I'm considering buying a laptop to take along on all of my mileage runs and trips. Any great deals out there? Does anyone own a Sony Vaio SR33? It looks small and light. My main requirement would be running MS word and excel spreadsheets, not that interested in playing DVDs. Thanks for your feedback in advance. Boom.

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Land O' Lakes

 

First of all I would have a very difficult time getting by in life without my laptop. Maybe I should get a life LOL. Anyway, it all depends on how much you want to spend. After that, i'm like you, word and excell, and a good modem with lots of RAM. I have a Dell Latitude CPx tht is company issued. Its not the nicest, nor the lightest, but It has become a big part of my traveling life. Its great for long flights, Airline lounges, hotel rooms and anywhere else I connect.

I would recommend one but I couldn't without knowing how much you want to spend

 

Dell makes a very good laptop. However, since changing from Gateway to Dell, I have noticed that Dell has terrible customer service, at least I have had much trouble with them in that aspect. However, you probably wont need to contact them unless you have problems which you shouldnt, like I did with Gateway. Dell can be a little pricy, but it is well worth it, all name brand products and also some freebies like a free printer, shipping or memory upgrade. Check ebay out, they have some great deals on Dell lap tops and accessories. I bought a Dell inspiron 8000 in July for $2000. It is a Pent. 3, 1000 mhz, 128 meg ram, 32 meg video card, dvd, and has the longest battery life of any lap top in the market. Also, Dell lap tops come with great screens, Almost nobody can compete with Dell's laptop creens, they are very clear. Like I said, check ebay out, they have some great deals, and also look around at the best buys, comusa's ect... Toshiba makes a nice laptop and so does Sony.


Eric

 

For the road warrior, don't even consider anything over 6lbs. It kills to carry that much weight, besides the fact that it's hard to use a large laptop on a plane.

I've got a Gateway 5300, which is a little less than 6lbs, with 14.1" screen. On a 757 or MD80, I can just barely get the screen up when the guy in front of me is fully reclined. Anything larger, forget it.

If you can afford it, go with a Thinkpad. Best keyboards.

For cheap, go with an Inspiron 4000.

For light, go with the Vaio SR33, but it'll cost you.

 

I am a geek so I wouldn't consider anything less than a full size, full scale laptop.

I have a Dell Latitude C810. It's big, it's boxy, and it's just like having a bad@ss desktop machine in your lap.

IMHO, one of the most important things to consider when purchasing a laptop is the screen/display -- since it is what you will be staring at.

 

I'd get a machine without any removable drives; that saves a lot of weight and every ounce counts. External CDs/DVDs/floppies are a bit slower, but how often will you need them?

IBM makes great notebooks. Check out the I-series - not cheap and a 12" screen but only 3.7 lbs! Better still is the T-series; 1 pound heavier (w/o the CD/DVD drive) but a larger screen.

 

Think Different...buy a Mac!

I've been using a Macintosh Titanium PowerBook for about 5 months now.

The machine:
Macintosh Titanium PowerBook
500 mhz (a bit misleading since you really can't compare mhz with an Intel box)
Mac OS9.1 for most of work.
Mac OSX installed for evaluation.
5.3 pounds.
1" thick.
15.2" screen (wide, like letterbox movie)
$2199.00
Microsoft Office.
Adobe PageMaker, PhotoShop, InDesign, Illustrator, Acrobat.
Virtual PC software to run Windows 98.

The battery life has been phenominal, I've been able to watch a two hour DVD on flights with no problem, and even sneak in a few hours of work on top of that. When I get low on power I plug in the airline adapter if I'm on an Airbus.

I use a Dell PC at home and have both machines networked together with no problems.

All in all, I have been extremely happy with the Mac. And as an added bonus, it looks really, really cool!

Take care!

 

I have switched from Dell to Acer. The Acer is just as powerful and weighs much less. I have the 15" monitor, 30 gig hd, lan, modem and fingerprint technology so I am the only one who can startup my computer. The model is 739TLV.

