I will be buying a laptop in the next few months, and I haven't owned one before, just desktops. So, I ask you, the TT community for help:

What do you look for/avoid in a laptop?

I want it to be a semi-powerful gaming Laptop, with at least a 15" screen, and I want it to last a long time by being both durable and not outdated any time soon, and I plan to spend about $1300 US. I have looked around a bit and here is roughly what I find for that price:

-Dual core Centrino 2GHz
-2 GB DDR ram
-100 GB hard drive
-DVD burner
-256 MB Video card
-15" screen

I also have a general question about hooking a laptop and a desktop into the same router. I heard that some ISP's are now charging extra if you are splitting the signal. Is this true? I know they are just trying to avoid people supplying whole bildings with internet off one connection, but I don't know much about it.

If anyone has any helpful hints about any of these things, that would be great also:
Extra warranties, netwrk cards, routers, larger batteries, docking stations, better screen options

Thanks,
Demo

P.S. It must be able to play TT

Experienced advise here:
A laptop is a good stationary computer that happens to be easy to move. Some will also make an excellent hot-plate for cooking on the bottom. They do not make good stunt-doubles. No one will be nearly as impressed with your new baby as you are when sporting it in public. It won't love you back. Purchase from a brand name that offers a compressive extended-warranty and buy the protection (factor it right into the cost). Drinking and lap-topping don't mix. Watch those cords!

Anyone else have any advice about the extended warranty? I always thought it was almost a necessity for laptops given that they are prone to breakage, but some people have told me otherwise. One person told me that you only need the one year warranty because if it hasn't broken by one year then it won't break.

In making this thread I am asking those who have laptops what they would buy now if they could do it over again

Heh, my speciality - Cheap gaming PC's

Www.meshcomputers.com

Check these guys out, they make brilliant cheap computers for a low price. They dont have a great support line but I dont see why your going to need that.

Take a look at this:

ASUS A6Jc
Genuine Microsoft® Windows® Media Center Edition 2005
Intel® Mobile Yonah Dual Core T2300 Processor 65nm. (2 X 1.66GHz,2MB L2 Cache, 667Mhz FSB)
15.4"WXGA Wide colour Shine (X-Glass) Reflective TFT screen with resolution 1280 x 800
1GB DDRII 533 PC 4200 Memory (2x512MB)
Smart Li-Ion Primary Battery - approx. Up to 4 hours
100GB (5400rpm) Hard Drive
512MB (HyperMemory) nViDia Geforce Go 7300 Turbo Cache
DVD Super Format Dual Layer (-/+) DVD-RW Drive with Decoder Software
Intel 3945ABG Wireless LAN - 802.11a/b /g
Internal Mini PCI Bluetooth v2.0 + EDR
3-D Stereo sound + Internal Dual stereo speakers
Built in Video Camera
10//100/1000-Giga LAN Ethernet Adapter (on-board)
Built-in 56k v90/92 Fax Modem
Built in 4-in 1 Card Reader (MMC, SD, MS, MS Pro)
4xUSB2.0,1x 4-pin FireWire400, modem, GbE, S-Video, DVI, audio (SPDIF/headphone, microphone, audio
Microsoft Works 8.0, Asus DVD 2000XP/ Cyberlink, winflash for BIOS upgrade, power4Gear+
Symantec Norton Anti Virus 2005, Trend PC-Cillin 2002,adobe acrobat reader 5.1, Nero V6.0
2 years worldwide warranty Parts & Labour (collection & return UK Mainland

Link - http://www.meshcomputers.com/Default.aspx?PAGE=PRODUCTVIEWPAGE&USG=PRODUCT&ENT=PRODUCT&KEY=91984

That is one kick ass gaming laptop.

Last edited: Thursday, May 25, 2006 at 8:58:07 AM

Except for the 512MB Video card, I can get a better computer (rough specs listed above) for about $500 less