Which notebook? (List of 'em)

[MrSmith]

As most of you know, I've been in the market to get a notebook, and I've got a few choices here. The ones I like are in Blue.

My budget is $1500, That's hopefully including 1gb of ram (if it doesnt come with 1gb) and an external hdd, and postage if applicable.

1) Hp Compaq Presario V3020AU - $1399 - Have enough left over for 1gb ram
-AMD Turion 64 X2 Mobile TL-50 1.6 GHz
-512MB DDR2 533MHz
-60GB 5400rpm
-14.1" WXGA High-Definition BrightView Widescreen
-Nvidia GeForce Go 6150

2) LG LW40-YKXA - $1499.00
-Intel Pentium M 750 Processor 1.86GHz with 2M L2 Cache,
-1Gb DDR-II RAM
-80G SATA Hard Drive 5400rpm
-ATI Mobility Radeon X600 128MB RAM
-14" WXGA Wide Screen with 1280x768 res.

3) DELL Inspiron 6000 - $1450.00
-Intel® Centrino Pentium® M 2.0GHz Processor 2MB cache, 533MHz FSB
-15.4" SVGA+TFT Wide Active Color Display (1680X1050)
-64MB ATI Radeon X300 Graphics
-1024MB RAM
-80 GB HDD

4) Presario v2656 - $949 - enough left for external hdd and 1-2gb of ram
-AMD Mobile Sempron processor 3100+ 1.8GHz (Is this upgradeable?)
-512MB DDR333
-40GB 4200RPM
-14.0" WXGA with BrightView
-ATI Radeon XPRESS 200 128mb shared

With the Presario V2656, Is there any chance of upgrading the CPU, the Sempron 3100 sounds a bit weak?

That's about it for now, If I spot any more ill post em.. So whataya think I should do?

edit: New addition -

5) DreamBook Light 822 - $1485
-Intel Core Solo 1.83GHz Processor 2M Cache 667Mhz T1400
-14.1" Widescreen XGA (1280x800) TFT Screen
-ATI Radeon X1600 256MB DDR2 PCI Express Graphics
-512MB 533MHz DDR2 RAM
-80GB 5,400RPM Serial-ATA Hard Drive

[SSJX]

my instinct tells me you should go for the Hp Compaq Presario V3020AU

Hp lappys are also quite nice IMHO (from inspection of my uni lecturer's notebook)

[Diesmile]

1: hdd size is not a major concern. because you can always buy another hdd with an external enclosure and link up via usb2 or firewire

2: video card. it is better to have a "real" video card than a shared memory one. the shared memory one will use more cpu and ram which decrease the total performance. but of course, if you only gona use word and watch a few eps of house, then shared memory is perfect fine.

(for me, at least i want a nvida 6600 mobile )

3: do these have a dvd dual layer burner? i think it is quite important, some laptops only have a dvd player with cd burner which sucks.

4: cpu. i would get a centrino because it has intergrated wifi, blue tooth etc, no need to purchase another card and use 1 slot. but i am not sure about turion, although i am an amd fan boy. generally the better the cpu, the longer your laptop will last in the long run. but if you have to pay too much for a small increase, then forget about it.

after all, i guess it really depends on what are you using it for. ie, a computer via travelling? presentation tools? gaming machine when you bored? a lap heater?

[MrSmith]

Originally Posted by Diesmile

1: hdd size is not a major concern. because you can always buy another hdd with an external enclosure and link up via usb2 or firewire

Yep, I get you there, That's why i'm not overly concerned on size, but I'd like to get a 5,400RPM one (or 7200) instead of 4,200RPM because of the windows speeds.

Originally Posted by Diesmile

2: video card. it is better to have a "real" video card than a shared memory one. the shared memory one will use more cpu and ram which decrease the total performance. but of course, if you only gona use word and watch a few eps of house, then shared memory is perfect fine.

(for me, at least i want a nvida 6600 mobile )

I'd like to have a dedicated video card, but I can't find a notebook with dedicated graphics (Along with a decent cpu - not a pentium m banias 1.3Ghz) under my budget, or near it - The Go 6150 and X200 are good enough for I want to do, just.

