Need Recomendation for a laptop

[azev]

I need to get a laptop soon. I am going overseas on sunday, and I need a laptop for my work.
I normally always get DELL stuff, but I have to get one by tomorrow. There should be lots after thanksgiving sale tomorrow, so it is a good time to get it. Can someone suggest what brand of laptop I should get over the counter ? I am going to use it mostly for internet and write report, but I'd like to be able to run lots of server apps and games for my experiment and evaluations.
I am hoping not to spent much more than $1000.
Any recomendation is appreciated.

Thanks

 

[DaveSimmons]

For any recent 3D games you'd want radeon mobility 9600 since the geforce go 5700 isn't shipping yet AFAIK, but good gaming laptops were closer to $1500 than $1000 last I checked.

Toshiba and IBM are your best choices to find locally. You might find the models you want on their websites then see what's in stock locally. You can also go to crucial.com to see what type of memory to buy (PC2100 - PC3200 SODIMM) for each model since you'll probably want to buy extra locally if you're running a Windows server OS.

FYI the Toshiba we got at work with 512MB RAM a few months ago used 2 x 256 not 1 x 512, so the extra 512 stick we bought for it only brought memory up to 768 not 1 GB (had to pukk 1 x 256 to add the 512).

 

[anandfan]

How difficult is it to add memory to a Toshiba laptop? (I've done it with desktops.)

 

[minendo]

Originally posted by: anandfan
How difficult is it to add memory to a Toshiba laptop? (I've done it with desktops.)

Unscrew the memory cover and insert memory. Replace cover and boot up.

 

[dnuggett]

Depending where you are at there may be a local Dell store too.

I'm not sure what games you plan on playing but it won't be much with a 1k laptop. If you want to play games and play them at an acceptable level you are going to have to pony up at least another 200-300 and get the Compaq X1000. You don't need the 9600 for alot of recent games, the 9200 that is in the X1000 should suffice for all but the most demanding. The 9600 does not come in naything close to your price range, that I would recommend. I normally don't suggest a Compaq, but this one seems to be a little different. It's reliable, built decent and right now is the best bang for the buck out there.

 

[stranger707]

Last minute purchases are always a bad deal. Don't spend a lot of money, because you are going to have to live with this purchase for a while. If you had some time, there are plenty of deals on older IBM models at great prices. Good luck!

 

[vaporize]

buy/return if you dont like? keep it if you like. i am using the toshiba a15-s129 right now which i bought today at BB for 500 AR. it it running smoothly. you can probably get one this weekend for $650-750. picture