sister got a dell one for £300-400 a year ago and its going np.. she doesnt play games, just uses it for browsing, movies and work.. seems to be okay.

i like the ibm r series but that's just me.

IBM notebooks were hardcore. Too bad it doesn't exist anymore, it's all LENOVO now.

asus notebooks offer pretty good performance for moderate $$$.

I'm looking for one also!!!!!!!!!!!


My boss is paying for it, so price isnt really an object i guess :p

It needs to have a good processor, numeric keyboard (so widescreen basicly) and a nvidia gfx card! (want to be able to play some games on it)

So far i only found a MSI and a dell laptop which fits my needs. (but i refuse to go for dell)

So are there any other GOOD laptops out there? :O


btw the MSI one's specs can be found here

thx in advance

This one might be the one you're looking for then.

ok lol, i take it back, price DOES matter

Shouldn't be too much over lets say.. 1500 Euro's

8)

Personally I'd go for one of the Sony Vaio AR series.

Cant play games on Vaio, too slow HDD's 4200 and 5400 RPMS only!

128 gig.. what idiot would buy that? x)

buy macbook

no question here really: macbook > *

new one is more than 600 pounds though :/

Just make sure you get dual core.

My experience is they're pretty crap for gaming unless you spend upwards of about 8-900 pounds.

Are you gonna use it while traveling? My gf has a pretty powerful laptop, but the battery runs low in no time.

Make sure it has a 7200rpm hdd

So in case you bump against it, everything crashes!

you are saying this based on...?

7200 spinners are more prone to damage caused by physical disturbances and "bumps"

yes well done, I understood that part...

I was asking for some weight of proof that it is actually true and not just andecotal hearsay

perhaps read up about hdd's in general. Check any HDD specs from any company/retailer

I am not disputing what you are saying, I am asking for an example reference rather than simply taking your word for it

Ive had a 7200 spinning in my Van for 3 yrs with plenty of bumps and no problems at all.

Common sense and since the biggest business notebookprovider, namely IBM, did not include 7200prm hdd due to higher risks of instability.

show me?

Do your own research? He's already told you IBM didn't include them, so if you don't believe him then go and look at the specs of IBM laptops and find out for yourself if it's true. Were you expecting him to eventually fly to your house with a selection of laptops and show you the exact measurable speed all the hard drives in them were spinning and then carry out a barrage of bump tests to show the stability?

I would expect him to be able to support his claims if he is going to bother to make them, rather than... 'my daddy said so'.

Secondly there is no mention of any reliability issues on standard independent hdd reviews (e.g. http://tomshardware.co.uk/2005/11/11/fast_and_furiousuk/
http://tomshardware.co.uk/2005/08/22/speedy_n...h_seagate/ )

Thirdly new 7200rpm'ers come with increased fall/shock protection anyway:
http://www.macsimumnews.com/index.php/archive...rotection/
http://www.itvarnews.net/news/journal_comment...207200-RPM

Fourthly the IBM/Lenovo ThinkPad T43p does come with a 7200rpm hdd (as standard), as does ThinkPad T60/T60p, as does ThinkPad Z60m and many others. Feel free to do *your* own research
http://www.lenovo.com/search/?en=utf&v=14...200+laptop

Again, I challenge him to support his claims.

I sense hostility in such a retarded subject as laptop hdds.
Your last argument is flawed, because of what I said. LENOVO has been producing IBM's laptops branch and have been using, just like every other company, 7200rpm drives. LENOVO has purchased IBM's laptop department as of 2006. The deal has been running for over a year before that. (http://www.pbs.org/nbr/site/research/educators/060106_24a/) Obviously we are talking past tense.

Past tense does not however mean that the statement, that of 5400-RPM HDD being more stable than 7200-RPM HDD, is false. It merely points out that with the higher stability of 7200-RPM, the market has no real need for 5400-RPM.

'Daddy' as you call it in mockery, is still an insider and an expert on the field with a degree in electro. You can mock it all you want, it is as much of an argument as linking crap to Tom's H.

I did some research, instead of googling for HDD reviews, and found out that both the power, and higher risk were the reason for IBM to stay longer with the 5400-RPM drives instead of the new 7200-RPM drives. These are also the reason why at this moment IBM/LENOVO still sell 5400-RPM drives.

Like the market adepts and for some reason only wants less reliable, but 'cooler' gadgets, eventually all laptops went to 7200-RPM. Pretty much the same way why we now have crappy soft-touch keyboards while the old IBM clicky was way superior. Same goes for TFT over CRT.

Ofcourse, you will not believe me since you have taken a personal offence from this thread. But that's okay.

And still nothing... where is this 'research'?

Prior to the deal, IBM notebooks were still IBM notebooks and, if you bothered to read, the announcements of 7200rpm laptops stretch back to 2005 at least. Obviously we are talking past tense.

Daddy's degree in 'electro' [sic] has about as much relevance as 'clicky keyboards' in this discussion. If he is an expert you might find it useful to ask him about the industry state-of-the-art rather than try to assume it by genealogy alone, or offer up outdated unfounded speculation.

If your inane point is that newer technology has inherent risk, then well done, you obviously understand the nuances of the IT sector better than anyone else here. Unfortunately you offer no evidence to support your opinions.

My dad works at IBM. And like I said earlier in this thread, IBM does NOT build anymore laptops. It's all LENOVO now.

well done

Running C&C3 on a laptop requires near to nothing.

