Choosing a laptop.

(Didn't know where to put this...sorry if I missed.)

Since my desktop has gone to shitsville, and since I'm going to school, I've decided to buy a laptop. I want something decent -- Pentium or Athlon based, widescreen, DVD drive...as if every laptop doesn't have at least that -- but I'd also like it to hold all my music (~40GB) plus have the power to play WoW at least as well as my desktop did (full acceleration @ 30+ fps). Of course, I don't want to bust the bank open buying one. Any thoughts/suggestions? Dell, Toshiba, HP are the brands I'm looking at but they're all kind of overpowered processor-wise and always charge an arm and a leg if you want a decent graphics card (wait, that's the story with desktops too...nevermind ).

Jam it back in, in the dark.

What's your price range?

Most amazing jew boots

I will also be in the mood to purchase a laptop in the coming weeks and perhaps you should try Hardware and Networking Zone or one of the other Gamingforce Computing sub-forums.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Make sure you have a good keyboard (maybe slightly raised as opposed to the totally flat keys), since it can get really annoying when the computer apparently skips your key inputs, which will make you have to go back and fix errors in typing A LOT, or cause you to fail at key moments in games. Brand I'm referencing is Acer Travelmate, although the rest of the specs aren't bad though.

How ya doing, buddy?

That's the tough part. I don't have a shitload of money (though if I wanted to go crazy I probably could go as high as $2000), so I'd say the further over $1000 I go the more concerned I'm going to get that I'm getting too far ahead of myself.

Edit: after customizing them to my liking, this Dell and an HP were the two I was looking at. They end up being within a few dollars of each other, with the Dell coming out looking like the more powerful system for the same money.

Dell E1505 Dual Core
Intel Core Duo processor (1.66GHz/2MB cache/667MHz FSB) (compared to HP's Turion64 1.8GHz with a 512KB cache)
Windows XP Media Center Edition (instead of XP Home with HP)
1GB DDR2 SDRAM @ 533MHz (HP's is DDR)
80GB 5400rpm SATA hard drive
ATI Mobility Radeon X1300 128MB video card (versus the "Xpress", whatever that is)
TOTAL: $923

I was speaking idiomatically.

If you're taking it to school, make sure you're taking size and weight into consideration.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Yeah, they don't say how much it weighs on their website. I'm guessing "enough".

FELIPE NO

Moving to Hardware.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

All of the people that I know who have bought Toshiba laptops have had no problems with them. They say they run pretty smoothly. I can't say I've tested this myself but I guess it could help you.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

OK, here's a good one: eBay and computers. There are three of the Dell E1505 Inspirons with ATi graphics cards inside on eBay for under $700 (technically 5, but I won't count any of the computers that are bidding under $100 at the moment ). Has anyone had any experience with eBay as far as getting a computer?

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I would never buy something like that on eBay. Much safer just to buy it from a company.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

At the office where I work at we use only HP or Acer computers. Acer seems to work okay, at least it doesn't break down every week, like the no name boxes that we were given to use last year. I say choose a 800 or 900 dollar acer or HP laptop and you can't go wrong. If it breaks, then claim the warranty. I will try to get one of those 300 dollar laptops that walmart will be selling this coming Thanksgiving holiday. They are cheap but they will work.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

After checking, the Dell E1505 weighs around 6.4 lbs, which is pretty good in terms of portability. Anything more than that, and it'd be a hassle. The Dell is probably your best bet actually.

I was speaking idiomatically.