So school is starting again in 5 weeks or so and it's time for me to upgrade my laptop. I don't need to do any gaming on it really at all, but I do do some CPU/memory intensive tasks, and I tend to do a LOT of things at once. Photoshop, Dreamweaver, those kind of apps.

I don't necessarily need a blazing fast laptop, but I do need one that's going to be fast enough for me to multitask on. I also dont want it to be too heavy, I'd like to be able to carry it around to classes without it being REALLY heavy. In order to save on weight I think I might buy an external DVD burner for the dock, and maybe get one with just a DVD reader on board.

Anyone have any suggestions? I know I'm being kind of vague but I'm not really sure what I want and I don't even know where to start; it's beena long time since I stayed up with computer tech.

Anyone? Oh and price isn't that much of an issue, $1500-$2000 is what I expect to spend.

Hmm you're pretty forgiving on the price, but I don't know any college student who couldn't use more money.

I'd go with the Dell Latitude D600, it's a fantastic value properly configured.

The applications you mentioned like RAM. Some laptops can be upgraded to 2 gigs, many 1 gig.
Check for video OUT.
DVD is a must as is a CD burner these days
Built in wireless is nice
Count the USB posts...2.0 is a must
AMD or INTEL?

Laptops worst enemy is theft, heat and dropped and STOLEN LOL.
I have two toshibas, love them
check the latest recalls
go get em

Lots of things to consider: cpu, ram, hard drive, graphics, wireless, cd/dvd. Most newer laptops already include built in network and modem cards. I would recommend a mobile processor, with at least 512Mb RAM, either Nvidia or ATI graphics, also wireless and at least a DVD player.

Toshiba and Dell seem to have more deals than other laptops.
Emachines, mediocre system but you will be hurting with the onboard graphics.

Go look at the keyboard configuration as different manufacturers have different keyboard layout.

I'd recommend Dell's business line...the Home/Inspiron line is third-grade hardware that will fail the very night before an English term paper is due . The 600, as Manekineko suggested is a good bet.

IBM is the top of the line in stability and reliability, and with your relatively relaxed budget, you might want to think about getting one if you don't intend to upgrade for the next 2 years or so. They also have higher resale value.

Since you want to use your laptop for graphics also, I suggest you also buy a monitor. That way you can buy a lightweight model you can carry around and still have a big monitor for graphics at home/dorm?

One thing I like to tell people when it comes to laptops is that you're not just buying the laptop. You're also buying the company and support behind it.

Of all the computer equipment available laptops seem to take the most abuse even if you're very careful with it. In a thread one time (long, long ago) I mentioned some of the little things that can cause alot of damage in the long run, like car vibrations, dropping your bag on the floor, dropping your bag on a counter or desk, opening and closing the screen thousands of times, typing very hard & banging on the keys, stuff getting caught under the keyboard, environmental issues like cold, heat & humidity. Plus there are lots of others, just use your imagination. My favorite is "little plastic pieces that break".

OK, so where am I going with this? I recommend that people buy a laptop from a company that will give them the support they need when they need it, and when it comes to laptops always purchase the extended warranty. I've been very satisfied with the support my clients & I get from Dell, so that's what I recommend, and in my opinion IBM beats everyone, but you pay for that, but I think it's worth it. I've also delt with extended warranty support from the retail chains like BestBuy & CircuitCity. Eventually you'll get your support, but it can take 6-8 weeks or longer.

Is there something your school recommends? Do they have some sort of buying program? Do they have on campus support? I'd look into that before purchasing anything.

And would you recommend the Latitude over the Inspiron line, Alan, as a few others have done in this thread?

And another few questions ... is it worth my while to go for the cheapest memory/HDD upgrades while building the laptop then buy components and install them myself? Seems like it's a whole lot cheaper to buy 512MB of RAM for a Latitude on eBay than what Dell is charging for the upgrade.

Same is true for the small laptop hard drives ... or alternatively I guess I could get an external firewire drive or maybe even a case + internal Hard Drive. Anyone have experience with those homemade external HDD's?

Thanks

HD upgrades, at least for Dell, tend to be cheaper when purchased with the laptop. Plus, HD's can act up, and when they do, there's nothing like Dell Support to send you a new one Airborne Second-Day. External HDs are too cumbersome to lug around everywhere -- especially the homemade 5.25" "cans" you refer to. 60-80GB should set you up nicely. Memory on the other hand, is pretty stable, and lots of good, very reasonably priced brand names offer lifetimes warranties: Kingston, Crucial, etc. Go for the lowest memory config possible, even if this means choosing "256 MB as 128/128 in two slots" -- you can always just resell this and get two 512 MBs to put in there.

Also, if you go with Dell, a few suggestions from personal experience: Upgrade to the WXGA(?) (1400x1050) or UXGA (1600x1200) displays. I have a 15" UXGA on my laptop, and it's beautiful. Great for multitaskers (especially programmers)-- enough screen space to keep two (or even three) apps at pretty large window sizes on the screen at the same time. Totally alleviates the need for an external display unless you are into big-screen movie watching or gaming.

If you aren't big on 3D FPSs, you may want to scrimp a little on the graphics chip. A GeForce4 Go with 32 MB would be more than adequate. If you are, on the other hand, go for the higher-end ATIs or the FX5200 Go.

Go to Costco.com, that Toshiba laptop is all that I want if I had your budget.

costco has an excellent return policy, it doesnt expire that i know of

Ok guys, I loaded up a Inspiron 600m due to the hot deal on it. It's a $2000 laptop:

1.8GHz Pentium M
256MB ram (I will upgrade)
60GB hard drive
64MB video card/14.1 SXGA+
Combo CDRW/DVD
Intel 802.11b/g wireless
1 year warranty, 1 year on-site
2 batteries

$2004
-20%
=$1603.20
-$150 MIR1
-$75 MIR2

=$1378 with free shipping and no tax

Is the Latitude that much better than the Inspiron to pass this deal up?

If I had your budget for a lappy.......I would for sure look at the wide wide screen lappys :-)

maybe someone above has covered it :-)

TOSHIBA A65S1762:
3.2GHz Mobile Intel Pentium 4 538 processor with Hyper-Threading technology
533MHz front side bus speed
1MB L2 Cache
512MB DDR SDRAM memory (1 fixed memory slot with 1 available upgradeable slot; expandable to 1536MB)
Drives:

60GB 4200RPM EIDE hard drive
DVD-SuperMulti Drive:
Max Speed - CD-ROM (24x); CD-R (24x read/16x write); CD-RW (12x read/4x write); DVD-ROM (8x); DVD-R (4x read/4x write); DVD-RW (4x read/2x write); DVD+R (4x read/2.4x write); DVD+RW (4x read/2.4x write); DVD-RAM (2x read/2x write)
Graphics & Video:

15.0" TFT active matrix LCD display
supports up to 16M colors at 1024 x 768 resolution
ATI-MOBILITY RADEON-7000 IGP graphics controller with 64MB shared video memory

Dimensions: 13.5" L x 11.1" W x 2.13" H (with feet)
Weight (approximate): 7.7 lbs.
Warranty: One year (limited) on parts, labor and battery

Price: $1400

For $20 more, you will have a 3.2GHz processor, 100% more ram, same disc space and a DVD burner. And have I mentioned the extra cosco.com warranty?

here is what a lot of us voted on and discussed recently:
http://www.bargainshare.com/index.php?act=...ST&f=22&t=33443

that's definitely a nice config, but the Dell I'm buying has the newer Pentium M with 2MB cache and the faster FSB. Not to mention 2 years onsite service whereas Costco only offers phone support and a limited warranty.

Plus the Toshiba is probably 2-3 lbs heavier than the Dell...plus with the 3.2GHz Pentium the battery life has to be next to nothing right? Like I said I don't really play a lot of games and if I upgrade this Dell to 512 or 768 I think 1.8GHz will be plenty for me...

But I'm definitely looking @ that Toshiba

I definitely agree that weight is a big problem when we are talking about mobility. And the processor type really confused me. What's a Mobile Pentium (the Toshiba) and what is a Pentium M (your Dell)?

Gee, I miss the old days when they are just called 286, 386, 486...

I didn't emphasize this before, but if you're serious about spending 1500-2000 dollars, don't spend it on a Dell. Especially not on anything from their home line. I have one of their "professional" computers, a Latitude D600, and I think it feels a bit chintzy. From what I hear, the Inspirons feel even worse. The little things on my laptop just don't feel very well designed.

A year from now, a 10-20% difference in processor won't make that much difference, but a difference in quality will. At that price level, there are really only 3 brands you should consider I think. IBM, Panasonic and Toshiba.

Well Intel introduced a higher end version of the M processor with a faster FSB speed and 2MB of cache instead of 433(?) and 1MB of cache.

Plus the lower GHz almost always use less power and are cooler than the higher GHz and unless I'm playing games (rarely) I don't really think I need anything more than what I got.

Same thing. Pentium M is the mobile P4 line, although they do have some architectural differences from P4s.

Thanks, izx.

The Pentium M, and the Mobile Pentium 4 are not the same.
Intel is getting very confusing with their naming lately.

Mobile Pentium 4
Pentium M
And now to really confuse things, they have:
Mobile Pentium 4 M


Here's a page listing all of their notebook processor lines:
Intel notebook processors

check the details of your credit card(s), i believe some have benefits of extended warranties that cover beyond manufacturer's basic warranty, would be worth reading over for an investment like this.

I tend to disagree with some of the people here. I've been through a LOT of laptops and my best experiences have been with Dell.

