Laptop Help

sectorz715sectorz715
edited May 2005 in Hardware
I am looking for a laptop which is not more then $1,100 without tax. Any suggestions :scratch: ? Also I am thinking about getting one from Sony, Dell, Fujitsu, Toshiba, HP, and maybe Acer. If you think one is better then the other then please suggest it. It needs it to have: At least 512 MB of RAM, 40 or 60GB hard drive, Integrated Wireless card around 802.11 g, I want it to be Mobile Pentium 4 with HT technology, 2.80GHz or higher (I would love it if you can persuade me to get a Intel Centrino Mobile Technology, I want Pentium 4 because most people i have talked to said that it would last longer and wont be outdated as fast as Centrino and i want the laptop to last me through 5 years,) a descent Video Card, and a DVD/CDRW. I have found a Dell Inspiron 5160 with what I said above for $1,017 at their website and I have also found a Toshiba Satellite Notebook with what I said above, a 15.4 XGA TRUEBRITE Widescreen, and Prosser Speed of 3.06GHz at Office Depot for $999.99. I am thinking about getting the Toshiba but don’t know their and Office Depot's costumer satisfaction (the deal will end at Christmas.) The Inspiron used to be $1,217 and the Toshiba used to be $1,399.99. I am thinking about buying one till the following Saturday. Any suggestions are welcome and greatly appreciated. Thanks :thumbsup:

Comments

  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited December 2004
    If you can find a Pentium M (what you are calling Centrino, but that's the combination of the P-M proc and Intel's wireless ethernet mini-pci card) for the same price as those mobile P4's, then go for it. Much less heat and much snappier response from the Pentium M than a mobile P4. I know because I have a P-M laptop and we also use mobile P4 Dell Lattitude laptops at work. The Dell's seem slow reacting even compared to my old P3 Dell laptop I used to have before my present one. I don't know who filled your head with this nonsense about the P-M laptops getting obsolete before a P4 lappy would, but they have it backwards. Intel is trying to move all their laptop stuff to Pentium M based architecture and phase out the netburst architecture in their mobile stuff over the next year or so. This is due mainly to the high IPC of the P-M and low power consumption compared to P4.
  • EMTEMT Seattle, WA Icrontian
    edited December 2004
    I have 2 suggestions as someone who bought a laptop about half a year ago:

    1) Don't under any circumstances get a P4. Not only is it a desktop chip from start to finish, it also performs surprisingly poorly against Pentium M chips (found in Centrino notebooks). You name a factor (price, performance, heat output, power consumption) and chances are a Pentium M is more worth your while in that department.

    2) Check out www.powernotebooks.com for some less well-known brand names on great laptops with great service.
  • gibbonslgibbonsl Grand Forks AFB
    edited December 2004
    or www.PCTorque.com
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited December 2004
    1. You won't get anything with even remotely passable graphics for <$1300
    2. ANYONE that told you the P4m is better than the Pentium M/Centrino is a complete idiot. A 2.0GHz Pentium M is faster than a 3.4GHz P4.
    3. Toshiba laptops suck, if for no other reasons than their severe and consistent lack of graphics horsepower and hardware monitoring support. HP laptops suck (at least the older ones did) as well... a friend's HP K6-II 500 laptop was possibly the most poorly built computer I've ever encountered. Sony's laptops aren't built much better than HPs... I can't say that I've ever used a Fujitsu, but I've never been terribly impressed with their specs.

    Either get a Dell or go to www.powernotebooks.com or www.pctorque.com , both of which sell cheaper, faster laptops than you'll find elsewhere.

    Oh and finally, no laptop you buy now is going to last you 5 years from a performance standpoint, unless you're like my dad and you're quite happy running a PII-400 with win2k on it (although his laptop is a PIII-600 with 98)... You'll get 2 years out of a really, really high end laptop (like $3-4k+) in terms of usable performance if you're playing games, at least that's about how long my laptops have lasted... For $1100? Pfft... I'd say you'll be lucky if you can run most of the games that are out today. :-/
  • sectorz715sectorz715
    edited May 2005
    I got a Fujistsu C2310
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited May 2005
    i bought a Fujitsu motherboard one time... 100% of the reason why I will never buy anything from them ever again.
  • KingFishKingFish
    edited May 2005
    If you want the most bang for the buck I'd say Toshiba or HP. Dell laptops (the decently performing models) are priced higher in general than other makes. Their lower priced models are dogs in performance. HP has really come on strong lately in value. Sony usually packs a lot of multimedia software and other contraptions which drives up their price compared to other brands. Don't know about fujitsu very much but I'd be skeptical. The two laptops I've owned have been toshibas. Aside from a hard drive failure in each, they have been stellar. The only quirk is that toshiba tends to lock their bioses tighter than other brands and require you to use a windows based interface to only a few settings. The cooling setup on the toshiba I currently own is pretty damned good too. It has been folding for a year and a half now with no problems at all. Sams club has been selling averatec laptops for a pretty good price but I don't know much about their reputation or reliability.
  • sfleurietsfleuriet Texas New
    edited May 2005
    yeah i've wondered about those avertec ones i've been seeing eveywhere too...
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