[squarejawhero]

OK, here's what I'm planning to do... now, my desktop PC is a bit of a noisy behemoth and this year I want to sell it off. I really want to get a laptop.

OK, it's never going to be as cheap as a straight desktop, but I've had a few projects where buying a laptop has seemed like a good idea and they seem to be increasing. This will be mainly a business choice as as much as I'd like to stick to upgrading what I have, a laptop would be far more useful in the long run.

What off-the-shelf laptops would you recommend? Dell? Vaio? Alienware? Or are there any other choices I don't know about?

[RLacey]

I have an MV Ixius (they're the cheap arm of Rock Direct). It's nice, and it's powerful, but the Pentium 4 processor means that the battery life is virtually non-existant.

I think it depends on what you want. If you need strong battery life for being on the move, and want to be able to play the latest games, then Dell and Alienware, despite the vastly overinflated prices, are the ones to go for. If what you're actually after (like me) is a relatively easy to move PC that you plug in when you get somewhere, and which happens to come with an hour or two's battery life for when you're moving around, then there are much cheaper options.

Oh, and I'm an Eversham whore, but their specs weren't up to much when I was buying in August.

[saucyminx]

I hate Acer.

[Sage]

Why not do a price versus equipment comparison, then filter the top three results on a frequency-of-repair basis?
I see Dell laptops everywhere, but most of the people I see using them are hard-core corporate clone types (grey suit, grey laptop, cloudy grey expression on their faces), so this might have more to do with volume discounts than actual quality or feature content.
Vaios are stylish and Sony generally makes good products, but I don't see many of them around and the few I do see are being used by people who look like someone else bought the computer for them...students and such.
Alienware desktops are highly regarded, mainly because they seem to contain all the cool, high-end stuff you'd buy if you were building your own desktop right out of the box. I had no idea they even made laptops, and I've never seen one in actual use.
IBM Thinkpads have earned a reputation for extreme durability, but they're not sexy or stylish in the least. They are merely a tool, albeit a very useful and long-wearing one.
Some Sharp laptops feature a screen that is jaw-dropping in both it's contrast, clarity, color-reproduction, and off-center viewing angles. As a graphics-oriented person, this might be a great boon to you, but I have no idea if Sharp laptops have any other good qualities to recommend them.
Hewlett-Packard laptops seem to be rather generic and built to a price, but I do see quite a few of them in use. Of course, I see a lot of Toyota Corollas in use as well and nobody lusts after them, either.
Apple laptops are currently one generation behind their desktop brethren in processors (G4 versus ultra-hot-running G5), and all but the most rabid Apple fans are awaiting the switch to an Intel chip. They're still durable and work very well, but 1.67 GHz won't win you any bragging rights.

[Aj_]

Dell is cheap, Sony is nasty, and Alienware is pricy. I like HP and Toshiba, although they don't look that flash.

Get a Pentium M for battery life, or a AMD64 for power. A laptop will be a lot slower than a much cheaper desktop regardless, I don't recommend using one as a desktop.

Mac Book Pro (or whatever those horribly named things are) are looking sweet with Intel dual core CPUs, although people recommend waiting for the second revision that irons out the anoyances. Laptops are expensive, non-custom, generic, and non-upgradable. Just like Apple computers, so buying a laptop from Apple isn't so bad.

[saucyminx]

I like Fujitsu laptop.



What can I say? Even Glottis pointed out that I make staccato statements.

[Lucien21]

Don't you need a large screen etc for the Wacom and work.

Would a laptop cut it?

[Karmillo]

I had a Dell Laptop, it was that blue and silver one you always in TV shows and movies...it wasnt the best for memory or graphics but if your not planning on doing any memory intensive stuff then it will probably do.

Alienware is pricey but if they are as good as the desktop then id recomend that, the only downside of mine is that it never came with a recovery disc....they brought those to the uk a few weeks after I got mine I always get screwed over like that.

You could also try Voodoo, but they are just as pricey as alienware, if not more

[Melanie68]

I got this one and am waiting for it to show up as I type. I got it refurbished so I saved about $300 with the specs I got. It's got a pretty big screen too. I don't know if HP in the UK (if there is such a store) has refurbished products as well. Also, comparison wise you get more memory and hard drive capacity and such with HP than you do with Dell.

(hopefully the link works)

[Lucien21]

http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/

How about one of the new Apple Macbook's. Dual Core intel chip.

The most powerful notebook in the world. Or so Apple says.

http://reviews.zdnet.co.uk/hardware/...9246550,00.htm

[squarejawhero]

****ing hell. We're getting ripped in the UK as usual on the new Mac. I don't remember $1999 converting to ÂŁ1429. In fact, last time I checked it was about ÂŁ1,144.94. Great Britian stinks, but it's great when you go overseas.

