Laptop Help

[rockcandy]

1_What is your budget? less than $1300

2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 14 - 16inch

3_What screen resolution do you want? 1366 x 768 or greater

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

5_How much battery life do you need? over 2 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 gaming but i dont want an intel gpu

7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing, surfing the web, playing music, watching movies, Etc.) math lab, word, browsing, and watching 720p videos

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

9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post the links to them.
as long as they ship to canada
10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?
2 -4yrs
11_If you would like to mention some other things about purchasing your ideal laptop, post them.
a decent brand so i could look into a warranty
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.
no HP
13_What country do you live in?
Canada

should i just get one of those new netbooks with the nvidea ion instead .... and just put the left over money into a better desktop ?

 

[core2drew]

in terms of notebook versus netbook, i think you'll be more satisfied with the performance of a notebook for your usecase (HD movies, picture editing, etc.). given your price range and brand preference, here are a couple laptops you may be interested in.

1) http/www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9366688&type=product&id=1218092151066

sony makes pretty good notebooks. this particular model has a great screen, lots of memory, discrete graphics, and a centrino 2 chipset (good CPU paired with reliable wireless and ample battery life). while somewhat expensive, it does come with a blu-ray drive.

2) http/www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9173262&type=product&id=1218044029168

asus has been in the notebook game a while, and they're well-respected. the model that i linked is comparable to the sony on most aspects (discrete graphics, large amount of system memory), but it does have a faster core 2 processor. it lacks a blu-ray drive, but you save a good amount of money in its absence.

check out the CNET review of the asus, and scan over some of the other reviews of systems they've tested.

 

[rockcandy]

the sony is way too big i like it but its too big ...

i should of made a note that i dont want it to look all fancy .. just simple macbook pro like

 

[core2drew]

big in terms of size (footprint), weight, or thickness?

it's not as minimalistic as a macbook, but the toshiba i linked below isn't too painful on the eyes.

http/www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9164343&type=product&id=1218040476937

for a truly 'basic' look, you could always go with a thinkpad. good performance in a black matte box.

 

[rockcandy]

the resolution is off... i think im gonna just get a shitty dell or something ... fml + (

 

[core2drew]

1280x800 is an aspect ratio of 16:10, while 1366x768 is an aspect ratio of 16:9. in the grand scheme of things, for watching/editing movies, it won't make too much of a difference.

don't get too discouraged. the right notebook is out there, but it just takes a bit of legwork on your end. check out www.cnet.com for some editorial reviews on a number of systems. one might catch your eye.