My new laptop

Well as far as gaming goes...that won't get you much (if you're hard-core). Now, if you want to play some Age of Empires, Doom II, or Simcity 3000 (games like that), then you could give it a go. However, games like Empire Earth II, Half-Life 2, etc, no, only laptops I know of that could play those are a Dell XPS Gen2 or an Alienware 7700 (which both cost around 3-$4,000 with good upgrades). But my advice, to keep it in good shape, is to have no games on it, don't work the hardware too much. Your PC would be fine for playing music/videos/internet, and office work. I have a Dell D505 Centrino 1.4 Ghz, 1GB, and 60GB, 64MB Intel Graphics, and it does all of the above just fine. To make it last a long time? Well...make sure it doesen't overheat (BIG factor!), don't use it as much as you would a desktop (maybe for only 2 hours at a time), and try to keep installed apps, to a minimum. I've done that on my old Pentium Pro laptops, and they still work just fine, even if they are a bit outdated.
As far as system-data, my laptop usually runs at 6-8,000 handles, and 180-200MB PF usage, so I'd try to aim for maybe 6-7,000 handles and...well if you have 512MB, I'd go for less than 200MB usage, but then again maybe I run my laptop too much on bare-bones, haha.

To assess whether or not that laptop is any good, we need to know what you plan on using it for.

Gaming - Laptops are not meant for gaming. If you are a big gamer, the laptop is simply not the way to go. Period

Future Apps - This doesnt' really make sense. Internet2 is a purely academic network, you won't see it offered from an ISP anytime soon (probably not at all). And it's impossible to say what the requirements of Windows 2010 or Microsoft Office v14 will be. Judging based on CURRENT apps though, you will want a slighly faster CPU and more RAM. That will increase the life-span of any system.

The screen issue... Most games have the ability to set various resolutions, and they probably will have the resolution setting to fit to your monitor. If not it will probably letterbox it or frame it somehow to not stretch. Again, gaming should not be your main concern with this system.

That laptop you list is a good mainstream laptop, it will do web browsing, Office apps, email etc like a champ. But it won't do anything extremely taxing like 3D games.

64MB DDR VRAM... DDR is Double Data Rate (if I remember right), it refers to the type of RAM in the same way SDRAM or RDRAM etc... It's just faster RAM. And for 64MB, do not expect to play ANY games released in the past 2-3 years on that card at anything other than "Low" settings. But again, laptops are not meant for games.

Would be nice if we had a budget too!

I'd want to avoid Toshiba laptops. They have in the past always struck me as particularly slow, too hot, and unreliable. They also seem to fall apart after two years or so. We had them as standard laptops at a phone company I used to work at and again as old standard equipment at a credit card company where I worked. The result was always the same: hated the beasts.

If for some insane reason I would actually go for a PC laptop (as opposed to a Mac laptop), I would buy either a Sony (style) or HP (conservative business-like). Especially HP laptops (and HP desktops and servers as well) have always struck me as VERY reliable and easy to get parts for.

My next laptop will be an Intel-based Mac next year. Currently my 2001/2002 iBook still works reasonably well (has new hard disk, needs new battery, happily plays radio plays and DVDs on my night desk, and allows wireless Internet access from bed via Airport express).

But as a previous poster said, if you are a gamer, get a desktop Windows box or a console. But for laptops, nothing beats Mac OS in my opinion (and I use Windows at work).

better get a gaming PC or Laptop. cause the chance that all the games u want to play will work on those types of computers are high. u know....since the computer is ment for games.

and about that 64MB...u better upgrade that if u want to play the games that comment #1 mentioned.

Definitely not for gaming! Your laptop probably has built in video instead of a video card. Only the high end laptops sell with video cards. This also means your video memory (64mb) is probably shared. In other words of the 512mb of RAM you bought your video card is using 64mb leaving you 448mb to run the system and applications. Centrinos run cooler, use less electricity and are a bit slower than a P4 or a Xeon.

Sounds like a good computer for doing most other things though. I would suggest you stay out of the case. If you don't you'll void your warranty. Laptops are MUCH more likely to be sent in for repairs do to the traveling they do.

