Money to burn....

[IBM]

....and nothing to do with burning laptop batteries I hope.

I'm about to start looking for a desktop replacement laptop. Got about £800-£1000 to spend, although the cheaper the better.

Along with a good processor, large hard disk, and at least 1gig of ram, I really need something with at least 1600x1200 native res....

I'll post up a few findings as I come across them, but if anyone's seen anything really special recently, or know any good/bad brands that I should check out/avoid, then I'd be glad to hear your musings...

[kalniel]

Cringeworthy though it is.. Dell have some absolutely humongous resolution options for their laptops, and sony batteries aside, seem well made.

[IBM]

'Twas actually the first place I looked (although I could only have hated myself more if it had been PC World...which was actually the second place I looked )

I've been looking at a couple of Toshiba's too, but need to find some decent reveiws before I make any decisions.

[dave87]

This is the spec of the laptop I have just bought - pretty good specs, and as long as you dont need anything in the way of gaming (ie FEAR full quality) graphics - then this meets your criteria-

[IBM]

That's a great spec machine there....see you got the upgrade on the RAM and the battery....

Trouble is your screen res is only 1680x1050, where I'm looking for 1600x1200 - those extra 150px can make a lot of difference when looking at code and spreadsheets....I've been working at this res for about five years now, and anything smaller these days looks cramped...

What's the build quality like?

[dave87]

the 1050 is the height, so it is simple enough to scroll - and you get 80px extra on the width.

Having looked around you wont find a laptop (easily anyway) that has a native 1600x1200 screen - you would be looking at nigh on 2grand for something with a 1920x1200 or something.

Build quality is generally good, its sturdy, but not as good as perhaps the Panasonic Tuffbooks . Its well laid out, and not too heavy to carry around. The hinge feels secure, and certainly stays in place when positioned for optimal viewing. Nothing on mine has fallen off yet, which is also a good sign. The DVD tray works well, and more importantly doesn't feel flimsy

Dave

[IBM]

It's the extra 150px height that makes all the difference...that about another 20 lines of code/cells in a spreadsheet.

You're right about the problem of finding something that runs at 1600x1200. My previous 1600x1200 laptop, a Sony GRX 316MP certainly wasn't cheap... I might have to compromise, but I'd rather not....that 2Gb RAM is tempting though...

[nvening]

Alienware do a 1920x1200 res 15.4"

[Dark Horse]

This website lists all of the current dell deals.

http://www.wizmarkcomputers.co.uk/

The best value at £800-£1000 looks like this one:

http://configure.euro.dell.com/dells...l=en&oc=N09942

Specs are
Intel Core Duo T2400 1.83 GHz
1024MB RAM
120GBHDD
8xDVD+/-RW (DVD Writer)
256MB Radeon X1400
Windows XP Pro

Warranty to 1y collect and return then upgrade the screen to 1920x1200 for £100 or so. Comes out at £985.

[mrt9888]

How about a refurbished Apple Macbook Pro http://store.apple.com/Apple/WebObje....6.1.5.1.3.5.0

[IBM]

Nevening - it's a good thing I'm familiar with Alienware and the costs involved with, otherwise I'd have got all excited. Interesting though....how come no-one else does it?

Dark House - Many thanks...very useful. My spec came out at £1003, but then I can claim the VAT back on that, so still under budget. Is it a nice screen do you know?

Mrt9888 ... We've already got a powermac laptop thingy I could use, but then I wouldn't have a new toy to play with, and that's half the point...

[dave87]

If its as good as this one, then yes. I'm guessing you are not looking for portability then - shifting a 15.4" around is enough for me

Dave

EDIT - Wooo 2k posts

[IBM]

Okay, looking at these too, although the HP is just too expensive I'm thinking, even if it is supposed to be v.nice

HP Compaq nx9420

Dell Inspiron 9400

Anyone think I can justify the HP?

[IBM]

Dave .. congrats, 2k, pretty impressive....just realised that you joined almost two years after me, and I still don't have 1k....quality over quantity dagnamit!!

Yeah, I lugged that Sony around the world...litereally...heavy blighter...thank god for my Tumi laptop backpack...

[MonkeyBum]

LINKY

Not sure if you'll like the res though, nice spec for £900 though

[dave87]

In all honesty the HP is overpriced, but then money to burn..... (btw it is more like £650 in the us ($2=£1)