Alpha742

Hey guys, I've been using a pretty low end IBM Thinkpad for about five years now and its time is pretty much up. It was nice while it lasted, but its 13 inch screen, 30 GB HDD (which has all been used up), and 512 MB of RAM just won't cut it anymore. Now that I'm going to college this fall with a pretty nice scholarship, I have some money to play with. I'm going to make a list of everything I'm looking for and I hope someone would be nice enough to make a few suggestions!

1- Price range- Maximum of approximately $4,000 at the absolute most. I'm not sure I could even go that high, so if it is like $4,999 I would probably say no.

2- Power- I've been limited by my horrible laptop for far too long and I need something beastly to suit my needs. While I'm not a hardcore gamer, I wouldn't mind being generous with things like RAM since, sometimes, I do get hooked on a certain game. So, I want this to be as high end as possible.

3- Screen size- Nothing below 15 inches. I would like it to be a quality screen. Not sure what else there is to say.

4- Portability and Durability- While portability isn't too much of a problem since the only movement will be around my dorm room, I would still like it to be somewhat manageable. Most anything would be slimmer than this Thinkpad these days, so I'm not too worried. Durability is somewhat important to me. Being the tech aficionado that I am, I always take care of my products to the degree that durability never mattered too much to me. However, I'm worried college life will present more then its fair share of obstacles for my poor equipment. So while durability isn't anywhere near the top of the essentials list for me, it is something to consider.

5- Preferred brands- I hear great things about Alienware, but also some mixed comments that go either way. I would probably stay away from IBMs since my experience, while not bad, was not particularly overwhelming. Some of the Dell XPS'es don't look half bad either.

6- Battery life- I want it to be at minimum two hours on a full charge. Though I will probably have a plug always nearby so it isn't EXTREMELY important. Anything is better than the 10 minute battery I have now (that is what five years of use will do).

7- Overall appearance- While I am mostly concerned about the internal power, the overall look of the machine is somewhat important since I should enjoy looking at my computer as well as using it (in my opinion).

8- Peripherals- Should be able to have a good to excellent selection of accessory/add-on items such as different drives and so on.

Well, those are pretty much everything I can think of. I hope I offered enough information. I'm pretty excited to get this computer since it will be the second major investment I make in life (after the investment in college). Thanks for any help you guys can provide!

cohen

how about a mac book pro???? the budget is there and they are a good tool and then install windows on it.

__________________
Cohen

`PaWz

He said he wants high end performance for gaming. An 8600GT won't be good enough for that.

cohen

hhhmmm - i'll have a look throughout the day...... at school... and i'll get back to the OP.

__________________
Cohen

Alpha742

Yeah, I'm not really looking for a Mac, should have pointed that out. I know they are excellent for media and editing, but that has never really been my forte.

cohen

ok - Well try these.

1. - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834114414
2. - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834117682
3. - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220279
4. - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834146447

It's hard trying to find one with the big screen size.

__________________
Cohen

`PaWz

None of those are good enough for high end gaming