Is this a good laptop?

[Noxious Ninja]

I've been shopping for a laptop for school, and I've almost settled on this. Good screen, pretty good price, and overall good Linux support. I don't have much experience with laptops, though, so I'd like to know if there's anything I'm missing.

I do have one decision I have to make: the laptop comes with 802.11 b and g. I can add either 802.11a or Bluetooth, but not both. I'm leaning towards 802.11a, but I'm not sure. Any suggestions?

Here's the config I have:

http://thecarpentersshop.com/ninja/Laptoppy 2.pdf

[XxCrashxX]

I always try to stay away from integrated intel graphics
but if your not going to be using it for games that much then I would say its fine
and the bluetooth is only handy for phones and pdas etc

edit: well then again it doesnt sound too bad

http://www.intel.com/design/graphics/gma900/

[Noxious Ninja]

Yeah, the 900 is much better than Intel's previous gfx chipsets, and I don't intend to do any heavy gaming. I could've gotten an ATi mobile x300, but it's about $100 more, and the i900 has better Linux support AFAICT.

[INCA]

Why dont you checkout the Dell Inspiron 700. i have it and its great. You can save a little money in your customization by putting the memory at 256mbs and then buying 1gig of ram at Newegg for like $120. I bought my 700m for around 1400 after taxes. My thread of mine is: http://www.ngemu.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63725
I got the 802.11a option too. I find laptop is good at picking up wireless connections in my house and at school campus. If you dont care for good video card the 700m is a good buy. Even though its around 5lbs or so its still heavy.

[vivrantpig]

i got a hp pavilion zd8000. it doesnt have a centrino processor. but its a really nice laptop. pretty powerful and a huge screen. i got a decent setup for about 1400

[Noxious Ninja]

Hey INCA, thanks for the tip on memory. That hadn't even occured to me. I can save $50 that way!

I looked at the 700m, and they just can't give me the screen I want. Too bad, because it is cheaper. I've also looked at quite a few other laptops, and I think this is what I want. If I can find something with similar specs, but with a GeForce 6200 GO, I might get that, but I'm pretty sure.

[Noxious Ninja]

I went ahead and bought the configuration I listed above. I missed out on the 40% off coupon, which cost me $100. For some reason, my initial calculations made the difference be $20. I'm not sure where I went wrong.

[scottlc]

If Linux support is important, DO NOT choose ATi. My Dell Inspiron 510m has good Linux support, and it suits my needs just fine.

[Noxious Ninja]

Yes, I went with the Intel integrated gfx. Should work fine with the Xorg betas until the next official release.

[Noxious Ninja]

Oh, I figured out why my calculations were off. Yesterday, Dell's price on 1GB RAM, 2 DIMMs was $188. This made it worthwhile to get the memory from Dell just to use the $750 off of $1899 coupon. Today, they raised the price on the same RAM to $250. Counting tax, this made it slightly cheaper to get the memory seperately from NewEgg, even if I could only use the $600 off coupon.

Man, if I had known they were going to raise the RAM price, I would've bought the thing yesterday.

[INCA]

Lol yeah they are adding cost everywhere. Well i bought my ram on monday from newegg. Its called Kingmax and its 1 stick of 1g of ram. Its ddr 2700. Its oem but supposely lifetime warranty. Alot of people who have my model did the same thing.
And Dell shouldnt be your only choice. This forum isnt the best advice for questions like this. I recently went to this forum for help but they might help you with choice of laptop. http://www.notebookforums.com/

[Noxious Ninja]

Yeah, I posted on the Anandtech forums and got a lot of help. I was down to buying a Thinkpad off of eBay, and the Dell. I went with the Dell. Time will tell if it was a good decision.

[INCA]

If i had a choice i wouldve gotten a Thinkpad. Man Thinkpad is so reliable and built well. Well I do like my dell alot and if your getting it, its a good choice. Did you finally pick a model? And do you know all the coupons? I think in another thread i posted the links.

[Noxious Ninja]

I went with an Inspiron 6000. The config is basically the same as in my first post, except I decided to spend the extra $30 for a leather case, and I'm getting the memory seperately.

I got the coupons from here:

http://www.techbargains.com/dellcoupons.cfm

[INCA]

Today i got my 1 gig of ram for my new laptop. Putting in was hectic. But i finally got it in. When you install it their are two ways in the bottom of the laptop or under your keyboard. Well i used the manual somewhat and couldnt get the memory in correctly. I finally did by putting the memory in a 45angle into the slot to finall get it in. The way i did it was just long process. I hope you have easier time putting the memory in.

But the reward was so noticable that im glad i put extra cash to use. No more lag while multitasking and in videogames i play on it.

[Noxious Ninja]

Well, NewEgg got the memory in stock, and I ordered it. Knowing NewEgg, it will probably be here before the computer.

[INCA]

I ordered mine on Monday this week and arrived thursday. Really quick and i just used the free shipping.

[Noxious Ninja]

Heh. The memory just got here, and the laptop hasn't even shipped yet. :P