Gideon MacLeish

Looking for a Laptop

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Looking for a Laptop

from JoeUser Forums

OK, I need to ask a few questions. In a couple of weeks, I will be buying a new laptop. I need some thoughts and suggestions, with the following in mind:

1) I'm not a Mac fanboi. If you are, hey, no prob, but I assure you, Mac is not even where I am going with this.

2) It needs to be brand new. Warranty, warranty, warranty.

3) OS: Windows Vista. I have my reasons (I will be running VMWare on the machine, but I need a Vista platform to start with).

4) Memory: 2GB bare minimum (Vista and VMWare should explain it).

5) It needs to be under $1000. I need the best computer I can get at a budget price.

6) Gateway and eMachines (I know, same company) are dirtier words than Mac.

I am using the Dell Inspiron 1501 for my baseline. I can get what I need for less than $700. The pros for Dell are that I know Dell, I've serviced more Dell computers than I can count, and I can get good discounts. The cons are that Dell is a big box company, and that sometimes their lower end systems are not as durable. And I am a firm believer in value: get the best product at the best possible price.

It's possible that this may be the best product for the best price. But I'd like to shop it out to a wider range of people.

77,574 views 30 replies
Reply #26 from WinCustomize Forums Top
for your price range and the requirement for warranty i would take a look at the Asus F5R

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3615

Asus is a high quality boutique laptop manufacturer thats way above most laps you see sold at BestBuy etc.

The best thing about Asus is they actually make their own laptops. Unlike HP and Compac and Dell and others including Apple.
In fact, Asus makes the mac laptops for Apple.

I personally own the Asus G2 and the asus screens are amazing.

My second choice for you would be maybe the Sony Vaio N Series laps. Nicely configured and all under $1000USD and superb screens!!!

good luck

Reply #27 from JoeUser Forums Top
My second choice for you would be maybe the Sony Vaio N Series laps. Nicely configured and all under $1000USD and superb screens!!!


Vaio makes a nice laptop, but they're WAY too proprietary.

Asus is one I'd definitely give a solid look, as I LOVE Asus Mobo's. The only question remaining on that score is if I can get an Xp Pro machine from them.

Great site, btw! I'm only seeing two Asus models for under a grand; one has Xp media center (not my preferred version of XP; true you can join it to a domain, but you have to make registry edits), and the other has Vista. Aaaaahhh, well, I'll give it a hard think; I may settle with Media Center after all (There's only 1GB RAM, but I can correct that easily enough).
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Reply #28 from WinCustomize Forums Top
theres nothing on a Vaio thats more propriety than any other notebook other than it may have a dedicated Memory Stick reader. Ive owned 2 Vaios prior to my Asus and its has USBs, firewires, DMI outs and all the same ports you'll find in any other laptop.

In fact the most proprietary laptop now is the Apple macs and in my opinion they are over-rated and over-priced.

My Asus G2 came preinstalled with XP Pro SP2 with MCE. The MCE is nice to have if you ever decide to add and external TV Tuner which i just did last weekend.

Ram and HD capacity can always be upgraded in a laptop. Most important aspects is to buy the best CPU, vid card with dedicated vram and the best looking screen u can get for the $1000 you want to spend.

Almost everything else can be added later on.

But ill say again, one look at the Asus notebook and you'll be amazed!
And yes, Asus laps are not usually cheap. Like i said they are a boutique manufacturer that makes their own laps. You wont see Asus laps churned out like Dells or HPs.

Lastly i think you'll be lucky now to get any laptop pre-loaded with XP.
Vista is the norm now so you may have to get your own copy or XP to install.
Reply #29 from JoeUser Forums Top
theres nothing on a Vaio thats more propriety than any other notebook other than it may have a dedicated Memory Stick reader. Ive owned 2 Vaios prior to my Asus and its has USBs, firewires, DMI outs and all the same ports you'll find in any other laptop.


Yes, the problem isn't right away. When the laptop gets older, though, motherboard drivers, etc, can be a major pain to find. I like Vaio computers, but when I buy something I buy it for the long haul, and Vaios can be a pain once they are old enough that finding replacement parts becomes difficult. I'm also not keen on the Sony brand in general.

I gotta agree with you on the Asus, though. It does look like a sweet machine, and Asus has a very strong reputation. It will give Dell a run for the money (Dell HAS to make my short list, due to a number of reasons, one of those being the discounts I can get). It's a little pricier, but as you and I both know, sometimes it's worth paying extra.

And as for Mac, yup...overpriced, overrated. I'd consider a Linux build before Mac.

Speaking of which, do they make VMWare for linux? THAT might be an idea worth considering!
Reply #30 from JoeUser Forums Top
Well, I dumped nonessential software on the old laptop, and it's running pretty nicely. The main drawback to that machine is that it is limited in the number of processes it can handle. And since I want to work with VMWare and Linux from Scratch, I need to run a number of processes.