Thanks for looking!

I am in the market for a laptop and it has been awhile since I have researched these things.  I am not as interested in brand recommendations as I am in what you experts would require as a minimum for system specs, ie. min RAM, HD, Processor, Monitor, Vid card, etc., etc,.

 Keep in mind I am not rolling in cash, so this is not a dream system, but the minimum I should look for.

Thanks again,

Cavu.

What are you going to be using it for?  Laptops come with all sorts of options such as wide screen monitors, blue tooth, firewire, wireless networking...ect.

HIVE MIND:   Ready

It is going to be used primarily for financial programs, some graphics apps (I do some engraving, so I would like to be able to scan in images and modify them before putting them on the metal), I also run a wireless network at home, so I would like to be able to use it on that net.  

I don't see any need for serious gaming, I have a desktop that I can do that on if needed.  Generally, I think I am just in need of a good all-around laptop.  Nothing top of the line, but I don't want it to be as slow as what I am using now.  I have a compaq presario, Pentium III, 184 mb ram.

I don't know anything about the new Celeron stuff, bluetooth is new to me, and so on and so forth.  This compaq I bought over 7 years ago is the last time I seriously looked at laptop stuff, so I am looking for a crash course in what is "hot" and not.

Thanks again,

Cavu

1.  The quick answer is to go to www.dell.com and order an inspiron with a two year, at home service machine.  If it breaks, Dell will Airborne the parts to a local authorized repair center where the tech will be at your home or office the next morning to fix it while you wait.

2.  You should be able to geat a great machine for less than $1200 total charges.


A Pentium M or Centrino is HIGHLY recommended.  Don't pay too much attention to "clock speed). They are all fast enough.

Get at least a 40gig hard drive, bigger if it's cost effective.

Memory upgrades are often expensive at time of purchase.  Just get 256 unless 512 is free.  Get the extra memory later for cheap.  (If you can field strip an Ar, then you can change memory and drives on a laptop), but you'll need a small screwdriver, a 556 case is just too damn awkward>

Get a DVD/CDRW combo drive, at least.  This is mandatory!

Hope this helps.

BTW, I like the 600m and 2200 models.

A good rule of thumb I have always heard when buying a PC is get as much RAM, hard drive, and the fastest chip you can afford. Won't matter anyway because in 2 weeks it will already be outdated.

The dell is OK but I prefer the IBM.

Since you aren't going to be taxing the machine very much, with simple financial/office work, you don't need a loaded out CPU or Graphics.

I would suggest a memory upgrade, at least a gig.  That'll give you plenty of room for your general stuff like firefox and thunderbird, as well a MS Office and whatever graphics app you like.  (the graphics will eat the memory quick)

I might do some digital photography/scanning and image editing stuff but nothing real intensive I don't think.  I am trying to get up to speed with the new terms, and as far as I can tell, the pentium m may be preferential to the celeron m but not by that much?  

I understand the centrino label refers to the processor, chip set, and wireless card.  Is it worth the extra just to have a centrino branded computer?  Or does it make more sense to get the celeron m processor, a wireless card, and then put the money I save into more memory?

Playing around on the Dell site it appears I can get a laptop for around $1000 that should have all the stuff I would need.  I understand there are folks with preferences for other brands, but to date I have had pretty good luck with Dell so I will probably keep buying them unless I find a great deal on something else.

Thanks for your help guys,

Cavu

I might also be interested in the bluetooth stuff that is out if someone can give me some insight into the practical applications of having it.

Thanks,

Cavu

I'm not sure on the Centrino vs standard chipset but personally if something is made to work together, especially on a laptop, I would just go with that vs trying to put your own parts on it and hoping it works well.  When it comes to memory is there is no such thing as ever having too much.  So get as much as you can, especially if you are going to be working with images.  I would say at least 512MB.  That's what I got on my laptop 3 years ago.

Bluetooth is really just another type of wireless network.  It only broadcasts a very short distance and is mainly used to communicate from one device to another.  There are cellphones that have headsets that use it, Palm Pilots use it, I think they have printers setup to use it, all sorts of portable devices are using it now.

512 MB RAM MINIMUM.


No Celeron processors.  

Quoted: HIVE MIND:   Ready www.sadgeezer.com/andromeda/images/than-003.jpg

get an itronix gobook max.

you can take it to the ocean and through it into the sea, drop it onto the floor, throw it at you kids.. then open it up and use it.

true milspec...

Quoted: get an itronix gobook max. you can take it to the ocean and through it into the sea, drop it onto the floor, throw it at you kids.. then open it up and use it. true milspec...

There are days I feel that I need to throw something, but I don't think the first thing I would reach for would be my new laptop!!

But it is good to know that there is one out there that sounds almost bulletproof.  I'll check it out.

Thanks,

Cavu

ETA: I looked at the Itronix, it looks pretty cool, but the $$ is a little rich for me.  Over $4,000 for a laptop, OUCH.

Ok, laptop has been ordered.  I went with the Dell Inspiron 9300.  Here are the basic specs.

Inspiron 9300 Intel® Pentium® M Processor 760 (2 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)
Display 17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™
Memory 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 2 Dimm
Video Card 256MB NVIDA® GeForce™ Go 6800
Hard Drive 80GB Hard Drive
Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005
Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
CD/DVD Drives 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer write capability
Wireless Networking Card Intel® PRO 2915 and Dell 350 Bluetooth Internal Wireless Cards

I read quite a few reviews from folks that weren't happy with the display.  It seemed most of the recent reviews were quite favorable.  I think the the negative stuff might be coming from some pretty demanding users, I guess I will find out when it gets here.

I went with the 9300 because of ability to upgrade the graphics card.  I'll let you all know what I think of it when I get it up and running.

Thanks again,

Cavu

You should be really happy with it.  What was the total price on it with everything you got?

Quoted: You should be really happy with it.  What was the total price on it with everything you got?

Of course these things never go as you would plan, and as usual, I spent much more money than I had intended.  [voices in my head] "You know if you don't put the additional memory in you will regret it.  Since you are putting in the added memory, you really should get the better graphics card.  Oh, and while your at it, those things would just be perfect if you upgrade to the fastest processor."[voices in my head].  I am such a sucker for the "latest and greatest" stuff.

I don't have the figures here in front of me at the moment, but it was right around $1800 before taxes.  I didn't think that was too bad for what I got.  I had hoped to stay around $1200 but what is another months wages?  Besides a really nice AR!!

cya,

Cavu