Buying a new laptop. Need some advice regarding price and performance

Hey there

I need a new laptop for school. I've been looking around for some deals but most of them are either too expensive or don't have what i want. With a budget of 1000 - 1400 euro, i'm looking at:

Dothan (pentium-M) 730 or 740 CPU
1GB DDR RAM
Decent videocard
At least 40GB of 5400rpm storage
Screen: wide or normal, at least 1280*800 or 1152*864

I don't care much for storage space as 40 - 60GB is plenty for my needs.

One of the deals i came across is this one at Dell is an Inspiron 9300 notebook, with the following:

Dell said:

Processor Intel ®Pentium ®M Processor 740 (1.73 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 533 MHz FSB)
Microsoft® Windows Besturingssysteem NL - Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition, SP2
Geheugen 512MB 533MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2x256)
Grafische kaart 256MB NVIDIA®GeForce™ 6800 Go graphics card, PCI-Express
Harde schijven 60GB (5.400rpm) IDE harde schijf
Optical drives 24xCDRW/8xDVDComboDrive
Intel® ProWireless 2200 802.11b/g Mini PCI Wireless LAN Card
Warrannty 1 year CAR (Collect and Return)
Voeding D-Series 90W AC Adapter
Primaire Batterij Primaire 6 Cell 53 WHr batterij
Money Off Savings 100 Euro off inc vat
LCD scherm 17" UltraSharp™ Wide Screen WXGA+ (1440 x 900) TFT Display

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That is for 1250 Euro's, quite cheap but i'm not happy with the 512MB RAM, i'd rather have 1GB especially because the VGA will allow me to play games high-detail. Upgrading to 2x512 costs 166 though, so it's not really worth it

Few other deals can beat the Dell, most will have either integrated video, a low res display or simply weigh too much. However, i have no experience with Dell and have no idea how long the battery will last or if the build is of any quality.

I have a bit of experience regarding the hardware in a laptop, but know little of pricing or renowned manufacturers. If anyone could supply me with some info and/or experience, that'd be great.

Just came across this deal:

P-M 740
512MB DDR2
80GB 5400RPM hdd
1400x1050 display
Gbit wired LAN
256MB X700 Graphics

With a Smart Li-ION 6 cell batterij 4400mAH, carrying bag, NO WINDOWS for 1340 Euros. Better display then the dell (no widescreen), more storage space and Gbit LAN, but its a tad more expensive. However, shipping on this will be much cheaper then the dell. (like 20 compared to 90)

A nice deal on the asus Z718NE-LH:

specs said:

Display: 15,4", WXGA Resolutie 1280x800
Intel Centrino
Processor: Mobile Intel Pentium Dothan 735 (1.70GHz)
Bussnelheid: 533Mhz
Chipset: Intel 855PM
Geheugen: 1GB DDR PC2700 (max 2GB)
Videokaart: ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 64MB VRAM
Harddisk: 80GB Ultra DMA 100
Optische drive: DVD-/+RW Dual Layer
Modem 56K V.90
LAN 100Mbit
WLAN 54Mbit
1x PCMCIA II, PS/2, Parallel, VGA-Out, Microfoon-in, IrDA
4x USB2.0
1x Firewire
TV-Out
5 in 1 Card Reader
Geschikt voor PortBar III
Microsoft Windows XP Home
Inclusief draagtas en muis
Afmetingen: 354x273x22-34mm
Gewicht: 2,6kg

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For only 1200 Euro's...Only 400FSB but 1GB of ram, a large HDD and DVDRW drive.

Sjaak said:

A nice deal on the asus Z718NE-LH:



For only 1200 Euro's...Only 400FSB but 1GB of ram, a large HDD and DVDRW drive.

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i like that asus the best as configured. your getting 1gb ram and all the extras like you said. only problem is the "bad" graphics card. but now days 1gb ram is pretty much essential. thats what i would have to go with because of the ram.

try to find a Asus Z71v... They have been featured on the front page before and they are a good OCing notebook (they have a dipswitch that raises 400FSB to 533FSB)... They have a Nvidia 6600 Go with 128MB VRAM...

The cheapest I can configure a lappy like you want is 1265$USD from mwave.com
If you don't like the looks of the z71V try to find someone that sells the z70va (aka z70v Refresh) it has a x700 .

gulp35 said:

try to find a Asus Z71v... They have been featured on the front page before and they are a good OCing notebook (they have a dipswitch that raises 400FSB to 533FSB)... They have a Nvidia 6600 Go with 128MB VRAM...

The cheapest I can configure a lappy like you want is 1265$USD from mwave.com
If you don't like the looks of the z71V try to find someone that sells the z70va (aka z70v Refresh) it has a x700 .

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Thanks, i'll have a look into it. Do you know what the battery life on those is?

I just got a Asus Z63A and love it

ASUS Z63A
1.7ghz P-M pinmod to 2.26ghz undervolted to 1.308v
1gb Kingstion Value PC2-4300
100gb Seagate 5400.2 Harddrive
8x Dual Layer DVD-RW
Intel Prowireless b/g
Second Asus drive bay battery

This thing is not good for gaming as it only uses the intel intigrated "extreme graphics" but when it comes to taking this thing to class i cant go wrong, its got a 14.1" WS 1280x786 ultrabright screen All this is under 5lbs and with a little tinkering i got up to 9hrs of battery life. Total cost on this was $1300USD

I would also suggest starting with the Asus Z71 nate just did a small write up on how to build a laptop based on this chassie

http://www.legitreviews.com/article.php?aid=228

So far im really loving my laptop, for 1.3k i got more than i could have buying from other MFG's and they would have cost 2k or more for something that would not run as fast or give me as good battery life.

Edit: Figure around 3-4hs battery life on the Z71V, more links
http://forums.legitreviews.com/viewtopic.php?t=2677
http://forums.legitreviews.com/viewtopic.php?t=2711
http://forums.legitreviews.com/viewtopic.php?t=2713

Hell yeah, that Asus barebone and the other combo looks good. But i can't find it for sale anywhere near here Will go look around some more, maybe some german shop has it for a nice price.

yeah i dont know of any retailers in europe but im sure they are there some where, just dig around, or post on LR Nate may know of some.

http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2346 ----

reviewer#1 said:

Battery Life

The battery lasted 2.25 hours playing a DVD. Doing basic applications (word processing, surfing the internet, etc.), it lasts between 3.5 and 4 hours. Not nearly the 6.5 hours that Asus claimed is the ceiling, but still enough to easily get through my 3.5 hour long classes. If you're going to be on a long flight or need more than 4 hours of battery life, I'd suggest getting the modular battery option that swaps for the optical drive.

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http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?t=90963 ---

chuck232 said:

Battery

The ASUS Z71V comes with a 8-cell battery. When set to max battery setting with screen brightness around the middle, getting around 4 hours of battery life is not a problem (undervolted). This is all the processing power I need when listening to music, writing, or surfing the internet so I find it very adequate. I'll pplay some DVDs and run Battery Eater later on when I have more time.

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Look at notebookforums.com forums.notebookreview.com and just search "Z71v review" in google

Ah, thank you. I will look into it, i've sent Nate an email asking if he knew any retailers in europe.

Well if he is not to crazy busy then he should respond