okay spending buddies.. what should I get?
I have no idea what is the best out there.. they seem to change weekly.. have no idea what was best last week frankly, but.. if you were getting a new one.. wireless with all the "bling" what would you get?
thanx.

Dell - Dell - or Dell

http://www1.us.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/latit_d410?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd

Claudia -

if you want my help, I can build it for you and suggest that you get at least 1GB or more of memory. I have an idea of what you use it for. I'd go for the lightest weight because if you get a docking station you can always add storage etc. Battery life is really important if you are traveling with it.

My son is a certified computer technician...I'll ask him tomorrow.

If portability is a key factor, my current dream laptop is the Sony Vaio TX series laptops (2.76 lbs!!)
link to SonyStyle store

I agree with upgrading to 1 GB of RAM too!

Masaki

Claudia:

I just purchased the Sony 670 P/B (1GB memory) along with 4 years of all-inclusive insurance. (Sony vip status thru Amex -- 1-800-525-9358 X 2567) It's tiny yet powerful. It's so new I really haven't operated it yet.

Good luck.

Cheers! Ray

Claudia:

I agree with Ray and Masaki, if you want powerful lightweight portability, I would stay away from Dell (way too heavy) and go towards Sony or my favorite, the ThinkPads. My ThinkPad ways only a little over 3 lbs and has been dropped, rolled a couple of hundred miles in my rolling briefcase, and generally mishandled without a problem. In fact, when my company said it was time for replacement, I decided to wait a while. If you are really hard on notebooks, I would look at Panasonic Toughbooks. We used them on an Air Force project for flightline maintainers because they were so sturdy while still relatively lightweight.

As for performance, you can get enough memory, speed, and disk space on any machine. After all, all the parts are "commodities." What you want is a great design for your needs. If you do go for a dell, try it out. Some of them have a bad battery design wherein you can burn your hand as battery is right where you rest your wrists.

Claudia, Sony, Sony and Sony VAIO...the best.

Claudia I have a Dell and it is way too heavy. Next time, I'm getting a Sony.

Masaki: Tony just got the one you mentioned - he loves it - Joanna

Claudia, this geek agrees, the Sony Vaio is the coolest!

Claudia, we have the Sony VAIO (took it on the WC) and we are very very happy with it!

This is very helpful to me as well. We need another computer at home and for travel and I will check the Sony out. thanks, Nancy

Looks like the Sony is this groups laptop of choice.. will check it out.. thanks.. and thanks for emailing pictures of yours Ray..

Not that I am in the majority here, but, I can tell you that I have many clients that have bought all kinds of computers, and the Dell's seem to have great longevity and in having PC's for 20 years, my Dell's have been most reliable. I have a Dell Inspiron Laptop and have no problems with it and I have 6 Dell PC's with two more being purchased this year.

Didn't forget ya Kathy.. checking that out too..thanks.

Just to add my 2 cents...

Before you buy anything, go to an Apple store and check out the IBooks.
I've been a Mac fan for over 20 years! (& I work in a PC world!... often on my Mac.)

Doug

OK I just spoke to the computer expert here at home. His side business is computer repair (his main business is finishing school) and he's planning on majoring in computers next year in college. He was the youngest member on the geek squad at Best Buy this summer and they begged him not to quit (He managed to get rid of a backlog of computers needing to be fixed singlehandedly in two days). He's got A+ computer certification plus several more which escape me. (can you tell I'm a proud Mama? LOL)

He said that with the Sony's you're paying extra for the name.

His choice would be either a Gateway (My son has a Gateway and talked Gil into getting one, and both are happy with theirs) or a Toshiba.

He did say whatever you choose to get Centrino M, and a minimum of 512 RAM (see if you can get DDR II RAM). Otherwise he said the rest is just personal.

I have an IBM ThinkPad and it blew out at 9 months old. The entire power supply and board had to be replaced. It was on warranty and a business computer.

I have a personal preference for ThinkPads, I have to admit. I love the keyboards and the pointer stick (I got really good at navigating on my old T40 with that stick!). But it died after 3 years - had to send it back to get it fixed - worked for about another 2 more months and then died for good (just fell out of warranty service). They're not made by IBM anymore, BTW - they're made by Lenovo. I ended up replacing it with a Dell laptop which also got replaced by another Dell laptop (my current 6000).

I've liked my Dell laptops but they've never been on the cutting edge of tech, that's for sure (except maybe for the XPS line). They're a great value fot the price though.

Panasonic Toughbooks are an interesting beast - I don't need a laptop that's built like a tank but someone that's accident-prone might like to have that security ... :)

Gateway and Toshiba are both decent companies - in the midprice range level, as Marc has said, all computers (including laptops) are commodities and very little is different from one laptop to another. For specialized needs though, the brand/design does make a difference ...

Doug - I love Powerbooks (Amanda has the titanium 15 inch PBook) but I'm assuming that Claudia's got an investment in software/data that she'd like to keep. If that's not true, the 12 inch PBooks would also be an excellent choice. Tiger is really a smart OS.

Joanna - Tony's my hero. :D

Masaki

After making the big switch from PC to Mac about 3 months ago I would have to say go with the iBook or pBook. The Tiger OS is very easy to learn and the reliability can't be beat. I have had my Mac on for about 2 months and have not had one freeze or software failure during the entire time, and that's with video and graphic editing. If you have a Mac store near your house just check it out. CompUsa does have a Mac area in all their stores.
John

I love my Macs, never have had anything else.