$2000 to spend on a PC notebook

[Chris Stewart]

Hey guys I've got $2000 to spend on a notebook. Ive been looking at dell, but would like to hear your thoughts on what I should be looking at getting.

I will be using it with cs3 and lightroom. I dont play any games or any of that so its primary function will be editing and I will invest in something to calibrate the screen.

I hope $2000 is enough to get something decent?

Thanks if you can help

[SOT]

Ya know I used to really hunt down the machines and really work the stuff all out, now I don't do that as much. I've gone from a super tech builder of my own machines to just buying something out of the box. I figure yeah it may not be super fast, may not be the "best" of everything, but a lot of the technology does a lot better than I could really hope for.

In the last year I've bought Dell, Dell servers, IBM servers, Gateway consumer (best buy), HP consumer (Best Buy and & Circuit City), some GD -Bullfrog portable servers, Alienware machines (Aera 51 m9 series) a bunch of Macs and utility servers. Except for the bullfrogs it's all good. I will say some of the advancements in mobile video and processing power is striking. For $2K you can get a really good to excellent laptop, if you are not looking for super duper high performance that you would find in $6K+ systems.

Lately I have been buying gateway consumer laptops because when I bought them, they did a leapfrog of video technology.

[Mepher]

Im in the same market right now and I have been hunting down prices. Do yourself a favor and look at http://www.ibuypower.com. I have a friend that has bought several desktops from them and I recommended them to my sister and shool. Both are very happy with their machines. I priced out their desktops and honestly Dell, HP, Gateway, etc don't even seem to come close. If you want the custom metallic blue paint or fingerprint scanners then expect to pay for them but if you want a T7700 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo with 2 Gigs ram, Geforce Go 8400 video, 160GB 7200rpm drive etc for $1300 then this is the place to go. That same system is gonna cost you $2500 through dell before coupons/discounts.

My wife is a network admin and took my specs to work. They deal exclusively through dell and still couldn't compare. Check em out, a great laptop doesn't have to cost you a fortune if you want to skip some of the fluff.

[Mepher]

Ps...don't get turned off because they advertise them as "Gaming Laptops". Hehe thats code for "not crap". =) They use top quality components unlike most of the really big dealers.

[tunin]

You can get the Acer 8210 for as low as 1700 now, I have one and I just love the little thing. The res (the important part for me) on a 15.4 inch = 1680x1050

[Stinger]

The most important thing you need to make sure is that it has discrete graphics (i.e it doesn't borrow the system Ram to use for graphics processing).

[mysticalbeing]

dude,
why don't get a mac and all your worries are gone....

peace

[Mepher]

along with your money!

[Cathpah]

if you do decide to go for a dell, be sure to check their refurbished/scratch and dent section on the web. I got a XPS m1210 decked out with all the fixins (should've cost $2200) for $1100 and all i could notice was the windows sticker had a small scuff on it and one of the vent blades was teeeeeny bit bent. Computer works flawlessly even a year later. You may have to keep checking every hour to really find the system you want...but if you're diligent you'll find it.

[_aravena]

Go get a Dell. Alienware is made by Dell and Voodoo is owned by HP if that helps. I know some "smart" people will suggest one or the other without realizing that the companies are owned by others. I have a E1405 and it's awesome. I think I might upgrade next year but I'm not sure. Aniwho, I've never had a problem with Dell except not calling them at normal hours and get some guy in India. Aside from that, service and price was great, especially compared to MAC. Honest;y, if you're going to use Windows, why get a Mac at all?

[aaronpass]

macbook pro

[gkwood]

macbook pro

i would agree after using PC's eversince time began i switched to a mac last year the best thing i ever did trust me its worth looking at Also mac do a refurbished section good value:)