Laptop recommendations?

[bluejam]

Hi

I've been looking around to buy a new laptop for a while now, but never seem to find anything that matches exactly what i'm after. I wonder if any of you guys could offer some advice...

I'm looking for a good general purpose laptop, though I'll probably spend most of my time using it for development. I'm really not fussed about gaming. However, I'm pretty keen on it having s-video as i have a lot of video I'd like to be able to watch on my TV without the hassle of burning to dvd.

It needs to be pretty portable, so I don't want to have to hulk around some 17inch 4kg behemoth; i'm thinking 14 inch widescreen will do me just fine.

Oh, and I also want to dual boot with linux, and I can do without spending all my free time getting some annoying bit of hardware to work.

So, not much to ask for

A big problem I'm finding is that most laptops with tv-out seem to be installed with Windows Media Centre, which I'd like to avoid. Yeah, I could always buy XP Pro in addition to the laptop, but i really don't want to pay twice for Windows.

Budget £1000 - £1500.

Any help much appreciated.

Phil.

 

[HGV2]

Try www.rockdirect.com good sturdy laptops & seem to be made well, either that or Dell. Sometimes worth phoning Dell up if you dont see the exact thing you want re specs of machine.

 

[Quadophile]

Take a look at the IBM line of Laptops they are built like tanks and have superb support. I have been using IBM Laptops for sometime now and I think they are the best investment. The T series are top of the line and next is the Z series of Laptops. I am currently using the T43 which is as good as any. IBM Laptops are in your budget as well.

 

[ChristopherP]

I really like the look of the ROCKDirect laptops!!!

Look quite well priced in my opinion.

 

[Taffycat]

Hi, my Rock QuaddraXT (XP Pro, 60 Gb HD 512 MB RAM) is just reaching it's 3rd birthday this month, it's very reliable, but a bit weighty. It's used as a main PC here, so is mostly on mains power, although I'm able to get about 2 hrs battery life on average. Being a "desktop replacement" it does tend to get a bit hot during use (great for chilly fingers in the winter) but from what I've read, this seems to be a common thing. The fan is not the quietest, but I've become used to that Good luck in your quest.

 

[ItchyRichy]

Check out the Toshiba Portege R200.