Shopping For A Laptop

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mustardgas

New Member
Hello everyone.

I'm planning on buying a laptop. I'd be using the laptop primarily for typing Word documents, surfing the web, editing digital film footage (most likely using Premiere), and watching dvds. Obviously I'm looking to pay as little as possible without compromising too much on quality. So, the foregoing needs considered, can anyone offer me some suggestions (i.e. size of hard drive needed, ram needed, processor type and speed needed, best brands, etc.)?

I talked to a Bestbuy salesperson today, and she told me that film editing software only takes up about 4 gigs of space. She also told me that all laptops these days have built-in wifi. Is she right on both accounts?

Remember: I'm only looking for what I need. I'll be using the laptop at the library, where I'll be surfing the web via wifi, typing short stories, uploading and editing film footage, and listening to/watching music/dvds. I won't be playing the latest games, or doing anything else that requires enormous power (assuming film editing doesn't require a lot of power, that is).

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

-mustardgas
 
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she is more or less right on both accounts - *all* new laptops come with wifi, and i would guess that movie editing software could take up a couple of gigs. as far as specifications, i would look for something with:
2.0ghz dual core (no less, preferably 2.2+)
2+ GB of RAM (3 or more is great)
160 GB hard drive (videos eat up drive space, so this is the bare minimum)
GPU: make SURE you get an upgraded, non-integrated graphics card with at least 256mb RAM - with video editing you will want to have a good graphics card!
if you were less concerned about making videos, you could fudge on those specs a little bit, but other wise, that is the bare minimum

good luck finding such a machine. be patient to find the best deals. i would expect to pay $1000 - $1200
 
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Lucky,

After doing some research, I've concluded that I can afford a laptop with the processor, RAM, and hard drive specifications you listed. However, when it comes to laptops with the graphics card you listed, my preferred price range is exceeded.
Is the Intel Graphics Media Accelorator x3100 just that crappy? Because that's what the affordable laptops (i.e. Dell Inspiron 1525, Dell Studio 15) have, and they can't be customized.
Will I have to get a dedicated video card of the magnitude you specified in order to play around with video editing?
And is the core 2 Duo worth getting over the dual core? What about Vista basic as opposed to Vista Premium?

Thanks.
 
Well what is your price range? I would go with the Dell 13 for 699$.
Intel® Pentium™ Dual Core T4200 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/1MB cache)
Glossy, widescreen 13.3" LCD (1280x800) w/o Camera
128MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8400M GS
3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 (2 Dimms)
160GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive)
Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini-Card
37Whr Lithium Ion Battery (4 cell)
Its the Dell 13 on the Dell site for 599$. Then I customized it with the NVIDIA 8400 GS ( that gives you the price of 699$) witch is far better then the x3100. The reason you can't customize those other laptops is they are base line models, To keep cost down Dell uses Low end ( good quality just not high performance) mother boards that are not compatible with some higher end parts.
 
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