Gateway is getting better, but are still a shadow of their former quality levels. Only way I'd go with one is if a Sony were the only other option, the VIAO is the crappiest laptop I've ever dealt with.
haha before i opened this i didnt know if it was a joke about notebooks or even about that movie...
but anyway... years back i sold laptops.
always thought Toshiba was the best - always owned them and i am typing on one right now. the new screens with the thick plastic coating are SICK
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2008 G37 6MT|PlatGraph| Nav | TEIN H Tech
I just got a Dell Inspiron 9300... Like it very much so far, except it is big and heavy (17" monitor and 9-Cell battery).
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2003 1/2 Caribbean Blue Coupe | 6MT | 20% Tint in back | 35% up front | Aluminum Pedals | Nismo Shift Knob | Clear Corners | Street Scene Lower Valences
I'm really not a big fan of Dell, but I've had three of their laptops over the last 3 years. Each was reliable, fast, and a fairly good compromise of weight vs. performance.
I've had:
Latitude C810
Latitude C400
Latitude D410
I'm using the D410 now, loaded with virtually every option (except bluetooth, damnit). I travel a lot, so the weight is more important than internal features (like DVD/CD), which is why I use the 400-series over the 600 or 800 series.
I don't understand the aversion to external drives. If you don't need them at the moment, you can disconnect and save battery life. Without any power saving features enabled, I get ~3-3.5 hours on my base battery, and with the multimedia expansion base I can run 7-8 hours - and that with running a PCMCIA wireless card (along with the internal device), compiling applications (Linux), multitasking, all on a heavily upgraded system. (80GB, 2GB memory).
Best I can say is to get the best machine you can and try not to skimp based on price. You're going to need to keep a lappie for a long time to really get your money's worth, so spending the cash up-front will get you a longer lease on life.
The Inspiron series doesn't have an ultra-light model so far as I know. If you want a compromise for weight/functionality/performance, I suggest the equivalent of the Latitude D610. It has a 9-cell internal battery, a single drive bay for CD/DVD/additional HD, 1280 screen, and all the connectivity you want at about 5.5-6lbs. The 9300/D810 is going to be 7-8lbs. (The D410 is 4-4.5lbs, for comparison.)
Sony makes a good laptop, but I'd probably get a Toshiba first. They have better laptops in my opinion, and certainly follow standards a lot better. Sony makes a good device, but be prepared to be locked into specific-to-Sony hardware. Not so bad if you don't ever upgrade or need to maintenance outside warranty, tho.
In all honesty, I'd probably suggest you pick your minimum screensize as the basis for your decision and work from there. The screensize is going to dictate what laptop model line you can get, which dictates your features. (again, the D410 I have has a simple 1024 screen, but I wanted weight before performance.)
I work the hell out of this D410 - VMWare Workstation running 3-4 VMs at a time, multiple sessions of Firefox, remote desktop, shells, compiling and recompiling applications and the kernel, etc. All my Dells have survived my hardware pounding, so I can say they are pretty reliable.
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 750 (1.86 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB), Microsoft Windows XP Professional
512MB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 2 Dimm
60GB 7200rpm Hard Drive
24X CD-RW/DVD Combination Drive
128MB ATIs™ Mobility Radeon™ X300
For $1518 shipped, what do you guys think?
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Once you vote black, you'll never go back! Obama/Biden 08
Only change I'd make would be to skimp on the RAM bought from Dell, then get the extra RAM from Crucial as their prices are usually 2-3 times less than Dell's for the same stuff.
toshiba is starting to come out with some good shit. sony is still in the game, but their shit is quite over-priced for what u get.
styling-wise sony is still on top of toshiba IMO. but i'd rather have a pc that works well rather than one that just looks good. "function over form" is the way i'd go.
donny, compare my toshiba to bp's sony. look at the pros and cons between our two notebooks and then make ur decision.
i dunno why i'm telling u this now cuz u just told me an hour ago that u already bought a laptop.
i still say mead notebooks and a number 2 pencil is still the shit.
__________________ Cars Rule Everything Around Me Yeayuhh -- * C.R.E.A.M.Y.*
I have a Dell Inspirion 5650. It breaks down a lot!!!! Dont get dell. Their customer support is always packed and Ive fixed mine 3 times in the last month. I would go with Song or either Apple
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