Just got finished configuring the only two true gaming laptops out there:

Dell XPS Gen2: $3602 discounting tax/shipping
Alienware 7700: $4265 without office software/tax/shipping

(both have 256MB graphics, and 7700 has Dual-Core 3.6 Ghz, and Dell has 2 Ghz Pentium M)
So yeah, while a gaming laptop IS possible, most of us just don't have the budget for it (heck my XPS Gen4 desktop was only $3100 without the monitor ($4200 with), and that thing's more powerful than they are still)

I've got a Sony VGN-A690 with multimedia docking station. The video card is a 128mb ATI X600 (Widescreen 1920x1200). It plays Doom III smoothly, but not as well as a gaming desktop. It retails around $3000

There's always the chance I went a bit overboard with the pricing. The default price for a Gen2 is about $2500 and the 7700 is $2800, and come with similar specs to your Sony. But nonetheless does it really run smoothly? My friend has a 7700 and it plays Doom 3 at 78fps, can one really play it that well with a 128 0_o, well well, good thing I waited to buy anoher comp!

Centrinos run cooler, use less electricity and are a bit slower than a P4 or a Xeon.

not slower than a P4. Intel Pentium M Dothans and Sanomas run better on laptops than P4's do. (unless you tap into the fastest P4's: 3.6 ghz and higher that have no Centrino equivalent, but no battery life as well! )

can one really play it that well with a 128 0

Depends on what screen res. your trying to run. I'm at work so I can't check but I think I have a high level of detail set in the configuration.

Pentium M Dothans and Sanomas run better on laptops than P4's do.

I can't argue with that. I run a 1.9ghz Centrino. I wasn't aware they had pushed them up to the 2.8ghz and beyond range. My last laptop was a 2.8ghz P4 and the fan ran almost constantly, even with little or no load.

nvidia GeForce FX GO 5200 64m

I wouldn't recommend that one even to a non-gamer (that was okay in 2004, but things have changed since then). A Radeon Mobility 9600 or geForce 5700 (at least) with 128MB onboard would be a better investment over a longer time horizon. cuz you never know what you'll want your computer to do. Desktop graphics card go as high as 512MB GDDR3 today. Your Pentium M 715 may be a little short. I'm sure you could find one with a (Dothan) 725 1.6GHZ (Sanoma equivalent = 730) or Dothan 735 1.7GHZ (Sanoma equivalent = 740). Dothan is the previous Centrino processor generation, Sanoma is the latest. The difference is a larger Front Side Bus: 533MHZ instead of 400. Clock speeds changed too, as well as model numbers. Also make sure your 1.5GHZ Centrino is a 715 and not a 705. 705 has twice as less cache memory, the strength of the Centrino processors. Hope this helps a bit!

To start with, thanks to everyone!

I'm a bit limited in my options, since I have around 1000-1200 US$ budget
I'm not aiming at gaming really as go more for apps... but I don't like to see that much CPU/RAM unused neither I was said that Toshiba and IBM were the most reliable. HP... has only onboard Intel graphic cards (yuck). Sony and Fujitsu look nice too... but I don't get good prices on those (on IBM neither).

I wanna keep it more than 2 years.... should I buy a second hand ThinkPad instead? Their reputation is to be undestructible. Which brands stay alive the longest? Is it impossible to keep a laptop for 3-5 years as I did with my desktop?

Thx again

To start with, thanks to everyone!

I'm a bit limited in my options, since I have around 1000-1200 US$ budget
I'm not aiming at gaming really as go more for apps... but I don't like to see that much CPU/RAM unused neither I was said that Toshiba and IBM were the most reliable. HP... has only onboard Intel graphic cards (yuck). Sony and Fujitsu look nice too... but I don't get good prices on those (on IBM neither).

I wanna keep it more than 2 years.... should I buy a second hand ThinkPad instead? Their reputation is to be undestructible. Which brands stay alive the longest? Is it impossible to keep a laptop for 3-5 years as I did with my desktop?

Thx again

i want centrino i'm in need of a new laptop, for school. i've had it since 2002, it's a gateway solo, 1.2ghz intel celeron, 512mb ram *max it can hold!*,don't even know what the video card specs are for it, but it sucks anyways compared to whats out there now. *although i can run object dock on it, but it's kinda laggy if i don't mess around on it for a while* good luck getting your new computer ~ there's lots of choices

One of best laptop companies out there is Viao. (Sony) My sister bought one 6 years ago and it's still going very strong. One problem is that it's pretty pricey line of laptops and they don't make gaming laptops, just very slim laptops.

