strredwolf | (no subject)

(no subject)

Hmmm... I should.

I'm in the market for a new notebook laptop. However, I have a few restrictions I want to follow.

A screen that's at least 1400x1050, but isn't 17" or larger.
The graphics are driven by dedicated NVidia GPU's.
60 gig drive or greater.
512 megs of RAM or greater.
DVD drive.
Not a Celeron.

Any recommendations?

I'd recommend the Macbook Pro, but judging by your specs, you are looking to run linux on it. Core 2 Duo!

Your main issue is the Screen size, what you have listed is nearly impossible, the 15" screens are 1440 x 900, the 17" is 1680x1050.

My laptop is 1920x1200, which is a 2.5 year old P4 SUV of a laptop. It has a nVidia chip, so uh, technically my laptop (Toshiba P10) meets your specs. It's a little heavy and techically is a 17" screen.

I'd recommend looking at http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cmod.to?coid=-30605&seg=HHO , if anything it will give you a starting point. Notice that your screen resolution isn't available on anything under 17" , all the 15" are 1280x800

Also I've noticed that the units with the nVidia (or even ATI) chips are all 17" models. Short of other SUV desktop replacement systems, I do not think you are going to find something with all your restrictions. Most 15" models are geared for mobility, and do not have dedicated video.

Macbook Pro... 1440x900 on the 15.4", which I'll grant you could be suitable, but ATI Radieon graphics chip is the killer.

You're right on the Toshibas. No model isn't a behemoth yet pixel packed.

Dell has a suitable laptop, but it's *expensive*. The minimum specs are above $2,000!

HP's site is fairly confusing... and their phone service is broken. I can't even Skype in. Alas, poor HP. You won't be getting my Omnibook 6000 back.

Gateway's all ATI. Out!

Strangely enough, the IBM/Lenovo 3000 N100 fits the bill, and configured correctly is at $1500.

Velocity Micro, a Best Buy affiliate, has their L80 Ultra out. I saw it in Best Buy up in Baltimore, and it's a $2000 laptop fully rigged up through them. $1835 if I go directly to them online. Plus, they're built one state down in Virginia.

Sony's shoving me into the 17" screen, so that's out.

Newegg's selling the ASUS V6J-8022P NoteBook at $1800, which also is similar to the Velocity Micro.

Not sure about MSI, ABit, Aopen, and others...

I was actually going to suggest Lenovo - they tend to build a lot more of the 'specialized' laptops (you know, the ones with a _separate_ video card?)

BW

Asus isn't too bad, they tend to give Mac/Toshibia level features. I'd just be a little wary as you can't just bring it back to a store. I've heard some bad stuff about the Lenovo since IBM dropped their name from it, but mostly on the level of "my battery aslpoded" around the time of the battery recall and some major complaints about overheating. Given all P4 class laptops overheat.

I wouldn't settle for anything less than a Merom based laptop with an nVidia and 15" screen, honestly. The only reason I bought the macmini and didn't wait and buy a MacbookPro, is because I want to wait for Merom in a MacBook. The MacBookPro's only came out a few days ago. Then I saw them in London Drugs and decided that I didn't like the keyboard design. It's not terrible, but the macbook's design I liked better. That's probably because of the smaller area, the macbook has a "full" keyboard layout. Still I could have got used to either.

I'd highly recommend against any gateway, emachine, or LG model. The LG's are so damned flimsy, though not as much as a few store brands. *shudder*

Ever consider just keeping the stock OS on a macbookpro? You can compile practically everything available on freebsd on it. It has a 802.11g (pre-n) chipset for wireless, and you can wardrive with it.

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