need advice on new laptop

[johncastle]

I hope I can get some help.

I'm looking for a laptop having similar features listed below:

15.4" WSXGA (1680x1050 resolution)
Core 2 Duo processor (any clock speed)
80GB+ HD
1GB+ memory(can be 512 as long as I can upgrade it to 1GB+)
Ati 1400 or Gforce 7300 or better gpu(anything better then intel gpu, some 3d power will be nice)
wireless ethernet
camera

Around 1000$

Now I find Lenovo's very attractive. So far I've looked at newegg but their prices are a little bit steep(the most proper one was priced 1299$).

Can anybody advice me other dealers having lenovo's or other brands with similar features and pricing.

(BTW resolution is crucial but if there is a good price difference I can go with core duo or some amd processor.)


Thanks...

 

[johncastle]

hmm i checked and saw a lot of spam. Is this part of the forum is deserted? Never saw anything like that in the hardware part moreover there are too few replies to the threads here...

 

[lostandwandering]

No it's not deserted. Not as many people frequent the mobile section of the forums, but this is the only place to post your kind of questions.

The problem is, the feature combination you want is incredibly hard to find at less than 1500. So if you found that Lenovo for 1300 consider yourself lucky. The closest thing I could find to 1200 is ASUS' A8 series which comes with an ATi X1700. The problem with that notebook is it's only a 14.1'' notebook though its res is 1440x900 which is good for its size.

Dell offers their Inspiron E1505 which comes with either an X1400 or Go 7300. When it's configured to the specs you want it's about 1100. With Dell you can google "dell coupons" and get further discounts. It also can be configured with the AMD X2 which will also decrease the price.

HP offers their DV6000t series which is cheaper than the Dell's but only has an WXGA screen with a res of 1280x800 which is less than you want.

 

[johncastle]

Thanks a lot for the answer.

May I have some more q?

I loved IBM laptops but I don't know if Lenovo still has that quality, is there a lot difference between Lenovo, HP , Dell etc.

Actually the most important thing was screen resolution. If I could find an older laptop with UXGA screen(even with M processors) I would consider it.

thanks

 

[johncastle]

BTW i see that thinkpad T60's prices are down by nearly 350-400$ on the web site and I can buy a similar configuration for 1370$ which is reasonable since n100 series is priced around 1250$ for similar configuration. Are they still as though , light and slim as the previous thinkpads from ibm ?

 

[Tesla220]

The biggest problem your gonna run into for what you want is that most new laptops are running Vista. Laptop graphics are very limited untill you get up into the $2200 range if your lucky.
Minimum IMHO:
any core 2 duo
2 gig memory
biggest graphics card for whatever you get especially for the WSXGA you want.
I would not even consider anything with only integrated graphics, so if it says Intel for graphics just say no.
I just bought the machine described below. While I saw machines for less $, nowhere did I find everything I bought in this machine for less. Watch out for some of the big box discount stores as their machines are sometimes custom configured just for them and when you try to pull up system specs on their display models they hide the important info and all you get is "not available" or something similar.
Happy Hunting.

 

[tekzor]

The biggest problem your gonna run into for what you want is that most new laptops are running Vista. Laptop graphics are very limited untill you get up into the $2200 range if your lucky.
Minimum IMHO:
any core 2 duo
2 gig memory
biggest graphics card for whatever you get especially for the WSXGA you want.
I would not even consider anything with only integrated graphics, so if it says Intel for graphics just say no.
I just bought the machine described below. While I saw machines for less $, nowhere did I find everything I bought in this machine for less. Watch out for some of the big box discount stores as their machines are sometimes custom configured just for them and when you try to pull up system specs on their display models they hide the important info and all you get is "not available" or something similar.
Happy Hunting.

The laptop in my sig is from HP DV6000

it was under $1200

 

[lostandwandering]

No doubt that your DV 6000 is a nice laptop. The only problem is that the OP wants a WSXGA screen and, unless I'm mistaken, that line doesn't offer that screen. Dell's E1505 on the other hand does and it's around the same price(not trying to bash HP here, I like their line-up especially the new tablet they came out with).

