Notebooks

[mogoman]

I am a college student at UC Berkeley. I am looking for a notebook with some specific conditions.

Something that is cheap, under $1000, a DVD player, moderatly fast processor, at or around 1 ghz, enough ram to power a game like warcraft 3. Weight is an issue, but if its cheap, I dont really mind.

If anyone knows of a company that can make laptops like this, or can match some of these specifications, would you please let me know.

Thank You

 

[DaveSimmons]

You can find them at that price all the time in the Hot Deals section, often for $600-800. Anything you find will be well over a 1 GHz.

The main thing in comparing them is that a "mobile" processor runs cooler than a "desktop" processor, so the laptop itself doesn't need to run a fan as much (or at all).

The other main point is memory: if you find a laptop with only 128 MB, you really need to buy an extra 256 MB (or even 512 MB) SODIMM stick of memory. One with 256 MB RAM is OK, but even there adding another 256 MB stick is a good idea. ( Crucial.com has a memory selector to find you the right stick )

For under $1K it probably will either have motherboard graphics ("intel AGP") or a slow video chip like a radeon 7000 or geforce 2 equivalent. Fine for some 3D games at 640x480 but that's about all. 2D based games will be fine.

Finally, if you see a "centrino" or "pentium M" (not 4) this is a great but more expensive low power CPU, so it's an excellent choice, much better than a Celeron at any speed or most P4's.

 

[fbrdphreak]

On the retail side of things, look at HP/Compaq or Gateway (Ya, I know). HP/Compaq has a series w/15" XGA, 40-60GB HDD, 256-512MB, Wireless b/g, Athlon XP-M 2800+ :-D, CD-RW/DVD-ROM, and ATI IGP. They are usually around $1000 in store, sometimes $800 after rebates. As far as the Gateway, Best Buy sells a Centrino model using 1.5Ghz Pentium M, 512MB, CD-RW/DVD-ROM, 15" XGA, wireless b/g, 60GB for about $1250 on sale (all instant rebates too). Ideally, I would get that for the price. Otherwise, go w/the Athlon XP-M models from HP/Compaq.