Please help me choose a good laptop

[jammerules]

Dear Mod - Kindly move this post to proper category if I posted this in a wrong place. Thanks!!!

Hello peeps,

I had been once cheated by Best Buy with the extended warranty very recently and I am in the process of filing complaints on them. But anyways, coming to the matter - I had decided not to buy any crappy notebooks from Compaq and be cheated yet again, so I am plannin to buy one from Dell. I am a computer engineer myself and feel a bit embarassed to ask this question - "What is a good/decent configuration out there". I have kept track on the processors until Pentium M Centrino but soon lost track with some many "Dual Core" processors. In fact, I kept on postponing myself from doing some research or posting in forums like this. But it has become high time to know before I lose some good deal for Thanksgiving just because I did not know what to pick up. So enough of prologue.... I am looking for a laptop to do:

> Mostly browsing
> Heavy DVD ripping and burning
> Huge downloading
> Occasionally watching movies and working with Adobe Paintshop

My preferences are :
> At least a 15.4 wide screen (would like bigger screens though)
> Complete black colored lappy

So guys, please help me out in deciding which is the best among processors that came after Centrino and - oh did I forget to mention about "affordability" (remember I already got ripped by some maggots). In fact, it would greatly help me if someone gave me a comparison of Dell processors.

Take care y'all....and keep up the good work!

[techreactor]

> Mostly browsing - Any processor will do, keep RAM at 1 GB
> Heavy DVD ripping and burning - Ripping depends on DVD-ROM speeds, same for burning, buy llightscribes now, although media is still costly.
> Huge downloading - Depends on your Internet service provider and Laptop RAM, although nowadays NIC in laptops are Giga.
> Occasionally watching movies and working with Adobe Paintshop - For Watching movies anything will do but for Paintshop need good amount of RAM.

You forgot to tell, if you will do DVD authoring also, cos that is what will require a Dual Core CPU and Core2 Duo's are out now but costly, otherwise you can go for a T2000 series Intel processors.

[locoeng]

There are some nice boutique suppliers online as well...might want to look at CyperPower, iBuyPower etc. If you have the money alienware is another company to look at.

[TNT]

I'm also in the market for a laptop, I want a small one, maybe 12"-14". I currently have a 15.4" and find it too bulky to carry around. Good as a desktop replacement though. I'm looking to buy another HP because their Customer service was top notch. I had one laptop and it died during a firmware upgrade, and they replaced it with a better one because the one I had was no longer in production. I think I'm going to wait for Vista though. Anyone know when Vista's supposed to come out?

[jammerules]

I have always been appreciative and thankful for all those people who take time to drop in suggestions and here I am yet again saying THANK YOU ALL.

Now:
Techreactor - yes, you are correct. I am of course going to make sure that my RAM is gonna be atleast 1 GB and like I told before, I will be doing a lotta DVD authoring. So please suggest or better rate which is better - A Core Duo processor or a T2000 series. Please also remember that I am an average "immigrant" looking to save a few bucks! So of those two processors which one's cost effective and gets the job done! I was also doing some offhand research and I found out good reputation for Toshiba. What are your inputs?

locoeng - Not interested to buy from anyone that I am not familiar with I'm just another picky guy

TNT - I am not sure but if I am ready yet for another HP/COMPAQ product with my previous rip-off!! Being an Indian myself, I was really pissed off with the kind of support I got from my fellow Indians - but hey, I am not generalizing anything here.....you might have really got better service. It is just that my miles varied ....

Thanks for responding

[TNT]

As with any company, you can't just talk to the peons, you have to ask for the managers. They can get the ball rolling.

[jammerules]

As with any company, you can't just talk to the peons

Can't agree with you more!

you have to ask for the managers

In my case, it is not that I was badly served by Compaq but when I had a similar problem like yours, with a firmware upgrade - I was handled by a complete moron because of who I finally had to have my motherboard replaced (exactly same as yours) but fortunately I had extended 4 yr protection from Best Buy and they did the replacement @ no cost. But after a short time (like coupla months), my laptop started behaving real weird and one freaking morning it stopped powering up. That is exactly when I approached BB again and they started goofin' up with me by wrongly accusing me of mishandling the PC. They say they found liquid spillage on the motherboard, apparently by me. I spoke with the so called "peons" and to several managers- but in total vain!!! That is when, it occured to me that when companies decide that their budget on certain "repairs" are really going overboard - they would lose human moral values and go to any extent possible !!! Long story short - Not always and Not all managers will get the ball rollin'.......

[jmet]

Anyone know when Vista's supposed to come out?

Its supposed to be around late January of 07.

[TNT]

Its supposed to be around late January of 07.

They keep delaying it, it seems. Not that I have particularly high hopes for this OS.

[locoeng]

I look to avoid Vista like the plague for many years to come.

[jmet]

When they release Service Pack 3 for it, then I'll upgrade to Vista.

[locoeng]

Looking into Linux personally.....

[coolcat]

Too much work