Spartan said:
Depends on your budget. What are you going to use the laptop for? What's your price range?? Give more info.
Right now I'm looking at systems $2000-$2500, but if I decided to blow my account, I could look at stuff $3000+. I'd like it to become my primary PC, so I'd like it to be capable of everything, including most high-end gaming with good quality. Is that being unrealistic for my price range? The best deals I've found in terms of value and power are with Gateway and Dell. Here is a gateway notebook I built on the web site:
System Name: Gateway NX860XL
Unit Price:* $1799.99
Config Price:* $2178.97
Total Price:* $2178.97
Operating System: Genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center Edition w/ XP Media Center Backup CD
Application Software: Microsoft® Works 8.5
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7200 (2.00 GHz, 667MHz FSB, 4MB L2 Cache)
Memory: 2048MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2-1024MB modules)
Screen: 17" Ultrabright WSXGA+ TFT Active Matrix (1680 x 1050 max. resolution)
Hard Drive: 100GB 7200rpm Serial ATA hard drive ........[ +US$60.00]
Optical Drive: Integrated 8x Multi-Format Double Layer DVD Writer (DVD±R/±RW/CD-RW)
Extended Service Plan Including Limited Warranty: Notebook Value Service Plan -- 3 year parts/labor/no on-site/3 year technical support ........[ +US$159.99]
Accidental Damage Plan: Three years accidental damage plan ........[ +US$99.00]
Battery: Primary 8-cell lithium-ion battery with AC pack and 1 yr. limited battery warranty
Security Software: No Security Subscription Selected
Carrying Case: Targus® Platinum Deluxe Carrying Case (fits 17" screens) ........[ +US$59.99]
Integrated Wireless Networking Adapter: Integrated Intel® 802.11a/b/g wireless networking card
Bluetooth: Bluetooth® Wireless Networking Module
Speakers: External speakers not selected
Answers by Gateway Support Cards: Answers by Gateway Per Incident support card
Rebate: $100 instant savings (reflected in price, limited time promotion)
Mobile Technology: Features Intel® Centrino® Duo Mobile Technology
Floppy Drive: 6-in-1 media card reader (Memory Stick®, MemoryStick Pro®, MultiMediaCard™, Secure Digital™, Mini Secure Digital®, RS-Multimedia Card™)
Expansion Slots: One type II PC card slot
External Ports: (4) USB 2.0, VGA, S-Video (TV Out), IEEE 1394 (FireWire)
Video: NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS Graphics w/ 256MB DDR Video Memory
Keyboard and Mouse: Full-size keyboard w/ integrated 10-key pad and EZ Pad® pointing device
Multimedia Package: Integrated sound and stereo speakers, headphone/speaker jack, and microphone jacks
Modem: Integrated V.92 56K modem
Network Adapter: Integrated Intel® 10/100/1000 Ethernet adapter
Would this be strong enough to last a while? Or would I need to increase my price range?