I need suggestions for the right laptop

[IlllI]

isnt it generally a bad idea to put a laptop on the carpet? there tends to be some vents on the bottom which could get blocked buy the carpeting.
screen size plays a role in battery consumption. turning the brightness down is suppose to help. hmm 1.5 years.. guess it depends on how many charges. i've read that if not using the battery its a good idea to unplug it from the laptop. something about overcharging will wear it out faster or something

if hitting 114 i'd pop the keyboard and slap some as5 on it

 

[TungFree]

What I need as a minimum is:
14" or 15 " screen
A dvd burner
A "N" networking wireless card or integrated (10/100/1000)
2 gigs of ram and
I will install XP Pro

I thought I could find that for near $500
But unless I get a 10" netpad, which near all have a "N" wireless in them the other models are all packaged with the "G" on board.
And I can only find on NewEgg $800 after rebate or higher with at least those I mentioned and a "N" capability.
I tried to get Asus, and 4 others and no go for near $500.

Anyone know of one?

 

[Hacp]

Looks like you need to head to the dell outlet.

 

[tdawg]

I've been researching this exact thing. Primary concern for me is battery life, then price and performance. Right now it's down to the Dell Latitude E6400 and Thinkpad X200 or T400. All get at least around 6 hours of life during testing with a 6 or 9 cell battery. Hell, the E6400 will get supposedly 19 hours of battery life with the right battery option (9 cell + 12 cell slice). Both the T400 and E6400 are 14.1" screens with the option of LED backlighting and 1400x900 resolution. The Intel Wireless 5100 and 5300 modules are available for these machines, as are various other options. You're looking at probably $1200 at least with the requirements you want, but these two laptops have been rated pretty high everywhere I look. Another positive, the E6400 comes with a standard 3 year warranty! Check out notebookreview.com for in depth reviews.

From what I've seen, if you want long battery life, you should aim for business laptops, not these consumer ones. I mean, the new Lenovo Y650 looks sweet, but testing puts it at just over 2 hours of battery life during movie playback.

 

[TungFree]

Thank you all,

I did purchase an Asus 1 x ($799.99) NB ASUS | N50Vn-X6 RTL - Retail from NewRgg
Shipping and Handling: $42.62 to Hawaii.

Open Box: ASUS N50 Series N50Vn-X6 NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo P8400(2.26GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 4GB Memory 320GB HDD DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 9650M GT It also has an N networking

Brand ASUS
Series N50 Series
Model N50Vn-X6
Part# 90NQYA57325B9CQL150Y
General
Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium
CPU Type Intel Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26G
Screen 15.4" WXGA
Memory Size 4GB
Hard Disk 320GB
Optical Drive DVD Super Multi
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce 9650M GT
Video Memory 1024MB
Card slot 1 x Express Card
Dimensions 14.4" x 10.8" x 1.1"
Weight 6.5 lbs.
Other Features Fingerprint reader
30days Zero Bright Dot LCD
CPU
CPU Type Intel Core 2 Duo
CPU Speed P8400(2.26GHz)
CPU FSB 1066MHz
CPU L2 Cache 3MB
Display
Screen Size 15.4"
Wide Screen Support Yes
LCD Features LED backlight
Display Type Wide XGA
Resolution 1280 x 800
Operating Systems
Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium
Graphics
GPU/VPU NVIDIA GeForce 9650M GT
Video Memory Dedicated 1024MB
Graphic Type Dedicated Card
Hard Drive
HDD 320GB
Memory
Memory 4GB
Optical Drive
Optical Drive Type DVD Super Multi
Optical Drive Interface Integrated
Communications
LAN 10/100/1000Mbps
WLAN 802.11 B/G/N
Ports
Card Slot 1 x Express Card
USB 3
IEEE 1394 1
Video Port 1 x VGA, 1 x HDMI
Other port 1 x E-SATA
Audio Ports Yes
Audio
Audio Integrated Sound card
Speaker Internal Speakers
Input Device
Touchpad Yes
Keyboard Standard
Supplemental Drive
Card Reader 8-in-1 card reader, SD, MMC, MS, MS-Pro, mini SD w/ adapter, MS-Duo, MS-Pro Duo via adapter
Webcam 2.0MP
Power
Battery 6-cell lithium ion
Physical spec
Dimensions 14.4" x 10.8" x 1.1"
Weight 6.5 lbs.

 

[Athena]

Originally posted by: Hacp
Looks like you need to head to the dell outlet.

Exactly.

Dell Latitude E5400 - Intel Core Duo 2400
[*] 2GB RAM and
[*] 120GB Free Fall Sensor Drive
[*] Vista Business License
[*] DVD/RW
[*] 802.11 a/g/n
[*] Bluetooth
[*] 6-cell battery

Dell Business Outlet Price: $579 - $86.85 (15% coupon) = $492.15 with free shipping and 21-day return option.

 

[TungFree]

Originally posted by: Athena

Originally posted by: Hacp
Looks like you need to head to the dell outlet.

Exactly.

Dell Latitude E5400 - Intel Core Duo 2400
[*] 2GB RAM and
[*] 120GB Free Fall Sensor Drive
[*] Vista Business License
[*] DVD/RW
[*] 802.11 a/g/n
[*] Bluetooth
[*] 6-cell battery

Dell Business Outlet Price: $579 - $86.85 (15% coupon) = $492.15 with free shipping and 21-day return option.

Great deal you posted near 1/2 the money I had spent. However I wanted an HDMI output, faster computing bigger ram and a better video card and that money was also well spent. This thread helped me formulate what I needed and what options were open.

PS.
Athena you and tdawg, both joined Anandtech about weeks from my joining