What Notebook to Buy?

Hi there!

I have come to help you in your search for a new laptop!, May I suggest...the Gateway MX6124,Its a wonderful computer and has 512 MB of RAM, the memory you were looking for. =)

I oen this laptop, had it for a week now and it is absolutely wonderful, I recommend it highly, I think my computer is blushing as I am typing this! HEEHEEHEE! =)..my computer's name is Digit by the way, I gave it a name. HEEHEE!

One thing, I have heard from other people that the MX6124 comes with only 256 MB RAM, but mine came with 512, you might want to research this, the store where i got DIGIT was Bestbuy and it cost me $749 plus tax.

Hope I helped, God bless you!

Sincerely,
Jose

I believe this lappy would fit the bill for you. It has as an option the ATI x700 graphics card. Make sure you get it and not the Intel snoozer card that is the other option. That is probably the main problem you are having with the Dell. Your main hangup in this type situation is usually the graphics card. Also, don't get too hung up on needing at least 2.4ghz. The Pentium M or AMD Turion processors are all clocked lower than that but clock speeds on these processors are very comparable to the Pentium 4 processors. For example, the 1.86ghz Pentium M processors runs roughly as fast as the 3.4ghz model of the Pentium 4. Believe me you will be very happy with this model. You could get one with the X700 card for probably around 1200-1300 dollars. Good luck!

So first off, is it worth buying a computer now with state of the art stuff on/in it? (monster HD, super fast processor, tons of ram, etc.) or should I wait a few months/year and see what comes out then?

>>Depends on what you plan to do with the system. For general use and casual gaming, you don't need bleeding edge tech.

I figure if i am going to buy one now i should get as much as i can, within reason. I want something along the lines of
widescreen <<lots of choices
256 MB graphics card <<unrealisitic for a laptop
128 MB possible <<lots of choices
2.4 Ghz or better, 100 GB HD or better, 1 GB <<shouldn't be a problem, but it will cost you.

I'm going to be watching DVD's on it as well as playing games and schoolwork.

>> This info helps. You actually have a lot of choices (assuming the 256 GPU isn't a must have). I am a Thinkpad fan, so I'm going to recommend the new Z60m. It's has a 15.4" widescreen, 128mb x600 GPU, wireless, DVD RW, etc. They are even reasonably priced. And you can't beat the Thinkpad quality, service & support.

you sound like you're concerned about what's coming up in the notebook world. I have a new Dv4000 and I love it, it provides the kind of power and capacity that you have written about....but... we are on the verge of the 64 bit revolution and you may wish to consider that. Right now you can buy AMD equipped machines that are 64 bit capable. By the end of 2006 dual core processors will likely be available and MS vista will be out. Many people (like me) are not concerned with the 64 bit issue and have choosen Pentium M computers (I would not advise a Celeron M machine for a number of reasons that we need not discuss in this post). Nor would I buy a P4 or Sempron based machine. Basically if you want 32 bit, a Dv4000 is (I beleive) the best bang for the buck; if you want 64 bit the MSI 1029 is getting very good reviews from people who have bought them.

look into sony fs660, dv4000, and mx7515.

Tip-1 when you buy at bestbuy.if your unhapppy with the notebook and return it they charge a restocking fee also holding onto your money for a couple weeks before you get it back.the lack luster warrenty they try to sell you may be the biggest rip off ever.
Tip-2 take a look at the track record of the company. consumer reports/none profit is the place to start.you can see how the past customers as well as the present customer feel about the brand of pc the have invested in.
Tip-3 spending more money is much better then spending less and not getting what you really want as fare as proformance for years to come.

You should check out the Sony Vaio VGN-S560P/B.
IT has 512mb of ram and its upgradable to 2 GB
Nvidia Geforce Go 6400 Turbo Cache with 256mb of video.
1.8 Ghz L2 2MB cache
100GB Hard Drive

and it pretty light too, only 4.3 pounds