Spent a lot of $$$ (Laptop), need external confidence in my purchase.

[getbush]

Hi all.

I've been cruisin' the forums for laptop info and i finally took the plunge. I'm taking this lappy to college with me in the fall where its toughest assignment will be sorting through IMs and playing MP3s, because I play zero games. Anyway, here are the specs and what i paid:

Compaq Presario 2800T-1.60Ghz MPS: Home Productivity

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Processor Mobile Intel ® Pentium ® 4 Processor 1.60Ghz-M

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Memory 128MB 266MHz DDR SDRAM (1 DIMM) (Adding 256MB from Crucial Immediately)

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Hard Drive 20.0 GB UDMA Hard Drive

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CD / DVD ROM Drive 8X DVD/CD-RW (8X8X24X) Combo Drive MultiBay

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Screen 15.0" TFT XGA Display

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ISP Promotion 6 Months of AOL for FREE! (Yippeee)

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Software Microsoft Productivity Suite

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Modem Integrated 56K v.92 PCI Modem and 10/100 NIC

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Graphics Card 32MB Dedicated DDR Video Memory

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Diskette Drive 1.44 MB Floppy Drive MultiBay

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Power Adapter AC Adapter Included

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Battery 8 cell LiIon Battery 57.6 WHr

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Audio JBL Pro Audio System with Bass Reflex

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Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition

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System Warranty 1yr Parts / 1 yr labor/1yr mail-in

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Software Technical Support 90-day Software Technical Support

Blah Blah Blah

Grand Total including Tax and shipping: $1642

What do you guys think? I'll be back on after i get home from weigtlifting, your comments are highly appreciated.

 

[thraxes]

cool


I want one too, mom!

Is it a Radeon mobility GPU or GeForceGo?

 

[murphy55d]

So you bought a $1,600 mp3 player?

No offense dude but I think that's a very stupid purchase. If you don't play games, what kind of applications are you going to be running that require a 1.6 ghz laptop? Awhile back I wanted a laptop for mostly the same reason, I just bought a used laptop though, and it does the same thing you're gonna be doing with it for $1,100 less. I can surf the net, type up documents, use AIM and play mp3's just as well as the 1.6ghz can, and I'm bangin 300mhz and paid $500.

I don't mean to sound harsh, but I don't see the need to spend all that money when you don't really need to. That extra $1,100 can come in handy during college.

 

[getbush]

No offense taken murphy. There were other things I wanted like the 15" screen and the combo drive. The 2800 is also pretty sleek and lightweight at 5.3lbs. Due to the tough if not impossible upgradability of most aspects of a laptop i wanted a processor that will still feel spunky after 5 years. I did choose the lowest processor in the 2800 line and also the smallest hard drive so give me some credit there

PS - The cash came from my 70 hour work week, and I budgeted for not working while at school also. Thanks for your input guys.

EDIT: Radeon Mobility

 

[bunker]

The only thing I would have done differently is shelled out a little more $$$ for a longer (say..3 year) warranty.

 

[apoppin]

Edit: Radeon Mobility is fine.

Other than that it is a nice but expensive notebook. (I don't think you checked out "Hot Deals" forum before you took the plunge.)

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: bunker
The only thing I would have done differently is shelled out a little more $$$ for a longer (say..3 year) warranty.

Did you buy it with a "premium" credit card (e.g. Visa Gold)? If so, you automatically double the manufacturer's warranty to two years.

 

[HalfCrazy]

You must get paid alot of money per hour. To afford a laptop like that on a 70hr paycheck.

 

[Siddhartha]

Nice laptop. It should meet your needs while you are in college.

 

[quirky]

nice. i coudltn be happier with my 2800

i would get a wireless internet pc card too, provided that your university supports it.

 

[daddyo]

Looks awesome.

Upgrade the warranty if you can.

 

[Derango]

All good except the LCD...15" 1024x768 native res. Yea, thats going to look good Don't they offer SXGA+ or UXGA?

 

[getbush]

Thanks for your opinion everyone. The warranty stuff is a good point, hopefully it won't be a factor. I'll save money by not having a desktop that "needs" upgrading. I did actually check out the hot deals forums for a few weeks but none of the laptops in the deals were ever just right for me. I checked out the difference between the different 15" screen resolutions, and decided I didn't want to squint. I don't really need the real estate because I always maximize whatever I'm working on anyway because I can't have too many distractions. I'm glad to hear you like your 2800 quirky. Thanks again all.