 

I have had terrible luck with the Dell laptops they issue us at work. the first one had numerous hardware problems and eventually wouldn't make it past its self-test. Dell replaced it (a cpx-something) with a newer but refurbished model. it's been ok but it's so dang flimsy and poorly built. the case flexes and creaks when I type on in and I don't exactly smash the keys either. I haven't used the new one on a plane yet but the battery in the first one died an hour after being fully charged and I didn't have a spare battery.

me, I'd buy a Powerbook G4 or an iBook. the latter is a fabulous little machine well suited for the traveller. the only reason I don't have one at work is because they force us to use M$ machines. oh well, that keeps the IS people employed. at home I have new G4 desktop that simply rocks.

oh and you can trade files back and forth with the Windows and MacOS versions of MS Office. or you could just run Virtual PeeCee but then you'd have to deal with Windows

 

I've been using an IBM T22 for the last couple of months. It's light and powerful. Battery life is pretty good. I highly recommend it.

I've also seen a Sony Vaio around which the CD-ROM/DVD and the floopy is on the docking station so you can't leave that at home if you don't need it while you travel and that makes it truly light weight!

 

If the company is buying, get an IBM Thinkpad. Not the cheapest, but bulletproof, reliable, and IBM customer service is some of the best in the world because they focus on business, not consumer sales.

The X series is their ultralight, about the same as the VAIOs and Dell ultralights -- I have an A series (because I'm a geek and couldn't use something that isn't as capable as a desktop). We have a couple of the A series and T series in the office and have moved towards them to replace the VAIOs which are just not durable enough for real use.

If you've gotta pay for it, the Dell, Compaq, etc SOHO lines are the best bet. Cheaper than the VAIO and IBM lines, but just as powerful. But customer service will be more spotty and they won't go as far out of their way to fix anything (like cross-shipping a system to you while you're on the road).

 

I've got a Sony VAIO. It is the lightest and smallest I have found. Further, everything is external, so if you want it, you can bring it with, but your laptop still weighs under 3 pounds.

(Also, as wants and needs change, and prices go down, or parts get broken, having almost everything external reduces the burden of owning an outdated model or having to put your whole laptop in for service when just one thing, like your DVD player, is broken.)

Oh, and my laptop fits inside those presentation folders, so no one, especially the theives, even know I have it. I just carry it like a 1" thick document in a folder - it feels and weighs about the same.

Further, even though mine is a year old, and has been taken, here, there and everywhere, without complaint, it is still an eye-catcher. I think because most still haul around those bulky, heavy laptops ... actually, I can't believe they still even make them, let alone that people would buy them. The VAIO now comes in a 1 GIG model, so why buy anything else?

(One gripe - the stock battery sucks, hopefully they have improved it for the 1 GIG model. I had to deal with customer service on this and thought they didn't care, but they ended up sending me another one to keep, gratis.)

[Edited because just re-read your original post. NOTE - my VAIO didn't come with Excel! Either that or it was something on one of the CDs that came with it and I had to install it myself. Never needed to, so I never investigated this. Could be a deal breaker - check it out if looking at a VAIO.]

[This message has been edited by lisamcgu (edited 11-10-2001).]

 

Ditto on the Sony VAIO! I bought 2 VAIO laptops early and mid last year, a Z505RX (small & light) for on the road, and an F490 (bigger & heavier) as a home desktop replacement. I love 'em! And aside from their utility, I always get admiring envious comments. Of course, since my purchase, the VAIO's have gotten ever more powerful and far less expensive than the models I bought, but that's life.

Kathy

P.S.: My VAIO's did not come with Excel either.

[This message has been edited by KathyWdrf (edited 11-10-2001).]

 

I'm a Sony Vaio fan also. I've had a 505ve as a travel machine for almost two years. It has been a champ at 2.7lb.

Like lisamcgu, I carry it in a zippered paded folio from REI that I bought for about $12. However, not having an internal CD-Rom has been a bit of a bother, especially on airplanes. Mine hasn't had any problems, but Sony's service rep isn't all that great. If you are seriously interested in a Sony, I suggest you join the "505" mail group on Yahoo. It's pretty active and has helped me on a couple of occasions.

I plan on replacing it in about 6 months. Hopefully Sony will have a light-weight model with an internal CD drive by time. If I not I will probably replace it with the new Fujitsu. This machine could be a winner with Road Warriors. It's 3.4lb with a CWrw/DVD drive and prices should start around $1400. The ability to watch DVD's would be a real plus for long-haul flights.

 

Two weeks ago I bought a Toshiba Satellite after using a Dell Lattitude C600 for the past year and an IBM Thinkpad for the previous 2 years. I would say that Dell makes the best laptop for business use. I've used their customer service/help desk 4-6x's and they were great.