, just a speedy desktop replacment with ample storage, dvd-playback in high res and good for running productivity apps like Office, Photoshop and such.

Thank you.

 

[thelush84]

According to CyperPowerSystems I can get a notebook from them with a gig of ram, 2ghz Turion64, and the 15.4" screen, dvd, cd-rw and a 128mb ATI X700 mobility, but the screen is 1280x800 which I'm not down with, and the hard disk is only offered at 7200rpm in 60gig fasion.

Hmm.

 

[thelush84]

Wow, I was just looking at Sager Notebooks and their 5720 offers Dell XPS level of performence for much less money. Hmm.

 

[andrewbabcock]

Originally posted by: thelush84
Wow, I was just looking at Sager Notebooks and their 5720 offers Dell XPS level of performence for much less money. Hmm.

Yes the 5720 is quite impressive but the warranty is a bit suspect. I dunno how good it is and you can only get a maximum warranty of 1 year with them, and extensions are with phillips-magnavox...If you can get a coupon, i would reccomend a i9300 like i have or an XPS m170 if you can get a really good coupon. With dell, i would get at least 3 years warranty and add complete care to it.

 

[thelush84]

I noticed that about the warrenty as well, and if I'm going to spend 2000 or more dollars on a notebook it better he for more than one year and through the building compant. I'll investigate the warrenty theough Phillips and see what it entails.

I really like the Dell XPS but they are pricey, have to look for some good deals they offer and rebates.

 

[Traire]

Originally posted by: thelush84
I really like the Dell XPS but they are pricey, have to look for some good deals they offer and rebates.

The i9300 is nearly identical to the XPS, minus the outer design and some other frivolous extras. Im lookin at getting one myself soon as I see a really good coupon come around. You should be able to get a very nicely equiped 9300 for ~$2000, with a good 3 year warranty.

 

[niggles]

normally I'm a Dell guy, but it sounds like you're looking for an Acer Ferrari

 

[cheesehead]

Dell=Garbage.
Acer=from what I've heard, problematic, but they won't ship you back a broken computer after you send it in to get fixed. Twice.

 

[alienal99]

acer ferrari would be a great choice....if looking for something a bit less expensive, look around for an asus z70va....ammmmazing. also, much lighter with a great graphics card. try jncs.com

 

[niggles]

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
Dell=Garbage.

I'm having no problems with my Dell Inspiron 6000, it's a dream. I don't deny that their low end stuff is not worth much, but then again it's cheap as heck so of course it won't be great. Did you have a bad experience?

As for Acer, I wouldn't know about returns, I'm only going by entirely second hand info from forums, magazines, and 2 friends that have had no issue with theirs. I have the same feeling about Toshiba after taking 6 months to get a notebook fixed by them. Everyone else loves Toshiba, I think they have the worst customer service since Vlad the impaler refused to return some of the Turks heads after a wee bit of a disagreement about a silly religeon thing.

 

[Traire]

Originally posted by: niggles

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
Dell=Garbage.

I'm having no problems with my Dell Inspiron 6000, it's a dream. I don't deny that their low end stuff is not worth much, but then again it's cheap as heck so of course it won't be great. Did you have a bad experience?

As for Acer, I wouldn't know about returns, I'm only going by entirely second hand info from forums, magazines, and 2 friends that have had no issue with theirs. I have the same feeling about Toshiba after taking 6 months to get a notebook fixed by them. Everyone else loves Toshiba, I think they have the worst customer service since Vlad the impaler refused to return some of the Turks heads after a wee bit of a disagreement about a silly religeon thing.

I bought my little bro a 6000 to take to college with him. He hasnt had any complaints yet, and he is a bit rougher with it than normal, as he has to take it with him to classes in his backpack everyday, because he has to have it with him when he gets to study hall to work on his reports/homework (hes on the football team, doesnt have any choice when he does his homework).

