Well, I've been looking around and can't seem to decide. I would like a pretty good laptop to have during my four year college trek and was wondering if any of you computer buffs could help. Budget = nothing too expensive...$1000-$2500. A couple of things I would like:

- 1 Gig of RAM
- Decent size HD for mp3, movies
- Decent Graphics Card(128?) for Gaming
- Possibility of TV Tuner
- etc. etc. etc.

Thanks much

P.S.

To update people on my military situation, I finally got in touch with my friend, a Westpoint graduate and a Captain in the US Army. He basically told me not to enlist and ROTC would be best for me.

 

I gotta Powerbook (work) and an Acer Ferrari (play)

 

Saw the Inspiron code and am planning on purchasing an Inspiron 9300

I just need to decide on some things...

Monitor(Screen):

17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen XGA+ Display
17 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen UXGA Display with TrueLife™ [+ $125] (worth the extra $125?)

64MB ATIs™ Mobility Radeon™ X300 [subtract $99]
128MB ATIs™ Mobility Radeon™ X300
256MB NVIDA® GeForce™ Go 6800 [add $100]

Sound Card:
PCMCIA Sound Blaster® Audigy® 2 ZS Notebook sound card [$100] (worth it?)

Networking:

Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11 b/g, 54Mbps)
Intel® PRO/Wireless 2915 Internal Wireless (802.11 a/b/g, 54Mbps) [add $25]
Intel® PRO 2915 and Dell 350 Bluetooth Internal Wireless Cards [add $59
Intel® PRO 2200 and Dell 350 Bluetooth Internal Wireless Cards [add $39
WiFi Signal Locator [$28 or $1/month2] (necessary?)

I have my own windows XP CD so will probably format the HD and start fresh and install word, etc. so the applications are not needed to buy.

thanks for the help!

 

dell has a tiny laptop and with the codes its like 1000

 

Do you have any idea on how often you're planning on actually taking the laptop with you? I ask because we have a couple of 9300's in our loaner fleet and, IMO, they are pretty big and heavy. I would definitely not want to be hauling one of those with me everywhere. On the other hand, if you think the machine would live most of it's life at home and maybe be hauled out once a day, then it might be tolerable.

 

i am about | | this close to buying a 700m (a compact 12.1''). Ive used it before, and I can tell you, its light and looks cool too! That, and it performed marvelously (I dont know exactly what it had on it, but by judging its user, it cant have had more than 512 mb ram/1.8 ghz Intel M. (she's not a big compy nerd and recieved it as a gift methinks...)

The one Im looking at has a 2 ghz pentium M, 1 gb of ram, 60 gb hd, and I think it will have intergrated sound and video (with the option to purchase a sound card) (boo, only 2 i can see with it.)

Otherwise, it looks like a cool little lappy.

goto notebookforums.com and read the reviews there (suggested to me by raheel not but 2 weeks ago) and I cant say that Im disappointed with the help I've recieved from reading just the reviews.

-Alex

 

9300 is a huge ass beast i would not even attempt to lug that thing around campus. so if you were planning on taking it to class forget about it. the 600M and 700M are alot more portable and provide good performance and battery life. you would be limited in the gaming department as the video card options are not as high performing. you can get the inspiron 6000 which is a lighter than the 9300 but offers more gaming performance options than the 600M or 700M.

 

i just got my 700m today and love it.. very nice laptop.. not small for me at all.. i dont do gaming so its good for me.. i got 256mbram right now but im going to order a 512 ($40)or 1gig stick soon new egg..