it's time for a new laptop

[scott a]

So it's about time for me to pick up a shiny new laptop. Operating under the belief that you should buy the most up to date, latest and greatest piece of electronics out there (because it'll stay "current"/usable longer), I'm in the process of outfitting as many different models of laptops out there just to see which one will give me the features I want while still not breaking the bank (of course this is all relative ). Oh, and I'm gonna be using this lappy mainly to edit photos while on the road, so it's not exactly in my best interest to skimp too much on features or speed.

Aside from my dad and college roomate having a Toshiba lappy, my brother loving his 1 yr old Dell lappy, and sorta constantly reading up on the Apple MBP, I have no experience in laptops. For the record, both Toshibas were garbage, and my brother LOVES his Dell...as do I. No issues, and a big BEAUTIFUL screen.

NOTE: processor and memory are set to max, HD is set to 160gb regardless of max, wireless NOT set to max, warranty set to max length. I left the OS at Vista Home Premium which is the free choice on all models.

green=things I like
red=things I don't like, or are specs that are maxed out and still not "up to par" with the rest.

DELL XPS M1710
processor-Intel Core 2 Duo T7600G (2.33GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 667 MHz FSB)
Display- 17 inch UltraSharp Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife- resolution: 1900x1200 pixels
OS- Vista Home Premium (though Dell has recently started re-offering XP)
memory- 4GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHZ, 2 DIMM
HD- 160GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
CD/DVD/ETC- 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
graphics- 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7950 GTX
audio- Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™HD Software Edition
wireless -Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Internal (2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate).
warranty- Accidental Damage and LoJack Theft Protection for 4Yr (In house warranty for 2 yrs)
price- $5,708.00 (<--)


APPLE MACBOOK PRO
processor- 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Display- MacBook Pro 17-inch Glossy Widescreen Display: resolution- 1680 x 1050 pixels
OS- duh...but it can run bootcamp/parallels.
memory- 3GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 1x2GB, 1x1GB
HD- 160GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
CD/DVD/ETC- SuperDrive 8x (DVD+R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
graphics- not listed
audio- not listed
wireless- not listed
warranty- applecare- up to three years.
price- $3,723.00

SONY VGN-AR370
processor- Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7600 (2.33GHz)
Display- 17" WXGA+ display with XBRITE-HiColor Technology
OS- Vista Home Premium
memory- 2 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-667, 1 GBx2)
HD- 160GB SATA Hard Disk Drive
CD/DVD/ETC- DVD+-R Double Layer/DVD+-RW Drive
graphics- NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600
audio- not listed
wirelessWireless LAN 802.11 a/b/g with Bluetooth Technology
warranty- 5 Year Onsite Service Plan for Notebooks
price- $3,044.99

HP DV-9000T
processor- Intel(R) Core(TM) 2 Duo T7200 (2.0GHz/4MB L2Cache)
Display- 17.0" WXGA+ Ultra BrightView Widescreen (1440x900)
OS- Vista Home Premium
memory- 2gb DDR2 (1GBx2)
HD- 160GB SATA @5400RPM
CD/DVD/ETC- LightScribe DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer
graphics- not listed
audio- not listed
wireless- Intel(R) PRO/Wireless 3945ABG Network w/Bluetooth
warranty- 4 year
price- $2,266.98

[scott a]

so...anyone have any input on this?

I'm also thinking of just ordering the lappy w/ the least amount of memory possible, then putting my own DIMMs in...might be cheaper that way. In the Dell XPS there's a $1,500 difference between 2gb and 4gb of RAM.

I don't like the single button mouse on the Apple

Having a docking station for the laptop would be a big plus. Dell and HP offer this that I know of...but maybe they all do?

[jumalian]

i'd get a toshiba ten times over before i got an hp or a sony. that's from experience and experience of others. sorry, no experience w/ xps or mbp.

[chavez]

scott a, I would check Toshiba in that mix. Maybe even IBM/Lenovo.

The price on that Dell is ridiculous.

I am picking up a MacBook in the next 2 weeks in prep for my wife's graduation/birthday. Will get her a 2 button external for using XP.

[wesgardner]

scott a,

My wife has the smaller Vaio - the screen's about 14" +/- - it's light-weight, great resolution, fast little machine

I just bought two HPdv6000's for my daughters - seem like reasonable machines - they are only going to be going to school (Word, Excel, stuff like that) as well as Internet, AIM...once again, for the price ($800) w/ Intel Core processors and 1gig of RAM, seem like reasonable machines for the money...looks like you want something a bit more high-end

Nothing high-end at my house...I still have a Mac running System 9.5

[DJew Jake]

I would recommend acer laptops, I think they are the toughest best built and their customer service is next to none. As for being upset about the 5400 vs 7200 rpm hard drive you do know the 7200s use ALOT more battery and the only difference is like an 11 or 9 ms seek. the actual speed you pull data off them is the same.

[b_girl]

I had a Toshiba laptop - I wouldn't get one again, it was fine for a while, but then it all went to s**t.

One day the screen flickered, and when it came back on there was an entire corner that was 'missing' as well as black fuzzy lines around the outside perimeter of the display. It almost looked like it was dropped, but I swear I treated that thing like gold.

Also, one of the fans died and in order to replace it (or even just clean it) you had to pull the whole bottom off and remove the heat-sync. I'm not sure if all Tosh laptops are designed like that, but it's one thing to keep in mind.

Now I've got a Dell (Latitude D510) and I love it.