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It can't be this hard, can it?

B

BehindEnemyLines

Senior member
I've been googling around for awhile, and it seems that I'm stuck with a Dell. Basically, I'm looking for a 12" OR 14" widescreen Duo Core (slowest), 1GB of RAM, 60GB+, integrated CD-RW/DVD-ROM (or DVD Burner), and S-VIDEO out capability, and Vista Capable (although not really important) - that COSTS around $1200 or lower. So far I've found only the Dell actually have all of the above :

Dell 640m, XPS 12" widescreen, and Inspiron 1405E. Problem with Dell - everyone has one. Also found a nice Acer and Toshiba but they don't have S-Video. Anyone?
 
Stay away from the Inspiron 600-series.

Acer whitebook maybe?

Dell has a new 12" Latitude, which is far superior than the Inspiron series.
 
A base-model MacBook with a 3rd-party 1 GB stick of RAM and a mini-DVI to video adapter? It's even Vista capable if you use Boot Camp.
 
rawr! that's what i did, bought one yesterday. i f-ed around with os x all day yesterday and today. i'm quite satified with my purchase. os x does what it needs to and the build on this laptop is magnificient- solid. plus i know if it ever borks, i can walk down to a store and bish at someone. on a side note, newegg got me my ram and bluetooth mouse to me in one day.
 
Dunno about duo core, but in 12 inch I like Averatec and Dell, but both too expensive for my cheap nature, so getting a 14". Costco had a nice looking Averatec 13.3" for $749.
 
Averatec is the bottom of the barrel IMO. A friend of my bought an Athlon XP-M one a few years back and while there's nothing wrong with it & its going strong, the build quality was very poor. Another friend bought a Turion one a few months back, the 13.3" I believe, and he just did not like it. I believe he said the battery life was poor and the quality was pretty crappy too. I wouldn't waste my time, esp with Dell being so cheap.
 
It seems the best candidates are Dell XPS M1210 with S-Video and Dual Core with a decent price. Of course, the Macbook 13.3 inch is also very nice and much thinner although wider.
 
Originally posted by: BehindEnemyLines
Problem with Dell - everyone has one.
Click to expand...

If that matters to you, you shouldn't be looking for laptops under $1200.

Try evalue code 6V620-E1405RFC1 for a dell E1405 for $963 that meets all your specs. It's 35% off right now.
 
Originally posted by: makoto00
rawr! that's what i did, bought one yesterday. i f-ed around with os x all day yesterday and today. i'm quite satified with my purchase. os x does what it needs to and the build on this laptop is magnificient- solid. plus i know if it ever borks, i can walk down to a store and bish at someone. on a side note, newegg got me my ram and bluetooth mouse to me in one day.
Click to expand...
Got mine yesterday too. This thing rocks - solid as hell, FAST, the keyboard's terrific and the shiny screen doesn't glare nearly as much as my 700m did. It does get warm, but nothing that would make it difficult or unpleasant to use. You wouldn't want this thing on your lap on a 100 degree day while wearing a Speedo though. I ran it for 8 hours straight and never got it to make the mooing noise other people have complained about. Quiet and stable. I have 2 gigs in it and OSX is snappy, easy and fun to use. Haven't decided whether I want to run Boot Camp or Paralells - I need XP for work-related stuff - but honestly I hate to see boring old XP on this thing regardless. Very happy so far.
 
Asus W3J. It's 14", but only weighs 4 lbs., and has a mobile x1600. Not cheap, though.
The macbook is a sweet machine. Apple has a reputation for decent service (I'll back it up....just be sure to buy Applecare!), and I'm downright impressed by the new macbook. It just screams "QUALITY!"

Also, as a guy who has dropped his iBook down flights of stairs, I can safely say that they'll likely be quite durable.

If I wanted something REALLY thin, I'd go IBM. I have a Hp/Compaq Evo NC4010; the 4020, it's sucessor, is likely quite similar. It's not an amazing laptop, but it's quite good, and I only paid 750$ for mine. 12.1", and I think that the latest revision supports Core Duo.
 
My flatmate has a Thinkpad X-Series from work and it is a great little light machine. It is very expensive though considering what you are getting for the money.

A MacBook is a good choice and suprisingly good value too. The Asus W3J is also a really nice laptop... unless you live in europe where Asus customer support is totaly useless and that is almost a compliment to those idiots (I deal with them now and then for stuff that I resell as part of my business - mainboards and laptops from these guys bring nothing but strfie if they break). Perhaps the customer care in the US is better but the standard of Asus EU office is insanely easy to surpass.

Servicewise (since I have already started talking about that) I have had no problems whatsoever with Apple, HP, Dell and IBM/Lenovo. You want a laptop... go with something from those 4 brands - that's what I now always recommend to my clients and have never had problems with them when I needed service.
 
Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Stay away from the Inspiron 600-series.

Acer whitebook maybe?

Dell has a new 12" Latitude, which is far superior than the Inspiron series.
Click to expand...

Just a question, but why? Are the other Inspiron series laptops okay?
 
Some of them. The inspiron (or in this case, Latitude) 600 was a nightmare in a plastic box. (I would know, I've repaired one. Eeew.)
I would reccomend avoiding Dell at all costs. Lenovo might cost more, but it's worth it.
 
I think I've managed to narrow it down to the following:

Apple MacBook 13.3" widescreen
Dell XPS M1210 (a model that not so many people)
HP dv2000t
IBM Lenovo 3000 V100

I'm seriously considering the MacBook. I went to apple.com, but I couldn't tell whether if the MacBook has S-Video built in. From the pictures in gallery, there doesn't seem to be any. May there's an adapter somehow (that would fine too)? And use Boot Camp or Parallel if I need XP and OS X *might* becomes main OS but that would to be seen. Will Apple use the Memron Duo Core 2 when it comes out for the macbook?
 
Os X took a couple of days for me to get used to. I basically romped around with it, broke it, and reinstalled it. But it's not bad, and it has some convenient features. the Macbook has a minidvi port. there's a video adaptor cable for svideo or composite or whatever you need, but it has to be purchased seperately. parallels and bootcamp both work great, but i just found alternatives to the windows versions for whatever i needed. it's no excuse for a real desktop running a windows os, but for mobility and just work purposes, it's great. i see it more as an appliance, than a laptop.
 
My experience with Inspirons is that they're generally good designs with lousy QC - especially in the quality of their screens. A bargain if you happen to get one that works like it's supposed to - but you're just as likely to end up with a POS that you'll never be satisfied with.

The newer Latitudes are very good computers though.
 
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