Tough laptop decision

Well the school is paying me to do some work, so I now have $1600 to play with. I could really use a laptop. I went around stores today seeing what all was offered, but really wasnt blown away by anything.

current pc: amd 64 3200+, 1gig ram, 9800 pro. great 2 years ago, starting to show its age now.

My thought is that I can spend around $800 on a laptop, and be close to building a decent desktop withe the rest of the money. Or I can use all $1600 on the laptop and probablly stop using a desktop all together.

I really dont play games anymore, the most taxing thing I use it for is hanlding RAW photos, which can slow my current system to a crawl at times. I really just need something I can take to class and take notes, surf the web, and edit my photos on.

so my questions are...

Is this the time to buy? I am not in a real hurry (though I would like to buy by the end of feb.)

any brands to look for/stay away from?


any ideas on the matter would be great. :D

Considering the Yohan core mobile Intel processors(Core Solo/Core Duo) just came out, I would wait till you can see the options you'll have with those. There are some available now, but not a lot.

Pretty much all the laptops stocked by your Best Buy/Circuit City type places suck.

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Originally Posted by mynameis

Pretty much all the laptops stocked by your Best Buy/Circuit City type places suck.

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this is kinda what I thought after seeing the selection. I hate the thought of buying a computer, after so many years now of building my own. I guess the best places are online. Is it better to buy direct or from retailers like newegg?

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Originally Posted by pwain

this is kinda what I thought after seeing the selection. I hate the thought of buying a computer, after so many years now of building my own. I guess the best places are online. Is it better to buy direct or from retailers like newegg?

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Depends on what you want, I would usually say go with buy direct because of the customization options.

The biggest problem with the laptops you'll find locally is that most of them use integrated graphics.

I would wait until Asus releases a 945 barebone, and then build your notebook around that.

Right now on the high end I am considering the Mac Book Pro (I can get it through school for $1700). On the low end I am considering anything for $800, then using the rest to build a decent desktop or save.

Something thin and under 7 pounds would be a plus.

I would not suggest the MacBook at this point. Most of the software has not been ported to x86 yet, or very poorly.

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Originally Posted by PCJ

I would not suggest the MacBook at this point. Most of the software has not been ported to x86 yet, or very poorly.

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yeah, if thats the way I went I would hold out till march when they plan to have it all native, and probablly a second revision shipping.

yup.. wait for a good yonah based system


i would get the Sony SZ if i had the money

any reason not to buy a gateway? They seem to have pretty decent prices on the yonah platforms. $1600 gets a 1.83, a gig of ram, X1400, 80gig hd. Ships first week of Feb.

nope, no reason at all... i would run a search at www.notebookforums.com and www.notebookreview.com (as well as their forums)... to see in you can find any 1st hand opinions of that particular model




actually on second thought... i would wait for Napa.. but thats just me :o

SZ seems awsome. All of the awsomeness of the S series, but they actually have decent battery life this time around. Now, if they could only raise the resolution beyond 1280x800...

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Originally Posted by PCJ

SZ seems awsome. All of the awsomeness of the S series, but they actually have decent battery life this time around. Now, if they could only raise the resolution beyond 1280x800...

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not gonna happen for a 13"

my dream is WSXGA on a 14"... seems like a good compromise

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Originally Posted by kpxgq

my dream is WSXGA on a 14"... seems like a good compromise

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I just want to see a 14in widescreen notebook with a GPU that is decent with at least 64MB dedicated VRAM.

Well I dont think I can pass up the gateway setup
Intel Core™ Duo Processor T2400 1.83 GHz
ATI Mobility™ Radeon X1400 SE
15.4" WSXGA+ TFT Active Matrix (1400 x 1050 max. resolution)
60GB 5400rpm Serial AT hard drive
512 533mhz ram (I will upgrade this on my own later)

Shipped for 1,538

only questions now.

Should I spend the extra $160 and go for the dual 2.0ghz
It has a 6 cell battery standard, any idea if (or how I could find out) I would see much of a difference with a 8 or 12 cell?

Thanks guys :)

I would not upgrade the CPU... 1.83 on a Yonah is enough.

I would, however, upgrade the batteries. 6cell usually isnt enough. Read some online reviews and see how the battery is.

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Originally Posted by mynameis

I just want to see a 14in widescreen notebook with a GPU that is decent with at least 64MB dedicated VRAM.

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they have those.... the sony s series has a 13.3" widescreen and radeon 9700/geforce5400

asus w3v/w3n has 14" widescreen and either radeon 9700 or x600

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Originally Posted by kpxgq

asus w3v/w3n has 14" widescreen and either radeon 9700 or x600

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Thats pretty sweet, I have never seen the W3V before. Do you know where I can find a bare system cheap?

www.rjtech.com and www.proportable.com are the usal places for asus laptops.... check the asus subforum at www.notebookforums.com for more info