GeekDrew Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 I started a new job a couple of months ago, and have since been promoted and transferred... I'm now frequently driving all over creation, and it would be awesome to have a laptop, so I didn't have to drive home every night to send reports to headquarters. ~280 miles/day is too much for me! Budget: >$1200, the lower the better.... $850 seems like an arbitrarily good number Exclusions: Absolutely *no* HP/Compaq, Acer, and Gateway Laptops I'm not very big on extra features... but as far as the LCD goes, the higher the resolution, the better. I'm also not very particular about battery life, or weight. Time to delivery is important - I need to have this ASAP.... I'm tired of getting drowsy at the wheel. I need to stay on-site, but can't do that until I get a laptop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
provresgrp Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/compare.aspx/inspn?c=us&cs=6099&l=en&s=eep I always buy Dell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossMAN Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 Here are two options:Compare laptop sales at SalesCircular.comUnfortunately the best deals are on the brands you aren't interested in.Most of the Toshiba's are Celeron This is overkill for your needs and over your budget:OfficeDepot.com $1299 after $150 rebateM45-S359 Satellite Notebook with with 15.4-in. TruBrite widescreen. Intel Centrino Pentium M 760 1.9GHz processor, 1GB DDR SDRAM memory, 100GB hard drive, Double layer DVD +-RW Super Multi drive, Intel Pro Wireless 2200 802.11b/g LANDell has two coupons:Dell Inspiron 15% off $999 with coupon code 75SJJRDJ8LG?3ZDell Inspiron $350 off $1199 on e-value code 111-i6000rs2 with coupon code 7$1M$0QCB0JCM8For around $873 plus taxes/overnight shipping you can get a Dell Inspiron 6000 with:Intel® Pentium® M Processor 725 (1.60GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005 or XP Home15.4 inch WXGA LCD Panel512MB Shared DDR2 SDRAM 2 Dimms40GB Hard Drive24X CD Burner/DVD Combo DriveIntel® PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11 b/g, 54Mbps)Integrated Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 900Additional 9-cell Lithium Ion Battery (80 WHr) Additional BatteryWhy did I choose additional battery instead of replacing the primary battery? Good question. For an extra $30 ($129 vs $99) you get TWO batteries, the standard 6 cell and 9 cell. Recommended upgrade:15.4 inch UltraSharp WSXGA+ LCD Panel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 Dells are quick to arrive, but if you need it tomorrow, I would check out Toshiba's M series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossMAN Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 Dells are quick to arrive, but if you need it tomorrow, I would check out Toshiba's M series.I think he is swaying towards this Gateway @ BB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 I think he is swaying towards this Gateway @ BBHow come it says no gateways? I would have said to check out the DV1000/4000 series from HP or the V2000 series from Compaq. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossMAN Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 How come it says no gateways? I would have said to check out the DV1000/4000 series from HP or the V2000 series from Compaq.Oh sorry I asked him which is the lesser of those evils and he said Gateway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 Oh, well...I would at least wait until tomorrow or until you check out all the ads for next week. Then you can decide where and when will get you teh best deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcster Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 If it works out for you, Geekdrew, go for a Centrino processor. I set up one for a friend yesterday -- only heard the laptop's fan come one like three times and I was installing Quickbooks, Office, Windows updates, etc. So quiet! And tons of battery life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savingsdude6 Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 You should wait until Black friday,thats how i got my laptop from staples.:) price:999.99 sale price:899.95:p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossMAN Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 You should wait until Black friday,thats how i got my laptop from staples.:) price:999.99sale price:899.95:pDid you read the entire OP? Time to delivery is important - I need to have this ASAP.... I'm tired of getting drowsy at the wheel. I need to stay on-site, but can't do that until I get a laptop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcster Posted October 29, 2005 Share Posted October 29, 2005 Hey, I was in Staples last night. They had six laptops on clearance (there was a display board inbetween the double doors.) I looked, but I didn't remember anything specific, none of them have 17" screens (that's what I am after). You could give your local Staples a call and see what they have... Also, Sam's is a good place to get a deal if you want to walk-in and walk-out with a lappy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeekDrew Posted October 31, 2005 Author Share Posted October 31, 2005 I went to BestBuy today, and walked out with a Sony VGN-FS740/W. It cost me a little over $1300 before rebate... ~$1150 after rebate, IIRC. That doesn't include the extended warranty... I didn't get it today, but I'll probably go back to BestBuy and buy it sometime in the next two weeks... just need some more money for that. I spent more money than I would have liked on this laptop... but it was the best deal that I could find, that I could have in my hands immediately. Thanks, everyone. I really wish that I would have been able to get a better deal, but since I live in the middle of nowhere, and needed it immediately, I think this is about as good as it gets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossMAN Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 Congrats but a Sony VAIO??? Good luck :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gijimenez Posted October 31, 2005 Share Posted October 31, 2005 Whats wrong with HP? I have one never mind its not working but it did good before the virus? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeekDrew Posted November 11, 2005 Author Share Posted November 11, 2005 <sigh> I already told Ross -- *he* now has the right to say "I told you so". I've had this laptop less than two weeks (thankfully), and the LCD started malfunctioning today.... in a big way. So, it's going back to the store tomorrow. Or Saturday. I still have a few days before my two week return period is up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossMAN Posted November 11, 2005 Share Posted November 11, 2005 Drew: I told you so :) Thanks for being such a good sport about this, I'm gonna have lots of fun razzing you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeekDrew Posted November 12, 2005 Author Share Posted November 12, 2005 How come it says no gateways? I would have said to check out the DV1000/4000 series from HP or the V2000 series from Compaq.<sigh> So I returned the Vaio to BestBuy today. GeekSquad (thankfully) didn't question me on what was malfunctioning... which is good, since it wasn't doing it consistently. Well, because I have no use for a gift card, I decided to try to exchange it for another laptop. I browsed through their entire laptop selection for quite a while... and there was only *one* laptop (other than the model I just returned) that looked interesting to me... the HP dv4275. All of the other laptops had horrible build qualities, or didn't have specs I was interested in. So... I decided to get the dv4275. I also bought the extended service plan. I get it home... and the build quality of the laptop feels much worse than that of any Vaio I've ever seen. There's a single pixel that is stuck on 'red'... and that's bothering the hell out of me. Furthermore, the LCD just generally is bothering me... it looks very, very different, depending on what angle you see it from... and I'm not used to that on the other LCDs I've seen. <sigh> Why me. I just wish that I could order a Dell Inspiron and be done with it. :( They just can't get one here soon enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now