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Denmark’s New Laptop

Posted by on 1 November 2002

I know it says that denmark posted this, but it was really Thad!!... But I like it. Now all of you can help me out :)I’m looking for a personal laptop. My criteria are:

Fast, Non-P4 processor
Good, ~15″ screen (SVGA, UXGA)
min. 20GB HDD
DVD-ROM and CD-RW
Integrated WirelessLAN
CableLAN

Preferred brands are Sony, HP and Dell…

Can I have some comments and suggestions from everyone…?

Best Regards,
Michael

7 Responses to Denmark’s New Laptop

  1. November 1 2002
    Samuel

    A suggestion-

    The P4 is a real power hog and will a) drain a battery like nothing you’ve seen before, and 2) boost the cost into an unnecessarily high realm. I’d recommend staying with a P3 or AthlonXP, as they consume far less power.

    You will have a hard time finding a 1.4 MHz processor, but 1.2 GHz P3s start at $1075.

    I have been thoroughly satisfied with my Sony VAIO PCG-F580. It is a 650 MHz machine with a 15″ monitor and 12 gigs of storage space. There is an auction for one closing on eBay in 3+ hours.

    You can throw a wireless card in whenever you want. A bit cumbersome but…

    Sam

  2. November 1 2002
    Kendall

    I looked on pricegrabber and they had some good prices on Sony P4 1.5′s, but without the network card…

    anyone up for some golf this afternoon?

  3. November 1 2002
    Thaddeus

    My opinion on laptops:

    a 14 or 15in screen in nice, but they aren’t all the same. My 14 in SXGA+ screen with a resolution of 1400×1050 is amazing…and they have one with a resolution of 1600×1200 that I think is a little small. It works out to 86% more screen realestate….I will never go back to 1024×768.

    I have a pIII 1ghz….it’s very fast. Sam is right about the power consumption of the p4 and the speed increase is very minimal….but with a Dell it might be your only option.

    I love my internal wireless network card, more and more places have a wireless network, and not having to carry a card around to put in and check for wireless is awesome. It’s just a nice little surprise to find you have connectivity.

    Sony makes some really sexy laptops…dell’s are not as sexy but they are known to have the best service. I had my keyboard replaced after I dropped a fan on it with no questions asked. Next day on site service is worth the extra hundred for three years. I’ve already gotten it back.

    I was just looking at dell. With a 15in screen requirement…the small laptops are out. I have an Inspiron 4100.

    Buy extra RAM at crucial.com and install it yourself. Having 512MB is nice.

  4. November 1 2002
    denmark

    Thanks for the great feedback guys!

    Online auctions are usually a good option, but I don’t have very good comfort level with online auctions. I prefer buying $1,000+ items from a vendor that will provide a service agreement for 3-4 years, like Sony or Dell.

    What the call on refurbished items??

    I have a refurbished Vaio GR390 (1.2GHz Pentium III, 512MB, 30GB, DVD/CD-RW, Windows XP, 15″ TFT) available for $1,450 w. tax and shipping.

    If that’s not good, then here’s a similar, new Vaio GRX520 (1.6GHz Pentium 4-M, 256 MB, 30 GB, DVD/CD-RW, Windows XP, 15″ TFT) for $1,456 w. tax and shipping

    - Michael

  5. November 1 2002
    Thad

    I feel that buying a laptop is a much different purchase than buying a desktop computer. I will not buy a new laptop without a good warranty because they just don’t sell the parts you’d need if something broke. A ’90 days parts and labor’ warranty isn’t much help next year when you keyboard stops working. These things cost so much that I’d like to have a good warranty covering it for at least 2 years, as that is my minimum expected life of ownership.

    Because of my experiences with Dell, I highly and exclusively recommend them for computer purchases. Their prices are competitive, and again service on a laptop should be a major consideration. I can’t speak for Sony or HP owners and their experiences with service.

    Tips for buying from Dell. Call their ‘Small Business’ division, you’ll usually save at least $50 and can often order the computer without some software you might already own. Not part of a company…make one up, they don’t care. Also, check back over a week or so. You’ll find that some of their deals are more beneficial to what you want to buy.

  6. November 12 2002
    Thad

    Which computer did you get?

  7. November 12 2002
    denmark

    Still looking. I have a friend with a one-year old Dell Inspiron 8200. It has all of the above and more, and two years service left and he will probably sell for around $1000.

    Otherwise, I will probably go with a new notebook from one of the non-vendor sites (pricegrabber or cnet) and buy additional warranty from the original manufacturer… not sure if that’s possible, but worth a shot :)