phredgreen

i'm not quite ready to dump my money yet, but i thought i'd tap the knowledge bank here and get some info. i've always been of the mind that the best computer is one you've built yourself, but that's not a practical possibility in the world of laptops, so i'm forced into buying a branded machine. i need a laptop mostly because i'm on the road alot and i need something i can take along with me, but as my poor desktop has seen many better days, it will probably become my primary machine, which means i need something that will run all of teh standard work-related programmes (office, etc..), and also hum along with internet related sotware including movie viewers and flash applications. I'm also looking for a machine that will run warcraft 3 and final fantasy 11 without any issues or degradation of the gameplay experience, either through graphics or general speed of the machine. with that in mind, some questions:


first and foremost, for people who have had experiences with laptops, what brands do you and don't you like, and give specifics as to why. have any machine outperformed the others or have you ever had a machine that's been problematic since the first boot sequence?

secondly, chipsets are different in the world of laptops... unless i haven't been looking hard enough, all i see are inetl machines out there, but i see processors i don't know. there's the celeron, the p4, but i'm seeing the pentium-m, which is just as pricy but is rated at a lower clock speed... does that mean decresed performance in processing power in exchange for some other bells and whistles, or does this m processor have the same amound of pep at a lower clock speed?

third, i have heard nothing but flack about combo drives( dvd/cd-r/w), but in a laptop, that's a necessity... will i be looking at a drive that peters out on me after a little while, or are combos on laptops more reliable than what i've heard about pc combos.

finally, is there anything that i should remember to get when i pick up my laptop, any extra periphrials that you absolutely couldn't live without? your experience will help me live an easier life.


one simple request to those that choose to respond. i appreciate hearing from people who know what they're talking about because they deal with the equipment on a daily basis or have had prior experience with it. that is good information. hearing about your friend's brother's laptop's software bugs isn't. i want first-hand info from people only. opinions are only valid if you have knowledge to back it up.

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