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i'm totally new when come to buying laptop...need advice from you guys...thought of getting one of my own ...i have ppl recommend me BenQ

what you all think about BenQ Joybook? or maybe other brands that is nice to recommend?

Thanks

Firstly, what is your budget? Secondly, what will you be using the laptop for? For example, will you be using it at home or at work?

flybywire wrote:

Firstly, what is your budget? Secondly, what will you be using the laptop for? For example, will you be using it at home or at work?

my budget going to be like $ 1200 ...its for home use...and at time i may use it for presentation ...other than that i guess i will just use it surfing the web and doing normal stuff

thanks

I'd go with the Dell 600m series. They're pretty decently priced. Weighs under 5lbs, even with dual batteries installed. Drop that to around 4lbs with only a single battery. 7 hour battery life with dual batteries. Very solid and full-featured performance. And even though I wouldn't buy a Dell desktop, I would buy a Dell laptop for the warranty and support.

Spyder22446688 wrote:

I'd go with the Dell 600m series. They're pretty decently priced. Weighs under 5lbs, even with dual batteries installed. Drop that to around 4lbs with only a single battery. 7 hour battery life with dual batteries. Very solid and full-featured performance. And even though I wouldn't buy a Dell desktop, I would buy a Dell laptop for the warranty and support.

agree....w/ centrino and gigabit ethernet...they are the way to go
I have the 8500 which is the big brother to the d600 line...although I must say that if you are going to be using the screen for a good bit of reading, be sure to get one of good size...you really don't want to be staring as a 12.1" screen @ 1024x768 trying to decipher text, even if it is clear...I love my 15.4" widescreen, and it is the perfect size for road-trip movie watching as well...

Be sure to get one with integrated G wireless as that has great antenna built into the screen

don't get one that has a p4 processor....if you want power, go a64...if you want to save the heat/weight/battery, go Pentium M..I personally wouldn't go anywhere in between

that sure sound very interesting...thanks guy...i thought of getting Dell Inspiron 700m but then what about other brands? like HP? and SONY? any comment on those notebook?

why is that when come to notebook...no one choose AMD? they preferable Intel chip instead?

I'm going to stick with Toshiba. Very solid and well made. I've never had to use their tech support but I agree that tech support at dell is very good for the laptops, just make sure you get the warranty for as long as you keep it and make regular back up.

If you want a thin and light (less than 3½ pounds) notebook, Intel's Pentium-M processor (sometimes with "Centrino Technology") is the way to go. If you want a more powerful notebook or a desktop replacement (cheaper but heavier), Athlon64 looks like a good processor choice. Pentium4 is a poor processor choice for a notebook PC.

Here's a 3½-pound thin-and-light notebook:
http://www.powernotebooks.com/product.php?itemId=451

These 6½-pound notebooks have good 3D graphics for playing games:
http://www.powernotebooks.com/product.php?itemId=58
http://www.powernotebooks.com/product.php?itemId=102

This 8-pound desktop replacement has a powerful processor and a small price tag:
HP Presario R3000Z

That Compaq A64 machine looks like a nice little unit.

Makes me wish I had some extra cash lying around right now!

-SF

Usacomp2k3 wrote:

Spyder22446688 wrote:

I'd go with the Dell 600m series....

....agree....w/ centrino and gigabit ethernet...they are the way to go
I have the 8500 which is the big brother to the d600 line....

....don't get one that has a p4 processor....if you want power, go a64...if you want to save the heat/weight/battery, go Pentium M..I personally wouldn't go anywhere in between

Having recently researched the market for laptops myself (looking over Toshiba, Gateway, Sony, Dell, HP, Compaq, eMachines, and Sager), I can offer the following two brands / models as the best from my perspective:

Dell
The good: Price, support (although it has been questionable as of late), raw feature set, and out-of-the-box reliability.
The bad: Flimsy construction, excessive heat and noise.

Analysis: I personally own a P4-based 8500, and while I enjoy its raw performance and great battery life, I cannot say that I am pleased by its physical design. It is by no means solidly-built, and the casing scratches easily. Whether gaming or surfing the Internet, the machine runs extremely hot, and it houses a noisy fan that gives me a headache. Trying to hear games (with the built-in GeForce4 Ti4200), movies, etc. is almost impossible because of the fan noise.

