Need advice on a new laptop

[Muad'Dib]

As a graduation gift, my Grandma decided she wants to buy me a laptop. I think, but I'm not sure, that she wants to spend somewhere between 1500 and 2000 dollars.

I need something that would be rediculously stable. It will be used mostly for school, with of course: the occasional need to transfer things from school with a fast connection to home computer which would be on a modem, and possibly some games or DVD's on my way back to L.A. once in a while.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I don't know dick about laptops.

Thanks guys.

-D

[Jammrock]

I have lots of experience in Toshiba and Dell laptops, some in Compaq, and very small amounts in Gateway and Micron.

Toshiba's quality has been trash lately. I honestly can't recommend Toshiba right now.

Dell's are my prefered brand right now. Latitudes are light weights in both performance and weight. They are good laptops (what I have from work) and rather sturdy. Inspiron's are monsters! You can really deck one of those beasts out and have a near desktop system with it. The performance comes at a price/weight/battery time disadvantage though. Look at the Inspiron 4000 and 8000 line. Go here to check out options and configure: http://www.dell.com/us/en/dhs/produc..._notebooks.htm

Compaq's are solid performers, but their tech support isn't the best. With the recent HP merger it may have gotten better...or it could be in complete confusion. I can't say. Compaq's are okay, but I'd take Dell over them any time.

Gateway I don't trust. With them you either get a monster machine or a paper weight.

Micron's are okay, but I haven't worked with their laptop's in ages. Unless their QC has gone to pot lately, they should be a good buy. Still would take a Dell over a Micron, unless money was very tight.

Recommended components to slip the price within range (I assume you're keeping your desktop, so certain things are omitted since it would be function duplication from your desktop):

1-1.2 GHz CPU
256 MB RAM on 1 DIMM (makes it easier and cheaper to upgrade through Crucial later)
16 MB Ati Mobility (looks much better than the GeForce2 Go, just not as good for gaming)
10-20 GB HDD (since long term storage will be on your desktop)
8X DVD-ROM
3-Yr At-Home warranty (mail-in sucks)

Jammrock

[MetalCartman]

We've >500 notebooks at work, most of them are Dell Latitudes the rest are a few (~50) Compaq Armadas.

Believe me, the Latitude C8x0s are not light weights, ask my shoulder... As far as performance goes, I like my 1 year old C800 (PIII850E mobile/256MB RAM/20GB HDD/DVD), although our new standard model C840 (P4 1.6m) is faster. These C8x0 systems are rock stable, if you have the current BIOS. They never make any serious trouble.

The Compaq Armadas are not available at the moment, the few we got are not as good as the Dells, concerning quality and handling.

My girlfriend has an old Dell Latitude CPi D266XT (PII 266MHz/128MB RAM/ 3.4GB HDD) which she bought used from a leasing company. She runs XP on it, absolutely trouble-free.

Have fun with your new toy!

Cartman

[TnT]

Anyone have experience with Sager Notebooks at http://www.powernotebooks.com? The price is great and the features, especially since it is customizable, are perfect. I'm recommending a laptop to my sister, and this place has gotten great reviews over at http://www.resellerratings.com.