   Recommend a Laptop
  My previous laptop, a Sony VAIO, has begun showing its age, and it's nearing the end of its viable lifespan. It's also been a while since I've bought a big-ticket item, so I feel justified in buying a new one.To that end, I'd be appreciative if anyone had any recommendations for something with these approximate (or better) specs:I want:-- good resolution: >= 1280x1024 (or >= 1280x720 for WXGA)-- enough CPU/memory (>= 1.5 GHz/>= 512 MB) for productivity-- looks nice-- fits in my backpack-- a PC; sorry, no MacBook Pros just yetI don't care too much about:-- the price-- the video card-- battery life, as long as it can last about an hour or so-- CD/DVD-burning, as long as it has a DVD drive[edit]: Is it just me, or does every non-MacBook Pro laptop seem to not care a bit about its aesthetics? Seriously, it's like they're designing for the Borg.   
  I'd recommend a Fujitsu Lifebook E8210. Terrific bang-for-your-buck, fits your needs (and then some), and looks gorgeous.   ;  I like my Dell 6000D .. they have come down a bit in price, and should serve you well.   ;  You could look through powernotebooksThe have an insanely good score at resellerrattings. Which is a very good sign (although I've never personally delt with them). The macbooks are made by ASUS, so an ASUS laptops may fit your aesthetic requirements.   ;  The MBP/MB runs Windows XP (and Vista Beta 2) quite nicely, it is for all intents and purposes a PC. [wink]But more seriously, you should look at some of the new Lenovo laptops; they're more expensive than most others but they are exceptionally solid and deserving of IBM's Thinkpad lineage. We just bought a wad of Dell D820s at work; they're roughly the same machine as the MBP but from Dell, so it looks like a 1970s VCR and won't run OS X.   ;  I just bought an ASUS W2JB. It's an absolute beast in terms of hardware specs, looks really nice, and a comparatively good deal for a high-end notebook. I've juiced 3.5 hours out of the battery by running in power-saving mode. Very highly recommended.Only possible problem with your requirements is that, at 17", it probably won't fit in your backback. However, I also highly recommend getting this case which will fit it, and seems to be extraordinarily popular with the ladies. (I'm not kidding - I've had no less than three random women tell me they thought it was a "hot briefcase.")   ;  I've just received my Acer Aspire 5672, a nice laptop that suffers from getting a little hot but features the following:T2300 Core Duo 1.6Ghz1 GB RAM80GB HDRadeon mobility X1400 (1280x800 widescreen native res)15.4" glossy screenGood sized keyboardBattery life under heavy use (i.e. running Oblivion at medium settings) about 1.5 hours.  Under light use is about 2.5 hours.I found this to be the best value in terms of performance for money, it cost me £750 which is about $1,383 (US).I've heard that Acer can have dodgy build quality, but my laptop has arrived in almost perfect condition, looks very sturdy but did have a slight problem with the AC adapter not always registering a connection unless wiggled around, which I'm in the process of trying to fix.  Other than that though it has been perfect and should prove quite nice for game development.  It's not so advanced that I can afford to write sloppy code, but is powerful enough to allow me to play with shader model 3.Don't know if that fits what you're looking for?Cheers,Steve*EDIT*Can be found in the US for around $1,029 ($1,383 was a direct £ to $ currency conversion)[Edited by - Mephs on June 12, 2006 3:36:47 AM];  Just bear in mind that Core Duo and Centrino are unable to run XP64/linux64/Vista64.   ;Quote:Just bear in mind that Core Duo and Centrino are unable to run XP64/linux64/Vista64.Another thing to bear in mind is that Intel will release the Core 2 Duo/Merom processor for laptops in August or sometime. The Merom is 64-bit and is supposedly 100% compatible with the Core Duo, though I wouldn't take it on my word alone though.If money's not an issue, then why not just get a cheap Core Duo with nice specifications and then simply swap the processor when the new ones come out. Or if you're willing to wait a while, like me, I'd just go for the Merom cores when they come out.   ;  I'm not sure why you're discounting the Macbook and Macbook pro. They're quite economical now that they use core duo, and they meet all your requirements. Plus, you can just slap windows XP, Vista, or linux on it and never use Mac OS X.If you don't like the macs then I second Asus. Never seen one in person but people seem to like them all around and they seem to be a good value.Quote:Original post by DerekSawJust bear in mind that Core Duo and Centrino are unable to run XP64/linux64/Vista64.Which, IMHO, is not important on a laptop. Unless you're trying to develop software to run on 64-bit systems or some other obscure reason, you don't need 64-bit on a laptop.Quote:If money's not an issue, then why not just get a cheap Core Duo with nice specifications and then simply swap the processor when the new ones come out. As long as you make sure the core duo is not soldered on the mobo, which it is for a lot of laptops (including macbook/pro)   