What notebook should I get?

[stangdesign]

Hey guys,
First post here... I'm a mac guy looking for a good pc notebook for travel to and from work. Here's the catch, I don't want to spend much over $1000. I'll be using it mostly for web design... Using apps like Flash, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Illustrator and Fireworks. What can I get away with using these apps on a daily basis? I have no clue what to look for in a pc so any help would be appreciated. Thanks - Chris

[Vagabond]

welcome to Techimo....

I have had great Compaq Aramda laptops (dont recommend their desktops though). I currently have a Sager (expensive). I have also heard good things from sony and gateway puter.....

Not much help but my compaq was a P2 333 and it would do 3D rendering and all the photoshop i wanted...

GL hope this kinda helped

[VHockey86]

Sony Vaios are normally compact, sleek looking machines.

If hes a mac user he might appreciate the asthetics of a Sony Vaio over say a Dell or Gateway

---edit--

Just looked at sony's website for pricing, prolly cant find a decent system for under 1000 with their laptops. Try a Dell business model laptop or a lower model inspiron. Ive had 2 inspirons (5000 and 8200) and have been very happy with both.

[Lostman]

Just make sure that the memory is user upgradeble. Your biggest thing with a sub $1000 laptop is lack of memory. And with the aps that you want to use, the more memory the better.

So get a decent P3 or Athlon XP laptop with at least 20 gigs on the hard drive and make sure you can upgrade the memory.

[stangdesign]

Thanks fot the reply guys! It actually looks like I have about 400 more to work with. i just landed a little job which should bring me to about $1400. I was thinking the 5150... http://www.dell.com/us/en/dhs/produc..._notebooks.htm
How's this for me? Is there something better for the dollar? Thanks - Chris

[DanGrease]

Welcome to TechIMO!
As for notebooks I am a IBM fan in terms for notebooks. I think that they offer the best quality and performance although they can get expensive and you dont want to spend a lot so I would say at least check out the site and decide yourself:
IBM Notebooks
As for the Dell notebooks you are currently interested I must say it looks good, and the specs are also very good. The price isnt that scary either, but I have had a Dell notebooks and I wasnt that happy with it but that was my bad experience. Hope you find something you like and good luck!

dan

[SeanC]

I would recommend Dell or Toshiba. Although I've found that Toshiba is one of the more expensive laptop makers. Dell's prices aren't too bad.

Sean

[VHockey86]

Another thing you might want to think about is the warrenty. If I was going to buy a dell I think i would go for a 2-3 year warranty. Thats really one of the good things about buying a premade device...

On both my inspiron laptops I've been very happy with their service. On the Inspiron 5000, which I was particularily rough on. I got 3 hard drives and an LCD panel replaced completely free (got on-site service too, so no need to ship it into them and lose it for awhile).

Just a thought..

Havent had any experiance with Toshiba warranties, but they might be pretty good as well.

Sagar Notebooks (www.powernotebooks.com) probably offer alittle bit more bang for your buck than a Dell/Toshiba/Sony/IBM, but they normally tend to be desktop replacement style laptops (huge/heavy) and start at higher prices

[Bizkitkid2001]

To bad SONY doesn't make the PCGFRV25 anymore. Its a great laptop, just got mine a few weeks ago.

2.66ghz P4
40gig drive
512mb DDR Ram
Radeon 7500 M
15" XGA TFT display
3 USB 2.0 ports
DVD 8X; CD-RW 24X Write, 10X Rewrite, 24X Read
Ethernet Port
Integrated V.90 Modem
Come with Age of Imperies II already installed.

Its fast enough to play BF1942, yet it only cost $1200 But, they have discontinued that model