laptop technology? Looking for a replacement.

[ZokesPro]

Asus laptops are the best bang for the buck hands down. I own 2 and have recommended them to a few people who are all happy with them. Almost all of them come with a bag and external plus a 2 year warranty.

Maybe I've been unlucky but this is my thrid replacement in 10 months. I don't trust Asus much, although it performs great.

[az]

MacBooks are manufactures by Asus, BTW.

[Fat Tone]

Looks like my dream of a MacbookPro has fresh legs. I've asked for a Macbook Pro 17" wtih 1920*1200 screen, 2GB, 200GB@7200, 2,5GHz C2D and VMWare Fusion. I'm not worried about fertility anyway Education gets quite a good discount.

What else do I need to get with it?

[Gurm]

My personal take on laptops:

Dell = Solid
HP = Solid
HP COMPAQ = Bad
Thinkpad = Rock, but more $$
Toshiba = So-so. Some models are awesome, and other models run great but wear out fast. I like Toshibas an awful lot, but out of the 3 I've had in the past few years, 2 have fallen apart and 1 has been rock solid... and there seems to be no predicting it.

[UtwigMU]

I dropped my work HPaq nx6110 from the rack (~1m) the other day. The screen latches broke, lid was closed, the HDD is toast. It doesn't install Windows though Linux installs fine. I'll probably be getting used 12" Thinkpad X31 and pimp it out with 2GB and 250GB drive, like I pimped my T42p.

Oh and Fat Tone with Macs you can forget about usable resolutions. With 17" MacBook (you also need to purchase an SUV with 17" laptop for transportation) you only get 1680x1050, which is enough if all you do is IMing your friends while posing in a Starbucks.

On the other hand used 15" T4xp or T60p with SIPS flexview 1600x1200, 15.4" T62p 1920x1200 or 12" X62t tablet with SIPS 1400x1050. Now you're talking.

[Claymonkey]

Stay AWAY from Toshiba. They are nice enough... at first. But they get banged up faster than anything I've ever seen. My last company kept buying them (worked with Gurm) since for the price you seem to get more. They scuff up faster than you know what to do with, and that's with just taking them out and putting it right back in a laptop bag. You'll honestly wonder HOW it got ugly so fast. That and I haven't been terribly impressed with the hardware itself either.

Thinkpads... are just solid. I replaced a couple bad parts on an old T41 and gave it to my mother and it's still looks and feels like a new laptop once I added a little more ram to it. Unless you drop kick it they just won't die.

Apple is awesome but I'd be careful that you don't get the ones that stain easy... hand stains on white... bleh

I've probably touched more Dell laptops in my life than anything else... Biz models (Latitudes) tend to be very solid.. though the super small salesmen ones tend to be flakey little SOB's (honestly same rule applies to Thinkpads). Stay away from Inspirons, they are meant for light personal use and it shows. On that same note stay away from compaq branded HP's for the same reason... even the compaq biz models.

Hardware specific... good luck finding a good screen rez... this tendency for low resolutions just annoy me. Yes most people hate uber small text but I miss the days of 1600x1200 screens being a norm on 15" laptops. Is it that hard at the shop to customize the default font size? I mean really? Put a freakin' icon on the desktop that says "20/20" and another that says "grandma eyes"

At this point not getting something Dual Core is just silly.. and why are we still making Celerons?

Other than that things like DVD burners, 120-160gb drives and at least 1GB of ram seems to be the norm now.. good. Chipsets... meh I haven't stayed on top of it but it seems the embedded graphics HAVE gotten better. If you can still get something with dedicated Ram you'll be happier, but you're a Murcer and already knew that

[Fat Tone]

The Macbook Pro I've asked for (and which seems to have been agreed but won't be ordered until the last week in April) will have the 1920*1200 upgraded screen for £60. There are matt and glossy options. That's as many pixels as my 24" dell

So the real question is what extra software and accessories should I be getting? I've included VMWare Fusion and the remote (assuming that will work for presentations).

MacBook Pro 17-inch
Part Number: Z0F2
200GB Serial ATA @ 7200 rpm 065-7485
2.5GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 065-7729
2GB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB 065-7475
Country Kit 065-7490
Apple Remote 065-7483
Keyboard & Mac OS 065-7487
MacBook Pro 17-inch Hi-Resolution Widescreen Display 065-7474 SuperDrive 8X (DVD+R DL/DVD+RW/CD-RW) 065-7480

[Claymonkey]

Nice! Honestly i only ever heard about the discoloration problems from the MacBook's not the Pros. Have to admit I'm jealous.

[MultimediaMan]

Hold on until late summer...

I have heard about some things coming from Roundrock that are scarcely to be believed.

[Fat Tone]

I have to strike while there are pennies in the kitty, but do tell

[VJ]

I'm also curious......

[Umfriend]

I think that'll be the fanless foldable dual quadcore 3xdual GPU SLI 16 GB 64-bit XP with full driver support 20" 2560x1920 WS laptop weighing 1.5 kg including batteries on which it'll run at full load for about 9 hrs, all at a cost of US$1500

Well, maybe not quite but close?

[MultimediaMan]

I think that'll be the fanless foldable dual quadcore 3xdual GPU SLI 16 GB 64-bit XP with full driver support 20" 2560x1920 WS laptop weighing 1.5 kg including batteries on which it'll run at full load for about 9 hrs, all at a cost of US$1500

Well, maybe not quite but close?

Closer than you think...

The 8th. and the 9th. words in your statement were mentioned to me...

[Umfriend]

No clue what Roundrock points to though. Who/What is @ Roundrock?

[MultimediaMan]

Look in Texas... Round Rock, Texas...