good notebook brands?

BiGBrOwNPimpsta

what brands should i be looking around for if i'm purchasing a notebook?

my friend has been eyeing acers, its actually he's buying it. but i dont trust acers

usually ibm, toshibas and dells are pretty ok, dells are decent since you have the coverage and the notebooks i've seen from them have been done pretty well.

basically not a hardcore notebook, but fast nothing too hard on gaming, but able to handle basic stuff like ut, cs, quake (like a 9200pro or something).

No_Style

Acers are quite nice.. Have you seen the Ferrari Acers? So sexy, yet so expensive...

Dell is pretty flexible on customizing your own laptop I like Toshiba laptops as well, I saw this really sexy one for such a great price awhile back! IBMs are physically ugly, but they've got the goods inside Sony laptops are physically appealing, but the ones I've seen are overpriced and lack the hardware..

I have an HP, I got it for approximately $1200 CAD (Tax included) 9 months ago. My dad picked it up while he was in the States. It has an Athlon XP-M 2500+, 512 MB of RAM, IGP320 (Radeon 7000) with shared memory (I set it at 128 MB)...

I can play CS, UT and Quake.. pretty well I mainly use it for 2-D fun though, but my sister plays the Sims on it with some settings turned off.

TIP:

If you're going to get an Intel, get Centrino based only.

Acer Ferrari @ Futureshop - One can always dream to have this beast.
Compaq Presario - Affordable laptop. Decent performance. It's better than mine I know it's a Compaq, but they're ok if you're not rough with it.

Vampyromaniac

MobileTerror

What will your computers purpose be? That will narrow dowm the categories pretty substantially.

Geminiwave

my bro has a compaq. the Geforce 440 GO is actually REALLY nice. its not DX9 which you should know...but it runs halo and farcry okay...and UT2k4 runs great on it.

they are cheap too. you can get an A64 in there for around 1k. its beautiful and they give you as many(if not more) customizable options as Dell.

Lemme say that I hate compaq desktops...but their laptops have changed my opinion or them.

let it be known though that these are NOT mobile. You can carry them around in a bag well enough but dont expect to be walking around with this laptop in your hands. You wont be surfing the net while walking(like I do with my toshiba) you want tiny? get a sony. You want nice power in a laptop? go with Dell or Compaq.

then theres insanity like FalconNW laptops. They are better than alienware but you better be warned...EXPENSIVEEEE. then again I've never seen RAID in a laptop until i looked at those.

My uncle is in the computer biz and he suggests fujitsu's. They seem alright to me. Nice long battery life.

Zardon

Dell for reliability and all round build quality.

voodoo for flashiness.

Geminiwave

go with zardon's recomendations.

hes used more laptops than probably anyone here I'd guess.

OpusP.Gladiator

Asus actually has a decent product as well and you can buy the barebones and configure from there...
Since prices for lappies are down as low as 750 for the low end... and I do mean LOW!
on up to "then theres insanity like FalconNW laptops"
maybe a better question becomes how much of a 'gearhead' are ya...lol (hence support issues, like who u gonna call? ghostbusters?)

I'm personally waiting for the ulv amd64 to integrate with pci express and high-def audio in a thin and light design with 17" screen for a decent price.... However I might just buy a g5 imac by then...lol

good luck!

Geminiwave

I think a better question than "how much of a gearhead are you?" is "do you have 'wide load' plastered across your wallet?" its all well and good to say you want top of the line but cash is an issue, correct?

I do not really know where you get laptops for cheap(sometimes newegg.com has some decent sales) but i can tell you DO NOT go to ebay. I love ebay and have good luck with them but the prices for laptops on auction are DISCUSTING!! I was going after A Toshiba satalite at 800mhz and it was selling for $700!!! I could buy a new 2.4ghz toshiba for around $700! yuck

anyway dont go there cause its overpriced. lol.

PS. Zardon, check your PMs

DallasStar

Sager and PowerPro are my favorites.

Geminiwave

I dislike powerpro.
I always get the feeling of cheapness when i touch them.

midnilux

I bought my laptop from www.cyberpowersystem.com, it cost me $1500 but that was a couple of months ago, should be $1300-$1400 now. The specs are on my sig.

It can play any game thats out right now smoothly.

Drakon

i was looking at laptops from www.hypersonicpc.com and Sager. not sure which brand i would go with cuz i haven't heard a lot about either one...

tastyweat

dell, fujitsu, voodoo, toshiba...