Unsatisfied with current laptop -- thinking of new one

[Saffire]

And need recommendations...

Currently I have an Acer laptop, while adequate, doesn't quite satisfy me. The keyboard isn't as responsive enough for me. I find myself constantly backspacing because letters keep getting left out. The colors on the screen seem washed out. I suppose I'm used to the brightness of an LCD now, but I can't do any graphics work on the laptop because the colors I use on the laptop wind up looking horrible on desktop LCDs and even other laptops. The 15.4" Widescreen is nice, but I feel that a bit smaller and lighter would benefit me more. Finally, the plastic build feels kinda cheap, and I have broke a tiny piece of it.

I want to "upgrade", or get one that'll satiate me better anyway.

I'm looking for a laptop with the following features...

- 3+ hrs battery life doing normal tasks -- word processing, web browsing, etc.. Obviously more is better.
- Decent video/screen performance -- I do game occasionally on my laptop, the colors have to be more "accurate" as well.
- Responsive keyboard -- I hate having to constantly backspace when coding or whatnot
- Solid build -- I can be rough with my laptops
- Light -- I'm weak, I'd like it to weigh no more then one of my textbooks (which are pretty heavy)
- Reasonably priced -- If I do "upgrade", I'd like to sell of my old one to help pay for this one. I don't want to spend more then $1500 total on this laptop, but if I have to, I will spend up to $2000 :\

Finally, some features that'd be nice but not needed

- Looks. I'm shallow, I like things to look cool.
- 512+ mb of RAM -- can upgrade this if need be.
- 5400/7200 RPM HDD -- can upgrade this if need be

If anyone could point me towards which brands/models to look out for, that'd be great

[Saffire]

The Sony S360 series seems to be pretty good. Anyone have experience with the keyboard responsiveness?

[kent1146]

I moved from an Asus M6BNE to a Sony S360, and I couldn't be happier.


The M6BNE had a 15.4" widescreen display, washed out colors, 7lbs, 2.5-3hrs battery life. Nice laptop, but I wanted something smaller, lighter, with a crisper and brighter screen while keeping all of the power. The Sony S360 was the answer.

See the link in my signature for a comparative review of Asus M6BNE vs Sony S360. It might have some good info for you.

[freedon]

What are the specs on the Acer?

[Saffire]

P-M 1.5
512mb ram
64mb 9700mob
DVD+R/W drive (2.4x)
60gb hdd
15.4" widescreen

Think thats all the important stuff, its a nice laptop, just not satisfying to me.

[freedon]

Originally posted by Saffire
P-M 1.5
512mb ram
64mb 9700mob
DVD+R/W drive (2.4x)
60gb hdd
15.4" widescreen

That ain't no low end laptop. You my friend need a true desktop replacement if this laptop doesn't satisfy your needs

[Saffire]

Well its not so much the speed of the laptop as just a general feeling to it. Same reason some people will love a certain car, others will hate it I guess.

I went and checked out the Sony at Best Buy, and I really liked the screen. Keyboard feels nice, but I wasn't able to type anything up to see if it was as responsive as I'd like it.

Kent how responsive is they keyboard?

[bahocale]

Alienware.

[kent1146]

I think the keyboard on the Sony is excellent (see my signature for a link to an Asus M6BNE vs Sony S360 review). The Best Buy floor model probably got beaten up to all hell because it's a floor model.

[kpxgq]

sony s270/s360

- centrino (the best performance and battery life you can get)
- everything wireless builtin
- DVD-RW drive
- up tp 1gb ram and 100gb HDD
- 13" WIDESCREEN 16:9 x-brite (best laptop screen i have ever seen)
- radeon 9700m
- sexy looks
- ultra light and small at 4.5lbs


IMHO the perfect portable laptop... the only problem is that sony quality is a bit of a hit or miss... however "quality" laptops like ibms have boring intel xtreme graphics and 4:3 low res screen... its a compromise

[Saffire]

Yea, thats what I currently have my eye set on. Can't do with the crappy Intel Extreme Graphics :\ And I definately agree with it having the best screen I've seen.