New NoteBook???

brian14

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May 2, 2002
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OK, I give up. I no next to nothing about PC's. BUT Notebooks! Good god,

I'm lost, very lost.
I have around $1600 give or take, to spend on a new notebook.
Any suggestions?
There is no real area that is more important then another. Like gaming etc

... Probably play a couple games, but thats about it. So a 32bit card will

do.
Do take some pic's and will need sufficant RAM (512) and at least 60Gig HD. But

that stuff can be figured in later. I need to know what brand is the best,

sonny,IBM,Dell.......?
thanks for any help. I appreciate it.
Brian

peace be with you
 

Howard

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Feb 13, 2001
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It would be hard to say which one would fit your needs. I personally had a dell laptop (latitude C400) and had no problems with the hardware. Compaq/HP aren't the best, but aren't the worst either. Toshiba's higher end laptop (2000+) is very impressive, but its lower end models aren't that impressive in my opinion. Sony laptops looks real cool, but their accessories cost a lot. I was looking at the SRX87 bach then, battery costs 200 for standard, 400 for high capasity. Costs 120 for high capasity for my Dell. I don't have any opinions of Gateway, but don't hear much problems about them. A lot of people like Dells, but a new one may be out of your budget. I'd suggest looking at dell outlet http://outlet.dell.com. I bought mine there and saved a lot of money. Avoid generic brands, laptops cannot be fixed by the consumers, only the manufactures. And generic laptop manufactures have a good chance of not being around tomorrow. But this is just my opinion.
 

blah

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Dec 31, 2007
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""sonny,IBM,Dell.......?""

IBM.

Why? Titanium baby, everything else - plastic. Inside they are mostly the same, even IBM a bit faster, but not by much, and then again, Titinium baby.

..this is very useful and helpful place for information...
 

RaPTuRe

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Sep 5, 2001
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uh-huh, IBM = Titanium = $$$$$$ = Not for me + they look ugly

ofcourse they are built like little tanks, but their performance is nothing to marvel at. In terms of 3D, their performance is often lower than the competition because IBM prefer to use older, more "proven" drivers to newer "faster" drivers.

Dell are great, they are relatively cheap, you get what you pay for, there service is excellent (most of the time - except for the unlucky few).

Compaq are also very good. Ok, fine they come with a whole lot of junk, and their service is a bit shoddy (thanks go to HP), but their notebooks are very nice lil machines after you have formated them - even if you haven't (their bundles just bug me).

If you want a desktop replacement that literally weighs as much as your desktop, go for a Sager, it will bend when you pick it up, and creak when you move it - but Boy! is it powerful - except in 3D games. And CAD work. And most stuff really. I believe the 3GHz one is good at seti. Apparantly if it was a bit lighter and you switched on all the fans, it would hover above the ground. Oh, and you certainly know when it is on. You can get about 4hrs of battery life with it if you carry around a 12v car battery in your back pack. Sorry.

I wouldn't recommend Acer, I would recommend Toshiba (is a sort of compromise between Dell and IBM). Um, that's about it.

RaPTuRe

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?
 

seaeric

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Mar 17, 2003
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I beg to differ with you guys on the IBM. I've owned Sony, Dell, Gateway, Fujitsu, Compaq, and Toshiba notebooks and have to say I love my IBM's looks and feel! Its not flashy, but its thin and sturdy feel are nice when picking it up. Some of my older notebooks have had that cheap plastic feel so this is a nice surprize. I agree if I wanted an ultimate gaming machine I'd go with the Dell or HP (NX7000). I've played a few games on the IBM and it seems just fine to me for the part time gamer. It also comes standard with a 3 year warranty for parts and labor. The other nice thing is that this notebook is very easy to load Linux on as well :) If you decide to check out an IBM, I'd definately do some price comparisons online!! I saved about $500 dollars using price grabber!!!
 

seaeric

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Mar 17, 2003
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I beg to differ with you guys on the IBM. I've owned Sony, Dell, Gateway, Fujitsu, Compaq, and Toshiba notebooks and have to say I love my IBM's looks and feel! Its not flashy, but its thin and sturdy feel are nice when picking it up. Some of my older notebooks have had that cheap plastic feel so this is a nice surprize. I agree if I wanted an ultimate gaming machine I'd go with the Dell or HP (NX7000). I've played a few games on the IBM and it seems just fine to me for the part time gamer. It also comes standard with a 3 year warranty for parts and labor. The other nice thing is that this notebook is very easy to load Linux on as well :) If you decide to check out an IBM, I'd definately do some price comparisons online!! I saved about $500 dollars using price grabber!!!