Laptops/Notebooks - biggest bang for your book?

rahim

Thinking of getting a new laptop and was just wondering where to buy from. Not too sure about prices and that, obviously highest spec possible at lowest cost. Any suggestions?

sceptre

I've got a suggestion that's nothing to do with where to buy. Consider the weight of the thing while considering the spec. It's fine and dandy to have a big lug of a laptop that happens to be the fastest portable on the planet but unless it's actually portable you won't be too happy. Get something light. Sacrifice some speed for that if you have to.

jesus_thats_gre

If you are gonna be running games, make sure you get the Mobility Radeon 9700..

silverside

some cliches here but

you get what you pay for

decide what your priority is - portability, speed, price - its a tradeoff .

Having said that asus (for portability) and acer (for price) seem good, IBM thinkpads are very well made but a bit pricey. Personally I woud go for a nice light centrino and have a powerful main PC with good graphics etc as well.

maxheadroom

If you're looking for something nice and light, with decent performance, I've heard some good things about the asus m5200 with the 48 WHr. battery pack. Its a centrino, so not a gaming monster, but it does only weigh 1.7kg... linky

Pics of S5200 - like m5200 but no builtin optical drive

Capt'n Midnight

What is to be used for ?

If it gets mainly used on a table at home then weight and battery life are less important than a good big screen.

If you want to work on the move then battery life matters - don't forget that a second battery can be a cheaper option (though heavier) than going for Pentium Mobile / Centrino

As someone once said many years ago Keyboard design on portables is a black art - miniture spacebars and no right control key / no right alt key can be a pain in the neck.. as can having to use a Fn key to use home/end

acous

there is a lot more to laptops than good specs. design, weight, size, battery life, screen quality etc. are all important factors to consider.

it does depend on what you'll use it for.

oh, if you're open minded, from my experience apple laptops blow any pc ones away in overall quality

rahim

I'll need it for graphic and software presentation but i'll prob use it for games as well. Battery life isn't the most important thing, only be away from a plug when travellin, 4 hours max. I'll look into some of those ideas, thanks.

Woden

Originally posted by jesus_thats_gre
If you are gonna be running games, make sure you get the Mobility Radeon 9700..

and sure if then you won't have to worry about the weight as your wallet will probably weigh ya down as much.

bah its what i'd want in a laptop at the moment if i wanted to game

data