Seeking Windows notebook buying advice

smatanovicsmatanovic
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
So I've been alotted a budget of about $2300 for a new notebook purchase for work. Due to some windows-only proprietary software issues (and some discouraging reports about actually accomplishing anything in VPC) I have decided to go with a windows notebook, while satisfying my mac addiction at home. My question, then, is this:



If you had ~$2300, what PC notebook would you buy, and why?



My basic requirements are as follows:



A minimum 12.1" screen (this will be my primary daily-use machine)



Maximum weight 6lbs.(exclusive of power brick and othr peripherals) though the lighter the better, as I will travel quite a bit



Internal optical drive (preferably a CD-R/DVD combo, but at least a DVD)



built-in wi-fi



Any brands that I should look at befor eothers? Also, are there any makers that I should stay away from?



Thanks in advance,



SM

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 16
    bodhibodhi Posts: 1,424member
    Ummm, you do know what the name of this board is, right?
  • Reply 2 of 16
    nebrienebrie Posts: 483member
    I would get an IBM, the T series is quite nice with both a touchpad and an eraser. Sony only if you get an extended warranty or something because that thing will break down real fast.
  • Reply 3 of 16
    ariari Posts: 126member
    Gateway 450 XL



    13.15" x 10.63" x 1.3" (W x D x H), approximate weight 6.01lb.



    Mobile Intel Pentium 4 Processor @ 2.0 GHz

    512 MB DDR SDRAM

    40 GB Ultra ATA 100 HD

    Floppy Drive

    24x/10x/24x CD-RW & 8x DVD Combo-Drive

    Two Type 2 or One Type 3 PC Card Slots

    2 USB Ports, 1 FireWire Port, SVGA, Parallel, Serial, PS/2, and NTSC/PAL Video Output

    15? XGA Active Matrix TFT Color Display

    ATI Mobility Radeon w/ 32MB DDR Video Memory

    Microsoft Windows XP Professional



    $2128.00
  • Reply 4 of 16
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    Dude, get a Dell!
  • Reply 5 of 16
    ariari Posts: 126member
    Having owned a Dell laptop myself, I can confidently refute Matsu's suggestion. The trials of Dell-ownership were what made me leave the Wintel platform in favor of the Macintosh. I was tired of Windows not working and very tired of the Dell hardware being so subpar. And I never found their "award-winning" tech support to be anything to write home about.



    [ 11-05-2002: Message edited by: Ari ]</p>
  • Reply 6 of 16
    ariari Posts: 126member
    DP



    [ 11-05-2002: Message edited by: Ari ]</p>
  • Reply 7 of 16
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    BS.



    I've seen a ton of Dell's and they have been perfectly reliable. My boss has a Dell, a few of my close friends have multiple Dell's, among the PC users I know, they are the only ones who've never had a problem.
  • Reply 8 of 16
    smatanovicsmatanovic Posts: 120member
    Thanks for all of the responses. Has anyone used Toshibas? The Portege 4010 and Tecras look like they might fit the bill, though they are a bit more expensive.



    Thanks,

    SM
  • Reply 8 of 16
    xionjaxionja Posts: 504member
    Toshiba laptops are really the best for a Pc laptop. Decently styled and suprisinly good features for the price. Supposedly they have good tech support. My dad has a gateway laptop, looks as close to the ti-book that you will get, but it sucks, and it has absolutly no battery to speak of. Avoid the gateways.
  • Reply 10 of 16
    matsumatsu Posts: 6,558member
    I shoul also note that I have also seen credit card claims reports for a major credit card and DELL does have a lot of claims/complaints relative to other makers, but I dunno if that's better or worse than any other company on a per unit basis, remember, Dell also sells a lot more computers than anybody else. So, iDunno, one the one hand my first hand experience has seen them be 100% reliable, on the other hand they may be no better or worse than other makes ???
  • Reply 11 of 16
    smatanovicsmatanovic Posts: 120member
    [quote]Originally posted by Bodhi:

    <strong>Ummm, you do know what the name of this board is, right? </strong><hr></blockquote>



    Included in the description s "purchasing advice." I'd say my question qualifies.



    SM
  • Reply 12 of 16
    blizaineblizaine Posts: 239member
    I would go with Toshiba. They make great laptops.



    Our company has been using them for 4-5 years and never had any problems.



    For $2,300 I would go with:

    Toshiba Satellite Pro 6100 (PS610U-02HTC9)

    1.70GHz P4

    15? UXGA (1600 x 1200)

    256MB PC2100 DDR SDRAM

    NVIDIA GeForce4 420 Go w/32MB DDR

    DVD/CD-RW combo drive

    40GB Hard drive

    10/100 Ethernet

    V.90/56K modem

    Integrated Wi-Fi (IEEE 802.11b)

    XP Pro



    If you want to save some money you can get the following for $1499:

    Satellite Pro 6100 (PS610U-024K19)

    1.7Ghz P4

    256MB 2100 DDR

    40GB Hard Drive

    DVD/CD-RW combo

    56K

    10/100

    14.1" XGA

    Geforce4Go w/16MB DDR

    XP Pro



    Both of these have a Docking slot on the bottom for port replication. I just purchased 3 of these (The cheaper one), with the docking station for my company and they are very impressive computers.



    Later,

    Blizaine
  • Reply 13 of 16
    stevesteve Posts: 523member
    Easily Toshiba. They're the only notebooks I would consider after a PowerBook.
  • Reply 14 of 16
    smatanovicsmatanovic Posts: 120member
    Looks like Toshiba is the way to go. CDW has some rather good deals on Tecra's and Portege 4110's. The Sp 6100 reviewed above is a bit biger than what I am looking for, but I will go to the local Crap USA and put my hands on a few of these machines and see what I can see.



    Thanks for all of the input, everyone.



    SM
  • Reply 15 of 16
    progmacprogmac Posts: 1,850member
    looking at the laptop prices posted in this thread, i'm starting to notice how competive apple's offerings really are. good work, der apfel
  • Reply 16 of 16
    klinuxklinux Posts: 453member
    My recommendation is to follow <a href="http://www.techbargains.com/"; target="_blank">http://www.techbargains.com/</a>; for a week and decide.



    You can get a great desktop and a laptop for $2300!
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