I Need Your Help Picking a Laptop

[wab8611]

well since i am commuting to university, at least for first year, i decided that i am going to get a laptop.

i originally wanted to get a dell, but it seems that i cant find anything the fits most of my needs. the reason im keen on getting a dell is due to my mom\'s \"connections\" :D .. but i dont want to settle for something im going to need for 3-4 years. these are the models i have to work with at dell.. http://catalog.dell.com/advisor/compare.aspx?c=ca&cs=CABSDT1&l=en&adv=BSD-NOTEBOOKS&s=bsd

i came across a computer company called eurocom - has anyone heard of it? - and it seems to have everything i want.. mainly these models;
http://web.eurocom.com/EC/ec_model_config1(1,136,0)
http://web.eurocom.com/EC/ec_model_config1(1,128,0)
http://www.eurocom.ca/ if links ^ dont work then its at that website.. M120 Voyage , M360c Milano
..also my moms \"connections\" are telling me its better to choose a latitude rather then a inspiron.

i just wanted to know if anyone has ever heard of this brand and if its good?

and any of your opinions would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

wab8611

[fat mike]

http://www.dpmac.com/gmann/columns/013/17powerbook.jpg

:D

[wab8611]

thats a mac tho right... i rather have something with microsoft...

also im on a 2500$ with tax budget

[billyfo]

actually, Dell is not bad, I have a Dell for about 6 yrs, just battery gone dead awhile ago.

if you want something light and cheap, Fujisu(sp??); Acer are quite good, the only problem that you can\'t pickup one at FS, BB or Staple.

[wab8611]

What dell did u have?
i need something lightweight and mobile.

[billyfo]

Inspiration 7500, heavy but very useful. It could be a desktop replacement at that time.:p

it\'s really depends what spec you need, if you need light weight mostly 14\" and below screen are under 5lbs but not quite powerful; 15\" are somewhat matching desktop, but usually around 7lbs.

if you don\'t need big shop to backup your investment, go to Pmall or other computer shops, they\'re selling more Japanese and Taiwanese brands laptop.

[TheProfessor]

I have an MDG laptop and it has been awesome since day one. Super thin, very light, wireless fully built in (not bad for a 2.5 year old laptop), and most of the components are either Toshiba or Sony!

[alezone]

Originally posted by fat mike http://www.dpmac.com/gmann/columns/013/17powerbook.jpg :D

I 2nd that.

(I\'m using a 15\" G4 Titanium)

[S.F.W.]

IBM all the way! Look at the thinkpad T series. If you want a specific suggetion, 2686Dhu(add the 3 year warranty though) or 2378REU.

[awhoy]

I agree with S.F.W, IBM all the way. I have a T41 from work, it is slim and built like a tank. With the oversize battery, I can get almost 4 hours of usage. Unlike the Dell latitude I had with my previous job, the battery can barely last an hours after 3 months.

[Zaku_4]

wiht a 2500 budget u can get wha ti got

went to future shop and got one of their toshiba m40-jm8\'s. exactly the same as the sf8 minus the geforcego fx6600. very nice laptop. and it only costs 2400 and it comes with a free samsung laser printer lol. included wiht that 2400 price is a 3 year futureshop warrenty.

usually i wouldnt recommened people to get a futureshop warrenty, but for such large purchase items, i strongly suggest it. anyways this is what it features:

15.4\ trubrite lcd
dvd multidrive (dvd burner that supports multiple formats)
wireless lan (b/g)
1.8 ghz centrino processor
512 mb pc2700 ddr ram
100 gb 4200rpm hd (i know a little slow, but extremely quite)
5 in 1 multicard reader (smart media, memory stick, sd, xd)
harmon kardon speakers with some kind of 16bitt audio decoding ro soemthing?
128 mb intel extreme graphics (sharedmemory)

and thats all i remmeber off the top of my head

[majic]

