RonnieTheBear
07-09-2009, 08:57 AM
*EDIT*: Title should've read "budget, "light and thin" laptop". Didn't realize ultraportable was 12" or less, sorry!
Maybe you guys could help me find something that'd work.
I'm replacing my 5 year old presario 3000 brick-of-a laptop, but I use a desktop as my primary PC, so I'm not looking for anything too great.
What I was thinking:
Screen Size = 13 or 14"
Processor = Core 2 Duo or better (could take a little worse if you know a great deal)
Graphics = Intel GMA 4500 or better. I play mostly older games, i'd like something capable of WoW, and half life source engine based games.
HD Size = not really important, anything 150 GB plus is fine.
Mem = doesn't matter, assuming its expandable. (i'd like 2 or 3 GB eventually)
I'd want an integrated optical drive (as opposed to some of hp's USB external setups)
I'd like Vista Premium so I can get the free Windows 7 upgrade.
I'd really prefer something in the 400 to 500 dollar range, but if there was a small screen notebook deal out there with some really killer specs, i could spend up to $600.
I was all set to buy a refurb HP Pavilion dv3 (http://www.officemax.com/catalog/sku.jsp?skuId=21769463&cm_mmc=Pricegrabber-_-Technology-_-Computers-_-Refurbished_Computers&srccode=cii_5784816&cpncode=18-37672802-2#homepage) for $550, but it looks like they're OOS in my area or something.
Other contenders include Acer Aspire AS4730 (http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=211243369), and the lenovo Thinkpad Enhanced SL400 (http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/systemconfig.runtime.workflow:LoadRuntimeTree?sb=: 00000025:000019CA:&smid=653343E0DE54435882FABC3CE1BC569A). The Thinkpad fits the bill pretty well, but I've heard bad things about Lenovo shipping delays (the enhanced model wasn't listed as "ships within 1-2 weeks").
I've seen some systems that fit most of my requirements in the high end of my price range, but if deals on this sort of thing are fairly common, i wouldn't mind holding out 2 or 3 weeks to save $100 bucks or so. Do deals on this sort of notebook pop up quite a bit?
Any comments at all would be appreciated. Thanks!
Maybe you guys could help me find something that'd work.
I'm replacing my 5 year old presario 3000 brick-of-a laptop, but I use a desktop as my primary PC, so I'm not looking for anything too great.
What I was thinking:
Screen Size = 13 or 14"
Processor = Core 2 Duo or better (could take a little worse if you know a great deal)
Graphics = Intel GMA 4500 or better. I play mostly older games, i'd like something capable of WoW, and half life source engine based games.
HD Size = not really important, anything 150 GB plus is fine.
Mem = doesn't matter, assuming its expandable. (i'd like 2 or 3 GB eventually)
I'd want an integrated optical drive (as opposed to some of hp's USB external setups)
I'd like Vista Premium so I can get the free Windows 7 upgrade.
I'd really prefer something in the 400 to 500 dollar range, but if there was a small screen notebook deal out there with some really killer specs, i could spend up to $600.
I was all set to buy a refurb HP Pavilion dv3 (http://www.officemax.com/catalog/sku.jsp?skuId=21769463&cm_mmc=Pricegrabber-_-Technology-_-Computers-_-Refurbished_Computers&srccode=cii_5784816&cpncode=18-37672802-2#homepage) for $550, but it looks like they're OOS in my area or something.
Other contenders include Acer Aspire AS4730 (http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=211243369), and the lenovo Thinkpad Enhanced SL400 (http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/systemconfig.runtime.workflow:LoadRuntimeTree?sb=: 00000025:000019CA:&smid=653343E0DE54435882FABC3CE1BC569A). The Thinkpad fits the bill pretty well, but I've heard bad things about Lenovo shipping delays (the enhanced model wasn't listed as "ships within 1-2 weeks").
I've seen some systems that fit most of my requirements in the high end of my price range, but if deals on this sort of thing are fairly common, i wouldn't mind holding out 2 or 3 weeks to save $100 bucks or so. Do deals on this sort of notebook pop up quite a bit?
Any comments at all would be appreciated. Thanks!