Question:
Need My First Laptop - Could Use Your Help and Expertise
I was just informed that I will need to travel about twice a month, over the next year, for work. That means probably 4-5 total nights on the road per month. Based on this, I'll need a laptop to keep me sane while away from home. It makes no sense, and I also don't have the expendable funds for anything top of the line, but I do need something that will work for my needs. Here are my wishes/requirements:
Not overly large or heavy - (I have to also carry a laptop provided by work)
Well Built/solid
Reliable
fast enough for surfing the net at night while trapped in hotel rooms
able to play World of Warcraft
affordably priced
easy to connect via hotel broadband connections
I would appreciate your thought on brands, models, components, etc. I would guess that I need Core 2 Duo, 2gb memory, and an nVidia video card, for starters. I probbaly need to keep this at, or under $1200.00, preferably under. I need to build a new high performance home desktop rig by late summer, early fall, and that will cost me $2500.00 all by itself. There is a limit on what I can spend on pc hardware!
If it's too expensive to pull this off, my alternative is to go out drinking every night while on the road, and I would rather not be forced into the position of doing that every single night as my only means of personal entertainment. Thanks.
Answer:
Re: Need My First Laptop - Could Use Your Help and Expertise
Something like the HP Pavilion dv2500t might work. Please fill out the FAQ for better suggestions.
Answer:
Re: Need My First Laptop - Could Use Your Help and Expertise
Something like the HP Pavilion dv2500t might work. Please fill out the FAQ for better suggestions.
Thanks for the recommendation, I missed the faq, here are my responses:
General Questions
1) What is your budget?
$1300.00 max
2) What size notebook would you prefer?
b. Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
c. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
3) Please select your country's flag as a post icon and tell us what country are you buying this in.
USA
4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
from what i've looked at, Asus, HP, Fujitsu, and sometimes Dell seem to offer pretty solid stuff, but I'm open to any recommendations from those with significant expertise
5) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
surfing the internet, e-mail, playing World of Warcraft, watching an occasional movie while on the road for work
6) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
99% of all use will be while out of town
7) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
World of Warcraft
8) How many hours of battery life do you need?
any reasonable amount, This will be used 90% of the time in hotel rooms and plugged into an outlet
9) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
no
10) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista), Mac OS, Linux, etc.
Windows
Screen Specifics
11) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
widescreen is preferred
12) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
Widescreen
e. WSXGA+ - 1680x1050; Wider viewing version of SXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
or
f. WUXGA - 1920x1200; Wider viewing version of UXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
13) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
glossy preferred but not a deal breaker
Build Quality and Design
14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
solidity, reliability, and performance are the most critical priorities, but would prefer it be at least presentable in appearance
15) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
within the next 30-45 days
Notebook Components
16) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 200GB?
120
17) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD-ROM, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-RW drive?
DVD-ROM
Answer:
Re: Need My First Laptop - Could Use Your Help and Expertise
I'd say either the HP dv2500t, or something like an Asus A8JR. Check out these.
Answer:
Re: Need My First Laptop - Could Use Your Help and Expertise
The Dell m1210 and ASUS F9j are 12.1" options with decent GPUs and will fit your budget.
Bumping up the screen size is the HP dv2500 and ASUS W7 are options.