 

[scottish144]

Why are we talking about Dell when this guy wants a Turion? Dell is overpriced anyway. An Acer Ferrari 4000 sastifies all your reqs except for the 7200rpm (its 5400). In any case, the HD is designed to be upgraded. Its also portable, with decent battery life and about 6 lbs. See review below:

http://www.laptoplogic.com/reviews/acer/117/1/1/

 

[cheesehead]

Dell laptops are a mixed bag. Some are (relatively) decent, and last until they're out of warranty. Others, like my 9100, fry their mainboard every few months and need to have it replaced. (I'm currently on my third or fourth, and my laptop's only 1 year old!) And the tech support is god-awful.

 

[thelush84]

I was just looking at the new Alienware notebooks and man, I am impressed. I just build one and for under $3000 you can get the fastest Pentium M, 2gb of DDR2, 256mb 6800GO, 120gb SATA and 17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD. Wow.

 

[thelush84]

And for just over $3000 you can get the same thing but w/ bluetooth, 3-year warrenty and kickass headphones.

 

[mparr1708]

Originally posted by: thelush84
I was just looking at the new Alienware notebooks and man, I am impressed. I just build one and for under $3000 you can get the fastest Pentium M, 2gb of DDR2, 256mb 6800GO, 120gb SATA and 17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD. Wow.

Yes but you could probably get the same build in an I9300 from dell for 1k less. I'm not trying to be a dell fanboy but that Alienware is overpriced IMHO. To each there own but I would rather build a ASUS Z70VA or get an HP DV4000. Both of these notebooks have an X700 card in them. A little less graphics power but they will cost around 1,500 -1,800 (Depending on config) versus 3k for the alienware.

I just purchased a DV4000
2GHZ P-M
80GB HD
X700 Card
2GB Ram
Bluetooth/Wireless
DVD-RW Lightscribe

For just about 1,500. Now that was with an educational discount and purchasing my ram seperately but my notebook will game just fine and I saved 1,500 over the cost of that alienware.

 

[mparr1708]

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
Dell=Garbage.
Acer=from what I've heard, problematic, but they won't ship you back a broken computer after you send it in to get fixed. Twice.

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
Dell laptops are a mixed bag. Some are (relatively) decent, and last until they're out of warranty. Others, like my 9100, fry their mainboard every few months and need to have it replaced. (I'm currently on my third or fourth, and my laptop's only 1 year old!) And the tech support is god-awful.

Not that this doesn?t suck for you because it does but for you to say Dell = Garbage is a bit exaggerated. In your case your notebook has not served you well but I've worked on a TON of inspirons and have had no more problems out them then any other notebook.

As far as there tech support goes I'm sure it?s not as stellar as it could be. I deal with the business side of Dell so I can't really comment on there home support. As far as business goes there server guys are head and shoulders above there notebook or workstation guys (this is to be expected though....they better give my good service if I'm calling them dealing with a $30,000 oracle box).

I will say this. I have dealt with HP and Gateway support and neither of them were any better then Dell. IBM is supposed to be awesome but it?s been a very long time since I've dealt with them. I will say this though. The last three companies I've worked for have been fairly large and none of them use IBM. I'm not sure if the cost of there product out ways there service or what.

 

[andrewbabcock]

Originally posted by: niggles
normally I'm a Dell guy, but it sounds like you're looking for an Acer Ferrari

There have been a few, uh, problems with the ferraris. Heat being the most major of the issues. The fan is awfullly loud and i have heard of serious issues with the optical drives. I would not reccomend a ferrari. I would get an i9300. For a dtr, its pretty light and it gets nearly 5 hours in office apps (w/ a 9-celll about 3 with a 6-cell). Good lappy imo.

 

[cheesehead]

A word of warning:
Dell has awful tech support.

 

[andrewbabcock]

Originally posted by: Cheesehead
A word of warning:
Dell has awful tech support.

I would say mediocre but at least they are organized about it. Acer and Sager look to be fairly unorganized in their support...