 

[Tesla220]

The biggest problem your gonna run into for what you want is that most new laptops are running Vista. Laptop graphics are very limited untill you get up into the $2200 range if your lucky.
Minimum IMHO:
any core 2 duo
2 gig memory
biggest graphics card for whatever you get especially for the WSXGA you want.
I would not even consider anything with only integrated graphics, so if it says Intel for graphics just say no.
I just bought the machine described below. While I saw machines for less $, nowhere did I find everything I bought in this machine for less. Watch out for some of the big box discount stores as their machines are sometimes custom configured just for them and when you try to pull up system specs on their display models they hide the important info and all you get is "not available" or something similar.
Happy Hunting.

The laptop in my sig is from HP DV6000

it was under $1200.

Right... and as I said, no where does anyone I found have what I bought for less. If your referring to the Go7400 it is marginally at best better than the Go7300 which incidentally for some silly reason cost $30 more than the Mobility 1400 which is marginally better than either the Go7300 or 7400. The real performance increases dont come in untill you have a machine that can support the Go7600 which is almost twice the performance of anything the HP6000 or the 6400/1505 can support

 

[tekzor]

The biggest problem your gonna run into for what you want is that most new laptops are running Vista. Laptop graphics are very limited untill you get up into the $2200 range if your lucky.
Minimum IMHO:
any core 2 duo
2 gig memory
biggest graphics card for whatever you get especially for the WSXGA you want.
I would not even consider anything with only integrated graphics, so if it says Intel for graphics just say no.
I just bought the machine described below. While I saw machines for less $, nowhere did I find everything I bought in this machine for less. Watch out for some of the big box discount stores as their machines are sometimes custom configured just for them and when you try to pull up system specs on their display models they hide the important info and all you get is "not available" or something similar.
Happy Hunting.

The laptop in my sig is from HP DV6000

it was under $1200.

Right... and as I said, no where does anyone I found have what I bought for less. If your referring to the Go7400 it is marginally at best better than the Go7300 which incidentally for some silly reason cost $30 more than the Mobility 1400 which is marginally better than either the Go7300 or 7400. The real performance increases dont come in untill you have a machine that can support the Go7600 which is almost twice the performance of anything the HP6000 or the 6400/1505 can support

here is one cookie for you

 

[johncastle]

First of all thanks for the help.

I've managed to get the following custom build from dell.


PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5200 (1.66GHz, 2MB L2 Cache,533MHz FSB)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® XP Home
LCD PANEL 15.4 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen SXGA+ Display with TrueLife™
MEMORY 1GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm

HARD DRIVE 120GB 5400rpm SATA Hard Drive
OPTICAL DRIVE 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
VIDEO CARD 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7300 TurboCache*
WI-FI WIRELESS CARD Dell Wireless 1390 802.11b/g Mini Card (54Mbps)

SOUND OPTION Integrated Audio
MEDIA DIRECT Media Direct 3.0



The cost of this configuration is 899$ which seems to be a nice price.

what are your opinions?

 

[Tesla220]

Sounds great exept you should opt for the Mobility Radion 1400 over the Go7300, its $30 less and scores higher in performance reviews.
Check it out... :arrow:

http/www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=407&card2=452

And check this tread out, its just for us.


http/forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=108506

As long as your machine hasen't been shipped you can still change the order easily if you so choose.

 

[johncastle]

Thank you tesla.

Well I'm aware that x1400 is a lot better then 7300 go however while there was no other choice for this customization and when I customized the other selections this time I could select x1400 but the price was more for the same conf. I'll check again.

One important question. Should I wait a few more weeks. If I don't buy anything in a few weeks then I'll wait another 3 months. Although it won't be easy I may wait 3 more months the prices will change dramatically.

Thanks again...

 

[Tesla220]

May I ask where your doin' this? I did it at Dell abd cameup with the exact same price you did except the card choice was there for $30 less.
As for waiting, there may be a sale at the holidays. I saved $50 over current prices buying Presidents Day. But who knows. There's a new line of prosessors coming out for Desktops and prices for those may be dropping but I have no idea if this is true for laptops. Then again if its even $100 is it worth waiting months? With technology changing so fast, IMO now is always a good time to buy.

 

[johncastle]

I'm doing it on Dell usa but configuring for inspiron 6400 from small buisness part.

Otherwise I end up with 1100+ $ .

Can you show me oyur configuration and how you did that?

 

[Tesla220]

I went to the least expensive 6400 configurator and did the customization process. All the choices are there... unless I don't understand your question. :?: