Best laptop question

[imported_Marcus]

I have a client that wishes to get a notebook. Now, the dangerous statement "Money is not a problem" is being bandied about here, but anyway :)

For say about 4000 AUD (3000 USD), what's the best notebooks running around and what features are to be looked out for? I havent gone shopping for a notebook in two years so I am well and truly behind the bellcurve.

BTW - SONY is an utter no no. This machine is to replace a POS Viao that fell to pieces, like every other frelling pathetic Sony I have seen. Worthless pathetic POS machines, the lot of them.

[Morgan Evanar]

I'm partial to Toshiba after mine survived being frozen and bug bombed. For me I would get a 14" Apple Powerbook. For someone else? Something slim, light and Toshiba or IBM.

[Figrin D'an]

Is size or weight of the laptop a concern, or is it all about performance for this one?

[Taataani Meorrrei]

Those tiny new IBM's look pretty rad, but I don't think they're high on the performance end of the spectrum.

[imported_Marcus]

Mainly performance is what I'm looking for in this case. Say, 512mb memory, at least a 15" screen, Centrino, etc. Other than absolute no way Sony, it's open for suggestions.

[imported_J'ktal Anajii]

Well, I've had two Sonys, and both have been excellent to me, but when I was looking again, my best finds were all Toshibas and Dells.

There were some totally awesome Toshibas out there, some with two gigs of RAM and 200 GB HDs, DVD burners and 128 meg video cards with the 17" widescreen on them. I'd say take a look at Toshiba, my sister currently has one that totally rocks.

[Figrin D'an]

The top end Toshiba Satellite is pretty cool. So is the Dell Inspiron XPS. Either would be pretty wicked fun for your client. I haven't really looked at the IBM laptops recently.

[Marcus Telcontar]

I think it's amusing if it was a desktop, there would be exact specs of just about every part to use :)

I'm not too familiar with Toshiba's myself, always been a Dell person for laptops. I'll check ut the satellites and report back

[Khendon Sevon]

If he's honestly willing to spend 3k I'd go with a Voodoo. Voodoo's and Alienware's notebooks are notorious for power and price.

Of course, if this guy isn’t going to be using the laptop for anything heavy duty, neither of the above mentioned are needed.

[Morgan Evanar]

They're rebadged Sagers. Buy a Sager and save a ton of money.

I'd got with something Toshiba or IBM.

Edit: apparently cnet likes IBM http://reviews.cnet.com/Notebooks/4502-3121_7-0.html?tag=pageNav&orderby=-7eRating&qt=

[Lady Vader]

BTW - SONY is an utter no no. This machine is to replace a POS Viao that fell to pieces, like every other frelling pathetic Sony I have seen. Worthless pathetic POS machines, the lot of them.

^_^; I guess my parents have been incredibly lucky. They own two desktops and one laptop... all of which are Sony VAIO machines.

The only thing that ever needed replacing was the CD-ROM on the first desktop, and that was after 3-some-odd years.
And I replaced both vid-cards, not cause they'd gone bad, but because I wanted something faster with better graphics.

But nothing else has gone wrong with them.
The first desktop is still running Win95 and was bought back in '97, the laptop is also running Win95 and was bought in '98, and the second desktop is running WinXP and was bought in '01. (And the two desktops are networked... I can't even BEGIN to tell you what a headache that turned out to be between '95 and XP... but it worked).

So, yeah, I've come to the conclusion that the machines are being protected by the comp guardian angels or something cause none of them have blown up or had any serious probs and are still running just as good as when they were bought.

(Of course, now I have my own comp, built from scratch, running faster than a comet, and I'm lovin it! ^_^ )

Ok, sorry for the slight hijack. Just wanted to share the impossible story.

On with the laptop info sharing. :)

[imported_Blade Ice]

Dell would be my first choice unless I had the money then I would go Alien ware.

Plus dells have a nice if you drop and break we will replace no questions asked with in the first three years. The warrenty renews evertime you get the dell replaced too I believe.

[Titus]

IBM's are nice, I'm planning on getting one of their mobility models.

[Morgan Evanar]

Originally posted by Blade Ice
Dell would be my first choice unless I had the money then I would go Alien ware.

Plus dells have a nice if you drop and break we will replace no questions asked with in the first three years. The warrenty renews evertime you get the dell replaced too I believe. As I said, the Alienwares are rebaged Sager, so save yourself a bucketload of money and buy a Sager. They're also massive, heavy, and get incredibly hot. I'd much rather have a Shuttle XPC or similar and an LCD monitor. Not like those huge laptop things have any battery life anyway.

[Marcus Telcontar]

Alienware != in Aust AFAIK. That's them out.

We're pickign up a Toshiba. Satellite P20 P4 2.8GHz 512MB 80GB DVD-Multi 17" Widescreen XPP. My brother's fiancee has one of these monsters and if nothing else, it looks hell impressive. Not sure about the video card in it myself, but with that amount of beef for basically for Word and Excel crap, it's not going to matter.

[Sejah Haversh]

Alienware = ripoff.

I guarentee you can find better equipment for less than two thirds of the price of an Alienware ANYTHING.

Yeah, after some research, I'd be voting for Toshiba, IBM or Dell.