Originally Posted by Diesmile

3: do these have a dvd dual layer burner? i think it is quite important, some laptops only have a dvd player with cd burner which sucks.

I believe they all have DVD burners.

Originally Posted by Diesmile

4: cpu. i would get a centrino because it has intergrated wifi, blue tooth etc, no need to purchase another card and use 1 slot. but i am not sure about turion, although i am an amd fan boy. generally the better the cpu, the longer your laptop will last in the long run. but if you have to pay too much for a small increase, then forget about it.

The Turien X2 has integrate wifi, not sure about blue tooth but thats not important anyway - WIFI is though. The Turien X2 is a great cpu, better than the solo core cpu's anyway.. Which is why the V3020 is probably the best notebook to go ATM.

Originally Posted by Diesmile

after all, i guess it really depends on what are you using it for. ie, a computer via travelling? presentation tools? gaming machine when you bored? a lap heater?

I'll be using it for general use, web browsing, and I'd like to play games every now and again (CSS, FIFA, Maybe BF2 but unlikely.), Mostly just web browsing and movies.

Hope that info helps a bit.

[MrSmith]

New addition ( 5 )

Check it out.

[Kelvin]

I suggest you manually fiddle with the
Dell 640M on special for $1999 ($300 off), seems to come with office as well and 3 years warranty, and 120gig hd and 1gig ram and COre 2 duo processor. Media XP 2005.. $10 for Xp-pro...

For some reason the $300 isn't working...

should be $1999 then use

www.dell.com.au/odg for an additional 10% pre gst off.

should eventually be $1780... (you will need to contact dell though..,,

I recently managed to order a Dell 640M with the right coupons for $1500 with 3 years warranty and a Core 2 duo T7200 processor. and a gig of ram and 3 eyars warranty.. but the 25% coupon offer has now gone..

Keep you eyes open

http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum...m?t=409281&p=9

Its amazing what some people got for $1500...

[SLATYE]

I'll suggest a couple more options:

Dell Inspiron 6400
Core Duo T2050
1GB DDR2-533 RAM
15.4" WXGA screen
Radeon Mobility X1300 *
80GB 5400RPM SATA HDD
8x DVDRW
Intel 802.11g card
MSWorks 8.5
MS Windows XP Home
McAfee Security Center 7.0 **
Dell nylon case

Total is $1502.60 (including shipping)

* You can either get this or the WSXGA+ UltraSharp TrueLife screen (with GMA950 for video instead). Total price will be about the same.

** This is useless. If you call Dell and ask them to remove it (and ask for a discount at the same time) you might even be able to get the X1300 and the nice screen into the budget.

Some barebone options:

Asus S62J
Asus S62J chassis $873.20 (14.1", Geforce Go 7300, i945PM, 8x DVDRW)
1GB DDR2-533 (2x 512MB) $116.62
Celeron-M 410 $135.95 or Core Duo T2300E $304.95
60GB Western Digital Scorpio SATA HDD $112.95
Intel 3945ABG Wireless networking card $45.30

$1284.02 or $1483.02


Compal EL80
Compal EL80 chassis $1009.28 (15.4", Geforce Go 7600, i945PM, 8x DVDRW)
1GB DDR2-533 (2x 512MB) $116.62
Celeron-M 410 $135.95
60GB Western Digital Scorpio SATA HDD $112.95
Intel 3945ABG Wireless networking card $45.30
Bluetooth module $28.35

$1448.45


Asus S96J
Asus S96J chassis $963.92 (15.4", Radeon X1600, i945PM, 8x DVDRW)
1GB DDR2-533 (2x 512MB) $116.62
Celeron-M 410 $135.95 or Core Duo T2300E $304.95
60GB Western Digital Scorpio SATA HDD $112.95
Intel 3945ABG Wireless networking card $45.30

$1374.74 or $1573.74


Quanta TW3A
Quanta TW3A chassis $850.52 (15.4", Geforce Go 7300/7400, i945PM, 8x DVDRW)
1GB DDR2-533 (2x 512MB) $116.62
Celeron-M 410 $135.95 or Core 2 Duo T5600 $390.83
60GB Western Digital Scorpio SATA HDD $112.95
Intel 3945ABG Wireless networking card $45.30

$1261.34 or $1516.22


Lots of extra options! Essentially, the above options come as barebone laptops and you have to add CPU/RAM/HDD and the WLAN card. There are cheaper versions of each of those which only use GMA950, if you want them. The parts come from StoneBridge, Infinity Online, AITech, and ITEstate (so there will be some postage involved).