Toshiba is pretty good, my laptop is 3 years old and it's still okay. It's keyboard got broken once, kept crashing my computer (no idea why) and one of cheap ram sticks I bought went bad, but otherwise great. It's pretty darned heavy and one I have has pretty bad video card driver.

lol toshiba is good and you've had that many problems *just messing with you* i haven't had anything break, and have been running the same memory stick since i put it in in 2002 *lucky me* i'd like an alienware one, or maybe just get a mac one *either way they are both expensive*

With $1,200 you should be able to find better deals than that. Try looking up CL56. Compal is the barebone manufacturer, then it's customized and rebranded. They're real sturdy and offer the kind of performance you only find on fancier computers. I reckon it might be a good compromise between price and performance. It matches up easily with more trusted names.

Go with a brand name laptop!

Seriously, it's a lot easier to get parts from a vendor who produces millions of the particular model. This is quite important for laptops.

Buy a Dell if you want cheap and unelegant, Toshiba if you want something you'll hate, HP if you want something reliable and conservative, Sony if you want Windows yet style, Apple if you want a good laptop.

CL56 is a proven best seller. Brand name is important in many cases, yet I don't see the point of it if you're on a tight budget, looking for famous brands at all costs to the complete detriment of performance. Both are equally important. CL56 can deliver on both. Look it up!
Besides your description of them brands is gratuitous and very subjective!

i recommend u buy either HP, Sony, or Dell.

I don't know how to describe brands other than subjectively.

I can only base my descriptions on my own experiences. There are no objective differences between brands. Sony laptops are not always faster than Toshiba's, HP laptops do not generally have more memory than Dell's. All the objective criteria have nothing to do with brand name.

The brand name does not give you a technical spec that could be objectively compared, it gives you a name to connect with experiences and recollection. I have used Toshiba and HP laptops, Sony laptops and iBooks/PowerBooks. Of Dell I only know the specs.

My experience with all these makes is considerable (I have been installing and supporting them for a living for some time) but I cannot give an objective comparison between HP and Sony. I just think Sony laptops look better.

I, personally, would not want to save one or two hundred dollars just to find myself without parts should the laptop break after a year. These things happen. And I always found that is easier to spend 200 dollars more when I have some money than to suddenly replace a broken laptop I cannot get parts for at a more or less random point in time.

If you are on a tight budget brand name is important. If you generally have lots of money, you might not need the safety of part availability. I prefer paying a bit more for what I think looks nicer and the security that I can get parts and do not have to replace the entire laptop should it ever break.

But then I don't even understand why somebody would even consider buying a non-Apple laptop unless they are gamers.

Fair enough. But let's say you can't afford that extra $200, I would still want more for my money. Brand name laptops cost more to no additional advantage for a computer that I know will soon be or is already outdated. This is the case for the Toshiba under discussion. What matters then is a computer that won't fail you for as many as 3-4 years. CL56 in my experience possesses this reliability (dead pixel-free lcd, very sturdy...) and only features components found on most laptops with the Centrino platform. So in general your argument is the best advice, but when you're on a tight budget and want something that can run pretty much everything for a number of years I reckon mine is as equally valid.

I guess it depends what "more for my money" is.

I consider the better chance to still get parts in a year or so "more". With a laptop I'd rather have the security that I can get it fixed after a year if it breaks than a slightly faster CPU or so. A laptop is, imho, an appliance that is supposed to perform certain tasks, not a pure bang-for-buck metre. My point is money should be spend on whatever can perform the tasks reliably, not whatever method gives the best raw performance per dollar.

I had a look at the CL56. I find it amazingly ugly. But I think the two of us can agree that he shouldn't buy a Toshiba.

I own a small Civil Engineering business (12 employees) and I have a smattering of Dell, HP, Gateway and Sony. I have 4 Sony laptops, 2 Dell laptops and 1 HP laptop. The first I bought was a Sony (1998 or 1999 still in use) and the next 3 were NOT in order to save a couple bucks. The second Dell Latitude has already been dumped. It was supposedly hit by a power surge although the AC charger still works. The HP is fairly dependable but SLLOOOWWWW. The last 3 have all been Sonys and as far as laptops go thats all I'll buy until I find something more reliable. I also have 7 desktop systems. The Sony Desktop is not as fast as it's equivalent Dell machine. The Gateway has a tendency to fry CD drives and is always the low man on the totem poles computer. The two best Desktop's are the Dell Precision 380 and the HP Pavillion 763. The Dell 4600 and the Sony are outfitted the same but the Dell seems Faster.
The moral of the story is just because it costs more doesn't make it better.