Need a <$800 laptop suggestion

[49erinnc]

Looking to buy my first (new) laptop this weekend. Just curious what the best bang for your buck lappys are that I could get in the $600-$800 range. I want at least a 1.5GHz chip, 512MB RAM and I'd really like to get one with decent graphics. Not looking to play the latest and greatest FPS on it but I'd prefer to skimp on the CPU/HDD if it meant better video. And ideally, I'd like a 14.1" screen. 15.4" is a bit too big for me but if the deal was right, I'd take it. Good battery life and integrated WiFi are a plus but not a dealbreaker. Hard drive (40GB is fine), weight, software bundles, etc. aren't important to me.

Right now, I'm eyeballing the Dell E1405/1505. Seems to have my specs but I'm just not sure about the integrated Intel Graphics 950. For a $79 upgrade, I can jump to a Radeon X1300 which I don't know much about. I know desktop graphics but not some of these mobile ones. Also looking at the Toshiba Satellite S90 for $679 at BB. Has Radeon Express 200M graphics (Any good??) but the downside for me personally is the Celeron CPU.

And also looking at the Acer Aspire lappys with the Semprons but from what I read, the battery life on those is poor.

Any suggestions? Would like to get something from either Circuit City, BB, CompUSA, Staples or Dell. And no rebates is a big plus. I do have the coupon code for $300 off $999 at Dell but since the XPS series is excluded, the options are slim for what I'm wanting.

 

[Stokes]

I think you need to focus on the E1505 for this reason:

Right now we are on the verge of 14.1" Gaming Laptops, but all of these laptops come with an extreme price tag in most situations. Dell's Inspiron series does not have a 14.1" with a dedicated graphics 🙁 . Their Lattitude series does however (look for my post a few down titled Looking to Buy Portable Laptop or something similar), I went with dells D620, but I also am paying almost double what you want. And my graphics card isnt meant for gaming, but will handle the load I want to put on it (I hope).

Now if you move up to 15.4" all of a sudden you open up to a lot of things. I configured this for $807:

Inspiron E1505 Intel® Core? Solo processor T1300 (2MB Cache/1.66GHz/667MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
LCD Panel 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife?
Memory 512MB Shared Single Channel DDR2 SDRAM 533MHZ, 1 DIMM
Video Card 128MB ATI MOBILITY? RADEON® X1300 HyperMemory?
Hard Drive FREE! 60GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Sound Card Integrated Audio
Wireless Networking Cards Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card (54Mbps)
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) No productivity suite- Corel WordPerfect word processor only
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription
Primary Battery 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Hardware Warranty 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support


You won't find a 14.1" with a dedicated graphics even close to your price range 🙁

 

[49erinnc]

Originally posted by: Stokes
I think you need to focus on the E1505 for this reason:

Right now we are on the verge of 14.1" Gaming Laptops, but all of these laptops come with an extreme price tag in most situations. Dell's Inspiron series does not have a 14.1" with a dedicated graphics 🙁 . Their Lattitude series does however (look for my post a few down titled Looking to Buy Portable Laptop or something similar), I went with dells D620, but I also am paying almost double what you want. And my graphics card isnt meant for gaming, but will handle the load I want to put on it (I hope).

Now if you move up to 15.4" all of a sudden you open up to a lot of things. I configured this for $807:

Inspiron E1505 Intel® Core? Solo processor T1300 (2MB Cache/1.66GHz/667MHz FSB)
Operating System (Office software not included) Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
LCD Panel 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA Display with TrueLife?
Memory 512MB Shared Single Channel DDR2 SDRAM 533MHZ, 1 DIMM
Video Card 128MB ATI MOBILITY? RADEON® X1300 HyperMemory?
Hard Drive FREE! 60GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
Network Card and Modem Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
Combo/DVD+RW Drives 24X CD Burner/DVD Combo Drive
Sound Card Integrated Audio
Wireless Networking Cards Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini Card (54Mbps)
Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) No productivity suite- Corel WordPerfect word processor only
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) No Security Subscription
Primary Battery 53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
Hardware Warranty 1Yr Ltd Warranty, 1Yr Mail-In Service, and 1Yr HW Warranty Support


You won't find a 14.1" with a dedicated graphics even close to your price range 🙁

That's not a bad configuration for the price actually. I just wish I could find that in a smaller screen but I guess it's not happening. What exactly did you configure to reach that price? I'm seeing the E1505 for $728 with the 1.66GHz duo core, 512MB, 40GB HDD, DVD burner, 15.4" LCD and Radeon X1300 video. Other than the extra 20GB in your HDD config, I'm not seeing where the price jump is to go from $729 to $807. Maybe it was just the HDD knowing Dell.

My girlfriend recently got an XPS with a 14.1" and it just seems huge compared to my current laptop (12" non-WS). So going up to 15.4" is just overwhelming for me. I'd be open to it for the right deal as I mentioned but that's a monster when it's being used solely as a laptop and not as a desktop substitute.