What Laptop should I get?

[xmountainxlionx]

I want the opinion of TPU. what laptop should i get? my budget is about 1200 at the MOST. 1000 would be better though. Ill be using it for work in which I do a good amount of photoshop, and systems anaylsis. I will also be taking it from home to work everyday also. Also I will be using it with midi/usb sound devices. I thought about just getting a external sound card for this though. Ill be using headphones for that application also. Also I will be installing vista ultimate 64 on anything i get so OS dosent matter. Also no mac's

I was thinking something like this:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....#productdetail

[Cybrnook2002]

Originally Posted by xmountainxlionx

I want the opinion of TPU. what laptop should i get? my budget is about 1200 at the MOST. 1000 would be better though. Ill be using it for work in which I do a good amount of photoshop, and systems anaylsis. I will also be taking it from home to work everyday also. Also I will be using it with midi/usb sound devices. I thought about just getting a external sound card for this though. Ill be using headphones for that application also. Also I will be installing vista ultimate 64 on anything i get so OS dosent matter. Also no mac's

I was thinking something like this:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....#productdetail

Dont hate, but seriously, you can get a Dell with a google "dell coupons" for dirt cheap with Nvidia 8600 Big HD 3-4 GB ram Your choice of Intel Dual core processor and Creative sound card for under 1,000. But personally, I have always been a fan of the ComPal laptops (Sager).

[xmountainxlionx]

how do you get "Dell coupons"? lol thats a funny marketing thing. But yeah i like that you can custom build dells, and upgrade the soundcard. video isnt that big of a deal to me.

[Cybrnook2002]

Go to google and type in "dell coupons". Then usually the first few sites have "coupon codes" that you type in when you have your laptop in your basket on the dell website at checkout. Usually they give you %30 off inspirons 1299 and up, and %25 off inspirons 999 and up.

[xmountainxlionx]

wow 25-30% is alot

[FatForester]

Yea, when I bought my Dell 1520 it was a tax free weekend and there was a 30% off coupon for any Inspiron 1520's above 1,200 bucks. Needless to say I got a 1,900 dollar computer for 1,250 bucks! It's treated me well so far, but if I was to do it over again I'd get an ASUS instead.

[xmountainxlionx]

Originally Posted by FatForester

Yea, when I bought my Dell 1520 it was a tax free weekend and there was a 30% off coupon for any Inspiron 1520's above 1,200 bucks. Needless to say I got a 1,900 dollar computer for 1,250 bucks! It's treated me well so far, but if I was to do it over again I'd get an ASUS instead.

why is that exactly?

[PVTCaboose1337]

I am looking for a laptop too and settled on this for myself:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220317

That is what I am going to get.

[Polaris573]

I'm a fan of the thinkpad T series. Very light and durable.

[ktr]

I would get this: http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668033.php

My cousin got one, and its friggen fast. He put the HDDs in raid 0 and its a fast machine.

edit: whoops, i post the wrong machine...had the wrong url in clipboard.

[Polaris573]

That's a big sucker. It looks like a great desktop replacement, but at ten pounds with a 17 inch screen it wouldn't be much fun to shuffle between home and office everyday.

[xmountainxlionx]

ya know this one looks awsome. Id really like to have a 45nm dual if i could get it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220273

[ktr]

Originally Posted by Polaris573

That's a big sucker. It looks like a great desktop replacement, but at ten pounds with a 17 inch screen it wouldn't be much fun to shuffle between home and office everyday.

17" & 10lb is a man's laptop

[FatForester]

Originally Posted by xmountainxlionx

why is that exactly?

Well for the positives, the 1520 I have is well built and was a bargain for the price. Dell's RMA department was also quite responsive, and although they screwed up a few times, they apologized and got it right.