Notes on each one:
S62J: Small, light, and pretty cheap too. You could fit the T2300E in here if you wanted to, or just get the Celeron-M and wait for cheap Meroms to become available (I think it supports Merom, but I'm not sure).
EL80: Big, not so light, and expensive. However, it does support Merom, it's got some fancy features (fingerprint reader and TPM), it's got a good GPU, and it's the only one there with Bluetooth support. The big disadvantage is that due to the price, only a Celeron-M 410 will fit in the budget. Of course, that can easily be upgraded later.
S96J: Just as fast as the EL80 in terms of GPU performance, and also about the same size and weight. No fancy features, but a much lower cost. Apparently you can add Bluetooth to these, but it means dismantling most of the case to get at the right section of the mainboard (and also finding an appropriate module). As with the EL80, this definitely does support Merom.
TW3A: This seems to be like a big version of the S62J. It's a bit cheaper, which means a Core 2 Duo E5600 will fit in the budget too.

[SSJX]

as usual...SLATYE being a laptop guru

[MrSmith]

Thanks Slatye! Really Appreciate it.

The S62J looks like a barebones option that interests me.. might look into the S96J aswell..

Thanks

[SLATYE]

Originally Posted by SSJX

as usual...SLATYE being a laptop guru

It's not all that usual - I only started learning about laptops a few months ago (when I wanted to buy one).

Originally Posted by MrSmith

Thanks Slatye! Really Appreciate it.

The S62J looks like a barebones option that interests me.. might look into the S96J aswell..

Thanks

The S62J certainly does look pretty good (cheap and pretty powerful for the price). Would you buy it with the Celeron or with the Core Duo?

I've just noticed that I forgot to include Windows with those ones. If that will be a major problem, just get it with the Celeron and buy a Core Duo sometime soon (there'll probably be some for sale once Merom is readily available because people will be upgrading).

[mcps]

Personally my next ideal laptop would be a macbook with merom or santarosa. $1574 for students enrolled in uni/tafe I believe.

Using an ibook g4 and a hp tablet right now. Really love the osx.

[SLATYE]

Originally Posted by mcps

Personally my next ideal laptop would be a macbook with merom or santarosa. $1574 for students enrolled in uni/tafe I believe.

Using an ibook g4 and a hp tablet right now. Really love the osx.

I don't think you can have Merom or Santa Rosa. Santa Rosa is just a chipset - it'll require a Merom CPU.

The MacBooks are nice, but they have their problems. Heat issues, the lack of a decent video card (in all the reasonably cheap models), fairly basic specifications overall, and the completely non-replaceable CPU (because it's soldered to the mainboard). While almost everyone else will be able to upgrade their old Yonah laptops to Merom CPUs, MacBook users cannot. Also, at the moment Apple don't seem to be offering Merom CPUs in the MacBooks yet.

I'd stick with the Asus ones. They're meant to have good build quality, and they're designed to be easy to work with (if you want to upgrade the CPU at any point, it'll probably take about five minutes to do the upgrade).

[MrSmith]

Yeah, I was going to get a macbook - but then I looked at the cost, and what you got wasn't really worth it for me. If I can get a laptop which is cheaper, and has much better specs - and still looks nice, It's most likely worth it.

[SSJX]

Originally Posted by SLATYE

It's not all that usual - I only started learning about laptops a few months ago (when I wanted to buy one).

How come you didn't go for that Dell 25% off deal when it was around?
You looking for something nicer or higher spec'd?

[MrSmith]

Found the notebook which I think, I'll most definately get.

Acer Aspire 1694WLMi
-2Ghz Centrino Pentium M (I think, all it said was 2Ghz Centrino)
-512 Megs of Ram
-15.4" wide Screen
-DVD-R/CD-RW
-ATI Mobility Radeon X700 128MB
-Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
-6 months warranty

$1100 plus postage (or $1200 inc. postage, whatever they decide on)

Hows that?