Need Help Buying A Laptop

[IggyWH]

I'd like to think I'm a pretty computer savvy person. When it comes to laptops though, I don't know a damn thing. I never had the need for one or ever wanted one.

Lately though, my job has been taking me out of town every week leaving me without computer access. Most of the hotels I stay in have internet access but that does me no good without a laptop.

So help me find a laptop. I'd like to spend under $1000. Mainly going to use it for poker/other gambling but media/games is also possible. I run a website that I need to update from time to time... shouldn't really matter with anything but just throwing it out there.

Pretty much the only 2 things I know I'll need is a wireless card and mouse. So, does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Iggy!

[AncientPC]

Dell 6000 or 9300 seem to be the main laptops 2+2'ers use, mostly because the screens support 1600x1200 or more. Dell was having some crazy deals with them two weeks ago. I don't know which other laptops out there support 1600x1200 or more.

Wireless cards are pretty much built-in to most laptops nowadays.

[AA suited]

get p4 1.6ghz at minimum. it operates at a 533mhz bus.
1.5ghz and under operate at a 400mhz bus.

All p4 centrino chips have wireless built-in. Most Dell 6000 and 9300 models use Centrino chips.

and if you're using the el-cheapo Intel 900 shared memory graphics card, it makes an EVEN bigger difference to get the 533mhz bus. your video will be faster. (it's late and i'm not sure i'm explaining this correctly.)

preferred screen size: 15.4" or 17"
People have wrote that 1900x1200 resolution on a 15.4" screen is fine for 4 tabling poker.

screen resolution: pick only UXGA (1600x1200) or wuxga (1900x1200). these are the only 2 resolutions that allow you to 4 table w/o overlap.

15.4" screen is fine for uxga.

debatable about 15.4" for wuxga. but a 17" screen is more expensive, and makes the laptop heavier.

[smb394]

Everything AA Suited said is good advice. Also, get AT LEAST 512MB RAM, preferably more. I ordered the Dell 6000 with 256MB and am waiting /images/graemlins/mad.gif for my memory shipment to come. As for the 15.4" screen, I find it just fine for multitabling.

[IggyWH]

Thanks for all the replies...

I went on Dell website and built a 9300 to what you all said and it came up a little over $1500.

Any chance I could wait a little hoping for a 50% off coupon and get a 6000? $1500 is quite a bit more than I want to spend, especially since I paid about 1/2 that for my desktop.

Thanks,
Iggy!

[obsidian]

Some coupon codes currently going on:

http://www.gottadeal.com/dell.php

[IggyWH]

[ QUOTE ]
Some coupon codes currently going on:

http://www.gottadeal.com/dell.php

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the coupons. To use any though I'd still have to spend over $1000 and I'm really not looking to do that.

[FishHooks]

Then save $300 more dollars or so and get the Dell 6000, just has a smaller screen and is lighter.

[AA suited]

[ QUOTE ]
Everything AA Suited said is good advice. Also, get AT LEAST 512MB RAM, preferably more. I ordered the Dell 6000 with 256MB and am waiting /images/graemlins/mad.gif for my memory shipment to come. As for the 15.4" screen, I find it just fine for multitabling.

[/ QUOTE ]

oh yeah, have 2 memory chips so your memory is running in dual channel mode, which makes it faster. And, again, expecially good if you are using the Intel 900 shared memory graphics /images/graemlins/smile.gif

note: there is nothing wrong w/the Intel 900 if all you're doing is poker and word processing. it will be ABSOLUTELY horrible if you're going to play any modern games.

[bonaparte]

[ QUOTE ]
I ordered the Dell 6000 with 256MB and am waiting for my memory shipment to come

[/ QUOTE ]

Just wondering.... where is a good place to go for memory?

[AA suited]

kingston, crucial are good brands

just get the same specs as the mem in the laptop

[smb394]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I ordered the Dell 6000 with 256MB and am waiting for my memory shipment to come

[/ QUOTE ]

Just wondering.... where is a good place to go for memory?

[/ QUOTE ]

I did a search on pricegrabber and found kingston about $10 cheaper thru there than direct. as AA suited said, crucial is good as well.

[banditdad]

Go to:http://www.gotapex.com/

DellHome - Inspiron 9300 Laptop with 1.6Ghz Pentium M 730, 17" Widescreen LCD w/ 64mb Mobility Radeon X300, 256MB DDR2, 40GB HD, and 8x DVD-Rom for $999 with FREE Shipping and FREE Dell Printer! (Posted by: Apex)

[Freakin]

[ QUOTE ]
Go to:http://www.gotapex.com/

DellHome - Inspiron 9300 Laptop with 1.6Ghz Pentium M 730, 17" Widescreen LCD w/ 64mb Mobility Radeon X300, 256MB DDR2, 40GB HD, and 8x DVD-Rom for $999 with FREE Shipping and FREE Dell Printer! (Posted by: Apex)

[/ QUOTE ]

Not enough RAM or resolution.

Iggy, If you're gonna drop 1k on a laptop, you should wait until you can drop more. You'll be sorry 6 months after your purchase that you didn't get stuff like a 7200RPM harddrive and a decent proc. Minimum specs I would take are

17" UXGA
1.6M
512MB 1-dimm
7200RPM HD (this will make a big difference)
If you're at all clumsy, I'd recommend accidental damage protection.

If you're looking to spend less for decreased options, go with a 6000. The 15.4" WUXGA screen is beautiful, and certainly isn't hard to read text on (my friend got his yesterday).

It was only $1550 with teh following specs
15.4" WUXGA
128MB X300
512MB RAM 1-dimm
60 GB HD (no options for 7200RMP /images/graemlins/frown.gif)
2-year warranty
2-year accidental damage protection
Pentium 1.86M

This was during a 34% off deal, so I got him $755 off it. Don't know if the same deal is still going, but this is a solid laptop.

Freakin