Hi i'm a student about to attend college and just as most students do, I need a laptop. Im looking for it to be very energy effecient but also very good with gaming and other demanding tasks. This has brought me to consider core duo based laptops with dedicated graphics cards.

One of my major considerations has been the Apple Macbook Pro. Some specific requirements include a 2.16 Ghz Core Duo, 2 GB of ram, (and with the Macbook Pro I would just get 1 GB and then order the other from new egg to save two hundred dollars) a dvd burner, at least a x1600, 256mb video card from ati or a 7600gt from nvidia. (both energy effecient mobile versions) I would be fine with something more powerful as long as it is still an energy effecient mobile version and fits in my price range. (my price range stretches from 2000 to 2700 dollars) I also dont want to be carrying around a 10 lb. monster, I would like to keep it under 7 lb. if I could. One more thing (as if I wasnt being anal about this already) is that I need it to be reliable, I don't want some computer that craps out the minute the 1 year limited warranty runs out. One thing I noticed is that most people recommend the dell xps or alienware laptops for gaming. The only problem is that in order to get all the bells and whistles like I want I would be out of my price range and I think $3000 is more than enough for a laptop. Some of this may seem picky I guess but if im going to be spending over two grand on a notebook I want it to suit my needs as well as possible. So with all these variables im trying to find the best deal possible and I must say its quite a challenge.

My final problem/consideration is that there is alot of new technology coming down the road. I was waiting to see how the Turion X2's did compared to the Core Duo and as far as I have heard the Core Duo has won pretty handily. Other things include Merom (supposed to be coming out in August) and wireless n built into notebooks. (maybe even new dedicated laptop graphics cards?) Merom would give me the 64bit capability, the ~20% increased performance its going to bring, and the SSE4 instruction set that the Core Duo lacks. My issue with waiting is that I need it before the first day classes start on Aug. 28th. I'm a little unnerved by the fluidity of the Merom release date as well as the time it will take to come to market. So I hope you can see my dilemma and offer up some opinions (and great deals you've heard of) on the situation, thanks.

Hey

I just went through a similar process, and i ended up getting a dell m1710, b/c its dual core, usable as portable computer, and you can get some great deals if you hunt around a bit. Plus, the already great cpu can be upgraded to merom down the road.

If you just straight out buy a dell, you don't get your money's full worth, just like all the other gaming notebook manufacturers (alienware, voodoo, falcon NW, etc). but unlike all those, you can actually get a good deal on a dell. Also, check out www.notebookforums.com/ for their list of available dell coupons or used laptops, and also visit Dell outlet website for some brand new systems at a fairly good price

I'd get a Thinkpad T60p. It's got dual core and a 256MB x1600 (although it's called the V5200 when it's sold with workstation-class drivers, it is the same part), 7200RPM drives, etc. Thinkpads are very reliable. The 15" offers a decent blend of performance and portability, plus the nice FlexView screen. The 14" offers lighter weight and better battery performance.

If you buy a modular-bay battery with one of these, you can achieve over six hours of runtime on battery with the 6-cell, over eight hours with the nine-cell main battery. I prefer the six-cell because the 9-cell juts out the back.

If you really want to take your work with you, do yourself a favor and don't buy a big horking notebook. 14" screen size is the absolute largest I would consider really portable. In addition, a wide-screen aspect ratio is wasted for schoolwork in any but the biggest and smallest models. The only exceptions to this are people who routinely work with very wide documents, such as finance/accounting majors with spreadsheets.

High Quality.........check
x1600 256 MB.....check
Core Duo.............check
Within Budget......check

The Wakizachi is well within your budget, 15.4" WXGA glossy super bright and crisp. The ODM actually makes the screens for the MAC Book Pro. The case is second to none in quality and durability, yet still comes in under 6lbs.

Power? The thing oozes it, with the Core Duo 2.0 Ghz T2500 standard and 2.16 and 2.33 available upgrades... the thing could save the Earth.

Memory? Your choice, Low Latency DDR2-533with 4-4-4-8 (the most agressive timings available), or DDR2-667 for the HUGE bandwidth.

Hard Drive? Far as I know, the ONLY company with 7,200 rpm Hard Drivesstandard.

What about upgrade cost? The fairest, most reasonable upgrade costs in the industry.

Support? Phone, email, and web based. You talk to a human, not a maze of voice mails and phone prompts for days. Had a customer the other day. Needed to update his BIOS. Didn't have a USB floppy drive, didn't know how to install it. I make him a CD boot disk with his BIOS on it with complete instructions (whih when I was done was type in 1 word). What's DELL gonna do same situation? They are going to make you wait for 30 minutes on the phone to talk to someone you don't understand in India that know LESS about your problem then you do and says, "have a nice day.", cheerily as your problem remains.

http://www.thisistrue.com/dellhell.html
http://www.icecomputer.com/unhappy.htm
http://www.vocalabs.com/resources/ [...] index.html

IBM doesn't even make the computers any more, it's Lenovo. They have their own quality issues.

Killer Notebooks is for the select few...

been a heavy laptop user over the years and switched to apple 2 years agogo
would deffo get a macbook if i was you. just easier to use, lighter, better power, and better customer support etc all in all

The biggest obsticle MAC has to overcome is the proprietary programs that have been developed for the PC, and they look like they have the answer with the new software that runs Windows within the MAc.

Me personally... I don't get it. Why you would want a MAC over a PC. My step dad is always talking up his MacBook Pro and it is like, "Dude, it's a stinkin' Quanta... who cares!"