I am in the process of hunting for a laptop.  I’ve looked at countless offers from various vendors.  As with any purchase one makes, the usual barrage of “sweet deals” from every.single.person.you.know has accompanied the exercise.   Everyone and their uncle can get a great deal.   You gotta love capitalism. (Thank you, though – your offers served as good yard sticks)

The following specs have been the influencing factors:

CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo
- 2.2GHz or above. (Looking at around 2.5GHz)
- Preferably 800MHz FSB.
- Preferably 4MB+ cache.

Memory
2GB (1 x 2048)

Screen
17″ Wide.
- I don’t mind 1440×900 , though I would prefer larger (1680×1050) if it falls within budget, but this is not a “must”

GPU
I can live with the crappy Intel X3100, but would prefer an nVidia chipset.

HDD
Since I have a desktop with 1TB+, size not an issue, 250GB would be perfect, but 160GB is fine too.

Extras
DVD Writer, Wireless – essential.
Bluetooth – Nice to have

Software
If possible, I don’t even want an OS. I’m not going to be using windows, so would rather not have to pay for it.  Thing is, most vendors have to supply a Microsoft OS.   Sucks, but oh well.

At this point, the Dell Vostro 1710 is looking good.  The “best” option comes with nV GPU, and can be further customised to meet the above spec exactly.  As cool extras, it has a 1920×1200 screen, 6MB cache, nvidia gpu, biometric fingerprint reader, built in webcam and bluetooth.

Another contender is the HP 6820.  I think, however, that the Dell packs more punch.  Apart from that, HP never got back to me, so they can sit on a stick and rotate.

I would very seriously consider the HP 6830, but that’s not been released yet.  Looks awesome.

While writing this post, I came across the Dell Studio 17.  It looks decent enough, but at the time of writing I am unable to customise my own nor get a price.  I’ll have to make some calls tomorrow.

I’ll post an update in the coming days.

Tags: computer, Dell, hardware, HP, laptop, notebook

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 1st, 2008 at 5:14 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.