Looking for a laptop

[airbornflght]

Ok. I've been looking at acer laptops pretty heavily. I'm using a friends right now and I'm really liking it. But I am having difficulty deciding on a laptop. I thought I'd ask your opinion on the matter and what you'd recommend.

Here is what I'm looking for:


14.1"wxga or 15.4"wsxga monitor. I like the idea of a high res monitor, but I worry 15.4 might be too big. The one I'm using right now is 14.1 and it seems perfectly fine. But I don't know...
Core 2 Duo 7x00 series processor. Would someone mind explaining the difference between the 2xxx, 5xxx, and 7xxx processors? I'm pretty dead set on ~2Ghz dual core.
2gb ram. I will not go lower
Dedicated video card. I don't really care if it's nvidia or ati. I don't game a whole lot, maybe once or twice a month. Just to kill time. Anyone have a reason I should pick one over the other?
I'd like a 7200 rpm hard drive if possible. Definitely no slower the 5400.
Integrated Webcam, a must.
Fingerprint reader. I like the idea of it. If I read this correctly it will allow me to use my biometrics (fingerprint) to log in to windows? Or is it only pre-boot authentication? The pre boot is pretty slick, but I know I would just close the lid and send it to sleep most of the time.
Battery life and mobilty. I'd like it to have a decent battery life and not weigh a metric ton. Which is why I am more or less leaning towards a 14.1" screen.
Wireless. I'd like it to have the new intel a/g/n or equivelant.
HDMI out would be a plus, but not a dealbreaker.




For now those are my main curriculum. Did I leave anything out? The acer travel mates seem like pretty slick laptops. But I am more than open to suggestions.

The ones I have been looking at are:
Acer Tavelmate 6592
Acer Tavelmate 6410
Acer Tavelmate 6492

I am still trying to figure out acer's numbering scheme. I think the second number is related to the size of the screen. And maybe the first number is how feature packed it is. But I honestly don't know.

[NiGHTS]

What are you using it for?

notebookforums.com
notebookreview.com

I used those resources heavily to gauge what I couldn't directly see on a spec sheet. Obviously, they weren't an end-all-say-all, I know people are idiots.

[Sledgehammer70]

what is your budget? I only ask because Acer's website blows and keeps giving me broken pages to find out pricing...

[Qeldroma]

^^^ What he said. ^^^

Spec it and choose your OS or none ...

http://powernotebooks.com/

[Nomad]

I own a 17" Sager and I highly recommend them. I've owned it for a year and a half with no technical problems. Very affordable and customizable. My only complaints are that I would have preferred a 15" screen in hindsight because the 17" is a little large, the second would be that I like glossy screens vs. matte screens. Those things I've only realized after using it for so long.

[Sledgehammer70]

TBH I love my ASUS :) has the best warranty on the market at an extra cost of nothing :)

[NiGHTS]

AFAIK HP has the same 1 year standard limited warranty that ASUS appears to have...

[airbornflght]

From what I've heard sager notebooks aren't exactly portable. I am pretty sure I'm gonna stay around a 14" screen. No bigger than 15.4" Widescreen is a must. I'm looking to spend around $1500 or so, give or take. I'm flexible depending on what I'm getting.

[airbornflght]

I think this is what I'm going to get. The ASUS V1S
http://powernotebooks.com/category.php?catId=78#id2002

It has everything I want except for a DVI port, but if I remember correctly can't you go from HDMI to DVI without any problems.

[edcentric]

That web site blows.
I like 15.4" Can you get it without the stupid coating on the screen? I don't like the glare and shine.
How much are they charging for 2GB memory? On my machine it was cheaper to buy the standard 2x512 and toss them out any buy 2x1GB from newegg.
The 7200 HDD will draw more power, but they sure do feel fast. I would go that way.
Nice looking box.
I am looking at a new Toshiba A205.

[Sledgehammer70]

AFAIK HP has the same 1 year standard limited warranty that ASUS appears to have...

Actually ASUS offers 2 year warranty with 1 day shipping both ways... not 1 year.

2-Year Parts and Labor + 30 Day ZBD (Zero Bright Dot) + 3rd Year US Warranty w/Next Business Day shipping paid both ways - PLUS Accidental Damage Protection - 24/7 ASUS Telephone Technical Support - Standard!

I think this is what I'm going to get. The ASUS V1S
http://powernotebooks.com/category.php?catId=78#id2002

It has everything I want except for a DVI port, but if I remember correctly can't you go from HDMI to DVI without any problems.

pretty much the same as my laptop just the newer model witht he same specs :) your's has the HDMI mine has the DVI

If you would rather have the DVI you can snag the Asus F3SV-B1 for less cash and get the same specs :)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220162&Tpk=Asus%2bF3SV-B1

My review (http://icrontic.com/articles/asus_f3svb1_laptop_review)

[NiGHTS]

On the flipside, I much prefer the coating on my laptop's screen - as do most of my friends that use it. Colors are more vibrant and there really is no comparison between it and the matte as far as overall use is concerned. I'm extremely satisfied with it.

I've never noticed any glare that made the screen unusable, I don't use it in direct sunlight. Even if I did, I'd be no better off with the matte finish, either.

Edit: Link please, Sledge. I was unable to find anything other than 1 year.