Rrrargh. Now that's over with, thanks for the advice. Special thanks to Aj_ as I know we had a scuffle a few months ago and it's big of him to post advice after that was about tech too. I'll take everything into consideration, although believe me I know about the laptop/desktop thing - it's just makes more sense workwise. Deffo noted on the Sharps there, Scott.

RE Screens I've got my desktop monitors and my Wacom is a Cintiq so I've no issues there. Cheers for the concern, Lucien.

And yeah, Acer suck ass.

[Aj_]

I don't hold grudges, I just want to be a member of this forum, contributing and having fun.

[jjacob]

Alienware is definately recommended if you want to do some gaming. Also, I heard of this SLI laptop (though more of a desktop replacement, too heavy for actual mobile computing) but now I can't find it anywhere.

[Spiwak]

I think I also need a laptop (for college though), so I'm looking for a more-bang-for-my-buck kind of laptop because my parents probably aren't willing to go that expensive. That HP Melanie showed off is probably as good as it gets for around $1000, from what I've seen. Any other ideas for laptops that are halfway decent for gaming/movies while also being no more than ~$1000?

[jjacob]

I seriously dislike HP notebooks. A friend of mine bought one a couple of months back, and I have spent atleast a day (as in 24 hours) trying to fix it, and the store where he bought it spent weeks trying to get it working again. Don't know if that's the case with HP notebooks in general, but I know I'll never buy one.

I just found this site, and they offer some serious hardware for a decent price: http://www.killernotebooks.com/custom_configuration.htm Also, that new Dell Inspiron 1705 notebook can be ordered with an optional 256MB NVIDIA GeForce Go 7800 GPU, that'll keep you gaming for a couple of years.

[Erwin_Br]

I have a HP, and it works fine! I'd never buy a Dell, because my brother has one, and the plastic frame around the screen displayed cracks after 2 years! Now he has to open it very carefully, or it might snap! (The cracks are at the foot of the screen, where it connects with the base of the laptop)

--Erwin

[KillerNotebooks]

Hi, I saw some hits from this thread on the Web Statistics of my site, and thought I'd drop by.

I own KillerNotebooks.com
I'd like to thank the person who wrote that we offer serious hardware for a fair price because that is what we set out to do.

Here is a little background into the company. I have a ASUS A8N-SLi with an X2 dual core 4400+ and 4 Gigs of OCZ Platinum memory. I had a Dell D610 2.0 Ghz Latitude notebook and let me tell you, it was real hard going form the desktop to the notebook (I am a little impatient to begin with).

Anyway, I built my first notebook for myself to bridge the gap from high end desktop to notebook. I use only the best of breed components and the result is a machine that can easily be a desktop replacement. A friend of mine got me to build about 10 for his sales force and from there I was convinced there was a market for power users and gamers.

That's where Killer Notebooks comes in. My base system is a
Turion MT-40 2.2 Ghz
x700 PCI Express Graphics with 128 MB dedicated graphics
(I have a model coming out March 2006 x1600 with 256 MB)
15.4" Glossy Widescreen that looks excellent
1 Gig of DDR400 CAS 2.5 memory on 1 chip (for upgradability)
80 Gig 7,200 rpm hard drive
108 MBps a/b/g/G+ internal wireless
8x DVD Burner and 24x CD Burner
(4) USB 2.0 and Firewire ports.

Now if that isn't the system that you would build, let me know becayse I have many configurations. I think the point is, that is the BASE STANDARD system .THAT is KILLER and that is what KillerNotebooks is about. It isn't for everyone... only the select few.

I appreciate any and all comments.

[avatar_58]

Your advertiser-sense tingled from that distance? Holy commercials batman!

[Intrepid Homoludens]

squaresie, whatever you do, try and find a laptop with an AMD Athlon processor, they're great for gaming and graphics apps and they feature that 'Cool & Quiet' technology, which does exactly what it sounds like. I can sit cross legged Indian style on the couch for a long time knowing my lap will never get hot (shut up, DaSilvsie! ).

HP and Compaq (made by HP, too) specialize in laptops with Athlon chips (make sure you get the Athlon, as AMD also offers Sempron (the equivalent of Intel's Celeron), and Turion (more geared for just general media, but not for graphics intensive gaming)). They also offer powerful graphics cards to go inside 'em. I've heard reasonably good things about Alienware, but they're so expensive, maybe even overpriced and overhyped (At the time I was looking to buy a laptop I didn't have enough money for an Alienware). Dell's XPS line is relatively new, and I don't know enough about their performance, so you should check out various reviews on them.

So I would invest in a laptop with an Athlon chip, the latest Radeon card, and an extra lithium battery if you expect to be doing stuff on the go.

[avatar_58]

Btw - to add to suggestions: get a laptop-made processor as opposed to a desktop chip within a laptop. I have a P4 laptop and the thing drains batteries like there is no tomorrow. Basically you want to look for chips especially designed for laptops. I'd post suggestions but I'm not up-to-date considering laptops aren't my specialty.