Laptop gurus, speak to me

[Onkel Neal]

I'm thinking about getting a laptop, lord knows I could use it. Here are the things I think I want/need in one:

• Light and portable, something like 10" to 13" would be ideal
• Windows XP
• Wifi and 3G ready, whatever it takes to connect to the web at hotels and coffee shops
• Cellular internet ready, internal or have a slot for a phone card-thingee, whatever it takes to connect to the web through ATT/Version/Sprint when there is no kind of wifi or connection available.
• Powerful enough to run Office, Front Page, FTP, and Image Composer, IE and e-mail.

What I would also like but these are more optional:

• DVD burner (esp. a slot type with no tray )
• 2GB RAM
• 40GB or more hard drive/flash memory

I'm open to ideas, suggestions, and especially information from people who are up to date on the latest tech... thanks

Neal
(stuck with a 2003 destop)

[SUBMAN1]

Get an Asus Eee 901. The reason I say that is it sounds like you want portability above all else. The 901 has the Atom CPU and it only weighs in at 2 pounds and costs about $400-$500.

It also has a SSD hard drive (20 GB) making speed to the HD (The laptops slowest component) lightning fast and not prone to crashing. I suggest buying a Linux version and loading your own XP to save $$$.

Without any more info, that is what i would steer you towards.

http://eeepc.asus.com/global/901.htm

-S

PS. Did I mention over 8 hours battery life?

PPS. Did I mention tiny too? I'm buying one for myself. Great to have something like this on an airplane or while traveling.

PPPS. 40 GB is more than you probably need if you don't plan to game.

[SUBMAN1]

Second choice throws out all those options and that would be if you wanted a fast vid card (for playing SHIV or DW LAWAMI 3.08 on the road). Then that should be your only criteria since any laptop with a fast vid card will far exceed your specs as listed automagically.

-S

[CCIP]

Originally Posted by SUBMAN1

Second choice throws out all those options and that would be if you wanted a fast vid card (for playing SHIV or DW LAWAMI 3.08 on the road). Then that should be your only criteria since any laptop with a fast vid card will far exceed your specs as listed automagically.

-S

Yea, I was about to say that. If you definitely want a fast vid card, then your choices are pretty much limited to the higher-end laptops. Anything more modest usually comes with on-board video which is a no-no for gaming.

That's sort of how I picked my laptop last year (it's a 17" HP, with an 8600GS card). I'm very happy with it and it's definitely a good, if modest, gaming station (shame it doesn't run SHIV as well as I'd like it to... but it's all I got!)

Sounds like an Eee would be the choice for you if it's just a business lappy, though! I'd definitely consider it.

[nikimcbee]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

I'm thinking about getting a laptop, lord knows I could use it. Here are the things I think I want/need in one:

• Light and portable, something like 10" to 13" would be ideal
• Windows XP
• Wifi and 3G ready, whatever it takes to connect to the web at hotels and coffee shops
• Cellular internet ready, internal or have a slot for a phone card-thingee, whatever it takes to connect to the web through ATT/Version/Sprint when there is no kind of wifi or connection available.
• Powerful enough to run Office, Front Page, FTP, and Image Composer, IE and e-mail.

What I would also like but these are more optional:

• DVD burner (esp. a slot type with no tray )
• 2GB RAM
• 40GB or more hard drive/flash memory

I'm open to ideas, suggestions, and especially information from people who are up to date on the latest tech... thanks

Neal
(stuck with a 2003 destop)

Good luck with the XP part . i just bought an intel dual core, 4 gig of RAM, the newest wifi, not g but N. Consumer reports rated it a great buy (it's a gateway) for $750. It does have vista on it It plays SH4 just fine.

[CCIP]

I actually wouldn't complain about Vista nowadays all that much, especially if you have plenty of RAM on the system. After SP1 it's gotten quite alright. I don't notice any performance differences and to be honest my laptop's more stable nowadays than my XP system was... buuuut that's another discussion, no?

[nikimcbee]

Originally Posted by CCIP

I actually wouldn't complain about Vista nowadays all that much, especially if you have plenty of RAM on the system. After SP1 it's gotten quite alright. I don't notice any performance differences and to be honest my laptop's more stable nowadays than my XP system was... buuuut that's another discussion, no?

Vista didn't bother me until I tried to instal SH3 . 64 bit explorer is fun, but then there's the driver issue!

[SUBMAN1]

If you need WWAN, and don't care about cost, look at Sony sub notebooks.

http://b2b.sony.com/Solutions/subcat...able/tt-series

-S

[lesrae]

My 2p worth, I wanted a new XP PC recently and Dell were able to supply one, it wasn't from their catalogue it was 'old' stock from their business side, but did exactly what I wanted. They may be able to offer similar on laptops if you speak to them.