[Sledgehammer70]

Edit: Link please, Sledge. I was unable to find anything other than 1 year.

shouldn't need a link, every company I have seen that is legit selling them has this posted...

Manufacturer Warranty
Accidental Damage Warranty 1 year ASUS Accidental Damage Warranty - Drops, Fire, Spill, Surge for purchase after 9/10/07
Parts 2 years limited
Labor 2 years limited

[Your Amish Daddy]

This (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220195) is the one I'm looking at. I don't really plan to game TOO much on a laptop since that's not what they're designed for, even if they have the parts. Can't help that, common sense is the first thing I got when I was built, and I got a huge portion of it.

Disk speed's a little low, but it's perfect for just watching crap on, or using to diagnose wireless problems, or stuff I do for fun. Battery life is gonna be a problem, but I plan on getting atleast two 9 cells for it.

[airbornflght]

I'm ordering from newegg.

I'm getting the laptop and a trendnet Draft-N AP.

This may turn into a nice little experiment. I'm going to attempt to set up a radius server, and if everything works out I'll beef it up as my house is wanting to go wireless within the next year.

[=MBG= De Sniper]

You should look at the laptops at Ibuypower.com

[leishi85]

I'm ordering from newegg.

I'm getting the laptop and a trendnet Draft-N AP.

This may turn into a nice little experiment. I'm going to attempt to set up a radius server, and if everything works out I'll beef it up as my house is wanting to go wireless within the next year.

not sure about the trendnet AP, but i have used their wireless card, they were not good.

[Thrax]

Trendnet is not very good in general.

[airbornflght]

hmmm. I guess I'll rethink the AP then. Have any suggestions for a similarly price AP with Wireless N Support? The main thing I was looking for was the three antennae leads as I've read that there is no MIMO without them. My grand-dad is using a trendnet router for his Over the air broadband internet account. It seems to work fairly decently and hasn't given him any problems yet. What reasons are they not very good? Poor grade of components, or? There customer service is pretty good because the first one he had died on him and he gave them a call and they sent him a new one out in the mail the next day.

[NiGHTS]

shouldn't need a link, every company I have seen that is legit selling them has this posted...

Thank you, I see it now. It looks like some of them even have 3 year warranties. :eek: Powernotebooks.com's showing a few ASUS models with 2 year global, 3 year US warranties and outright 3 year warranties.

[joytime360]

Have you made your decision, here I got to kwow a good suggestion for you the ASUS 17.1 inch Wide UXGA 2GB DDR2 667 160GB laptop , it is good, you can consider it .

[airbornflght]

There is no way I will buy a 17 inch laptop.

[wthww]

I bought an Hp dv4000 a couple years ago, and I hated having a 15.4 inch screen... The thing was plain old unwieldy. And I dunno if this was an hp thing, But with that screen and a Celeron M 420 1.6ghz, it only got 1:45 battery life. I tend to stick with smaller screens on laptops. Less power, and more portability.


Just my $0.02

[airbornflght]

Well. I have it narrowed down

The ASUS V1s, an Apple Blackbook, or Apple Macbook Pro. I seriously considered the blackbook, because of its small size, but I don't like the fact that it has integrated graphics. I've also heard problems about the casing fading.

The macbook pro is only an aditional $150 or so than the asus.

[kryyst]

I can only speak from personal experience. But through various jobs I've probably had to deal with 10 asus laptops. They have been the worst laptops I've ever seen. All had something wrong with them and none of them were older then 2 years. Now to be fair these were salesmen laptops and saw a lot of travel. However Lenovo's that we've got in the same environment just keep going and going.

[Thelemech]

How about Toshiba? I have two different generations of the Satellite with the only problem being that one had a adapter jack fix, have run flawlessly; one the 100cs has been running without any repairs needed for 5 + years.

[Thrax]

Lenovo. For the love of God, Lenovo is amazing.

[kryyst]

I've dealth with 8 toshiba's. They have been ok. I'd never recomend them to anyone as they seemed cheap compared to lenovo's. But every laptop feels cheap compared to lenovo's. I however look to a laptop as a computer that will be slugged around and potentially neglected. I don't look at a laptop from the point of view that it's generally stationary and occasionally gets moved.

But some things I've noticed on cheaper laptops. Poor - real poor design where the screen has the bear minimal clearance of the keys so when it's closed it doesn't touch, unless of course you apply a little to much pressure on it, like say have it in a bag and it gets bumped or has something set ontop of it. Then the screen touches the keys and gets dinged.

Laptop hinges that loosen after repeated use. I've got several lenovo's that are a few years old and get lots of use and they are just as tight today as they were brand new. I haven't come across any other laptops that can claim that.

On the subject of hinges the lenovo ones are steel and about 1/2 wide and thick. I've seen Dell's that look like they are made out of tin, with some plastic to support them. Screw that.

Internals Lenovo the T series, steel inner frame and they say that the keyboard is liquid resistant and isolates the insides from spillages. I can attest to the fact that I've had (not mine) a user bring in a laptop that had a glass of OJ spilled on it and it kept working. I did replace the keyboard though becuase of stickiness.

I'd personally never recomend anything to anyone other then a lenovo. Call me a fanboy if you want but I base it on quality over bling and lenovo wins.