Laptops - best deal

[rh71]

Can someone give me the best bang for the buck? Figuring to spend ~$1200 and would like to stick with IBM, Dell, or Toshiba. Thanks.

[Yar1182]

For $1200 you arn't getting a darn thing. Maybe a emachine laptop or something used and out of date. Laptops are serious $$$. To be honest you need like $3000 at least for anything decent.

[rh71]

I can get a decent Toshiba Satellite 1805 for $1299... but one thing I forgot to include was a network card (PCMCIA). They go for $100 don't they? SOmeone correct me if I'm wrong. THx.

[Yar1182]

Actually I stand corrected. The pickings are better than I believed. The 1805 looks decent with the exception of the video card. They also cut some corners with the display. Still I'd look for something with a ATI or GeForce Go card. A SXGA or UXGA screen may be a little out of the question. I bet when the new P3 hits the market next month the prices will drop some more.

[Yar1182]

You can get a refurbished network card for $30 on pricewatch.com. I think the 1805 has an intergrated network card.

[rh71]

Wow that was an experience... was under the gun to purchase a laptop from the web at 1AM to meet a deadline... I knew nothing about them beforehand.

ANyway, we wound up purchasing the Toshiba Satellite 1805-203 model that does not come with a PCMCIA network card... but it does have:

800MHz Celeron
13.3" TFT
128MB RAM
15GB HDD
DVD-ROM
56k modem
Free Epson 777i printer
$100 manufacturer's rebate
+ ($45) Netgear PCMCIA 10/100 NIC
=======================
$1276 after rebates and shipping.

Hell, I want to buy one myself for that price http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by rh71 (edited 07-26-2001).]