High End Laptop Suggestions

redGhia · 04-02-2006, 01:55 PM

Hi Guys, Im currently looking for a laptop, I would prefer a nice clear 17" monitor and all the usuals eg wireless lan etc etc 1g min of ram

Has anyone got any comments on the following HP system or any other suggestions

http://h50025.www5.hp.com/hpcom/au_e...8_EE549PA.html

Someone told me that this 3.4ghz system would be equiovelent to a 2ghz centrino processor

All suggestions/ comments greatly appreciated

Ash

max^power · 04-02-2006, 02:01 PM

Whats your budget? Hign end, you're looking to spend around $3-4k?

redGhia · 04-02-2006, 02:04 PM

yep aroung the 3 - 4 k

Teleto · 04-02-2006, 02:33 PM

I bought the HP zd8000 which is basically the same as that but has only 80gig hard drive.
Cant really fault it, the 17inch wide screen is great to view, its got wireless and bluetooth and there fast.
Downfall is the battery life which is about 1hour and 30mins but ahh well use the power cord and your set.

04-02-2006, 02:35 PM

Dell inspiron 9400, especially good for gaming and multimedia...I want one myself but am saving to move house!

www.dell.com.au

Dan

the_scotsman · 04-02-2006, 09:39 PM

Yea Id say the 9400....just been released, pretty similar to the 9300 I bought a few months ago....

http://www1.ap.dell.com/content/prod...=au&l=en&s=dhs

Has the new Intel Duo Core....can have up to 2 gig ram, 256MB nVidia graphics, 17 widescreen (1900x1200 resolution!)....Im very very happy with mine!

jmc-007 · 04-02-2006, 10:18 PM

Stick with Dell or HP, ( I have to order this ИИИИ all the time at work). make sure you option the warranty up and make it next business day onside.

worth the weight in gold. I would sway more to the HP over the dell. (quality is better) we have just got in 20 new dell laptops and the build quality is not the best compared to the HP ones.

MoreHPformyXR6 · 04-02-2006, 10:21 PM

Im using a tosibia laptop with all the goodies ur after bluetooth wireless etc & 17 inch crystal clear screen & it hasnt missed a beat purchased sept 05.

parawolf · 04-02-2006, 10:31 PM

Get a Mac .... Intel Core Duo's... best displays, all the feature sets... and an OS that cannot be beat for security and performance.

What do you need the laptop to do?

max^power · 04-02-2006, 10:39 PM

personally i'd go the toshiba over the dell.. infact i'd go with 1 toshiba over 2 dells. What ever you buy remember this:

You get what you pay for.

the_scotsman · 04-02-2006, 11:51 PM

1 toshiba over 2 dells?.....riiiiiiiiiight then.........

max^power · 05-02-2006, 12:02 AM

Once bitten twice shy mate thats all.

Ghiadude · 05-02-2006, 01:16 AM

i agree my toshiba hasnt missed a beat since i bought it and support is fantastic. My dell on the other hand...........

DarkXr · 05-02-2006, 02:31 AM

Toshiba Qosimo (spelling) is the go - you can pick one up for about $3899 (I work in the industry) and they are very good. Check the specs with Toshiba

MrSparkle · 05-02-2006, 09:50 AM

I've been looking at the high end notebook market for a few months and am about ready to buy. Tough choice between the 9300 (but now 9400!) and the newly released Acer TravelMate 8204.

I have opted to go with the Acer as I've had my share of Dells over the years and I'm looking for a change. The TM8204 has better build quality, is much smaller and lighter, and has substantially better battery life than the Dell. Most importantly for me though, it isn't half-assed in the places that count - graphics chipset, ram, and hard drive. The other thing I'm looking forward to is not having to deal with Dell's frigging stupid incompetent call centre monkeys!!!!!!!!

Anyway, here's a review of it... (many others around if you Google too)
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1907155,00.asp

Bottom line, you can't go wrong with either of them, but my preference is for the Acer.

WizBang · 05-02-2006, 10:04 AM

The toshiba is the way to go as this is what I have and it never given up and I'm feild based all over the state even if it's coved in dust from working on the ground it still works well, a few guys have the Acers and not as good

parawolf · 05-02-2006, 01:35 PM

We had some Toshiba's at my previous place of employment and the fatality rate was insane. Of about the 100 or so that were around, at least 20 of them had returns in the first 6 months. There were repeated failures with display failures and associated components (internal cabling, etc).

After that experience, I couldn't recommend modern toshibas, however this could have just been this particular model/batch.

Dell's well geez, if you cannot say something nice about something...

What do you need the laptop to do... do you need it to be fast? do you need it to have excellent battery life (eg what sort of duration)? what sort of applications do you need to run? What display sizes, with resolution and external attachments do you require? Answer these questions to cut your field down. You will find that those that use the P4 chip are a 'desktop replacement' and battery life, and overall size/weight is a penalty. Those with mobility chipsets are far lighter with better battery life...

Outbackjack · 05-02-2006, 02:08 PM

I can highly reccommend these HP computers, not really a laptop but more like a hybrid. I bought one for my boy (14) about 9 or 10 months ago. It gets heaps of use and hasnt missed a beat. I work for HP and bought through staff discounts. All up cost me $900. But even if I was not associated with HP there is no denying that these are the best in the industry. You cant go wrong.

