notebooks

[the_deacon]

i'm looking for a notebook for around $2200 with P3-500, 128 ram, dvd-rom drive,6 gb hard drive, internal 56k modem, network interface card, around 13" of screen, thin (less than 1") and light (3 to 4 lbs). what brand and model do you recommend? thanks

[KAknight]

Brand-wise you want to stay away form Compaq notebooks. I'd get a Dell, I bet they have what you need.

[DrCorvette]

That is a VERY Tall order to stay under 2.2k.

At work we have good luck with the Dell machines, both desktop and laptop. Others here have had good luck with Toshiba.

Here's a sample I configured at Dell->>

Inspiron 4000

Thin and Light @ $2,157.95
Height: 1.47 inches
Weight: 5.2 lbs

Dell Inspiron 4000 Notebooks:

Pentium III ® Processor 600MHz Featuring Speedstep™

14.1" XGA TFT Display

Memory: 128MB SDRAM 2 DIMMs

Primary Hard Drive: 6GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive

Operating System Software: Microsoft® Windows® Millennium

Modem: Internal 56K Capable V.90 + 10/100 Mini-PCI Combo

8X Max Variable DVD-ROM Drive 8XDVD

Inspiron 4000 Setup Video

Bundled Software: Microsoft® Office 2000 Small Business Edition w/Bookshelf

Anti-virus: Norton Antivirus® 2000 for Windows Millennium

Primary Battery: 26.5 WHr Lithium-Ion Battery with ExpressCharge™

Limited Warranty and Service: 1 Yr. Next Business Day On-Site Parts&Labor

Internet Access Service: AOL 1-Year Internet Access Service

Power Protection: APC Notebook Surge Protector

FREE shipping Offer ends Wednesday, October 11.

Includes $150.00 off any Inspiron notebook through October 25, 2000
http://www.dell.com/us/en/dhs/default.htm
specs here->> http://www.dell.com/us/en/dhs/products/spec_inspn_4000_notebooks.htm

Hope this helps
DrVette

[LJE2]

Since 1994 I have owned 7 notebooks, Compaq being the worst, of those 7 I have owned 3 by a company named Sager, they advertise in computer shopper, they have by far been the best notebooks I've owned along with being the best deal for the money, you can buy then direct from Sager or you can buy them from a company called Imperial that will sell you the laptop without an oparating system an you can put your own on saving you a few bucks, check them out, click on the "Specials" for the best deals. For the price your wanting to spend you can get a P3 700 or P3 800 http://www.imperialdirect.com/

[the_deacon]

i was thinking around the lines of the acer travelmate 343tv or the toshiba portege 3480ct. what do u guys think?

why whats wrong with the compaq? too expensive?

the dell is ok but its kind of big and bulky.

i havent heard of the sager before but the website you showed me had some pretty wicked stuff. is it safe to get one out of the US? what about tech support and international warranty?

[DrCorvette]

Compaq has the longest history here about being problematic.

On the desktops weird stuff like the BIOS and MBR being written to the HD and being non-replaceable except with a "Sofpaq" you Have to get from Compaq. I think the BIOS is part of that nightmare anyway.

One thing happened to me was some RAM that was GOOD in other systems caused all kinds of weird stuff in a compaq, took me two weeks for a resolution, all FREE labor too.

The Horror stories on Compaq are not embellished at all , IMHO anyway, I have seen too may IT Techs at work turn pale just at the mention of a COMPAQ-U-LOCK.

Just stay away, kinda like buying Firestone tires, just say NO.. NO Fords either,, nudge, nudge to someone here on that comment http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/smile.gif

[LJE2]

Compaq does not give you copies of the software that is included on your system, instead they partition your hard drive into 2 partitions and use the D: drive along with a restore disk to store all your software, so to save compaq a couple bucks that it would cost them to include CD's with your software on it, they instead waste about a Gig of your hard drive space. The Compaq laptop I bought had a built in 56k modem, I had trouble with it from the day I bought it, if fact so much trouble I took back the laptop and got a new one, this one was just as bad, so I called Compaq's tech support (and I use that term loosly). That was my first mistake, after about 10 phone calls over a 3 day period (and about 4 hours on hold) they had my computer so screwed up it wouldn't boot. I got mad and demanded to speak to a supervisor, he finally got my computer to boot, and I had to use the restore disk, to fix everything. But the modem still didn't work right, so they had me send it in for repair. They installed a new modem in the laptop and it worked just like the first 2 (it didn't) finally I went out and bought a 3Com PCMCIA modem and the 3Com modem worked perfectly, the compaq modem never did work right. I'm not sure but I think the warranties through Imperial and Sager are good only in the US and Canada, here's Sager's web site, http://www.sager-midern.com/pages/sager_store.html you might want to call these companies and ask them, I believe they both have toll free numbers, but I'm not sure that they will work where you live, if that's the case contact them by email.

[This message has been edited by LJE2 (edited 10-11-2000).]

[This message has been edited by LJE2 (edited 10-13-2000).]

[the_deacon]

ok, no compaqs! but what about my choices: the acer travelmate 343tv or the toshiba portege 3480ct? are those any good? because they certainly look good on paper.

EDIT: any of u guys have any experience with the above-mentioned notebooks, good or bad?

[This message has been edited by the_deacon (edited 10-13-2000).]