I've been following various discussions with growing interest in these forums so have finally signed up to get some opinions and help with my selections so far. Currently I have 3 spec.d out which are close to my budget (aprox $1500.00) and appear to fit my needs for the most part which are gaming ability, built-in 802.11 b/g wireless, reliability/durability, and battery life would be a plus but not of major importance since mainly this will be used to move about various rooms in the house, out on the deck, and occasionally on trips @ wi-fi hotels / cafe's. So far here they are, please add your comments and any other recommendations:
Dell Inspiron 9100 Below spec.d @ $1636
P4 2.8Ghz w/ HT
15.4 WSXGA+
512MB DDR 400Mhz 2 Dimms
60GB Hard Drive @ 7200RPMs
128MB DDR Mobility Radeon 9700 AGP 8x
Dell Wireless 1350 802.11 b/g
24X CD-RW/DVD Combo
Ect...
Dell Inspiron 8600 Below spec.d @ $1507
Pentium M Processor 705(1.5GHz/400MHz FSB)
15.4 WXGA
512MB DDR 1 Dimm
60GB Hard Drive @ 7200RPMs
128MB DDR Mobility Radeon 9600 Proturbo
Dell Wireless 1350 802.11 b/g
24X CD-RW/DVD Combo
Ect...
HP Pavilion zx5000 series Below spec.d @ $1548
P4 3.00GHz w/ HT
15.4 WXGA BrightView (1280x800)
128MB Radeon 9600
512MB DDR Sdram (1x512)
60GB 5400 Rpm HD
Dvd/CD-RW Combo Drive
54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM/SpeedBooster
12 Cell Lithium Ion
In closing, of utmost importance would be atleast a Radeon 9600 w/ 64mb dedicated (minimum) - on this thought, how much more improvement is the 9700 vs 9600?
And minimum 5400rpm hard drive!
I do like the thoughts of an Athlon 64 based setup but can't seem to find one that interest me. Was once interested in the eMachines 68xx series @ BestBuy but a few things are scaring me away such as the "cracked hinge" problem, 4200rpm HD (which I don't feel like trying to replace myself), 1 of the 256mb Dimms soldiered to the MB, and a couple reports I've heard elsewhere on them running rather warm and battery life being poor.
Ideally, I was hopeful to find something in my spec.s and pricerange via retail such as BestBuy, Staples, Circuit City, ect... because I don't like doing such a purchase via mail/online order but I'm open to other suggestions if the mentioned vender is reliable, offers something that resembles customer support and such.
Thanks!
Dell Inspiron 9100 Below spec.d @ $1636
P4 2.8Ghz w/ HT
15.4 WSXGA+
512MB DDR 400Mhz 2 Dimms
60GB Hard Drive @ 7200RPMs
128MB DDR Mobility Radeon 9700 AGP 8x
Dell Wireless 1350 802.11 b/g
24X CD-RW/DVD Combo
Ect...
Dell Inspiron 8600 Below spec.d @ $1507
Pentium M Processor 705(1.5GHz/400MHz FSB)
15.4 WXGA
512MB DDR 1 Dimm
60GB Hard Drive @ 7200RPMs
128MB DDR Mobility Radeon 9600 Proturbo
Dell Wireless 1350 802.11 b/g
24X CD-RW/DVD Combo
Ect...
HP Pavilion zx5000 series Below spec.d @ $1548
P4 3.00GHz w/ HT
15.4 WXGA BrightView (1280x800)
128MB Radeon 9600
512MB DDR Sdram (1x512)
60GB 5400 Rpm HD
Dvd/CD-RW Combo Drive
54g(TM) 802.11b/g WLAN w/ 125HSM/SpeedBooster
12 Cell Lithium Ion
In closing, of utmost importance would be atleast a Radeon 9600 w/ 64mb dedicated (minimum) - on this thought, how much more improvement is the 9700 vs 9600?
And minimum 5400rpm hard drive!
I do like the thoughts of an Athlon 64 based setup but can't seem to find one that interest me. Was once interested in the eMachines 68xx series @ BestBuy but a few things are scaring me away such as the "cracked hinge" problem, 4200rpm HD (which I don't feel like trying to replace myself), 1 of the 256mb Dimms soldiered to the MB, and a couple reports I've heard elsewhere on them running rather warm and battery life being poor.
Ideally, I was hopeful to find something in my spec.s and pricerange via retail such as BestBuy, Staples, Circuit City, ect... because I don't like doing such a purchase via mail/online order but I'm open to other suggestions if the mentioned vender is reliable, offers something that resembles customer support and such.
Thanks!
