Recommedations on sub $1000 laptop

[grrl]

Anyone have any recommendations on laptops under $1000? I'm looking for a P4 machine with 15" screen and LAN card, although I can get that separately if I want. The pointing device doesn't matter because I'll be using an external mouse. From what I've seen the Dells and Compaq look best. The Toshibas seem a little more expensive than the others, although I've had good luck with my last one.

 

[sniperruff]

wait for a dell 600m on sale combined with coupons

or i you're in a hurry to get one, i think the latitude D500 at dell sb is a good buy. after a 15% off coupon it'll be in the $800's range. throw in a big stick of DDR in there and you're set

 

[grrl]

I have until the end of the year to buy one, so I plan to wait and see what deals come up with the holidays.

Also, for general use, would I be better off with 512 megs of RAM, or sticking with the basic 256?

 

[sniperruff]

obese wallet and anandtech's hotdeals forum is your best friend

if i have $1000 now i would go buy the compaq X1000 series with the centrino tho. wide screen and not to mention it's not even that heavy.

check out hpshopping.com and dell.com. sometimes IBM pushes out some crazy hot refurb deals too

 

[grrl]

Is the Centrino really worth it if I don't need wireless? How does it compare to a P4 in terms of power?

 

[dnuggett]

The Centrino designation will get you the M chip. The M's multiplier when comparing to a P4 is roughly 1.6, due to the 1MB of cache on die.

 

[grrl]

Originally posted by: dnuggett
The Centrino designation will get you the M chip. The M's multiplier when comparing to a P4 is roughly 1.6, due to the 1MB of cache on die.

That's an impressive difference. So, by the same measure, a Celeron should definitely be avoided.

 

[OverVolt]

I got a nice deal from these guys at a computer show (market pro) selling boxed Gateways customized, where people canceled their orders so they were a good deal

I got a
1.8Ghz P4-M
256Mb 266
ATI Mobility M-6 32Mb dedicated graphics
40Gb HD @ 5400Rpm
DVD-Rom, 802.11b wireless, XP Pro

I got this deal in the summer and if you ask me that is a sweet deal, for $800, P-M wasn't out yet

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: sniperruff
wait for a dell 600m on sale combined with coupons

or i you're in a hurry to get one, i think the latitude D500 at dell sb is a good buy. after a 15% off coupon it'll be in the $800's range. throw in a big stick of DDR in there and you're set

600m would be the best laptop in the $1000 range when it goes back on sale

good call

 

[grrl]

The 600M looks good, but right now it's like $1200. I'll keep my eye on it.

 

[tsnyder]

I would buy an X1000 series laptop. HP has a $100 mail in rebate available, and with the coupon code you can get another 10% off. I got this blurb from www.dealnews.com (I would recommend only getting 256MB of ram, and buy another stick for about $45 from Newegg, instead of paying $100xtra through HP):

HP Compaq X1000 Centrino Notebook $1091 Shipped free

One of the cheapest Centrino Notebooks. Now 1.4Ghz for the same price. (Thanks jb)
HP Shopping has Free shipping $250+ and a 10% off Coupon Code: PC9018

New Compaq X1000 Centrino Pentium M 1.4Ghz 256MB/40GB DVD, large 15.4" Wide XGA Screen (1280x800), 802.11b wireless, XP Home 6.5lb $1324 - 10% coupon - $100 rebate = $1091 shipped free. Free USB Floppy after $50 rebate (exp 12/31). DVD/CDRW combo drive +$50. Bluetooth +$19.

Click on Notebooks, Compaq Notebooks, Customizable pcs X1000, 32MB ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 - Enter coupon at checkout. $50 rebate on HP printers. Review

If coupon does work, try clearing your browsers cookies and doing it again. Not valid with academic discount.
$100 rebate Exp 12/1/03

 

[TheToOTaLL]

Another vote for keeping an eye on Hot Deals for a good Dell deal. Thats where I got my Inspiron 5100 for $850 after tax, coupons, & rebate.

 

[Ionizer86]

I vote for a Compaq/HP with a Barton processor. Those are often sub $800 and when under $1000, they're very loaded

 

[sniperruff]

grrl if you have a $1000 budget then yes the celeron should be avoided

overall this is my laptop CPU preference:

P-M> P4-M > P4 > AMD XP > celeron

however since my budget is as cheap as possible, i might be aiming for my friend's PII 400 =(

but if you see a celeron laptop under $600 or a P-M under $900, then it's a hot deal. $100 higher above those prices and they are still warm deals

the general rule is to buy as stripped-down as possible then upgrade. remember that CPU, video, and screen size are generally considered unpossible (heh ralph) to upgrade. HD would be a pain to upgrade too since it'll be hard to sell the old one. so the things that you can skim on are RAM, software and warranty.

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: Ionizer86
I vote for a Compaq/HP with a Barton processor. Those are often sub $800 and when under $1000, they're very loaded

those are bartons? i thought they are just mobile palomino's or TB's