Can anyone recommend me a good laptop?

[ManBearPig]

Preferably closer to 1k. I know next to nothing about them. All i know is that i enjoyed the hell out of my sisters, but the battery life seems to suck on laptops. I dont really care if its insanely light either.

 

[996GT2]

Lenovo Thinkpad T400 with LED backlit screen, Hybrid ATI Graphics, and 9 Cell battery.

This config will let you do everything: play games, edit videos, and get 7-8 hours of battery life WITH the wifi on. It is also moderately sized (14") and doesn't weigh much (around 5 lbs with the extended battery).

Plus Thinkpads have legendary build and durability (how many other laptops come with a spillproof keyboard or full magnesium alloy subframe?), so it's pretty much a no brainer unless you are looking for something very specific (i.e. a big 17" laptop with a high end graphics card designed mainly around gaming)

 

[gus6464]

Vostro 2510:
Intel® Core? 2 Duo T5670 (1.8GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows Vista Business Bonus-Windows XP Professional downgrade
15.4 in UltraSharp? Widescreen WUXGA LCD
2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
8X DVD+/-RW
256MB NVIDIA® GeForce? 8400M GS
320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Intel 4965AGN Wireless-N
Integrated 1.3 mega pixel Web Camera and Digital Microphone
9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

$1248

Add to that 4gb of ram from newegg for 60 bucks and you are all set. Plus you get the added bonus that the machine comes preloaded with XP Pro and you get a separate Vista Business license for whenever you want to upgrade. The LCD resolution is also 1440x900 unlike most 15 inchers that only come with 1280x800.

 

[ManBearPig]

Question...right now i have a 6800GT. It's old as hell and i expect that laptops have much better cards than this, but would i have to pay tons for anything better than this (or have any other draw backs)?

That one does seem nice. Also, should i stick with 7200rpm drives? And what are reasonable expectations for battery life for laptops?

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: Kazaam
Question...right now i have a 6800GT. It's old as hell and i expect that laptops have much better cards than this, but would i have to pay tons for anything better than this (or have any other draw backs)?

That one does seem nice. Also, should i stick with 7200rpm drives? And what are reasonable expectations for battery life for laptops?

Hard drive: doesn't really matter at this point. Large 5400RPM drives are just as fast or faster than the smaller 7200RPM drives. Only when it comes to drives of equal sizes (or the 7200RPM drive being about 40GB less than the 5400RPM drive) will you see a real difference in hard drive speed. The RPM has a negligible effect on batter life (minutes at most). The only way you would see power savings from a hard drive is with a 4200RPM drive or maybe an SSD (one is unreasonable slow and the other is too expensive).

Laptops with decent to good graphics suggestions:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834220349 (Asus M51 with Turion Ultra and HD3650 - 15.4" $999 - this platform can shift to integrated graphics on battery power.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834220303 (Asus F8 with Intel Core 2 Duo and HD3650 - 14" $999)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834220337 (Asus F8 with the new Intel mobile platform set - 14" $1200)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834220338 (Asus F8 with an even faster Intel processor than the $1200 one. This one is $1450)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834220379 (Asus G50V - 15.4" SXGA+ Core 2 Duo P8400 nvidia 9700M GT, 7200RPM 200GB HDD - $1400)

 

[NitrouseXpress60]

Originally posted by: 996GT2
Lenovo Thinkpad T400 with LED backlit screen, Hybrid ATI Graphics, and 9 Cell battery.

This config will let you do everything: play games, edit videos, and get 7-8 hours of battery life WITH the wifi on. It is also moderately sized (14") and doesn't weigh much (around 5 lbs with the extended battery).

Plus Thinkpads have legendary build and durability (how many other laptops come with a spillproof keyboard or full magnesium alloy subframe?), so it's pretty much a no brainer unless you are looking for something very specific (i.e. a big 17" laptop with a high end graphics card designed mainly around gaming)

QFT. If my R50e ever dies, I will buy another Thinkpad and ONLY another Thinkpad.

I'm a college student and I abuse my Thinkpad. Leave it on all the time, throw it in the backpack, walk around with it in backpack while raining, toss it on the bed, and a bunch of other stuff. I can't see me doing that with my sister's Vaio. I love it so much!

 

[xSauronx]

thinkpad thinkpad thinkpad

i take mine around pretty often, love the thing. also, thinklight/trackpoint ftw people.

 

[ManBearPig]

question...why do people like apple laptops so much? also, i'd rather have a 15-17" screen.

 

[TheStu]

I like my apple for much the same reason that people like their Thinkpads. They are for the most part, a little more expensive than others (though since the Lenovo take-over that hasn't been as true) but are worth the extra cash. My macbook has been beaten all to hell and still runs like a champ, plus it is the only laptop that can legally run OS X. So, for me, I will be buying a Mac next time. This has been such a great first experience for me.

 

[boomhower]

If your wanting to game on it either the Asus G50V-X1, HP dv5t, or Sager 2096. The Asus has a much better video card but is rather large for a 15" model but you do get a built in number pad. After a lot of research those are my shortlist.