Negatives: My laptop when I got it had an unusually loud DVD drive (a known issue for a lot of 1520's- not really fixable, you just get lucky), the LCD backlight bled on the edges, the GPU was shot (whenever anything 3D opened up, mainly Aero, artifacts would jump everywhere), and there was HEAVY static through the headphone jack (a very, very known issue- they shorted the case to the headphone jack, so all frequencies from the HDD and CPU went straight to your ears. VERY annoying.). I sent it back the first time, they replaced the DVD drive (same problem, but now I use Nero to keep it from throttling) and the screen, but left the GPU which artifacted everywhere. Second time they finally replaced the GPU, but did absolutely nothing for the static. To fix the static I had to take apart the entire laptop (~40 screws down to the bare mobo) to get to the headphone jack in order to ground both it and the case surrounding it with electrical tape. NOT a fun experience.

My laptop works great and was a hell of a deal, but I probably won't do business with Dell again. My friend got an ASUS 13.3in and it is very nice, so I have some experience with it. It came with plenty of accessories and is definitely a lot easier to work with. Their prices are good as well, and I personally just like their layouts.

[FatForester]

Originally Posted by xmountainxlionx

ya know this one looks awsome. Id really like to have a 45nm dual if i could get it.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220273

+1 on that. The screen is 1280x800, not 1440x900 like the images suggest. Another one of my friends is looking into it, and after some searching on notebookreview, there was some confusion on the specs. Newegg has cleared it all up now though. The 9500M GS evidently performs identically to an 8600M GT, so you'll be able to play TF2 with some AA/AF.

[xmountainxlionx]

Originally Posted by FatForester

+1 on that. The screen is 1280x800, not 1440x900 like the images suggest. Another one of my friends is looking into it, and after some searching on notebookreview, there was some confusion on the specs. Newegg has cleared it all up now though. The 9500M GS evidently performs identically to an 8600M GT, so you'll be able to play TF2 with some AA/AF.

damn that sucks i cant play cysis on very high
what is the mousepad like on asus' ? the reviews say they arnt that great.

[Polaris573]

Originally Posted by ktr

17" & 10lb is a man's laptop

Oh we're going by which is more manly?

Well, then the thinkpad with it's magnesium roll cage and magnesium composite lid wins hands down in the toughness/scratch resistance category. The high gloss surfaces on the gateway are going to get scuffed in no time, although I suppose scars are manly too.

[ktr]

Originally Posted by Polaris573

Oh we're going by which is more manly?

Well, then the thinkpad with it's magnesium roll cage and magnesium composite lid wins hands down in the toughness/scratch resistance category. The high gloss surfaces on the gateway are going to get scuffed in no time, although I suppose scars are manly too.

I own a t61p, great laptop. But don't get the hard drive encryption (like I did), it eats performance. I got a anti-glare screen, and I don't like it that much either, makes everything to dark, but it is less stress on the eyes.

I got a gateway for my grandpa, and the high gloss its pretty scuff resistant, but it is a finger print magnet.

[erocker]

Originally Posted by PVTCaboose1337

I am looking for a laptop too and settled on this for myself:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220317

That is what I am going to get.

That is a darn good choice! This laptop would be ideal for the OP, though he may need to find 2 x 2gb's ram sticks for it.

[xmountainxlionx]

do you think that the 9500gs is woth 150 extra dollars over the intel x3100 ?

[Cybrnook2002]

depends if you game. If yes, then get the nvidia. If not, then no. But you have to be sure! Also you have to look at it this way, the NVidia has its own memory, the X3100 is going to use your systems memory. So, in the 150 , you are also buying ram.

[erocker]

Originally Posted by xmountainxlionx

do you think that the 9500gs is woth 150 extra dollars over the intel x3100 ?

With the 512mb of dedicated memory that goes with it + Photoshop = Yes!

[xmountainxlionx]

I think this one would be the best compromise between price and graphics
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220304

[spearman914]

Get a toshiba. Dell laptops put random crap on the disks, which makes you want to reinstall OS which wastes almost a whole day to get everything together. Are you going to be gaming? Laptops suck for gaming even if having a Skulltrail Dual QX9775 Dual 9800 GX2, I think you are going to buy a mouse. But theres no point in buying a laptop with mouse, why not buy a desktop instead if ur gonna do that ?

[ktr]

This one looks sweet: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834114473