Best Laptop for $2000?

[thepersianguy]

I have $2000 to spend on a laptop after tax, warranty, etc. I'm not going to play games on it, however I wanted to play Spore to see how it is, if possible.(current computer not good enough). I'm also considering doing some graphic design work on it.

the main things im looking for are battery life, processing power/ram, overall smoothness, reliability. either pc or mac doesnt really matter.

any and all help is greatly appreciated!

[akademiks]

You can pretty much buy whatever you want with $2000.
But if the most intensive thing you're going to be doing on it is graphic design, then a $700-900 laptop would suffice.

[theguyz]

look at macbook pro or a macbook for that kind of budget and will work wonderful with your graphic design.

[pitz]

Do you have a size of screen in mind?

Any other esoteric requirements? Looking to hook an external monitor or anything else up to it?

Do you need a trackpoint, or would a touchpad be good enough?

Anything else?

[nx6288]

is it going to be sitting on your desk at home most of the time? or would you need to carry it around?

[thepersianguy]

screen size doesnt matter, i guess the more important thing would be if it's lightweight so i can work on the go. don't need any special outputs other than the standard ones that come with it. hdmi might be nice though, any comments on how useful it can be?
i think a touchpad is good enough, i might buy a tablet seperately.

Do you have a size of screen in mind?

Any other esoteric requirements? Looking to hook an external monitor or anything else up to it?

Do you need a trackpoint, or would a touchpad be good enough?

Anything else?

[renhui]

For 2000, I would go for a Thinkpad X300.
13" WXGA+, 64GB SSD and under 3lb.

[dasaylay]

+1 on x-series thinkpad

[Zertz]

for 2000, i would go for a thinkpad x300.
13" wxga+, 64gb ssd and under 3lb.

+1

[sickcars]

You could grab an Alienware Laptop, yes you do pay for the name and so on but they are pretty good laptops and you could choose Windows XP instead of Vista which will give youl ess problems with all the software you are going to run on it. Also it takes up less resources like ram which you would need for graphic design.

http://www.Alienware.com
take a look

[DeimosBeros]

Graphic Design? On a Mac? Not with those highly reflective glass screens they got now.

With 2k, I'd grab a Sony Z. Reasons being:

-Beautiful Resolution and sort of matte'ish LED screen for accurate colour reproduction.
-Hybrid Graphics Chip(discrete & integrated)
-Carbon Fibre casing > Aluminum
-3.2lbs w/ 6 cell battery

Configure it online to your liking.

[justmehereajax]

BUY THIS: BNIB NEW 13-inch MacBook LED (http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=666337) lol :D

Dave

[thepersianguy]

Graphic Design? On a Mac? Not with those highly reflective glass screens they got now.

With 2k, I'd grab a Sony Z. Reasons being:

-Beautiful Resolution and sort of matte'ish LED screen for accurate colour reproduction.
-Hybrid Graphics Chip(discrete & integrated)
-Carbon Fibre casing > Aluminum
-3.2lbs w/ 6 cell battery

Configure it online to your liking.

checked it out online...that's one amazing notebook! too bad it's not within my budget, im strictly set at $2000 after tax, warranty (undecided, but more likely than not), and everything else.

[thepersianguy]

thanks for all the replies, i guess it's apple vs. sony at this point. they seem to be the best all round for my needs at this point.

now the questions are which model? should i wait until boxing day? and should i go for warranty?

[bembol]

I like hp's new HDX series, I'm thinking about/watching this 18.4" on Boxing Day.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=L&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10113421&catid=26975

[nx6288]

+1 on x-series thinkpad

+1

[loybond]

Graphic Design? On a Mac? Not with those highly reflective glass screens they got now.

With 2k, I'd grab a Sony Z. Reasons being:

-Beautiful Resolution and sort of matte'ish LED screen for accurate colour reproduction.
-Hybrid Graphics Chip(discrete & integrated)
-Carbon Fibre casing > Aluminum
-3.2lbs w/ 6 cell battery

Configure it online to your liking.

I'd say check out the glass screens in person. Statistically most people like them better. I have one, and don't mind it at all... increased contrast and punch, and when reflections aren't an issue, colours are more accurate according to some review I read. I can't vouch for the accuracy cuz I'm not sure, but I can tell you that in terms of software reliability, OS X tops Windows hands down.

[DeimosBeros]

I'd say check out the glass screens in person. Statistically most people like them better. I have one, and don't mind it at all... increased contrast and punch, and when reflections aren't an issue, colours are more accurate according to some review I read. I can't vouch for the accuracy cuz I'm not sure

I personally can't believe how some people would rather have the glass screens. I mean, if we talking about being in a controlled environment all the time, I can see the high reflective screens being a non issue, but we're talking about a mobile computer here. God forbid you're using this thing outside.

To the OP, if the Sony Z is out of you're price range(wait till boxing week, maybe a coupon will be available), consider also the 13.3'' Sony SR. Same hardware as the Z in most categories, no hybird graphics or carbon fibre shell.
Resale value will be better on the mac though, I'll give it that.

I can tell you that in terms of software reliability, OS X tops Windows hands down.

I wish, I wish I could install OS X on a PC :D

[CPSkins]

Find your self a Asus c90p which uses a socket 775, buy a quad core and put 8gb of ram in it (bios update) It's one of the only laptops i know of that will support a socket 775 which will allow you to put almost any new processor in it.

William

[loybond]

I personally can't believe how some people would rather have the glass screens. I mean, if we talking about being in a controlled environment all the time, I can see the high reflective screens being a non issue, but we're talking about a mobile computer here. God forbid you're using this thing outside.

To the OP, if the Sony Z is out of you're price range(wait till boxing week, maybe a coupon will be available), consider also the 13.3'' Sony SR. Same hardware as the Z in most categories, no hybird graphics or carbon fibre shell.
Resale value will be better on the mac though, I'll give it that.



I wish, I wish I could install OS X on a PC :D

Maybe its me, but I can't see how you'd use a laptop outside THAT much. Once in a while, maybe, but it'd be a rarity. If its a bright room, then you can turn the brightness up, which helps some. Its a tradeoff of black level & contrast vs. reflections, they both have their advantages and disadvantages.

I have to say the Sony Z is probably one of the coolest Windows laptops.

Oh, and you do know that OS X can be installed on a PC, right? And that people sell Mac clones?

http://toronto.en.craigslist.ca/tor/sys/938561410.html