looking for a good laptop on a limited budget

[franky]

Hello there,

I've been looking around for a decent notebook, mainly for school purposes, but i would like to do some movie-watching and game-playing on it as well. I was hoping you guys here could help me with this. I have about $1500 to spend and there are some things i really want it to have:

- A pentium M processor. I've heard & read some good things about its speed, but the most important thing about for me is the extended battery life. I'd like to be able to use it for 3+ hours without having to recharge the battery.
- A decent screen. I'd like to have some space on my desktop, so a screen with a higher resolution than 1024x768 is a must. Anything greater than (or equal to) 1280x1024 would be great.
- A DVD-player. I want to be able to watch some movies on it.
- A decent amount of RAM. 512 DDR should be enough :)
- A 5400 rpm harddisk. 30+ GB should do it.
- It should be new. It's one of the 'biggest' things I'll be buying in a long time, so i want it to be all shiny and new-smelling :p
- There doesn't have to be any software with it, I already have a winXP licence (thanks to my college) and I'll probably install linux on it after some time anway.

I don't know if it's even possible to get a laptop with all this stuff at about $1500, but I'm hoping you guys here might know of something.

Thanks in advance, any help is appreciated,

Franky

[fbs1992]

i have to recommend the compaq x1000 ive had it for about a month now, and it is a great laptop. i dont even feel the need to use my desktop anymore. i just use it for folding now

[barton boi]

The laptop in my sig was $1650 before tax. Take off the DVDRW, downgrade the HD, add 256MB RAM and you've got one kick *** laptop with ~4 hours battery life.

[humble-bargain-seeker]

A Gateway M505X (http://products.gateway.com/products/GConfig/proddetails.asp?system_id=m505x&seg=hm) would meet your requirements almost exactly for $1499. See reviews here (http://talknotebooks.com/showthread.php?t=10274).

[franky]

Thanks for your replies guys!

I've looked at all the laptops you've suggested and I'm going with the M505X. It's too bad about the 4200 rpm harddisk and I'd prefer a WSXGA+, but it'll do. Also all the extra's like the radeon 9600, the tv-out, the cd burner and the slick look are really cool :cool:

I'm afraid the compaq ready-to-ship notebooks either don't have all the stuff I'd like to have, or are too expensive. They can be customized, but it seems like the M505X is just a better deal. The same pretty much can be said of the inspiron 8600, although I'd wish i could get my hands on one of the customized ones, they just cost a little too much.

I think I'll be very happy with the M505X and I'd like to thank you all again for the replies :)

Greets,

Franky

[barton boi]

You should be able to configure a I8600 for <$1500 that would be better than the M505X. You might need to use a 15% off coupon, PM me if you wanna know how. Don't forget you only get a 64MB 9600 on the M505X vs 128MB 9600 pro on the I8600.

The only thing I find better on the M505X is the nice audio with the subwoofer, but the better VC and WSXGA+ screen mean more to me.

[yesman]

Saw a great deals for laptop @ www.dealsofamerica.com for HP from HP shopping.
This is intel P4, 512 MB, IEEE1394, USB2, 15" screen. Looks great good rating @ cnet...for $850 after discount and rebate