NOW OR LATER?

[bandrews82]

So I'm a college senior about to graduate and looking to buy a notebook before heading to Grad School. Unfortunately I haven't been keepin as up to date in the notebook area as i have with desktops and such. Would anyone recommend waiting till end of the summer to buy? I'm heading to grad school for physics so need something that travels but still has punch.

 

[bandrews82]

Quick addition..weight isn't a huge concern...the main traveling it'll be doin is between school and whenever i come home, and any research conferances where i need powerpoint. Otherwise main use will most likely be data analysis stuff, some IDL programming, and gaming when I need to keep my sanity. Price is going to be the main concern, 3k would be the MAX i'd like to spend. Right now I'm lookin at IBM, ABS, and Alienware. Thoughts and suggestions on other places, and whether NOW or say 3-4 months from now would be appreciated

 

[mrbdm99]

If you have 3K to spend (even max), you can get a killer notebook. Check out the notebooks at www.hypersonic-pc.com or look at some Sagers. You can get a killer Dell 9100 for that price too, not sure how great it is, but I've been looking at it lately and it looks to be pretty good.

 

[bandrews82]

Like I said..3 k MAX...lol..i'd love to try to stay around say 2k

 

[mrbdm99]

2k is still a heck of a notebook, check out the Dell 9100. for like 1600 you can have a heck of a notebook. 128 meg 9700, dvd+r, 60 gig 7200 rpm drive, etc. you can get the hypersonics down to around 2300 for an awesome notebook too.

 

[Dark54555]

wait for Dothan. Should be out by the end of May.

IBM T42 gets my vote.

 

[Eltano1]

I'm looking too for a laptop, and so far I like the Toshiba P25 for around $1600.

Eltano

 

[cliffa3]

i'm buying one for grad school soon too...wait until mid may...ibm t42 if i had the money...i'll wait till it comes out and snag a t41

 

[trungthiendo]

damn i wish i had that kind of money to spend on a laptop...

if you want battery life, dothan or a current centrino package...

gaming something with 9600 or better

and the rest is really up to you...

 

[bandrews82]

Yeah, most of my income from my summer internship is gonna be goin towards it, plus graduation cash. Besides IBM though, does anyone have any comments on either Alienware or ABS...particulary ABS. I've heard good things about their desktops yet goin to google and lookin for comments about their mayhem G1 notebook...i wasn't really too keen on them anymore.

Battery life isn't my PRIMARY concern, it'll for the most part be stayin put, except for times when I need to go to conferances to present stuff. Lookin at Alienware though and ABS, keep wonderin how bad heat build up is in those beasts and if that has any affect on their lifetime.

 

[Conroy9]

The new tech coming out this year should be the dothan processor (mid may) and alviso chipset (2nd half?), so those are the two times you would want to wait for. I don't know if Alviso will be out by the end of the summer...

The other question, since battery life and weight aren't a concern, is whether you want to get a dothan or a p4.

 

[Glorfindael]

I'd check out www.ibuypower.com I just got a notebook from there, and it ROCKS. Its just over an inch thick, nice looking, great display and POWERFUL. Its got a radeon 9600 which all from there come with i believe. Battery life is amazing (its a centrino) which i would recommend even if its not that important because the processors still perform great. Seth

 

[buildingacomputer]

I would say later than now. Technology will improve faster than inflation. Say gas price goes up, pushing up laptop price. But new technology will push down cost. And I bet the latter has always been the price-determining factor in the computer industry. But that's my theory and I am not an economy major.