I foresee myself doing a bit of business traveling this year, so I thought it was high-time for me to finally invest in a laptop.  Nothing too lucrative; I really just need something that'll allow me to get through my reports and number-crunching apps, yet with enough power to comfortably peruse general multimedia and the net.  I'm looking good and hard at the midrange Dell Inspiron E1405/640m, which I'm liking for the price and small size factor.  I've even worked up a preliminary build:

Inspiron E1405 - Intel® Core™ Duo T2250 (2MB Cache/1.73GHz/533MHz FSB)
Operating System - Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Basic
LCD Panel - 14.1 inch Wide Screen XGA TFT Display with TrueLife™(glossy)
Memory - 1GB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz, 2 Dimm
Video Card - Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Hard Drive - 80GB Sata Hard Drive
Network Card and Modem - Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem
Combo/DVD+RW Drives - 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
Sound Options - Integrated Audio
Wireless Networking Cards - Dell Wireless 1390b/g (54Mbps)
Primary Battery - 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery

All that's topping off at about $828, which seems like a very reasonable price to me.  I'm not too crazy with having to be force-fed Vista at this early stage, but downgrading back down to XP would probably be more trouble than it's worth.  I went with the optional 9-cell battery, since it seems like a fairly substantial jump from the default 6-cell's three hours life to eight hours under optimal conditions.  I'm just wondering if I should up the memory to 2GB, in light of the resource-heavy Vista?

For anyone who owns a notebook, what model do you use?  Are you happy with it?

I use an early 21st-century HP.  It's been decent to me, but if you plan on taking it with you more than not, I would highly recommend getting the smallest, lightest thing you can afford.  The one I have has a 15" screen and internal speakers, and while it produced a lot of envy on my flights to E3, it so wasn't worth the added weight.  Also, definitely upgrade your memory to at least 2 GB.  You always want to have at least double whatever Microsoft recommends for a given OS.

Also, depending on how hardcore of a traveler you plan on being, you might want to think about getting an aircard.  The service plans on these suckers are not cheap, but maybe you can convince your boss that WiFi is not as readily available as you'd like and get the company to foot the bill.

I have an IBM Thinkpad T43 (one of the last ones before Lenovo applied its name).  If you are traveling a lot, you want a light laptop (5lbs. - 6lbs. or less).  As Xlord007 says, if you need to communicate with the office frequently, you should sign up for wireless Wi-Fi, such as the one offered by Verizon.  It's not cheap, though (Verizon charges $60 per month).

Most people deal with 15" screens, but to get a lightweight laptop, you may want to go to 14".

Double the RAM and get a longer-life battery.

Actually, if you want the least amount of headaches right now, you want to downgrade to XP.  You should be able to ask if the manufacturer can downgrade the machine for you.  Your Vista license allows 1 downgrade.

Hmm, but for that, I would need to purchase the Business or Ultimate version of Vista.... I don't think they allow any downgrades on the Basic license, do they?

In any case, I'll go with the 2GB memory upgrade.  As far as wireless connectivity, the aircard sounds like an excellent option and it's something I'm certainly considering.  But for the moment, I don't anticipate having to be on the net at any given time; I'm liable to be able to acquire and transfer everything I need by day's end, and for that, I can just grab an available phone line.

I do travel for research, so I got a laptop. I got a pretty spiffy Vaio. I wasn't really happy about getting a Sony, but I heard from a number of people that they make the best laptops. So, I got a fairly "powerful" and "speedy" one, and have been pleased (for the most part). I must say, that it is substantially more expensive than some other brands, but I prefer to pay a little more and get something of quality that should last for a good 5 years at least.

cheers,

-avatar!

I got a Fujitsu Lifebook S7020 about eighteen months ago.  And the only thing I seem to use it for is running substantial Excel macros at home.  I just don't use it nearly as much as I thought I would.  I think when I move into my new place, I'll set up a wireless router so I can keep the main computer in one room and my laptop in another.  But that's a month or so away.

When I was searching for laptops, honestly, the most important thing to me was keyboard layout.  I needed to have the [Ctrl] key in the lower left-hand corner of the keyboard, since I use the copy and paste keyboard shortcuts a ton, and my left pinky is used to that placement.  Some of the laptops I checked out had the [Fn] key in the lower left corner, which would have been unworkable for me.

The other big thing to consider is whether or not you want to use your laptop for gaming.  By and large, video cards on laptops are not upgradeable, so you need to decide on how much graphics performance you need up front.  Most laptops with dedicated video cards are going to be larger and heavier, though, so keep that under consideration.

Regarding RAM upgrades, unless you can get a special deal on it, it's usually cheaper to buy it from a place like Newegg and install it yourself than to order your laptop with it installed.  So, if you want 2 GB of RAM, it's probably cheaper to order your laptop with 1 GB of RAM (1 DIMM), and buy another 1 GB DIMM from Newegg (or get the bare minimum with your laptop and order 2 1GB modules separately).

Anyway, my Fujitsu is very nice, has a fantastic screen, and only weighs a tick above four pounds, but I think I would have preferred a smaller model.  It has a 14.1" screen, but I kind of wish I had gone for the 13.3" model instead.  In any case, I love the style of the Fujitsus:  the best screens in the business, nice clicky keyboard, and they don't have the bloatware that the Vaios do (like the program that won't let you boot up your computer unless you have an official Sony battery installed).

