Help me pick a new notebook please.

[skubaman]

Hi,
I am ready to replace my 3 yr old Dell Inspiron 6000.

It's important for me to have the option of adding a 7200 RPM hard drive. As far as RAM I will eventually have 4GB, so I can either buy with 4GB, or one 2GB chip and just add another one later. Whatever makes more sense financially.

High resolution screen is a must as I usually have mine set for 1280x1024

What do you guys suggest in the $1000 - $1500 range?

BTW I would like a computer that doesn't overheat. My current dell gets super hot, and when it happens it starts running slow.

Thanks so much for helping.

 

[frozenlead]

Adding the questions and answers to the sticky in the top of the forum helps a lot in these kinds of questions. There are a lot of things you didn't mention you want that we'll spend time guessing on; I suggest you copy, paste, and answer them.

Thanks!

 

[Maziar]

As frozenlead said,plz fell this:
http/www.tomshardware.com/forum/50797-35-read-buying-laptop

 

[skubaman]

Sure. Here you go:

1_What is your budget?
$1000 - $1500 Ideally $1300

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
15.4 ideally, maybe 14

3_What screen resolution http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/display_resolution do you want?
High res, I usuallu have my screen at 1024x1050 but could go for a little less

4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
desktop replacement

5_How much battery life do you need?
2 to 3 hours

6_Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?
NO GAMES

7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing http/en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_editing , surfing the web, playing music, watching movies, Etc.)

Web design, photo editing and some video editing (rarely)
Wathing video streamings on the web
I usually have dreamweaver, photoshop, outlook, and several browser windows opened. Usually 10+ windows opened.

8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?

More than 120GB, Needs to be 7200 RPM

9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post the links to them.

10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?
3 to 4 years

11_If you would like to mention some other things about purchasing your ideal laptop, post them.

I would like an embeded webcam

12_Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.

I have had 2 dells and am somehow satisfied. Altough recently my Inspiron 6000 gets hot super easily and starts performing slowly. Sometimes, just watching live streaming on the web is enough to get it hot and use all CPU resources.

13_What country do you live in?
USA


Thanks so much for your suggestions.

 

[frozenlead]

I think your price range is a bit high. You can customize an HP dv6700t to suite you very well. Give it 4GB of ram, a 64bit OS, and a processor over 2GHz.

 

[skubaman]

Thanks for your suggestion. But there are 2 problems that go against my requirements.

- screen resolution the max is 1280x800
15.4" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)

- no option to add 7200 RPM hard drive


Any other suggestions?

Thanks

 

[dmacfour]

Dell is having good deals on the XPS m1530. I'd check that out too.

 

[frozenlead]

Why do you need a 7200rpm hard disk? Honestly, I use one in my notebook, things load pretty fast. Fast enough to keep up with my desktop.

 

[Maziar]

7200RPM really helps sometimes.

 

[skubaman]

7200 RPM needed for video editing

 

[cjl]

I'd go for the XPS M1530. It fits all of your criteria.

 

[skubaman]

Continues here
http/www.tomshardware.com/forum/50872-35-down-finalists-thinkpad-dv5t-dell-m1530