Help... which laptop/notebook!!!!

Is it also gold plated

No Dell is worth that and even the dearest Sony wouldnt come near.
Buy an ASUS and get quality.

Look around you should get all that for under $2000.

Wi Fi , Bluetooth,a good graphics card are all built in these days,
You can even get a Blu-Ray drive in some ASUS machines.

WI FI and wireless internet are two totally different animals.
WIFI is what you have in your house or in a Caravan Park.

Wireless internet is what I am using here with a Telstra WIRELESS MODEM

Any more than 3 gig of memory is wasted as 32bit vista only recognises 3 gig anyway.

Unless you are buying the top model none of them are really fast either.

Mediocre to average would be my estimation.

The only plus is the large HDD in the dear one and they arent all that expensive to replace now either.

The difference in chip speed between the slowest and the fastest is about 4 beats of a fly's wings anyway.
The P series is newer and runs cooler than does the Tseries

After seeing my friends Dell and having been in the computer repair business the only price I would have a Dell for is FREE.

Just my possibly biased opinion.

However I have run ASUS gear for close to 10 years and only have had 1 problem with a motherboard which was replaced cheerfully a few months AFTER warranty ran out.

Its your money but you can get all that for a lot less than the figure you quote

What- ya going to cart a $14k (and that's with a 20% discount) computer around the traps??
Made, with a bit of keen shopping you should get change from a couple of grand to do what you list !!!
By the way- do ya wanna buy a Harbour Bridge ??

Endorse the Asus make. We have two (himself bought a new one back in 2006 and I inherited the cast-off). They have been carted thousands of km round Aust in vehicle and van, managed dust and heat and corrugations, and we are still using them.

Royce,

After 20 years in the IT game and about 1/2 of that repairing them and the other 1/2 selling them, there are some things you learn.

The only brands worth considering (and this is only my opinion remember) are either Sony Viao or a Toshiba.

Spend a bit more and get one that has a graphics card with its own memory.

Nearly all laptops today will have wireless LAN, but not all will have Bluetooth, so it really is a case of you get what you pay for.

Friend of mine just recently bought a Toshiba Satellite woth dual core 2.2Ghz CPU, 2Gb DDR2 Ram, 320Gb SATA hard drive, 256Mb Grahics Card, DVD/RW, 4 x USB Ports, Modem, 10/100 LAN Port, 1 x firewire Port, Bluetooth and MSWorks and a bleep load of other software (some only 90 day trial) for $1489 at Dick Smiths, so its not hard to get a well configured laptop these days for under $2000.

Cheers,

Cruiser

I have a Dell 1525 notebook, won't stop crashing, 14 months old. Going to have to try rebooting, damn it. Would recommend it to anyone.

Was on the phone today to graysonline, "sorry sir, my computer just crashed, you'll have to wait a moment" I said "don't tell, it's a Dell isn't it" he laughed hysterically cause it was.

I use a Dell at work. Not even our IT department can tell me why it crashes so much, they promise to get me a mac next time.

That's my recent experience.

I'll try anything else next time.

Wow Royce.

Must be some Laptop!!!!!!

"With my choices of bits and pieces it will cost about $14,500"

With 20% off makes id $11,600, Bargain !

niss42

Have a look at the Apple MacBooks.

Will do all the tasks you mention.

Cost about $1600.

Bob

Hi Royce,

Just be aware the 20% off is only if you spend more than $1999, otherwise it is a stepped discount. (15% for $1499 or 10% for $999).

To be honest, whilst they have a good hinge design and some nice features, they wouldn't be a laptop that i would take all over australia when travelling. For instance, i have a M1530 which is similiar in many ways to the studio 15, and i wouldn't take it all around Australia.

The studio 15 has very poor speakers, which is a major consideration when playing TV etc.....this was one of the reasons i didn't choose studio 15. External speakers (a simple logitech USB speakers would suffice) would be needed IMO.

Also be aware that the colour front plates may delay your estimated 7-10 day order up to 4-6 weeks by some accounts!

For the outdoor environment, i use a E6400 ATG which has a brilliant outdoor display screen, extended battery life, expensive SSD, NextG capable net access, and is ruggedised to carry around the place safely. Suffice to say it is valued at somewhere approaching the price you mentioned (well maybe not that high) :-)

Almost every make of laptop have had their fair share of "lemons" so it is difficult to interpret peoples opinions on "the best".......bit like the good old "which 4wd is best" debate really.

Hope that helps

Andrew

Royce,

I have also spent many years in the IT industry and I think your choice is very good for what you need.

Even the basic Dell @ $999 looks good to me.

Don't listen to all the rubbish about Dell systems crashing. All PC's are capable of "crashing". None are imune given certain circumstances such as virus attacks.

I own both a Dell Inspiron 6000 Laptop and a Dell Dimension Desktop which are both 3 years or so old and I have had no problem with either.
Both run Windows XP which is a proven operating system and I have never experienced a major problem. If you do have a problem after installing new software, you can always restore the OS to an earlier timeframe prior to the update. I have had no need to upgrade to Windows Vista, but you will probably have that preinstalled, whatever you buy.

You just need to work out what you want up front and what you can add at a later date if required.

Good luck with your choice matey.