Before I got it, I did a lot of research here:

http://www.notebookreview.com/

It's a wonderful resource with a lot of helpful people.

Sony once made good laptops, but in many customer and professional reviews I've read, I feel that they are really no different than Dell or HP.  It's not worth paying the price premium for a Sony laptop.  Plus, Sony laptops throw in a bunch of annoying DRM software and proprietary technologies that don't really make the laptop run as efficiently as others.

I don't know the answer to this.  But if you are going with Dell, HP, etc.  you should be able to call their sales phone number and ask about downgrade options.

I have a Vaio. One of the high-end small ones. For me, I needed the best power in the smallest size. There are way more powerful laptops but not many as light and portable as the one I have.

But Stephen is spot-on about the software. Mine was filled with an unbelivable amount of crap and I still haven't managed to get rid of all of it.

The Vaios have great screens too but you can get better laptops cheaper. I'd only recommend one if price isn't really an issue (mine was for work). Some of the Dells seem great and the customisation options are much better. Also Dell will install older OS for you with no problem. Well, over here, it's one of their normal options.

I have a Macbook. I just got the default options for the $1,299 model; I don't need anything fancy. I am very happy with my purchase. After owning several different Windows laptops (all of which had shitty battery life), I'm content.

I work exclusively with Dell desktops and laptops at my job, and I can say that while the Macbook is a little heavier than most models, the battery is more reliable than the Dell Latitude models I've recently received and built for users. I usually get about 4 or 5 hours out of my battery, while the Dells initially say they can last for that time period but end up only lasting 2 or 3.

Sony laptops are lighter and are pretty much the same thing as a Dell/HP/Compaq, etc.

A what? ;-)

Yeah, I gave Dell a ring, and the rep told me that you do need the Business or Ultimate version of Vista to downgrade.  In any case, I was able to get around all that by instead ordering the Small Business version of the E1405. (The 640m.)  They're still offering XP on select Small Business models until the beginning of July - after that, EVERYTHING'S switching over to Vista.

Still going with the 2GB ram, though.  Plus, I've upped the hard drive to 160GB, bringing the grand total up to $962, which includes the tax. 

Gaming's probably the last priority for me, hence the choice to go with the 640m.  Gaming on this particular model apparently isn't one of its strongest suits, due to the integrated graphics build.... which I prefer, because as you say, this keeps the physical weight down.   I guess it helps that I'm not really a PC gamer at heart - though it should be nice to throw a few console emulators on there. ;)

You're talking to one of the few people left on the planet who still uses dial-up on a regular basis.  Color me antiquated.  ;p

You know, that's one of the biggest things when I look for a new keyboard - having everything the way I want (double-wide backspace key, home/end/pg up and down, etc. where they should be). But I didn't even think of this when I got my laptop, and it's exactly how you say - function key in the bottom left, and it drives me batty every time I copy/paste.

I wouldn't worry about that, there's plenty of people on this planet who don't even have electricity yet, as in not at all.   Yeah I've been using dial-up the past 2 years as well...

Why on earth why?  Assuming it's in your area, you can get 728k DSL for as low as $14.95/mo.  It's not that fast, but it's leagues beyond dial-up.  I pay $43/mo. for 6mpbs cable, but I'll be switching to 15mbps FIOS as soon as it's available here.

.Assuming it's in your area...

"We're sorry. Verizon High Speed Internet is not yet available at your location."

Yeah, welcome to Rural America.

Same here.  Although where I am in NYC isn't exactly considered "rural," my area just isn't close enough for a DSL telephone exchange.

That said, I'm now seriously considering the aircard option; not just for travel purposes, but to also make it my primary access to high-speed internet.  Is anyone else actually on a plan?  Any opinions to share?  I'm thinking of going with Sprint as the carrier, since I've read that Verizon's unlimited plan really isn't so unlimited. (There's apparently a bandwidth cap at 5GB per month - which, for a dial-up user like me, is still astronomical.) I'm still a little wary on the whole two-year contract thing; that's a long and costly lock-in for something that may not function the way I like - close to $1,680.  But I guess if worse comes to worse, I'll just have to fess up the $200 early cancellation fee.

Actually, it's likely every carrier has a undisclosed bandwidth cap.  No plan is truly unlimited.  Verizon is being more upfront about it.  Please read Sprint's fine print in its entirety to make sure there isn't a cap.  Sometimes, a carrier will be monitoring your account's bandwidth, and if you use too much at once, they might reduce your bandwidth without telling you or reduce your quality of service ("throttling your connection").    If you still use up too much, then the carrier might cut you off.

A friend of mine had the Verizon service supplied to him by his employer. He rarely complained about dropped connections, although that might be because we were in downtown Brooklyn. He did complain about the speed, though. Make sure you get one of the newer aircards that support more broadband-like speeds.

If DSL isn't available in your area, have you considered cable internet? I believe Time Warner Cable does have a lower-tiered service, although $29.99 for 786kbps is a rip-off. You might as well pay the extra 15 bucks (or $30 if you're not a cable subscriber) for 10mbps. They also have free, unlimited dial-up for when you're on the road.

Got my Macbook Pro about a week ago. Yeah, everything negative I've ever stated about Macs has been rescinded.