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Laptop suggestion (Desktop Replacement)

heymrdj

heymrdj

Diamond Member
Don't worry about budget for now. Just need some things:

DVD burner
Vista with 2GB RAM
capable of running VMserver (I like to run a Debian Etch server periodically, low requirements on that)
Decent HD space
Decent gaming power (no integrateds please)

Any recomendations?
 
When you say Desktop Replacement, is that a size or power request? Most DTRs that I know of are huge 2" thick or larger monstrosities with 2+ hard drives and sometimes even 2GPUs. If you are talking about something as powerful as a desktop, pretty much any machine out there with a 2+GHz processor (Core 2 or X2) will do the trick.
 
Power wise. I mean a standard desktop. A dedicated gfx card rather than a integrated GMA950 and a single 160GB drive is good for me.

Currently I'm looking at a decked out HP DV9500t for 1921$ or a Gateway NX860XL for 1950$. I looked at the Asus F3 series on Newegg, but they are only 1GB RAM models. I want 2GB Ram and Ultimate, not Premium. Also none of those models come with any accident protection like the ones from The Brands.

Also, this is my first laptop.
 
Don't limit your selection on the amount of RAM installed at the time of purchase. Laptop RAM upgrades are an easy, ten minute job. Do a little research and buy extra ram when you buy the machine.
 
I would agree to that. The Corsair kit is 83$ for DDR 667 2x1GB modules. But the F3 has only home premium. I don't know that a home based one can do the networking I need. Ultimate is supposed to be a Home/Business hybrid. I'm connecting the thing to massive networks, like my schools wifi and some of my jobsites have a few thousand computers on their network. I tried connecting a home based XP machine to it one time, and it didn't like it very much. XP Pro took it fine, but not home. But I don't just want Vista Business, cause I wanna load alot of multimedia stuff on it. And I may run Ubuntu Studio as a VM Image for the extra oomph. But I think I need Ultimate to give me the balance of performance and multimedia fun.
 
Unless you are concerned with some kinda Vista package deal, there's no reason to limit your purchase based on the included operating system. I'm not familiar with the Vista upgrade options, but the operating system would be the last thing on my mind when considering a laptop purchase. You can change that by inserting a CD. Hardware changes are a little more involved.
 
That CD also costs a lot of money if you haven't noticed. I ain't got the $$$ to buy a laptop and then another OS.

So far I think I'm pretty set on the HP.
 
We got it customized this way. Basically, decked out fully.

* ? Upgrade to Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate (64-bit)
* ? Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo processor T7500 (2.20 GHz, 4 MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)
* ? 17.0" WXGA+ High-Definition Ultra HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1440 x 900)
* ? 2GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
* ? 511MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS
* ? HP Imprint (Radiance) + Fingerprint Reader + Webcam + Microphone
* ? Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection and Bluetooth(TM)
* ? 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
* ? FREE Upgrade to LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
* ? No TV Tuner w/remote control
* ? High Capacity 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
* ? System Recovery DVD with Genuine Windows Vista Ultimate (64-bit)
* ? Microsoft(R) Works 8.0
* ? HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

So what do you guys think?
 
I bought the 9500T last night. The acessory bundle, warranty papers, and one other thing got on a FedEx truck last night and is on its way from Memphis TN as of 3:20AM. IT says something like July 26 for the build date. I pray that it doesn't take that long. I can hardly wait. It's been 5 years since I've had an upgrade in hardware, and basically, I'm ecstatic about this.

Oh and I ordered it with the 3 year warranty and they 3 year accidental protection plan. Cause college is dagerous, and its enough just to keep it from getting stolen.

Total price with GA taxes and free 5-7 day shipping:

$2,352.99
 
Well the laptop arrived yesterday and I've been on it for 38 of the 48 hours I've had it lol. I absolutely love it. Vista Ultimate is beautiful. Its speed and gfx power is above and beyond my desktop of 3 years old. I'm in love with this thing. I'm burning my first dual layer DVD ever. I can't complain about a thing about it except maby the positioning of the caps lock.
 
Nice laptop. I got a DV6000T earlier this year - maxed out minus the RAM (did that myself) and went with Vista Basic and put my own XP Pro on it. I am like you, I absolutely love it. HP laptops are great.
 
only thing I wish is that I had splurged on a bigger HD. This 160 is too small for my needs. I think this thing has a second SATA HD bay? Need to check. If so I might try getting a 200GB to stick in here as well. The battery life on performance mode, as expected, sucks. 45 min to an hour on full battery. But in power saver mode, and I can even game in that mode, I ran it for near 3 hours and only got down to 22% battery remaining. I'm pleased 🙂.
 
You could always just get a NAS or an external HDD if you need extra storage space. How much space is consumed by your installed applications anyways? I only got a 120GB HDD in my DV6000T and I have so much empty space it's not even funny. I have plenty of room to download video from my DV cam for editing and encoding.
 
Originally posted by: Megatomic
You could always just get a NAS or an external HDD if you need extra storage space. How much space is consumed by your installed applications anyways? I only got a 120GB HDD in my DV6000T and I have so much empty space it's not even funny. I have plenty of room to download video from my DV cam for editing and encoding.
Click to expand...

I got 42GB of space left on my 160GB drive. I use VMWare so that takes up some space. 8GB for some mods and UT2004, got HL2 installed, Dreamweaver, a Ubuntu studio installation, ISPConfig vm image, Halo, windows 2000ISO, Serious Sam II, The Lion King DVD, some small vids, maby 4GB total, and my music, another 8GB or so of that.

Not too much 😱.
 
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