I play it on my new laptop, bought for school useage.
800x600, everything on low, runs fairly well (only starts slowing down a little when around +75 units are speeding around)

Zepto Znote 6014W
- Intel Core Duo 1.6Ghz
- 1GB DDR2 PC5300
- Intel GMA 950 (Onboard graphicscard)
- 60GB 7200rpm

yes, I was actually surprised that it would run this well, considering the onboard graphics card =P

If you get some laptop like mine, but with a actual graphics card, then it'll run just fine, got multiple mates in class that play the game just fine also, with various setups, no big problems.

thats good to know! ive just ordered my laptop from dell and all under 600 pounds

Components
AMD® Turion 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL56 1.8Ghz
Genuine Windows Vista™ Business - English
Basic Package, 3 Year On-Site Service
15.4" Wide Screen XGA TFT Display: 1280x800
2048MB 533MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM (2x1024)
120GB (5,400 rpm) Hard Drive
ATI Radeon® Xpress 1150 256MB HyperMemory™

562.83 inc vat and delivery pretty chuffed with that :D
enough money to pay for c&c 3 aswell

That'll run is just fine

but.... too bad getting dell =(

I'd NEVER compromise on quality when getting a laptop!

we have about 120 dell at my company and about 300 hp, i can tell you that over 90% of the hardware breaking down is in hp laptops. the only part that seem to wear out on dell is the hdd.

don't say dell is shit just because it -maybe- used to be.

Basing it on from what I've seen at my school, where aprox 85% of the students have laptops.

The ones having dell havn't exactly lasted that long, while multiple people with HP ThinkPads, and they work flawlessly even after being dropped on the ground etc.

With that being said, I didn't say HP owns most... but it sure is nice.

I myself have a Zepto, simply because it's a danish located company and I could get 4 years of ensurance + theft ensurance fairly cheap.

Those laptops at your work? do they get transported to work and back home every day? getting packed/unpacked 4-12 times a day (we swap classromes atleast once a day).

And, are they in a classroom where people run around and throw stuff? =P

We've hit quite some laptops during these 1½ years :))

The ones having dell havn't exactly lasted that long, while multiple people with HP ThinkPads, and they work flawlessly even after being dropped on the ground etc.

HP don't do thinkpads, IBM do. and yes, ibm is superior.

Those laptops at your work? do they get transported to work and back home every day? getting packed/unpacked 4-12 times a day (we swap classromes atleast once a day).

yes, every student has their own laptop.

And, are they in a classroom where people run around and throw stuff? =P

if you want a computer built to take some damage you have to pay for it.. personally i never damage my computer parts.

yes, sorry, mixing it up now =D

and, I don't think any1 in the class tries to harm their computers, it just happens when we mess around, like last year someone smacked a wodden bat into a monitor :P

and oh, i would probably not buy a dell as regular pc because i like to change parts whenever i like and so on, i like to build my own 'regular pc'.

but when it comes to laptop those stuff doesn't matter.

Do more with Dual Core from Intel!

I just got a new XPS M1710. I'm not sure why you don't like Dell, but this laptop really is excellent. i was deciding between this and the new Sony with the bluray burner for around the same price.

The main thing I wanted was a 1920 x 1200 screen res, and I'm so glad I stuck with it. The big screen is a huge benefit. Ok the laptop is pretty heavy but I drive almost everywhere so it doesn't bother me too much. The screen is so good that I've pretty muched stop using my desktop even at home.

So my recommendation would be to get a laptop with a 17" widescreen and preferably the 1920 x 1200 res. I'd also say the Dell XPS is good value for what you get. Everything works well on it for me.

XPS ftw

yeah the m1710 sure is sweet :)

can you even read text with that resolution?

btw, would you know why macs are said to be better for design and multimedia than PCs? i just don't see what's so different

because i'm looking to buy a laptop for school (i'll study in design) and i'm not sure what to choose for

I suppose my eyesight is quite good as I don't need to wear glasses. I don't have a problem reading the screen, even from a metre away if I'm sitting back.

Macs used to be the standard for design, which meant that design programs were typically made for the Mac. These days the same programs tend to be available for both platforms so it doesn't matter so much. Personally I still find I have to have some Macs in my business because certain standards require you to be using a Mac. In my case a franchise document pretty much requires that some staff are using Mac, particularly for print processing since the company have calibrated everything for Mac usage.

Find out if you need to use a Mac. If you don't need it, then I would recommend sticking with PC. I have neverending problems simply because I know less about using Macs than PCs.

thanks for your time ;)

i'll follow your advice and decide whether i absolutely need to get a mac or else i'll just stick with a PC since macs still seem a bit confusing for me

They companies you'd wanna work for will probably be using macs, since it seems as it's some kind of standard in the industry. If you're used to macs "from the beginning" it will probably make your life way easier when you eventually start working with design and whatever. :)
$0.02

Ahhh... good point

way to make things harder! i have time to decide anyway since i'm only starting this next fall but i'll keep that in mind

How are toshiba laptops?
I am a bit limited to Gigabyte, LG, toshiba, sony and ASUS.

I recently got a Rock laptop - to replace my old lappy and my aging desktop

Core 2 Duo 2.33
2 x 100 Gig 7200 rpm HDD
DVD Writer
Go 7950 GTX
2 gig RAM
1680 x 1050 display
Bluetooth
Infrared ..

yadda yadda

An amazing piece of kit and very silent too. Runs everything ... so far

http://www.rockdirect.com/viewNotebook.php?pN...0CTX%20PRO

Cost a bit though :)

2 hard drives? How big is that thing? :o

Second HDD goes in DVD bay - swap DVD back in as and when needed...

Lappy isn't all that big compared to the SLI Alienware beast tbh

bet my wang is bigger than yours tho... right RIGHT.

hahah (+)