Hi collegestudent,
I see you are shopping for a laptop computer. I work in the computer
industry as a consultant, and frequently assist my clients with such
decisions. Based on your specified needs, your computer does not need
to have a tremendous amount of power, but you'll probably want room
for expansion in the future, and enough speed to allow your programs
to load at an adequate rate.
One of the most important considerations in buying a computer is the
warranty that is provided and the quality of the technical support
that is available. Most computers nowadays come with a standard one
year warranty, which you may upgrade at the time of purchase for a
little over $100 for each additional year (depending on the
manufacturer). I personally recommend the following companies to
clients when purchasing a laptop computer. All I, a friend, or a
client has had a good experience with.
Dell (www.dell.com): I own a Dell Laptop, a 4100 to be exact. Dell
offers fully customizable computers, and their technical support
service is wonderful. I personally had difficultly redeeming a rebate
with them, so be forewarned if you become involved in such an offer
(especially if you purchase a computer within hours of the end of the
offer - that is where my problems arose). I had to call their
technical support service on one occasion, and had no difficulty doing
so, aside from a lengthy on-hold period (which is typical of many
large computer manufacturers. Their laptops come in all sizes,
however they only offer one ultra-thin model.
Gateway (www.gateway.com): I happen to own an older Gateway desktop,
and I have a friend which owns a laptop produced by them. Much of
what I said about Dell above applies to Gateway, aside from the rebate
issue. I have dealt with their support service numerous times, and
they have always been friendly and resolved my issues.
Fujitsu (http://webshop.fujitsupc.com/fpc/Ecommerce/productoverview.do?type=NB&pgid=Online%20Store):
While Dell and Gateway are the two largest computer manufacturers,
other manufacturers offer options that simply aren't part of the
product line at either of the two companies, Fujitsu being one of
them. A friend of mine owns a Fujistsu laptop. They are built with
the new, low-power Crusoe chip (mostly), and unlike Dell or Gateway,
they specialize in very small, lightweight computers.
Hewlett-Packard is also a decent option, I have a client who
previously owned an HP laptop, but the company does not offer much
customization.
When buying a laptop, two things need to be considered: How am I going
to use my laptop? and How lightweight will I pay for my laptop to be?
The general trend nowadays is for laptops that are slimmer and lighter
to be more expensive. I will provide a sampling of both models so you
can see the difference in price.
LAPTOPS TO CONSIDER:
DELL:
Inspiron 4100 ($1,149+),
http://www.dell.com/us/en/dhs/products/model_inspn_1_inspn_4000.htm :
This is the same model laptop that I have. Dell totes the model as
"Thin and Light," however it is on par with the average size of
laptops on the market, and I would not recommend getting anything
heavier. The above price is the "base price" without any
customization. I customized the laptop in the following manner: New
Price: $1,479. Specs:
Inspiron 4100: Mobile Pentium® III Processor,1.13 GHz-M 14.1 XGA ATI
16MB Video 113AGHN [220-6283]
Memory: 256MB,SDRAM,2DIMMs 256M2D [311-6312]
Hard Drives: 20 GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive 20GB [340-6515]
Floppy Drive: No Floppy Drive NFD [340-6352]
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home WHXP [313-0839]
[420-0554]
Network Card: Integrated Network Card INTNIC [430-1292]
Modem: Internal 56K Modem 56MPC [313-1225]
Modular CD/DVD Drives: 24X Max CD-ROM Drive 24XCD [313-1221]
Bundled Software: Upgrade to Microsoft®Office XP Small Business
w/Money 2002 and Educate IXPESBM [412-0093] [412-1605] [A0015607]
Batteries: 59 WHr Lithium-Ion Battery with ExpressCharge™ LIION8
[312-2511]
Limited Warranty, Services and Support Options: 1 Year Limited
Warranty plus 1 Year Mail-In Service ST111RR [950-3337] [950-3830]
[950-9057]
Internet Access Service: 6 Months of America Online Membership
Included AOLDHS [412-0183] [412-0258]
The above specifications will meet your needs. I recommend no less
than 256 MB of RAM with Windows XP, and a 20GB HD should be fine,
however if you are planning on downloading massive numbers of files, I
would go for at least a 30. I also added in Microsoft Office XP SBE,
as you said that you wanted to be able to access MS Word and Excel.
If you already have the product, you can cut $130 off the price of the
computer.
GATEWAY:
Solo 1450LS ($1,358),
http://www.gateway.com/home/prod/hm_s1450ls_ProdDetail.shtml : This
model, while it can be customized, is pretty much configured to your
needs, and has everything that the above Dell has plus a DVD-ROM drive
(however it does not have MS Office XP). If you add MS Office, the
prices of the two models will be roughly equivalent.
FUJITSU:
The majority of the Fujitsu's are thin and light, however these are
already out of your price range at base configuration. The "A" series
is about the size of the Dell and Gateway computers, and run on an AMD
Athlon Processor, rather than an Intel Pentium 4. The Athlon is a
slightly faster processor, but it generates much more heat, and uses
more power (which will shorten the amount of time it can run on
battery). The $1,299 configuration will satisfy your needs, however
it comes with Windows 2000, not Windows XP. You may view the computer
here: http://webshop.fujitsupc.com/fpc/Ecommerce/buildseriesbean.do?series=AJ.
I hope this information is of assistance to you,
rmn-ga |
