Laptop help please...

G

giarc25

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 25, 2003
Messages
308
Forgive me for the "what to get kind of thread", however I have never owned one and hadnt messed around with too many either. I have been all over this message forum and notebooks.com and have found that I am very confused and undecided. I dont want something with a bunch of pre-loaded garbage software I will never use. Something with no OS would suit me fine actually.

I want to purchase 2 laptops at around $1200 each. Multi purchase discount would be an added benefit.

15" - 15.4" screen
40gb hd
512mb memory
Pentium M 1.6 or higher or AMD 3000+
cd-rw built in
wifi is a must, blue tooth optional

all of the above is merely a guideline and is not set in stone.

any suggestions?

PS, I am not a gamer so i dont need anything to replace a desktop...
 
does that laptop come with a windows cd, or does it come with recovery cd's?

I owned an HP desktop one time and I had nothing but problems with it and customer support treats you like you are only 10 yrs old. Is their laptop division the same way?

Thanks
 
The big OEM's ship nothing but recovery discs, and HP would be one of them. pain in the ass IMO.
 
giarc25 said:
I owned an HP desktop one time and I had nothing but problems with it and customer support treats you like you are only 10 yrs old. Is their laptop division the same way?
Thanks
Click to expand...

Yup. Plus, they've locked out 'unauthorized' (they didn't ship it) wifi mini-PCI cards, like IBM does. Don't buy HP/Compaq.
 
So then what would be a good laptop that I could buy with no O/S on it, so that I could just buy my own and install it?

I know a lot of you talk about the Sager lappy's, but I am looking into buying 2 laptops and about 1200-1500 each is all I want to spend on each one.

Thanks again,
Craig
 
Sager is great, I own one of their "desktop replacement" lappys and it's been nothing but great. Personally I do not know of any companies that won't give you some form of operating system, then again I'm sure some won't. I would look at Sager, Sony, Toshiba, Apple, and Asus
 
Those look pretty nice :)

I noticed they only came with a 90 day warranty though :confused:
 
Don't go with that cheap shit...come on it's not that hard, do a bit of research.
 
Equipment seems to be just that, equipment. Obviously we all take an interest into computers or we would not be on this forum, and with that in mind most of us are capable of knowing what specs we are looking for in a machine.

Let me try this decision making process from another angle and see if you guys can help me out this way instead.

If you were to choose a new laptop based on customer support and service alone, which company / website would you buy from? If you had the option for purchasing warranty and accidental damage coverage, what would be the terms?

Thanks for your continued help.

Craig
 
Well it seems Dell has some great service, at least from past experiences, though I absolutely hate the majority of their products.
 
Check out this website http://www.dsn-computers.com

I bought my laptop from them.

Compal CL56
128MB DDR ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 Pro (M11-P) 4x AGP
15" SXGA 1400x1050
1.7GHz w/2MB Cache Dothan Centrino
80GB HDD
1024MB DDR
DVD+/-RW 4x
WiFi b,g
$1550 :)
 
Still not sure on what I want to do and I know the following totally negates everything I have already stated in this thread......

However I would like to get your opinions on this configuration that I just made..

Thanks

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What do you all think of this configuration?

Inspiron 600m
Date & Time: February 03, 2005 9:56:29 PM

SYSTEM COMPONENTS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Inspiron 600m
Pentium® M Processor 745(1.80GHz/400MHz FSB)
14.1-in SXGA+
64MB Video
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional

Dell Home Customers: Save $500 on select Inspiron™ notebook purchases $1499 or more (before tax)!
Expires Friday, February 04, 2005 Remove Coupon
- $500.00

Inspiron 600m Pentium® M Processor 745(1.80GHz/400MHz FSB)

14.1-in SXGA+

64MB Video B18X6HN [221-4401] 1

Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional

Memory 512MB DDR SDRAM 2 Dimms 512MB2D

Hard Drive 60GB Hard Drive 60GB

Integrated Modem and NIC Internal 56K Modem and Integrated Network Card 56MPC

Document Management Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0 ADOBER

Optical 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive with Sonic RecordNow 24COMBO

Wireless Networking Cards Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11 b/g, 54Mbps)

Bundled Software Productivity Pack including WordPerfect® ICORELM

Security Software No Security Subscription NS

Digital Music Dell Jukebox - easy-to-use music player and CD burning software MMBASE

Primary Battery 6-Cell Lithium Ion Battery (53Whr) 53WHR

Carrying Cases Leather Carrying Case SLCC

Limited Warranty, Services and Support 1 Year Limited Warranty plus 1 Year Mail-In Service ST111RR

Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months America Online Internet Access Included AOLDHS

Digital Imaging or Digital Photography Paint Shop™ Pro® Studio trial, Photo Album™ Starter Edition DPS

Additional Battery 6-Cell Lithium Ion Additional Battery (53Whr) 53WHR2

Mobile Accessories 128MB Dell™ USB Memory Key 128UMB

Dell Media Experience Dell Media Experience™ DMX

Unit Price $1,957.00

After total discounts, tax and everything, the final price is:

TOTAL: $1,457.00
 
Doesn't look too bad, I would probably bump the memory up to a Gig (1 GB). 512 is sufficient, but I fear that sooner or later 1 GB will be the standard. Also you said you aren't going to be doing much multimedia, or at least projects that require lots of graphics? Don't get word perfect, you are better off with either Word Xp or Word 2003. Also don't get that USB flash drive, you are better getting more storage for lesser price.
 
Z(+)DIAC said:
Doesn't look too bad, I would probably bump the memory up to a Gig (1 GB). 512 is sufficient, but I fear that sooner or later 1 GB will be the standard. Also you said you aren't going to be doing much multimedia, or at least projects that require lots of graphics? Don't get word perfect, you are better off with either Word Xp or Word 2003. Also don't get that USB flash drive, you are better getting more storage for lesser price.
Click to expand...


I already have a copy of Office that I would use on the new lappy, thats why I didnt spring for it in the package, I just chose the cheapest that it would allow me to do. As for the USB drive, it would be for portability more than anything. So that I can transfer info from puter to puter a lot easier.

After having looked at this configuration though, I believe I could get a Sager configured to about the same specs for about the same money, could I not?

With so many options out there, how does one go about making a final decision on a laptop?
 
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