So long laptops

[vernard]

So I finally returned the last laptop that I had been assigned by AIU. I haven't taught there in almost 2 years and with my current schedule its unlike that I will be teaching there again in the next 6 months. I didn't really use the laptop since it was pretty much tied to their domain and didn't have a hard drive big enough for me to put LInux on it and keep windows either.

I turned in my laptop issues by Clayton State at the end of the frist week in August. That laptop was really nice but friggin heavy. And they had just bought us upgrades as well but I didn't bother. I Was turning mine in anyway after all.

The thing I liked about my laptop was that I could have a single place to act as my virtual desktop with regards to email, documents that I was writing (I do a lot of writing even though I don't post any of it for public consumption) and having to keep everything synced up across multiple platforms and locations is just a pain. And network bandwidtch, connectivity and security are so different at home, work and at various wi-fi spots that I can't count on that either.

So I'm beginning to ponder the purhcase of a laptop. Right now I'm still describing the functionality that I want in it. Once I settle on that, I'll worry about what particular make and model.

Currently the things the features I'm interested in are:

• Widescreen display. At least 1280x800 resolution. The actual physical size can vary.
  
  
• Max. RAM capacity of at least 1GB.
  
  
• 800Mhz cpu of some sort (AMD/Intel/PowerPC)
  
  
• normal sized QWERTY part of the keyboad. Dont' care about the rest.
  
  
• Minimum built in wireless 802.11b. 80211.G preferred.
  
  
• USB 2.0
  
  
• Lithium Ion batteries
  
  

I don't care if its new or used. So if you know of a place other than eBay to look for used equipment, give me a heads up. And if you know of any particularly good deals on new stuff then a heads up there would be appreciated as well.

Comments

[unwiredben.livejournal.com]

I just bought my sister a laptop on Friday for her to go back to school. It's a Dell Inspiron 700m, a 4.1 pound compact laptop with all the features you specified, although I've heard the keyboard's a little cramped. It will be coming in next week -- I got it configured with 802.11b/g, 512MB, DVD+/-R writer, 60GB drive, 1200x800 display, USB 2, firewire, etc for $800 shipped with one of the Dell $750 off $1500 coupons they've occasionally been putting out for this model.

It will show up here in Austin sometime next week and I'll do a full review, then after I "fix" everything on it, it will be sent onward to Cyndi.

[uglor.livejournal.com]

Dell has coupons for $600-$750 off $1500 or so every few weeks/months, usually towards the end of the fiscal quarter. The Inspirons are their consumer laptops, so they are generally a little bit less cool than their buisness models, but they are still pretty decent.

places to watch for deals:

http://www.gotapex.com/
http://www.slickdeals.net/
http://www.niftyness.com/nndd/

[wiggyfish.livejournal.com]

I finally got fed up and bought a machine a couple of weeks ago - not an Apple, because they are priced out of proportion to their age - and have been reasonably happy with my this. Only gripe is that it "shares" memory for VRAM. So I need to spend $100ish to replace one of the DIMMs with one not made by Fisher-Price.

[brujah.livejournal.com]

I was going to suggest slickdeals.com, but note someone already has so I'll just say hi instead. :P

I've never, personally, dealt with them, but I've heard nothing but good from those who have.

[tonyvila.livejournal.com]

If all you need is shared storage, you might consider one of these. I have heard good things.

[unwiredben.livejournal.com]

I know the engineers that developed them (and are currently working on the software update for the LifeDrive). They're nice, and they do a good job with document display and web browsing, but they aren't great laptop replacements.

[tonyvila.livejournal.com]

Good point, but it sounds less like V needs a laptop and more like a common share point for the various computers he already uses. Not that I'm dismissing the need for a laptop, I could use one myself...

[vernard.livejournal.com]

Actually, I had already given that some thought. And while that does centralize the gathering of my email, it wouldn't let me easily respond to my emails which is also kinda important.

unwiredben and I had discussed these months ago actually. He is my source for all things PalmOS related :-)

[irtluhc.livejournal.com]

The Mac rumor mills suggest that the next iteration of the PowerBook will have higher res displays, so that might fit your bill whenever it ever comes out. Maybe.

[10dimensions.livejournal.com]

Dave has had several Sager laptops, and they offer the most bang for the buck in a new laptop. They are also clinically tested to be impervious to having a beer spilled into their keyboard. ;)