Any brands of notebook comp to look out for?

[Henrythewound]

Hey all, I am starting grad school and am interested in purchasing a notebook computer that will be able to handle some decent graphics (Photoshop/ Corel Draw) programs and possibly some GIS/modeling programs. I know this is probably a looooong shot, but I would love to see something << $1500 (really tight on the finances right now, I will have to save up for this purchase). I have been looking at Dell, Toshiba, and misc others including iMacs/ Powerbooks. Any general consensus on what brands are more reliable/ offer more bang for your buck? I really appreciate any help you may be able to offer me. Thx a lot,


Joe aka Henrythewound

 

[Gibson486]

Most brands are good. As for bange for buck, it varies. People say Dell has bet bang for buck. Feature wise it might be true, but construction wise, you get what you pay for. I personally liked Toshiba, but aunt just bought 2 different Toshibas and they both suffered from dead pixels out of the box. Needless to say, she is staying awya from that brand now. What I am tryng to say is that what is a good brand today may not be a good brand tomorrow.

 

[mikebb]

IBM or Mac would be my recommendation, providing you're willing to pay. Thinkpads are great, and Powerbooks awesome (<---has an IBM T40 and iBook, wish I could afford a Powerbook.) Thinkpads are built like a tank, Powerbooks are just cool, and solid as well.

I had an older Dell, which at the time (this was back when PIII 500 was fast) was solidly built, but from what I've seen and heard lately, I'd stay away from the newer Dells. Seem to be very cheaply made.

 

[Wuzup101]

I have to agree with the above. IBM and Mac would be my recomendations. You can get a nice 12" Powerbook for under that price... and I'm sure you can get a low end thinkpad T series too. Both machines are very solid. If you're going to be doing grapics work the Mac is a great choice... though it depends on the modeling software you need. I can pretty much say that there is everything in the graphics field that you would need offered by mac (I know it lacks in the cad department).

Mac OSX panther is really a beauitful thing. 6 months ago before using/buying a Powerbook i would never had said this... but frankly it's awesome.

 

[Henrythewound]

thx for the tips guys. I heard from my advisor and for the programs we will be using, he said definitely a PC as opposed to Mac. I find that the base price of the computers I am looking at is far less than the actual price my purchase will be when I add all the upgrades I am interested in getting, I will check out the brands you mentioned above, thanks again for the tips

Joe aka henrythewound

 

[Wuzup101]

I would ask for specific programs if I were you. Not that I doubt your instructor; however, I know many professors that would say similar things just because they are PC guys. Lets face it, a lot of us bashed macs until we got them. However, since you maybe using some specific modeling programs he might have made a very valid statement - just suggest you check it out on your own. For some of the stuff you mentioned the mac really shines. If you do decide to go for a PC then look no further than the IBM T series... overall they are pricy but are pretty much the best you can get quality and feature wise. If you don't want to spend that much there are some compaq notebooks that are pretty nice (friend of mine has a zt3000 that's pretty nice). If you go for a dell check out the latitude (buisness) line as they are a bit better built. I also have a friend who's very lucky father was issued a dell D800 with a very nice super high resolution LCD that would be perfect for modeling programs and photoshop... really a nice machine (but again you're going to pay for it).

One piece of advice... always try to go for aftermarket ram (1gb sticks of pc2700 or pc2100 can be had at newegg for $201 currently - kingmax). And go for the fastest hard drive offered in your particular model. A 7200rpm would be best... 5400 are still nice... you dont want anything slower than that!

 

[DaFinn]

Get a hold of IBM T40p/T41p with FireGL graphics if you are into Photoediting/3D... Those can be had for quite reasonable price used.

 

[poslushnik]

IBM T is the best, but they are out of you price range. I would say, either IBM R series, or Dell Latitude (the letter is in your price range if you get a discount through your university).