notebooks..

rotateandfly · Post by **rotateandfly** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 5:43 am

I'm in desperate need of a new notebook, currently I'm looking at three different ones but need an opinion on which one to pick as I'm not exactly a computer geek:

Macbook White 1 GB 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 120 GB 13.3" $1,382
2 GB 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 120 GB 13.3" $1,540
Macbook Black 1 GB 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 160 GB 13.3" $1,582
2 GB 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo 160 GB 13.3" $1,740

C-Series(Sony) 1 GB* Intel Core 2 Duo (2GHz) 80GB 13.3" $1,580
2 GB 120GB 13.3" $1,729
SZ-Series(Sony) 1 GB* Intel Core 2 Duo(2GHz) 80 GB 13.3" $1,796
2 GB 100 GB 13.3" $1,946

dv2500t series (HP) 1 GB Intel Core 2 Duo(2.0GHz) 80 GB 14.1" $1,490
2 GB Intel Core 2 Duo(2.0GHz) 120 GB 14.1" $1,565

This is pretty much my price range. I need a notebook that is completely up-to-date. Im eye-balling the Macbook... Does one really need 2GB of memory as it's recommended by Vista Home, and is there a real difference between 14.1 and 13.3" screens?? I should probably get as much hard drive as i can get??

Thanks a bunch for any help picking !!

FlyYukon · Post by **FlyYukon** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 6:20 am

I bought a notebook recently, marketed as a Desktop replacement. I did not look for battery life in mine, but went for CPU speed and memory.

I suggest that if you will be taking it on the road etc. alot, without access to many plugins, look at battery life as well as the performance you need for Vista.

Plus, get something you like the look of

.

cheers,

CarbIce · Post by **CarbIce** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 6:46 am

Try one of the HP 9000 series laptops... 17" screen, mostly the same specs your other choices. should fit in your price range too.

Neighbor has one... very nice.

rotateandfly · Post by **rotateandfly** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 7:14 am

battery life is all up there between 5.5 and 6 hours. The deal is that I need to take it around college, that's why I was looking for compact ones, nothing bigger than 14 inch screens.
I really like the look of the macbook and judging by the losers who hang out at the apple store with their macbooks all day and all night, apple users are generally more happy

I'm definitely eye-balling that one right now.

Snowgoose · Post by **Snowgoose** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 9:27 am

Don't know the specs on those machines but make sure you get a 7200rpm hard disk. There're 4500 rpm'ers out there in notebooks and while all the chips are fast, the hard disk slows them down.

JakeYYZ · Post by **JakeYYZ** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:50 am

A prime consideration would be weight.
At 4 lbs., I’d look carefully at this one: HP Pavilion tx1000z series.
Comes in at about 1 thousand.
I have used a HP OmniBook 900 PIII 500 for approximately 6 years with no problems.
DVD drive is external, screen is 13.1 inches and 4 lbs. I’ve replaced the battery (65.00) and it’s
good for 3-3.5 hours. If I were in your place, I’d hunt down one of these puppies,
for about 200 bones and put the balance in the desktop.
I run Tiny XP, 320 megs, with a boot time of 25 seconds.

rotateandfly · Post by **rotateandfly** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 11:09 am

oh man this is difficult... didnt think it would be.

Roar · Post by **Roar** » Thu Jun 14, 2007 1:07 pm

I have the 2GB 2.16Ghz Black MacBook with the 13.3 inch screen and am very happy with it. Its light and easy to pack around. I would suggest the Black just because the white one shows alot of scratches and dirt.

5x5 · Post by **5x5** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 7:38 am

I've got an older MacBook before the Dual Core and am thinking of upgrading. Overall the Mac is hard to beat. I have never had a crash in over 2 years, it just runs and runs. Software upgrades go in without a hitch. And I run Office for the Mac and can share docs with any PC user.

Go for the Mac, you will not be disappointed.

And best of all, you don't even have to think about Vista.

rotateandfly · Post by **rotateandfly** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:43 am

yeah I've settled for a Mac now, still deciding whether I'll get the white one and upgrade, or go with a Black one right away. Prolly will get the black one.
Thanks!

LegoMan · Post by **LegoMan** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 8:44 am

I just bought one two days ago. Needed something cheap, went to bestbuy and they were selling the HP Pavillion DV6308 for $799 (Normally retailing for $1099) Its great. Macs are nice but too expensive. I would cry to get a scratch on a $2200 laptop.

Here's what I got:

Windows Vista
AMD 64 Dual Core @ 1.6GHz
120G Hard drive
1GB DDR2 Ram
NVidia GeForce 6150 Graphics card
5-in-1 media reader and built in webcam.

If you can afford the new MACS they are awesomely good. My buddy got one and its impressive

North Shore · Post by **North Shore** » Fri Jun 15, 2007 7:52 pm

Go for the mac!! I bought 2 this year - one iMac for home, and a MacBook for the road. They seem to be pretty much fool-proof (I'm trying my best to mess mine up, with no success!) and everything works - no dicking around looking for drivers etc.. Also, once Leopard comes out, then you'll be able to run bootcamp, and have Windoze (if you really want it)on a partitioned disc.

rotateandfly · Post by **rotateandfly** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 9:38 am

once Leopard comes out, then you'll be able to run bootcamp, and have Windoze (if you really want it)on a partitioned disc.

That's one reason I was hesitant to make my decision in favor of the Mac. I'll have to wait til October to get Leopard and pay for it as well, hoping to get a student discount on it though.

goates · Post by **goates** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 10:33 am

If you don't mind playing around with beta software, you can download Bootcamp and run it today.

http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/

Although it will be better integrated into Leopard when it comes out.

xsbank · Post by **xsbank** » Sat Jun 16, 2007 4:34 pm

Buy the Mac - no question. We have 4 of them in my family and we're dickering on a fifth.

You get the education discount if you are going to a college or univ. - about $100 off on an Ibook.

200hr Wonder · Post by **200hr Wonder** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 11:00 pm

Mac or HP, I have HP, Macs and Sonys in my office. The Macs are well Macs so if that floats your boat, go for it. The HPs have been good with very little problems. The Sony's on the other hand have been crap for breaking down I would say roughly 3x the failure rate. Oh I am responsible for about 150 laptops so I see a few here and there.

canadadry · Post by **canadadry** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 8:59 am

I'd go for Mac, no doubt !!

I have an Ibook for 3 years

, no problems, it works; waiting for leopard release to upgrade

kilocharliemike · Post by **kilocharliemike** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 9:17 am

on aeronet/employee discount section offers something like 10% off macs, maybe you have some buddy that works there that could hook you up.