I'm very happy with the Inspiron line and I see it like this...I can get an Inspiron on a Hot Deal and then replace it with a brand new one a year later. The total cost to me for BOTH systems would be about the same as ONE Latitude.

I have had success in the past at selling my used laptops for more than I paid new.

I personally see no reason to go top-of-the-line on a laptop just for college or everyday use, when you can get a decent Dell for half the price and upgrade every year to a brand new system and current technology.

I say you go for a Dell 600M...it has all the features you need. This is one of the best weeks of the year to get a deal on one, since it's Dell's quarter end. There was a VERY good deal two nights ago. I bet another one will come along this week.

I'd agree with cgomes3; if you like "upgrading" your laptops every 9 months-a year, go for Inspirons. After that they invariably start having problems, although with a long warranty that situation may be acceptable. Here's a laundry list of the the things that have "happened" to my Inspiron 8100 since I bought it in July 2002 -- the 3-year warranty has more or less covered it. Note that Dell pays for shipping both ways; an on-site warranty is much better, obviously. The only reckless use I subjected the laptop to was running it mostly on batteries for the first 3 months or so...the batteries the began losing charge and died, can't blame 'em.

December 2002: Keyboard keys faded out, some completely. Serviced by mail in about 1 week.
February-March 2003: Power adapter began having problems at location 1. Basically, the 14V wire had some loose connections to the plug that plugins into the laptop. Had to do things like keep the wire pulled tight by taping, etc. to keep it working. After the usual 1 hr Dell Outsourced Service rigmarole, got a new one Airborne Second Day (Dell always ships ASD for me).
May 2003: Another power problem. Adapter seemed fine though. Laptop required multiple presses of the power key to boot, although the key seemed fine. Laptop sent for service, they keep it for a week, return in same (non-working) condition with the excuse "We couldn't find your warranty details". Call me, duh!?
June 2003: Goes back for service after another call, comes back fixed in one week with new motherboard/new processor (so the attached report says). Works.
September 2003: Built-in CD/DVD-ROM drive stops working with CD-Rs past about the 65-min/600 MB point. After a protracted head-banging session, I finally have to invent a non-existent Windows error to get them to send me a new one. The old one was the slim version that fit into the special optical bay in the side. Despite giving them the exact model number, they ship me the removable additional drive-bay version that is bulkier. At least it works...I don't bother trying for the slim version again.
November 2003: Same power adapter problem, in location 2...loose connection. Very gullible lady on the other end, accepts my line about it being a fire hazard and sends me a new power adapter Next-Day.
December 2003: Hard-drive makes clicking noises suddenly, and stops working/booting up. Putting it in the freezer overnight lets me image it to a desktop drive before it starts acting up again. Laptop stays in hibernation because I am moving soon.
January 2004: Location 3. Laptop seems to boot up and work okay. HD fails again after three days. Dell sends replacement in 5 days.
Current status: Keys faded again. The headphone jack is very "loose", because the two plastic halves that clamp it together have separated; no visible screw, so either headphone cord has to be pulled really tight against the jack (the old power adapter trick), or two PCMCIA cards have to be shoved into both slots (since the jack is situated beneath the slots) to "push" the top half of the jack down. Needs service, the longer mail-in kind. I think it's time for me to have it spruced up one last time and then eBay the thing before the warranty is up in June next year. Edit: also, the clasp that holds the (replaced) DVD-ROM drive in the external bay has become loose, so that the drive pops out if the laptop is anything but perfectly horizontal.

The moral of the story: Inspirons are built to last at most an year before things start dropping out. As my keyboard, power and headphone problems show, build quality sucks. Dell ultimately sticks to its extended warranties, if you can get past the moronic CS. When they ask me to do the usual power-off, reboot, Device Manager, etc. schtick, I just "mime" it for their benefit while I'm actually browsing the net or something on the desktop -- I have enough PC troubleshooting experience to mentally reproduce errors (or the lack thereof). If you do get a Dell, Inspiron or Latitude, go with a higher-level of support, preferably with on-site service. I believe that if that service does require them to to take your machine to a service depot, they give you an alternate machine to work with for the time being. There is something to say about the quality of the Dell LCD displays though: I got a UXGA (1600x1200) 15", and it's been a beauty. No dead pixels, no loss of brightness with aging.

On a side note, the best way to often get Dell CS to quickly replace a part is to say it has completely failed, but you tried a working part from a friend in your laptop and that works. I had to do this with my DVD-ROM drive: the first time I gave the CS guy the actual Windows error (CRC failed), he went to look in their knowledge base, and after 20 minutes on hold, I gave up. I called again the next day, saying the drive wasn't detected and the light didn't flash on bootup, but a friends drive worked perfectly. They agreed to replace it in less than 5 min of my getting through to a human.

With all the talk about the Latitude D600...

What do you guys think of the Latitude D505?