Laptop -- what would be a good choice?

[aimeeandbeatles]

Bolded for people too lazy to read entire thing.

Okay, so I've decided to get a laptop.... some time. Probably not for a year or two. So, what brands would be recommended? I would prefer a small one (easier to carry around), and it must be durable -- shock resistant, maybe spill resistant. a DVD-RW drive would be preferred. Wireless internet is another must, but I honestly can't think of any (modern) laptops without it. Also, long battery life (2-4 hours?). although I could probably just get a new one.
I'm not planning to use it for much gaming, maybe occasionally SimCity 2000, so those aren't really big issues.
And it can't be expensive. I cannot afford anything really over a thousand dollars (Canadian), and we only get about 300-500 each paycheck, although I could do installments.
Windows XP preferred, but will take Vista.

Does anyone know any ones? I was looking at some in store, one called Durabook (or something along those lines) looked okay.
There is also a computer store in town that custom builds computers, and they do take installments, although you can't pick it up until then.

Thank you for listening to this ...

 

[Genocidicbunny]

Take a look at the Dell Vostro line if you want a cheap and durable laptop. Because they're geared towards business, you wont find them to be very powerful, but they're also pretty cheap ( starting at either 300 or 400 USD ) and they're fairly durable.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

I'll check them out, thank you.

 

[CCRunner]

I've got an HP that was around $800. Plays everything just fine and it seems to have everything you're looking for.

 

[Bigfoot3814]

I use a Dell one, called Latitude D530. It runs fantastic, but it's pretty heavy. I've dropped it a bunch of times too.

 

[Quintillus]

Most every laptop available now will be replaced by another model in a year or two. Even which brands have decent quality may well be different (a few years back, Dell had a very low reputation for quality; now they're about average, for example). So it's a bit early to recommend that far ahead. Lenovo will probably still be high quality (and good for durability), Acer will likely still be low quality, but other than that it's hard to say.

Business lines in general tend to have better durability (notwithstanding the Vostro, which isn't bad but is really just a consumer notebook in black paint), so that's also something to consider - but their starting price is a bit higher. There's a reason the cheapest of anything is the cheapest.

It's also a bit early to start deciding on parts, beyond screen size and whether you want an optical drive, as those will change a lot, too (by then Blu-Ray might be standard on all systems, for instance). I'd recommend starting to save the money now (installments always cost more long-term, and depending on how many installments you do at the local shop it could well be obsolete by the time you get it), and once you get $400 or so start looking at laptops - but it may be best to wait until you have a bit more to actually buy it, as durability tends to be quite low at the lowest price segments. Right now Dell's cheapest business-line notebook with XP is $648 U.S. - you may be able to get a comparable notebook slightly cheaper in a year or two, and it'll certainly have somewhat better specs.

 

[Lord Neil]

www.xoticpc.com

Xotic has many laptops cheaper then the other big companies and is definitely worth a look. They have mostly gaming laptops but there are others.

ASUS Eee 900HA, 8.9" 1024x800 Screen, 1.6GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 160GB Hard Drive, 5-6 Hour battery life, 2.49lbs. All that for: $338.53

Look for yourself there are other laptops you may like.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Thank you everybody. There's not many stores that sell computers around. I think Staples, The Source (used to be Radioshack), and one or two small computer stores. I'll check the phone book. Although I can't actually install laptop parts myself (I'd probably electrocute me!) there are plenty o' places in town to do it.

 

[LucyDuke]

Windows XP preferred, but will take Vista.

Ubuntu is free, and with your curiosity, you'd figure it out in no time at all.

 

[DNK]

I'd just say to make sure you get a faster HDD than the standard. Get a 7200RPM one (you can probably upgrade it). Slow hard drives blow nuts, like my current one, it blows nuts. For general Windows usage that's probably a lot more important than the processor. My old AMD 2600+ desktop with a Seagate 7200RPM beats the hell out of my newer C2D 1.67GHz Samsung 5400RPM laptop (unless I'm editing/gaming). Nevermind the fact it's 1/2-1/4 as powerful a CPU and has half the RAM, which is also much slower.

You'll halve your Windows start time and the computer won't hang so much, Civ will load faster, it's just being smart. It is worth every penny to get a faster hard drive. Every penny.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

thank you.

 

[kingworldss]

Take a look at the Dell Vostro line if you want a cheap and durable laptop. Because they're geared towards business, you wont find them to be very powerful, but they're also pretty cheap ( starting at either 300 or 400 USD ) and they're fairly durable.

I just got one Dell Vostro, it's a recent hot deal, on sale for only $419, worth to give it a look

http://www.dealstudio.com/viewtopic.php?t=44609&ru=290