Bill

ASUS...have had ours for about 12mths now...the only problems have been self inflicted , ours is certainly not the flashest but it does have the essentials that were mentioned , not an overly big hd but I do not really need one any way... 2 gig of memory , wifi , bluetooth,dvd burner , sd card slot, etc , etc...cheers

Hi Royce
There was a famous Aussie film, "The Castle" and to quote those famous word -Tell them they must be Dreaming"

To pay that much you must be crazy

I myself prefer Toshiba with Windows XP.

A top of the range Apple IBook would be great, but have not heard much about their workings with windows program's.

Cheers

Stephen

I have several Dell laptops and find them to be very good for what you pay. My Inspiron 640 sits in the back open with an occy strap to hold it down and runs all the time while travelling hooked up to an external 8" screen, running Oziexplorer, which i contol with a bluetooth mouse. It has never had a problem and has travelled over some pretty rough terrain.
Chris

Gee whiz guys, get real.

You look at a post and see the figure $14,500 and assume that is the cost for a top of the range Dell. Well Bugger me!

That was Royce's' humour I believe, intimating with all the goodies he wants, that what he maybe up for.

If you looked at the Dell web site Royce included, you would notice that the top of the range Dell Studio 15 Laptop is quoted at $1699.
It would be a little more when customised with other options Royce may or may not choose, but still comes nowhere near what some of you people assume and therefore you nominate another brand.

In my experience Dell offer a good product for a very competitive price and give excellent after sales support.
Their accessories, memory and batteries cost nowhere near what many other major brands ask.

Dell is not the be all and end all, but is still a worthy product IMO.
(I have no affiliation....yada...yada...yada)

Bill

One thing Dell will give and nobody else is Next Day Repair, most Brands send the Laptops back to the Dealer or factory for repairs which might be up to 4 weeks turn around

Advising on computers is like advising on cars - everyone has a different idea.

Over the years my wife and I have had the following laptops

Acer (work supplied) - Excellent, gave it away after 4 years of work abuse

Sony Vaio (mine)- the best Windows laptop I have had and still going after 4 years of abuse, and I mean abuse. It has been around the world, to the US, NZ and Asia many many times, in the outback and deserts in the Troopy but it is too slow now and the hard drive is showing signs of dying.

Toshiba (wifes) - died after 2 years

Compaq (wifes) - 2 years and still going strong, she loves it but it never leaves the office - the Toshiba never did as well

Acer (work, replaced old Acer) - newer one - endless problems, gave it back to the boss and he bought me a Dell

Dell (work) - 1 month old, going well but I hate it. it is all plastic and looks cheap. Sound is hopeless and I am not sure how it is going to stand-up to abuse it is going to get as it is always travelling but the boss only buys Dell's now after jumping ship from Acer.

Macbook Pro (mine) - my own PC, I love it - 2 years old and still going strong. I run Mac and Windows on it. Does travel a bit but not as much as the Sony and work PC's. Very good performer and good looks in a metal case.

My recommendations

MacBook Pro
Sony Viao
Compaq

Stevesub

You want to cart it all over oz , and you want to buy a brand new one >? you may as well get a brand new 50 Inch plasma alsofor the tent/camper if your into wasting money

Look on ebay -- buy one second hand - after all you let someone else pay the $2000 6 months ago brand new -- and then you can buy it for $700 - a few months later - when those same people want to upgrade to the lastest - and lest face it - 5 min after you buy that BRAND new laptop - its almost obsolete by the time you get it home .....

save your $$ - put bigger tyres on your car or a lift kit and buy S/H

Boc

Geez Royce,

Imagine if you'd accidentally put the decimal point in another spot!

Dell for $14.95 or Dell for $149,500

Those two would certainly give the possums some much needed exercise!

Well done, the small fury marsupials will sleep well tonight!

Geoff

Mate my Acer Aspire 5930 has all of that and 10 times more, yet it only cost $1200. Thats with free bag, cordless mouse, Norton software, and 320gb Portable Hard Drive.

Has NVIDIA graphics, Dolby Home Theatre, Intel Centrino 2, 3Gb DDR2, 320Gb HDD, DVD Burner, Bluetooth, 1080P Playback, Digital TV Tuner, SD card slot, 4x USB, wireless internet, and many othet goodies that i dont have a clue about.

I made a list of all the things i wanted and was about to buy a Dell as i could get it made to how i wanted it, but when i found this there was no way i was going to pay the extra $500.

Performed flawlessly, and its faster then the big computer, is loaded with music, movies and photos yet its still performs brilliant. Great value i reckon.

Royce,

My Dell Latitude ATG D630 has about 25,000KM on it travelling Australia mounted on a RAM mount. Paid extra for the rubberised mounted Hard Drive. Bit exxy but half the price of the Panasonic Toughbook.
Hasn't missed a beat.

We bought an Asus with everything, tv card, bluetooth, wireless etc for under 2 grand. It travels with us everywhere and hasn't missed a beat.
It replaced a 4yo BenQ mini laptop with everything as well. It's still going after 1 year with our 13yo daughter.

I have a Durabook myself http://www.durabook.com/jsp/index.jsp wanted something a bit more durable than the basic indoor laptops and half the price of the Panasonic Tough Dogs

Hi Royce, I have a Acer Aspire 5920G ,bought it in NZ for $1500, have a look at this model if its available in Australia,has basically all you would want,run it with a Telstra Portable internet moden.My son saw it and he is into gaming etc and thought it wwas great.
Rosco