im in the market for a laptop. looking for a 2 ghz, at least 512 ram, 15" monitor, hdd doesnt matter.

just wondering what you all have or use and well just any info on a good laptop.
this would be my first laptop, buying it for school. plus too i can type just as fast as i can write and at least then i will still be able to read what i just wrote.

but ive been looking at the dell 6000. its just about the as all the rest but he res on the screen better then the others out there. any input???

dell 600M is a good laptop and PJ just got the M140 dell. I wouldn't recommend gateway. Fuji also makes really good laptops with awesone screens, but a little pricy

I'm running a IBM (Lenovo, really) Thinkpad R51, Centrino 1.6GHz, 512MB RAM, 32MB ATI RADEON 9000 MOBILITY (i believe that'* what its called) for video, very very perky performance for the specs it'* got. 15.1". An excellent size, battery life, and weight balance.

That said, IBM/Lenovo laptops are a little pricey, but I had no choice as I'm leasing-to-own from school, mandatory for my program. The quality, however, is second to none. My brother borrowed it for a day not too long ago, and all his friends' Gateways and Toshibas and Dells and etc remarked how solid mine was

they have that lease to own stuff at school but there prices are crazy. i looked a lil bit more and i think im down to the dell or a hp. anyone have any comments on a hp???

also i found a ferrari made by acer, very nice system. but very pricey. but then agian its runnin at 3.6 ghz.

but im leaning twards the dell, but the hp is cheaper....hmmmmm

I've had good luck with Dell desktops, if that helps any. Not a big fan of HP.

The only laptop I've owned was an IBM Thinkpad.

Laptops are a horse of a different color, tho. A company can make the worst desktops on the planet, but there laptops might be fine. They are built completely different.

As previously mentioned I just got a XPS M140 from Dell. So far so good, the only thing I hate about it is that it flashes the screen (black, then on again really quick) when it does something very resource intensive. Other then that I LOVE it!! It started at $999.99 and I upgraded it. On thing I will say is I upped it to the True Life screen which I'm not sure that it is an option on the 6000. I think thats what makes my screen so clear, but very "glass like" and apt to glare. So think about that. As for battery life, mine is neither here nor there, its okay and works for me (I didn't up the battery, as was suggested to me ). In short, I'm happy with my Dell.
I was happy with my Gateway, but everyone else hates them so I won't go out on a limb and suggest them since this computer seems better. Whatever you get, 3 years of service isn't really an option its absolutely a must buy.

right, make sure you get dell complete care, you can submerge the system in a bath tub and we will hook you up with a new one.

that said I would avoid the inspiron line and go with a latitude. but I am probably biased. However now the chassis and motherboards are real close so there is no real gain to go with a latitude.

Make sure you get the Pentium M with 1 gig of memory or so and it should be allright for an "entry level" computer.

hmm....

The Inspiron 6000 will feature the Dothan processor with 2MB of L2 cache and the Celeron M processor with 512KB of L2 cache. The 6000 supports Centrino Technology when one of the Pentium M processors is combined with an Intel wireless card. Centrino Technology is not available when using the Celeron M processor.

There are two versions of the Inspiron 6000, one using the integrated Alviso chipset graphics and the other using the ATI Mobility graphics card. The Alviso chipset provides an integrated video solution. The ATI Mobility Radeon X300 graphics is a discrete option meaning that the video card is not integrated but is a separate card connected to the system board.

A point to be made....you want 2GigHz, but you need to realize that a 1.6Mhz Pentium M in a laptop is faster than a 2Ghz Desktop PC. They're rated differently.

thanks everyone for the input. um trying to remember what everyone said....
ya i know the desktop and laptop puters are are totaly diff and a laptop is faster then a desktop, i have knowleadge building and repairing desktops but the only thing i have ever done to a laptop was change a keyboard outa a dell 2650. but im usta messing with pent 3 puters, not to much exp with the new pent4 and centrino deals

um i was going with the board with the avi 128 video, not inergrated.(**)

as far as cache well yes 2mb is alot better then 512kb but the price diff is crazy.
but as for just everyday use i dont realy think it wil make that much of a diff....???????

oh btw i will be using this for alot of school programs mainly CAD. and a few programing for now. sonner or later it will be used to program bots.

my major is engeneering (robotics, lasers, cad). them sorta fun things

ya the m140 does seem like a nice puter, just about the same as the 6000 series.

and as far as memory goes. i would rather upgrade it muself then have them do it. i can get sticks of ram for 1/2 if not even a 1/4 of what they are asking.


so ok i just realy have one more question to ask now. someone that knows a good deal witht he new pent4. was realyt he diff between 512kb and 2mb of cache. besides its faster... with what i would be using it for would it make a difff?????

also bill i remember reading somethign somewhere that you work with lasers?? is that correct?? if so pm me or ill pm you. i have a few questions.

thanks again everyone

Dell charges $100 to upgrade to 1gb from 512....



newegg charges ~$48 shipped for each 512mb dimm = $96 to upgrade to 1gig.



so you save a couple bucks, but if you buy it from dell they (indian tech support) cant blame the problems on this "third party memory" when the system starts to crap out.


btw the cache makes a huge difference.