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Need some laptop purchasing help

I

Ike0069

Diamond Member
I am well versed in PC knowledge, but I've never owned a laptop so I have only limited knowledge about different models and laptop specific features.

A friend has is looking for a new (first) laptop for business use. She owns her own catering company, so I'm guessing she will want to set it up for scheduling, ordering food, accounting, etc. It will need dial-up as well as hi-speed access (not sure if dial-up is standard in new laptops or not).

 
From what I know, laptops now (including my T60) still have a 56k modem. As for high speed access, are you referring to some kind of cell phone network which you can access just about anywhere, such as EVDO, or just the combination of a Cable/DSL line along with a network based off of ethernet or Wifi?
 
Originally posted by: wearetheborg
I belive a macbook does not have a modem?
Click to expand...

I think you are right on that note. But most other notebooks currently for sale still have integrated modems.

How much money is your friend looking at spending, any particular size of screen that she wants? Is portability also a concern?
 
For hi-speed, I just meant a built in ethernet and preferrably built-in wireless.
As for size, no real preference and it will need to be portable.

Budget is about $800 or so right now, but that is very flexible. I just don't know how nice of a laptop you can get for $800.

Since she doesn't need a high end or even med range graphics card and can would likely be fine with 512MB RAM, I'm guessing that helps lower the price fairly significantly, no?

 
Originally posted by: Ike0069
For hi-speed, I just meant a built in ethernet and preferrably built-in wireless.
As for size, no real preference and it will need to be portable.

Budget is about $800 or so right now, but that is very flexible. I just don't know how nice of a laptop you can get for $800.

Since she doesn't need a high end or even med range graphics card and can would likely be fine with 512MB RAM, I'm guessing that helps lower the price fairly significantly, no?
Click to expand...

In that price range, take a look at the Inspiron E1405. The model starting at $759 includes integrated ethernet/modem, 1.66GHz Core Duo, 512MB RAM, and a 60GB hdd.
 
Yes, just about any laptop will have ethernet, and just about everything over $600 should have wifi built in. That's a no issue. Since portability is important, I'd stay 14" and under. For $800, some choices include the Compaq V2000/Z series, Dell e1405, Dell 710M, Thinkpad Z60t (albeit a very basic one), and if you can bring the budget to about $900, I think there's a basic Core Solo Thinkpad T60 out there as well.
 
The Thinkpad line is supposed to be very nice, right?

I also have heard good things about Toshiba's. Are there any particular models or brands that one should stay away from?
 
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