looking for a note book

[insulinjunkie]

Im in need of a Lab top for post secondary next year.
It'll be used 80% for editing photos and such the rest browsing and music

Would like it to be 160GB HD or more, 2GHz or more, and at BARE minimum 1gb ram, MUST be under 1700, and have a site where I can order directly from (ie no built from the ground up kits or ebay)

the three I'm looking at mostly right now are;

Sony Vaio Fz290 with some up'ed specs
Macbook with 250GB HD and 2GB of ram (not liking the 13" screen though)
or the Asus G2k-A1 17"

LCD Size & Resolution : 17.1" WUXGA 1920x1200
MB Chipset : ATI RS690M
Optical Drive : 8x Super-Multi DVDRW w/ Light Scribe
Memory : 2GB DDR2 667Mhz (1GBx2) upto 4G(Depends on OS)
VGA Card : ATI HD2600 256MB DDR3 (DX10)
Hard Drive : 160GB 5400R SATA
WLAN : 802.11A/G/N
LAN/Fax Modem : 10/100/1000, Fax Modem
Battery/Run Time : Li-ion 8 cell/2hrs
USB/1394/IrDA/S-Video/DVI: 5/1/0/1/0 (AV-In*1, HDMI*1, eSATA*1)
Bluetooth : Yes v2.0 + EDR
Card Reader/PCMCIA : 5-in-1 (MMC, SD, MS/MS-Pro, XD)/Express Card
Color/Weight/Height : Silver/9.6lbs/16" x 12" x 1.8"
Warranty : 2 Years Global + 30days ZBD LCD
Operating System : Windows Vista Home Premium
Carry bag& mouse : Gaming bag and Mouse
Camera : 1.3M

any help is apreciated

please no Mac Vs Pc arguments

[cyclist.ca]

Originally Posted by insulinjunkie

please no Mac Vs Pc arguments

/end thread

[sAFETY]

The Mac vs. PC debate should be moot here. If you're going to use it for 80% editing photos, I assume you're in a specialized photography course so you can probably find out what software will be used in the curriculum.

Chances are that the software leans more to one platform, decision made.

[insulinjunkie]

well I'll be using Adobe Imaging suite

I guess the mac Vs Pc debate wouldn't as catastrophic as it would on another "unamed forum"

which yes, is clearly better suited for Windows, but can also run on mac.

[kalisto]

Personally, I'd lean towards the mac. You'll find a lot of multimedia programs are geared towards osx and it'll make your life easier.

If you want to stick strictly with windows, get the Asus. They're customer service is amazing (used it before), and their stuff is usually pretty quality.

STAY AWAY FROM SONY. I've heard nothing but horror stories from sony laptop owers. Most end with, "I'm never buying a sony again".

It really comes down to OSX or Windows. That choice is upto you.

[Heathen]

[insulinjunkie]

Originally Posted by Heathen

knew as soon as I put note book some one would make a comment..like this


I really love OSX and am not really into vista, although I haven't given it a fair chance I guess, the only thing with the Mac is that it is such a small display, and as it will be my only computer next year...13.3 kinda sucks.

so ASUS cons are Vista pros are better suited to Adobe, better priced, 17" display and has a sweet mouse haha

Mac, good specs, same price pretty much, and i like OSX more but a small screen, and might be more difficult to run Adobe?

[FullMonty]

I would just caution that carrying a 10 pound notebook around would suck some nuts. If you're not gaming with the thing, I would seriously consider getting a smaller form-factor notebook and a large external monitor.

I can heartily recommend ASUS; my Z63a (same chassis as the old W3) is chugging along into its 3rd year of service, and the hinges and overall solid feel of the chassis has changed little since purchase. The screen isn't waggling around while typing, which always pisses me off when using a laptop with shite construction.

also, I thought that Adobe had migrated to universal binaries for the Mac with the introduction of CS3, so performance should be fine. unless your school is using old software, of course.

[seeformiles]

Don't buy Sony unless you prefer shiny crap over function and performance. Go for a real manufacturer. Lenovo Thinkpad for durability, mac for usability and hardware quality, asus or acer for value.

[Patrick Bateman]

Mac laptops have highish resolutions for their screens so 13" is about the same as a comparable Windows 15" laptop (for the most part).

Also, look into refurbished Macbook Pro's off Apple's site. I noticed they had a 15" with the 2.4Ghz processor, 256mb 8600GT, 160GB HD for 2,099.00 I wouldn't doubt there'd be the 2.2Ghz version for cheaper, plus you get the factory warranty and all that.

[toy4-jay]

if you're concerned about screen size, why not find a laptop you like, then buy another monitor?
I have a 13.3" lappy screen, hooked up to my 22" widescreen.
its brilliant.
Do whatever I need to do at school, come home and watch videos or enjoy the benefits of a dual monitor.

[switch]

A 17" screen is gonna be a fairly big and heavy laptop.

Stay away from the Sony. No, I will not explain why.

I recently got the Dell Inspiron 1720. It has a 320GB hard drive, 3GB RAM, larger battery, Bluetooth, better video processor, faster CPU, Wireless N, etc. The price was $1800, but a couple of the items were thrown in. You could probably get something similar to what you are looking for the pricepoint you've set. The 1720 is big, and a little heavy, but I wanted the disk capacity, battery life, and display size (which is excellent). You could try building one up on their website to get an idea of how much money will buy you what.

[insulinjunkie]

thanks alot guys, personally my Dell experiance hasn't been great but maybe it's time to take another shot? i'll look at the macs again, and what about toshiba or HP?
Asus and sony are out

[-JNL-]

i highly reccomend a macbook pro 15inch. It is a bit pricey but well worth the money. You could always get a refurbished one as someone mentioned or it may be possible that they start blowing out macbook pros sometime during the next few weeks after the macworld expo 08 where a new mbp is expected to be launched. If i were you, i would wait. Oh and keep in mind that most colleges/uni offer edducational discounts on macs.

On the topic of sony's, i have used one and the build quality of their machines are nowhere as superb as the mbp.

[seeformiles]

Originally Posted by insulinjunkie

thanks alot guys, personally my Dell experiance hasn't been great but maybe it's time to take another shot? i'll look at the macs again, and what about toshiba or HP?
Asus and sony are out

Why are asus out? No-one's said anything bad about them yet.

HP over toshiba for build quality, but toshiba will likely have the better price.

But from what you're saying, you won't regret buying a mac. Assuming you're entirely comfortable with your preferred sexual orientation.