Question:
Confused buyer!
This is another what-to-buy post.
I am now living in Europe and in 2 months I am moving to Boston,USA where I will be at least 2 years doing research in a hospital. I am looking into buying a computer. I will be needing it for:
1. Word and Excel ... a lot of it! And there will be documents moving from my computer to the hospital computers.
2. Maybe some database programs but I am not sure about that. And I am not sure if I will be able to take that kind of work home, so forget it for now.
3. Use with my digital camera to basic image editing (red eye removal and croping) - USB2.0 needed
4. Use with my iPod to tranfer songs and edit playlists (i hate how i cant edit them on the move!!!)
5. Emails and Internet
6. Tranfer applications/pictures/appointments to my cellphone (IrDA or Bluetooth) and to my PDA (only IrDa for now and USB)
7. Listening to mp3s
Besides those things, I think a Firewire port, CDRW (mostly for backups) and WiFi are definetly necessary. A DVD recorder would be nice but not needed. I would appreciate if it is not rather loud, so silent operation would be a nice touch.
In conlusion I need a pretty basic laptop but not noisy (some Acers can make very much noise and I hate that). The difficult part is the budget (the moving expenses and the whole Boston project will cost me very much!), so I think $1000 is my limit. Also a 512MB Ram would be prefered but i can live with 256MB for now.
With all these, I think an iBook 12' is a good offer and some Acers are very cheap as well but the noise issue takes some points off. Any suggestions?
Answer:
Keep an eye on our deals postings in the news section, there are often some great deals to be had there. Aside from those, you might also consider Averatec. They offer great value machines, look at the 6130 and 6200 series.
Editor in Chief http://www.bargainPDA.com and http://www.SPOTstop.com
Answer:
all the requirements you mentioned, small size, 512 ram, a silent and durable system will cost much more than 1000$
yes, an ibook looks good for you but personaly i hate macs( i dont want to start a debate, just my opinion)
if you can affort some more $$$, than i can advice you a device which will just fit your needs which will be asus s5ne
the device is realy small, has low voltage pentium-M processor very very silent hard drive and fan and external CD-RW. so what do you think?
Answer:
The IBM is a great laptop but still too expensive for what I want. And for that money, other brands provide a DVD burner.
Although, I respect all your answers, probably I didn't make myself that clear before. I don't want the lowest price for the features I would like; I want the most features (in my list) for the money I can give.
Answer:
I'd wait 'til you get here. A lot can change in two months. The new Pentium Ms are coming out. That should shake things up a bit.
I know things, things that could get me killed
Answer:
Thank you all for your replies.
The 512MB Ram is not in my have-to criteria (esp when it comes to the iBook).
About the Asus, the external drive is something that would make things more difficult and I personally think that it won't suit my needs.
And as i said i want to keep things in low budget. The Asus costs double the money compared to an Acer and it's not worth it (unless you need a subnotebook)
The new Pentium M's are interesting since they should lower the prices of the previous models.
And Brian I have been looking into the deals since quite some time. Very helpful website. I have heard ok comments about the Averatec but I am not sure I have read anything about the noise level. How are they compared to Acer? Because the only thing that makes me thinking when it comes to Acer notebooks is the noise level. Have the newer models improved at all? I have read the reviews and usually there are only comments about heat and drive noise. I wonder how often the fan comes in. At the Presario 2140 I am using right now the Athlon Mobile makes the whole system rather loud.
How reliable is Averatec? Moneywise Averatec and Acer are definetly in my price range when it comes to PCs.
The iBook deal though that is on Amazon right now that drops the price to $899 is very tempting. Most likely I am going to wait till I get there but since my g/f is in the states right now I could get something now if i find a great deal.
Answer:
Howdy, do you think the Alviso's will change dothan prices much? And does the t42 below seem worth the price?
copy-paste from my university's store:
IBM Thinkpad T42 1.7GHz! Holiday Sale!
1.7GHz Centrino processor; 14.1" XGA display; 512MB SDRAM (2 DIMMs); 40GB hard drive (5400 rpm); DVD/CD-RW combo drive; 32 MB ATI Mobility 7500; Integrated Ethernet & Modem; Integrated Wireless Intel (802.11g/b); 4.9 lbs.; 3 year onsite warranty international; Windows XP Pro
OS: Win
Manufacturer: IBM
Showcase Item Number: 992374
Add to CartShowcase Sale Price: $1,659.00
Answer:
As people migrate over to the new Pentium Ms, there will be less demand for the old ones, causing their price to go down. That is not a bad price. You may want to go over to ebay. Somtimes there are good deals to be had there.
I'd look at the TravelMate 4000 series, which it sounds like you have. I know a couple people with them. They didn't seem overyly noisy. Also since it a Pentium M the fan is less likely to come on. You'd have a little money left over to upgrade the memory, warranty and/or hard drive. The only Averatec I've seen was the 32XX series. It felt a little bargain. Plus it got quite hot. Maybe the 6 series are better. They are Pentium 4 and Athlon based though which typically means more heat. Hope this helps.
I know things, things that could get me killed
Answer:
I finally decided to go for the Averatec AV5500 deal on Amazon. It doesn't have 512MB ram but judging from the specs it will do fine for what I need and i don't think I would ever find anything else that would beat that price ($680 AR) with all the functionality it provides (3 USB2.0, Firewire, 4in1 card reader, WiFi). I think small details like these do make ones life easier. The Acers around this price offer very few connectivity options and I don't think it's a much more reliable brand (heard the "cracked case" story many times). The only thing that I don;t know is how long the battery lasts but that won't be a problem either i think.
Answer:
Congrats. According to NewEggs's website the battery time is three hours. Notebook manufacturer's tend to be optomistic when gauging battery life. Meaning they got three hours with the screen dimmed to the lowest, all the power settings set to the lowest, not using the optical drive, etc. I would say two to two and a half would be a more realistic estimate. My Presario with the Mobile Athlon 2800+ was almost exactly two hours during normal use. I think its better to get 256Mb memory. When you do upgrade you can put in a 512Mb stick for what Averatec would have charged for 256Mb.
I know things, things that could get me killed