1) this belongs in the lounge
2) he wants ultraportable (mostlikely) - he won\'t get more than 2 hrs out of an UP lappy unless it\'s in UBER power save mode - eg. can\'t do anything :p
3) i have fujitsu s2020 (1.7Ghz athlonXP, 512MB ram, 40Gb Hd, 54mbit wifi.. etc) i liked the laptop for university use.. now it\'s kinda collecting dust. trust me, when you\'re gonna be lugging it around every ounce counts. mine was 3.85lbs!!! and i found it heavy at times (long days and all)

with an UP you\'ll notice the first thing you do when you enter a room is - look for a wall plug :D heh.. it\'s true.. at full screen brightness and \"MAX POWER\" setting you\'ll be lucky to get 1 hr out of it - i\'m not saying this is with ALL UP laptops. pentium Ms will give you say 3 hrs but i\'ve never used one and i wasn\'t pleased with what intel had to offer when i was buying my laptop. at the time it was one of the few lappy\'s that had onboard broadcom chip @ 54mbps wifi. big improvement over 11mbps.

anyway.. would i buy again? probably not. why? it heats up quickly and then the fan comes on and it\'s annoyingly loud. but it\'s damn light and i don\'t have regrets about buying one. do i still use it? occasionally when i get lazy and watch tv and want to surf, or all comps are occupied)

it\'s tough finding the right laptop IMO, b/c you\'ll only know after you test drive one. and not too many places will sell u one and take it back - costco? :) but be objective and look at all the aspects. list your specs; look at what you can sacrifice (weight vs battery life, power vs portability) and see what fits the bill - then see what ppl are saying.

EDIT: i think a separate video card (dedicated) would suit the laptop better (less heat dissipation and better response but that would add to cost and weight.. YMMV! I still prefer desktops for day-to-day usage and if you\'ll live on res i would suggest one. if you\'re a commuting student get a laptop. otherwise you\'re wasting your $ IMO (if it\'ll sit on your desk)

[whodilly]

I want one of these...
http://www.fujitsu.ca/img/products/notebooks/p7k_series/main_122004.jpg
LifeBook P7010D

Too bad it\'ll cost ~$3K... but it\'s tiny.

[Fuman]

go to the \'notebook depot\' at pacific.
with 2500, u can get the new ferrari laptop from acer.

[wtom]

Moving from Mazda3 General Discussion to General Lounge

[wab8611]

:p

[wtom]

well at least you mentioned MOM (meeting of mazdas)? :D

[Optimzer]

there\'s an IBM R-series laptop that some of my collegues have that doesn\'t have any drives (except HD..) - literally fits in a small binder...unbelievable. i\'ve heard many good things about it. I have a Compaq presario 2100 - wouldn\'t recommend you buy it - not all that commuter friendly.

when looking for a portable laptop...don\'t just pick it up to see if it is heavy - that\'s misleading cause you\'re going to be carrying it around all day. I\'d say look at the specs and get the lightest you can. With things like memory, performance, etc.. they can be sacrificed a bit b/c presumably your dominant use for the laptop will be word processing, web browsing, etc..and not graphics & sound editing, etc..

good luck!

[S.F.W.]

good points optimizer. BTw, that IBM laptop, I believe is an X series(12\" screen ?\", which is the ultralight.


On another note, The IBM T series with a 14\" Screen, optical drive, and 6 cell batteryl, come in just under 5lbs. To me that is the perfect balance of portabilty and power.

[SoopaBanana]

Originally posted by alezone
Originally posted by fat mike http://www.dpmac.com/gmann/columns/013/17powerbook.jpg :D I 2nd that. (I\'m using a 15\" G4 Titanium)

I got 12\" G4 Ti... Damn should\'ve waited for the company to get me the 17\"....

[torpedo20]

I own an Apple Powerbook 15\" and can vouch for it.

The battery life does suck (no more than 2 hours), but the rest of the package is FUN-tastic!
It\'s ultra light, comes with the best desktop OS on the market - Mac OS X.
The only thing you need on the software side is Microsoft Office (you can get a student discount).

Also, my company gave me a Dell Latitude D600;
it\'s a decent 14\" screen laptop oriented for a business usage (no gaming!), since it\'s Pentium M battery life is > 4 hours. And it\'s relatively cheap, too.

I think the future in computing is with portables. As far as I\'m concerned the only missing thing is the abitily to upgrade. I\'m sure they\'ll come up with something to address that.

Let us know which model you decided to go with.

[miggiddy]

This is what I have
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v253/miggiddy/3_pen-and-paper.jpg

Seriously tho, I\'ve seen alot of Dell D600 batteries go dead after the first year, but then again it could be due to how most users just plug the AC adapter in and never cycle the battery. Like Majic said figure out what sorta specs you want and consider the weight factor, after you lug it around all day I\'m sure you\'re shoulder will be happier if you do.