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Laptop?

D

dBTelos

Golden Member
I'm looking for something

-Under $1K
-Good/Great Battery life
-120GB or larger HD
-As thin and light as possible
-1GB or more of RAM

That's about it... I really want a small size/weight, and long battery life. What do you recommend?
 
Taking a look at some reviews... the best option seems to be the Dell e1405. The price is good, it looks nice, weighs about as much as more expensive ultra portable laptops, good performance, etc. I have noticed that the Compaq Presario V3000Z has everything that the Dell has, with better specs for less money, only the top/lid of it is very bland and looks terrible. Maybe I should look at the two together at Bestbuy or something?
 
Originally posted by: dBTelos
Taking a look at some reviews... the best option seems to be the Dell e1405. The price is good, it looks nice, weighs about as much as more expensive ultra portable laptops, good performance, etc. I have noticed that the Compaq Presario V3000Z has everything that the Dell has, with better specs for less money, only the top/lid of it is very bland and looks terrible. Maybe I should look at the two together at Bestbuy or something?
Click to expand...

1. Never, NEVER buy a computer from Best Buy. Maybe your local one is different, but I have yet to see a notebook from them that isn't overpriced. Find a Microcenter if you can. Most of the clerks are actually computer enthusiasts as opposed to high schoolers with a part-time, and their prices are good. Personally, I always buy online for customizeability, but to each his own.

2. They'll both run fine, but IMO Dells have a slightly higher build quality on average.
 
I don't have a Microcenter anywhere near me, but I just wanted to go to bestbuy to take a look at the notebook itself, not actually buy it (get a better price online). I also just saw the hp pavilion dv2120us which appears to be about the same in size as the dell and compaq, fitting my specs, and it looks great. It's a fairly popular brand so I should be able to see it at Bestbuy or something.
 
What about the Averatec 4200? It can be had for under $700, has decent specs, small, portable, light, and looks like a Windows MacBook.
 
I have heard good things about the averatec, especially for the price.
 
Originally posted by: TheStu
I have heard good things about the averatec, especially for the price.
Click to expand...
You get what you pay for. My friend bought a $600 Averatec several years ago, with an old Athlon XP-M if that tells you how old it is; it was fine for a $600 notebook of the time, but was not a quality piece. Lots of creaks and squeaks in the chassis, poor screen, and ran very hot. Another friend more recently bought an Averatec 13.3" Turion 64 and the battery life was abysmal, with unimpressive qualities all around. Maybe they're shaping up with their newer models, but I'd go with something more established.

OP: look at HP/Compaq. The dv2000t/V3000t series is a 14" widescreen using Intel Core Duo/Core 2 Duo. Decent build quality, one of the better consumer model keyboards, and with 12-cell battery you'll get 6+ hours battery life.
 
i agree with fbrdphreak, go with the hp dv2000t. do not go based off of online pics for appearance. i thought the dell e1405 looked alright til i saw it at a dell kiosk. it was FUGLY as hell. the only thing that looked worse (that actually make the e1405 bearable) was the B130 right next to it. at least the e1405 had a good screen to look at.

check out the lenovo thinkpad r60 14"/15". it'll be in the $900 range with 120gb hdd, 1gb ram (ddr2-667), core2duo T5500 (1.66GHz), screen upgrade, fingerprint reader (if you want...it costs $30), and battery upgrade (it costs $30...i'm not sure if it sticks out the back/bottom though). great build quality and it has the finger-stick mouse thing between the 'g' and 'h' keys if you want.

if you can raise your budget a bit, check out the thinkpad T60 and dell D620. it'll run you just under $1200 with what you want.

i would recommend either the dv2000t or r60
 
Thanks for the comments guys. From reviews of the dv2000t, it seems that the touchpad buttons aren't built well and the battery life will barely hit 2hrs on high brightness and internet usage. I don't think I can deal with that. The Averatec is supposedly stocked at Staples, Bestbuy, Circuitcity. etc... so I'll take a look there and see what I can find.
 
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