Which laptop would you recommend?

[riaz]

Having lugged around an Acer Aspire and then a Toshiba, both 17" screens, I have convinced the powers that be that I am too weak to carry anything heavier than 2.5 lbs and they have approved a light laptop and a plasma screen to go on my desktop when I'm not travelling.

My requirements are
Windows XP (one piece of s**tware we use does not run on Vista)
Lightweight
Operating system in English
Sufficient RAM (I leave what is sufficient to your advice)
Reasonable HD, don't do music or movies, data is always transferred back to the server
USB ports at least 3
Wireless n preferably
QWERTZ keyboard
100 mbps network card
Anything important I've missed.

My wish list
Numeric keypad (as I can always pack an external one when I travel).
Runs on 240v AC rather than thru a DC adapter (still less weight to lug)
DVD player (for when I travel)
Good graphics card
Good sound card (gotta keep in touch with the missus)

I need to advise my (your) recommendations on Monday, so I can hopefully break it in gently before taking it on my travels in November.

All suggestions gratefully received.

 

[DonkeyOte]

Hi Riaz... well for the past x years I'd been using IBM Thinkpads (Lenovo) -- I really liked both the T42 and T61 however as a general rule Thinkpad's are not cheap... sadly when I left I had to give the T61 back so I bought myself a Dell XPS 1530 which I have to say (thus far, touch wood) has been very good... annoying change of key positions when compared to the IBM layout though... it's taking me some time to get used to it all.... I went for a 15" screen to keep size down but went for a screen offering high resolution -- mine operates optimially on 1920x1200 (cols A:AC default width on 100% zoom) -- this is great if you like it (I do) but some people would probably find it a bit "too" much if you were using it everyday but it sounds as though your primary monitor will be a plug in for the most part anyway.

Key is RAM, RAM, RAM... as much as you can -- try and get one that's expandable if you don't go for the max straight away -- the XPS I have has 4GB which is as much as I saw around at the time...

Not sure I can help with any technical advice per se (other than RAM RAM RAM) but just thought I'd pass on my own experiences of the last few I've had which have all been very good, robust and reliable... the Thinkpad went round the world a few times with no dramas... the same couldn't be said for my blackberry!

 

[SydneyGeek]

I never thought I'd say this but I recently bought a Dell and I like it. It's a Vostro (Core 2 Duo 2.1 GHz, 3 GB RAM, XP Pro pre-installed, 15.4" widescreen at 1400x900 resolution, 250 GB disk, Wireless G, 4 USB ports, slot-loading DVD drive) and set me back just over $1000 AUS. So far, so good.

Denis

 

[Richard Schollar]

I got a Dell 17" Vostro back in January (similar spec to the one Denis has). I love it. I have had to call in tech support to replace a harddrive and tha went painlessly. I use Vista (it came with Vista) and have had no problems (with Vista) so far...

 

[RoryA]

My wife has a Dell XPS1330 which is great. Small, light, quick and not bad to look at. And so is the laptop.
It came with Vista and I have not yet had cause to install XP instead. I've never had a problem with Dell, other than one machine bought from their refurbished section. Still miss my Thinkpad though, even without the Windows key.

 

[DonkeyOte]

Rory: Still miss my Thinkpad though, even without the Windows key

That was the first thing I configured on my T42 with their keyboard utility... the T61 I took ownership of last Dec did in fact have a windows key so IBM must have finally taken the decision to conform...

 

[RoryA]

I think they started putting the Windows key in shortly before they sold the whole thing to Lenovo. From what I have read, the build quality (it's the keyboard I miss the most) has remained as high as ever.

 

[riaz]

Rory, I will try to spec the model your wife has. Denis, Richard, size is important. Thinkpads I know nothing of and neither do the IT people we deal with (Lux is a very small place).

The only concern I have with Dell is they used a proprietary brand/shape/model of memory on my Dimension 8200 (at home). I am trying to upgrade that from 512k, but the best quote I have so far is upwards of US$ 200. Ebay, here I come.

RAM should probably not be a problem on a new laptop. However, Vista is, as one of the software (Quickbooks) is not compatible with Vista except for its version 2008. We are not prepared to upgrade 20 staff and umpteen clients to suit one new Vista user and in any case it is not an upgrade but an outright purchase. I only just found out that QB is not even rated for use under XP (it works, but Microsoft will not approve it, because apparently Intuit have not applied for it).

Cheers all
Riaz

 

[Richard Schollar]

Denis, Richard, size is important.

So true - did you notice mine was 2" bigger than Denis'?

 

[RoryA]

Dell should give you the option to downgrade to XP during the configuration process. If you ring them near the end of the month, they can sometimes do you a better deal than you will get on the interweb-thingy.