Looking to get a Laptop

[QueBert]

I'm in the market to get a Laptop. I am an oldschool desktop person, but am curious about laptops. I have read some reviews, and checked out models in stores (HP/Compaq/Toshiba & Sony) mostly. I had found what I thought was a really nice HP but it turns out it has Savage4 for the video *shudder*
My questions are, on the HP's I've seen all I ever see info wise about USB is USB. are they 2.0? Also how are their notebooks from a gaming standpoint? I am looking at one that has ATI Mobility, I think it might be the r6, it doesn't say. All the HP reviews I read pretty much say the books are decent but sort of slow, and none touch on 3d gaming. Also how is battery life effected by Intel & AMD cpu's? I wanna get the most life.

Brands I am interested in
Toshiba, love the look of them, but all the ones I see seem to either have 16 megs of video memory or be super expensive.
HP, I don't like their desktops but the laptops look nice.
VPR, dunno much about them but Best Buy carries them they don't have any on demo, but the specs seem awesome, a bit pricey though.
Compaq (see HP)
and Alienware, again they seem EXPENSIVE!
Dell 8200 is killer, but a hair out of my price range.
What I'm after is something that's well rounded, but I don't need a 3.0ghz 1 gig monster.

15" screen, SXGA or SXGA+
256 or 512 memory, as long as it has at least 256 that's fine.
1.6+ghz CPU, either AMD or Intel
good 3d video with either 32 or 64 megs of dedicated video memory.
cdrw is not really important because I would get an external usb 2.0 one
and little things like controls on the front of it with the small LCD screen, and audio jacks. don't need these but they seem cool for functionality.


I'm looking to spend $1,300-1,500. I might be asking too much for the price range, but I have seen some great deals on Ebay. I'd be willing to spend a bit more to get a 5400 HD. I don't think I could get a VPR or Alienware even used for that range, not one that'll play games any ways. And could somebody point me towards a good laptop website, my search skills are horrible and I'd like to have a good resource to look into this before I drop money. That is unless you good people can assist me


thanks...

 

[paulpaul]

Bump for ya...

I'm in the same boat; looking, not much $ to spend. From all the searching/lurking I've done, here's what I've come up with, as far as info.

Seeing as how you can't really upgrade, or even do very much 'service' on a laptop, you've gotta really think about what you want to do with it. If gaming is going to be a big deal, look into a Sager. They're made by the same company that makes Alienware, but quite a bit more reasonable $-wise. The truth is, 'gaming on a laptop' is one of the most expensive features.

Other things to consider:

Portability- Are you going to be moving around a lot with it? If so, then that 15" (or 14" for that matter) could get old, fast. Check the
weight as well. Things like optical drives, floppys add a lot of weight (one- or two-spindle units in the trade)

Reliability- If you can't get under the hood yourself this becomes really important, as does the warranty (1 yr/3 yr, do you have to mail it
it to them to get it fixed,which means you'll be without it for anywhere from a week to ???). The seems to me the 'business'
models (Dell Latitude, Compaq Evo, etc.) are generally more reliable than the 'home' models (Dell Inspiron, etc.).

I think PCTorque is the supplier for Sager in the US. I know some of their (more expensive) models have USB 2.0 AND FireWire. You really have to make compromises, ones you're not used to making with a desktop.

 

[QueBert]

I'm not worried about the weight (too much any ways) I will be taking this with me everywhere, but 15 inch, or even 14.1 is what I'm after, they don't add much to the price. Infact most of the new models I've seen with 12.1 screens cost more because they are "thin" and "light" of whatever reason they are. Sabers seem too expensive and the battery life from what I've read is horrible.
While I don't like the design much, I might end up getting a Dell 8200, it looks ugly to me, but under the hood it's a niice system. If I could find a Alienware or Sonic laptop on Ebay for around the same price I would go with them. I saw an 8200 on ebay with the Ultrasharp screen, 60 gig 5400 HD for like 1350. that is right in my range