Looking for a laptop

[Pistolero]

Any ideas on where to start?
I really don't want much besides a putz around machine.
Doesn't have to play games, but it should browse the web like a champ.
And I'd prefer to go with something light and long life (battery wise),
than something heavy and overkill with firepower.

 

[beatle]

IBM makes great laptops, but you pay quite a premium for them. Get at least 256MB of ram. Since laptop harddrives are slower than desktops, accessing the disk for virtual memory becomes even more painful.

 

[labrat25]

honestly, go to the local best buy and play around... i've got an older vaio and its served me well over the years... the new centrino seem like good small/light systems

make sure to get it pretty stocked though (combo drive, lots of memory, HARD DRIVE! etc) 'cause upgrading is expensive/impossible unless you want to seriously violate the warranty

oh, and these days, make sure to get build-in wifi (and bluetooth if you feel like it)

 

[redass1876]

i got a new toshiba satellite that came with a wireless router, and 3 adapter, a dvd player, a printer, and an mp3 player.

the laptop specs:
2.4 ghz celeron
40gb HD
256mb pc2100 sodimm
XP home
15" LCD
CDRW/DVD
Intergrated LAN and modem
S-video and VGA out
32mb video (the downfall)

got all of this for $750 after MIR's (14 of them to be exact) at CompUSA

the lesson is to just keep looking around and a great deal will bite you in the ass...my favorite deal website is www.bensbargains.net,

but everything depends on what you want to spend

 

[GnomeCop]

check out averatec notebooks, they are really inexpensive performance is very decent and the build quality is surprsingly good.

 

[dnuggett]

Originally posted by: labrat25
honestly, go to the local best buy and play around... i've got an older vaio and its served me well over the years... the new centrino seem like good small/light systems

make sure to get it pretty stocked though (combo drive, lots of memory, HARD DRIVE! etc) 'cause upgrading is expensive/impossible unless you want to seriously violate the warranty

oh, and these days, make sure to get build-in wifi (and bluetooth if you feel like it)

Do not by memory from the manufacturer unless you get a really good deal on it. Both the hardrive and memory are easily accessible in most laptops and can be upgraded without voiding the warranty. Memory is in most cases much cheaper from Crucial or NewEgg then the manufacturer itself.

If you are looking for a decent machine that will surf the web like a champ and have good battery life, wait until the new Dothan chip comes out in Feb and snag the current M then.

 

[labrat25]

i just know with my VAIO i had to take it apart to install a new hard disk and i would hafta do the same if i wanted a combo drive

(maybe it's just my model though)

 

[mindmaniac]

While I usually hate Compaq/HP I am very pleased with my X1000. With all of the goodies it came to around $1,300. Plus the Radeon mobile 9600 is pretty nice, plays Battlefield 1942 well. Built in wireless, 60gb hd at 5400 RPM, + more. Might want to check it out, plus it's it a lot less than I payed.

 

[mikecel79]

How much are you looking to spend? Dell has got some good deals on the Inspiron notebooks.