I need a laptop for university (engineering)…I need to get it over the holidays if possible.

I currently have a 7 year old desktop. (P4-1.5, ATI 9600SE, 17in CRT) (Note: I also play FSX on this old thing…not great, but I enjoy it.)

Goal:
•      Get a laptop, to be used in class, and at home.
•      Use current desktop, until i7 hardware is reasonably priced.

Laptop Option 1:
•      A sensibly priced higher end laptop.
•      Large screen. (16-18in preferred)
•      Full sized keyboard and number pad. (I really want these.)
•      Decent hardware and performance.

Laptop Option 2:
•      A low priced laptop.
•      Small screen. (15in or ??)
•      Usable keyboard, and hopefully, a number pad.
•      Workable hardware and performance.

So far:
I am looking at something along the lines of the HP HDX18 (option 1). With a T9400/T9600 and 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT .  

http://www.hphotbargain.com/


Or a Dell 1525 (option 2).

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspnnb_1525?c=us&cs=19...

Any comments and/or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.


Thank you,
Jim

>>So that aside, if this is just for school and work its all about what your installed programs need for memory (amount) as some engineering<< >>programs run much better on 4GB+ which means a 64bit OS should be installed. And, what you need for support in CD/DVD/floppy drives<<


Thanks Nick,

The first use is for school and what ever programs they throw at me, now and in the future. The second use is for fun and relaxation in FSX …plus, 3DS Max and Photoshop.

The laptop you pointed to is at the top of my list at this point. However, a 17in screen would be nice.

Is this one just like the one you found, but with a bigger screen? Or is it using a PM43 chipset instead of the PM45 chipset...and/or other undesirable things?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220418


Or is there another 17in that you would recommend?

If I can't find a 17in that meets or beats the one you found, I will most likely get it.

Thanks again,
Jim

>>I saw that one but did not know if you wanted to spend 3-400 bucks on 2 inches more real estate<<


I could use the 15in in class, but at home I would prefer a lager screen….however, I could apply the savings towards an external desktop monitor.

If using external monitors with laptops is a good idea, could you point me towards a monitor, and the other parts I would need, to make it work efficiently?

The external monitor would be for the 15in you pointed to.


Thanks again,
Jim

hey, don't know if this helps, but i just bought this for $600.  it seems as if there are some pretty good deals out there on laptops right now.  i bought it used on craigslist and it still had 2 1/2 years left on the ext. warranty.  mind you i will only play fs9 though. 

Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 2.10GHz 3072MB RAM (4096MB max) 17” WXGA XBRITE ECO (1440x900) 320GB HDD (5400rpm) Blu-Ray Dual Layer DVD+R/W Drive WiFi (802.11a/b/g/n) Gigabit Ethernet Built-In 1.3 Megapixel Motion Eye Camera and Microphone HDMI NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GT Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium

Its a good monitor but you would be driving it from a mobile graphics adapter so I can see some perf issues with this and FSX. No matter what monitor you chose that will most likely play into the equation. It is a LT and not a tower


You will need to use the HDMI ports for the signal.

TV cards I know little about. I know they make USB HDTV version of those now but I do not know if they have 64bit support. That is something you will need to look into.