Cheers.

redGhia · 05-02-2006, 05:56 PM

i want wireless lan and allready have an Wireless-G Broadband Router with SRX - WRT54GX

I want a 17 inch screen and decent video card for dvd playback, also will be used for gps mapping when i go out of town and word processing, etc etc - Apart from that messenger and streaming audio etc etc and prob end up putting some decent games on it

qwigybo · 05-02-2006, 07:29 PM

so by go out of town i guess you're implying you're going to need good battery life
i have a compaq haven't had a problem with it yet (6mnths) battery life is around 3hrs

it only has 512 mem 80gb HDD, does fine for dvd playback and conversion, wireless lan mem card reader etc cost me $2200

347_XR8 · 05-02-2006, 07:40 PM

For computers in general i would have to Suggest MSY in Coburg. If ya want directions, pm me.
They are a wholesaler, i'm not sure if they do laptops, but they would point ya in the right direction. Got my computer for $1500 and it was top of the line when i bought it (6 months ago), all ya need is someone to put it together

djjase · 05-02-2006, 11:24 PM

It doesnt really matter what you end up buying, just remember all the electronics come from either China, Japan or Tawain.
Over the past 17 years of working in the IT Industry I have had IBM, HP, Toshiba, Dell, Acer etc etc just about had them all.
At the moment I like the Dell, they are resonably priced and their service out strips IBM, HP etc, but thats probably because my laptop is a Company one with Gold Service (ie 1hr turn around on faults etc)
Just choose one that your comfortable with - ie size, weight, options etc.

jmc-007 · 05-02-2006, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djjase

It doesnt really matter what you end up buying, just remember all the electronics come from either China, Japan or Tawain.
Over the past 17 years of working in the IT Industry I have had IBM, HP, Toshiba, Dell, Acer etc etc just about had them all.
At the moment I like the Dell, they are resonably priced and their service out strips IBM, HP etc, but thats probably because my laptop is a Company one with Gold Service (ie 1hr turn around on faults etc)
Just choose one that your comfortable with - ie size, weight, options etc.

well im glad dell honour the gold support for your company, without saying much the gold support isnt worth the toilet paper its written on.

Toshiba make good units but the perfered repairer leaves a lot to be desired.

make sure , whatever you buy it has decent warranty and DOA.

**EASYBOSS** · 05-02-2006, 11:56 PM

Cant go wrong with an IMB, had several and never had a problem, you get what you pay for, currently using Z60 wide screen

Steffo · 06-02-2006, 01:06 AM

I'd get this...

http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/show_p...egory_id]=1317

But get them to upgrade it from 512 to at least 768MB of RAM, preferably 1GB.

Steve_T · 06-02-2006, 03:50 AM

Brand wise I'd reccomend either an IBM or an Apple if you want the best - im my experience (personal use + been in IT industry over 10 years) they can't be beat from a reliability and quality point of view. Probably if you want real top of the line specs though they'll be well over your price range, so you either get one with slightly lower specs or go another brand. I think Acer are quite good personally too. HP should be good but haven't had any recent experience with 'em so dunno - Toshiba used to be one of the best - I dunno that they're still up to the same standard from what I've heard these days but they're still alright AFAIK.

Just make a list of the features you need eg. WiFi, LAN, DVD burner, S-Video port etc. then look at what models meet the requirements. Then just get the quickest specs and highest RAM, HDD etc. for that sorta thing that you can if you really need the extreme level of performance like that.

It'll generally always be a trade-off between processor speed, RAM, features, size, weight, price, battery life, durability, compatibility, heat output etc. so all ya can do is really think about what ya need and what ya wanna do with it and just make some lists of features/specs which are prioritised for what you need and just go with what best meets the list within your given price range and scope of brands.

Personally, one of the latest Apple iBook 12" G4's with 1GB RAM and 60GB HDD is the ideal thing for me all things considered - and for less than 2 gorillas, but everyones needs can vary greatly.

Again, you just gotta question yourself and consider all factors of what you'll really need in a computer and go from that.

And lastly, yeah - that HP system you lookin' at is pretty sweet - seems like a pretty complete machine feature and spec. wise - it's a bit big and heavy but that's the trade off - if you need features and power more than portability then it's not an issue - only thing is it doesn't mention battery life - if portability is a consideration then I'd check on that just to make sure you can get enough life out of it for what you need - battery life between different notebooks/laptops can vary from about 1-5 hours of reasonable use these days.

DOC · 06-02-2006, 03:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by max^power

You get what you pay for.

Very true, i paid 7K odd for my acer travelmate, yep all the bells and whistles with 2 gig ram which bumped up the cost, also has card security like the banks ect.

long story short it also came with a 3 year year 24 hour fix warranty, on the weekend the system went down, not what you need but anyway, i rang the 24 hour hotline computer was in for repair at 10 am and at 1 pm came back with new motherboard and fan, no questions asked.

thats what i wanted backup service as well as a top line laptop.

well done acer, i also have a top line toshiba ( 4K ) and two older now compaq laptops also top line, the acer has been the best to date but each to thier own.

Pete

Deadman · 06-02-2006, 03:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by parawolf

Intel Core Duo's...

If you buy any notebook without that ^^ then you're not buying a high end spec notebook. Make sure you get the Intel Core Duo (Dual-Core Centrino ).

redGhia · 09-02-2006, 08:07 PM

jeez i hate buying stuff, there are soo many models around - In the end i suppose it comes down to price and what features i want

redGhia · 09-02-2006, 09:11 PM

Ok, I have narrowed my choices to the following Systems

The HP ZD8203AP (3.4Ghz)

Toshiba Qosimo G20 P-M 780 (2.26 Ghz)

They are both around the same price and from what i hear the HP has a nice screen but is loud, Havent been able to find much info on the Qosimo