Hey, it's my notebook. I can complain!

Centrino... specifically, the Pentium M processor, is however an excellent choice, given that it runs cooler than the P4. I have not had the experience of using this chip inside a Dell, however I must be quick to point out that the physical construction of Dell notebooks is relatively similar across the board.

If you decide on a Dell, be sure to take advantage of some of the special coupons you can often find on http://www.bensbargains.net. (They very recently had a $500 off a Dell notebook of $1499 and up)

Compaq R3000Z
The good: Price, extreme performance, low noise and heat
The bad: Hefty size and weight, excessive software

Analysis: Had this notebook out a year ago, I would have gotten it instead of the Dell. Why? First of all, the Athlon 64 brings a lot to the table: very good performance-to-power ratio (compared to both P-4 and P-M), no-execute (NX) virus protection feature, 64-bit compatibility. See this thread for some more on the matter.

The R3000Z also has more than 2x the heatsink surface area of my 8500, with dual dynamic low-RPM fans to keep air moving over it. I typically use my machine on a desk or table, and furthermore I keep myself in good physical condition, so I am not so concerned about the weight or size.

thank you for all the info... i will get DELL for the support

cant hardly wait!

The quality of Dell's support has plummeted since they outsourced it to India.

JustAnEngineer wrote:

The quality of Dell's support has plummeted since they outsourced it to India.

Dell has recently been cutting its ties with India since the recent outcries about their declining support. I cannot say one way or the other whether the situation has improved yet. The news media is always so quick to point out the bad, but never to report on the good / improvements (unless it's something political ).

if i wanted to change any hardware inside the laptop is it advice to go to the vendor instead of the normal computer shop even through they are so confidence they able to fix anything....i dont know...i never have fix a laptop before

If you are willing to shell out abit more cash, you might want to go for HP's evo line of notebooks. The nc6000 has your standard centrino hardware package but comes with a mobillity 9600, which is pretty decent hardware. If you're looking for something smaller, they have the nc4000 which also has the standard centrino package but is only packed with a Radeon IGP. It's not quite as fast as lets say a mobillity 9000 but it should run most DX8 class games. The build quality is pretty damn good, the body is built out of a magnesium alloy identical to the one found on the hp hx4705. In my opinion, HP is pretty much a poor man's IBM and they offer pretty good value for money.

zapgirl wrote:

if i wanted to change any hardware inside the laptop is it advice to go to the vendor instead of the normal computer shop even through they are so confidence they able to fix anything....i dont know...i never have fix a laptop before

It depends. Some things, like hard disks and memory, you can usually upgrade yourself. Some caveats: some laptops have one bank of memory soldered in, and you can only upgrade the other bank (this is often the case with the ultralight laptops). A few mfrs used proprietary connectors on their hard drives, though I haven't seen that lately. It's easier to get inside some laptops than others, and doing so may void your warranty. Again, the ultralights tend to be much tougher to work with than DTRs or mainstream lappies. The WiFi may be on a mini-PCI card so it's sometimes possible to replace that if you can find a compatible model (generally only from the mfr or from another broken laptop).

Beyond that, fixing/upgrading can be difficult to impossible. There are a few places around that specialize in repairing laptops, but it tends to be expensive when it's possible at all. You often end up shipping it back to the mfr. For this reason a lot of people buy extended warranty coverage.

so, let just say i wanted to upgrade my RAM in future...do i have send back my laptop back to the mfr?

i can simply buy any brand RAM?

zapgirl wrote:

so, let just say i wanted to upgrade my RAM in future...do i have send back my laptop back to the mfr?

i can simply buy any brand RAM?

Well, there are several brands you can buy but laptop memory is packaged somewhat differently from desktop memory and are not interchangable. Most use what are called SODIMMs, which are different and (of course) somewhat more expensive than the regular DIMMs found in desktops. But a google on "laptop memory" or a search at your favorite online retailer will show you that there's plenty of memory available, so you don't have to go back to the mfr.