Thinking of getting a laptop

[JCasper]

I really want to get a laptop so I can sit downstairs with my wife and still browse on the internet.



I don't want to spend a lot, but want something dependable and not tooooo sllllloooooowwwwww.



If you know where to get a good inexpensive laptop please let me know.

 

[TORQUE THIS]

Try here...

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/Category/category_tlc. asp?CatId=17

 

[biggieou]

I got mine this past summer from Best Buy. I purchased an HP and absolutely love it. I got the middle of the road priced one and enjoy it. They have inexpensive to super expensive ones, it just depends on what you want and how much you want to spend.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

I've been buying compaq's for years. Recently I was looking for another laptop to use for on the road use and when I didn't want to be tied to power. My main machine is a 17" wide screen Compaq laptop that's a great machine but it is HEAVY (almost 11 lbs) and sucks down the battery in about an hour and 15 minutes. A friend of mine was staying with me and he had an IBM thinkpad that went almost 5 hours on battery power and was a very impressive machine when I used it. I had been looking at the Dell X1, a Sony, and a Toshiba. I ended up buying an IBM X41 - a 12" display ultra-portable that weighs less than 3 lbs and with an extended battery clipped on it goes over 6 hours on battery. I'm really impressed with the machine - it's very well built with metal hinges on the screen, a very good keyboard. It even has a light on the screen that can light up the keyboard for when you are working in a low light area. I got mine off eBay for $900 as a used machine that had been in service since June and has a warranty until June 09 - when I received it, it was like a brand new machine that had never been used. If you look on eBay you'll find many IBM thinkpads for very reasonable prices. If your not looking for something very small to take on the road you'd want to look at the T series - T42, T43, etc. There are a lot of refurb's sold on there that are brand new machines that were just returned from a business that went belly up and can't be sold as new any more for very good prices.



Here's one brand new in the box for $1049 with a 3 year warranty and 1gb of RAM for example - http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-ThinkPad-T4...categoryZ140083QQtcZphotoQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem



Here's a seller on there that has many of them and a very good rating - http://stores.ebay.com/ThinkPad-Factory-Store



I'd suggest you stick with Win XP Pro and at least 1GB of RAM.

 

[JCasper]

Finally going to order one

I have been so busy with other things around the house and at work this got put on the back burner. I will probably order this week.



This is what I have built and think I am going to get. I may upgrade to a 7200 RPM hard drive and one step up on the processor, Maybe.







Date & Time: April 15,2007 2:23 PM CST



SYSTEM COMPONENTS

Inspiron 6400 Dual Core Qty 1

Intel® Pentium® dual-core T2060(1MB Cache/1. 6GHz/533MHz FSB), Genuine Windows® XP Home Unit Price $1,117. 00

$339 OFF select Inspiron 6400 systems through the Small Business!

Special offer! View Details

- $339. 00



Catalog Number: 4 BNDWEXK

Module Description Show Details

Inspiron 6400 Intel® Pentium® dual-core T2060(1MB Cache/1. 6GHz/533MHz FSB)

Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Home

LCD Panel 15. 4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife™(glossy)

Memory 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHZ, 2 DIMM

Video Card 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7300 TurboCache*

Hard Drive 80GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive

Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem

Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 7. 0

Optical Drive 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability

Sound Options Integrated Audio

Wireless Networking Cards Dell Wireless 1390 802. 11b/g Mini Card (54Mbps)

Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) No Productivity software pre-installed

Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription

Primary Battery 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

Warranty & Service 1 Yr Ltd Warranty, 1 Yr Mail-in Service, and 1 Yr Tech Support

DIAL-UP INTERNET ACCESS No ISP Requested

Digital Imaging Corel Snapfire Basic - Organize and Edit your photos

Miscellaneous 6400 dual

Media Direct Media Direct 3. 0

Purchase Intent Purchase is not intended for resale.

Processor Branding Intel Pentium Dual Core Label

Labels Windows XP™



TOTAL:$778. 00



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------











Total Price

Sub-total $778. 00

 

[MMeier]

Who did you order through? Any pics?

 

[JCasper]

Who did you order through? Any pics?

I haven't ordered yet, but that is what I am going to order.



That is through Dell.

 

[mberry]

You will not be very impressed if you don't upgrade to the 7200RPM hard drive. If it were me I would also upgrade the CPU a little bit also, but I work on these things all day.

 

[JPereira]

Most users will not even be able to tell the difference between 5400 and 7200 rpm drives. I have always had a preference for the 5400 drives as they seem to last much longer. Just like our little turbos the 7200rpm drives create alot more heat and this heat takes away from them lasting as long as the cooler running 5400rpm drives. The 2 gig of ram will be the systems best friend and as long as you keeep the startup of programs/apps clean/mean you should be very happy with this laptop. I still prefer Thinkpads but everyone has the right to make their own decisions. This is my opinion from managing a small companies PC/laptops for many years.



Jeff

 

[JCasper]

I ordered it with the 5400rpm 120 GB harddrive. Hopefully it works well.



It is a big step up from what I currently have.



BTW: It is used for mostly internet browsing and a little bit of picture and video editing, but very little video.

 

[RandyHamilton]

I must agree with a preference for IBM thinkpads. I have a personal laptop (Dell Inspiron 8100) that I bought 6 years ago and is still working fine but my company laptop is a Thinkpad and if I had it to do all over again I woulda bought an IBM TP.

 

[RGardner]

Aren't the new thinkpads Levanos made in China?

 

[MKinner]

check out www.newegg.com as they have some good deals from time to time.