Asus or ...

...something else? I thought that I could get better advice from you guys about which notebook to buy than I would from the dedicated forum.

1) What is your budget?
~$1500

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
15" - 17" screen

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
No

5) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
Business & Internet 60%; Gaming 40%

6) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
Portability is nice, but not a "must have"

7) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
CS:S, Company of Heroes, other PC exclusives (I also have a 360 & PS3)

8) How many hours of battery life do you need?
I'd prefer between 2-4 hours.

9) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
No

10) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista), Mac OS, Linux, etc.
Vista (for DX10)

11) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
Widescreen

12) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
Minimum 1440x900

13) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
Glossy is preferred

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
No

15) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
Buying very soon - to last at least a few years

16) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 200GB?
80GB+

17) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD, Blu-Ray or HD-DVD drive?
BR/HD-DVD not necessary

Any and all suggestions are most appreciated.

 

Asus C90S is a choice in the budget, battery life is bad though.

Also F3SV-A1

 

I'd recommend the IFL90 or 1520 for your budget. If it has $1800+, then perhaps the V1s/G1s, but anything below that I would look at the others.

 

I think the Asus f3sa would suit you pretty well. It fits into your budget and meets your requirements. Last time I saw the price listing it was $1300-$1400. It has a 15.4" glossy screen, has a business style look, is portable with decent battery life, and can game at a respectable rate with the ATI 2600 DX10 card, it also includes a swivel web cam, and a finger print reader.

http://www.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=5&l2=23&l3=523&l4=20&model=1824&modelmenu=2

In addition to the Asus F3SA other systems you might consider (which others have mentioned here) include the Asus C90s (which has less battery life than you are looking for) and the Sager NP2090/IFL90 (which you would be stuck with a matte screen).

 

The F3SA in out in North America???? And I thought it was 1280x800

 

Well, the C90S certainly got my attention. Since I've built several desktops in the past, I am not opposed to doing a partial laptop build. Anything special that I need to know about it, or are all of the possible configurations pretty solid? Also, what's the word with XP on the C90S? I've heard people have had problems.

 

probably V1, though i think its a little more than 1500

 

With the newer 601 Bios Asus is using stock on the C90S now, XP should run fine. Asus just finally "officialy" released the 704 bios, that they might be using on the C90S as a stock bios now, which would probably solidify any worries about running XP. I've got Vista Ultimate, so I'm not too sure. Any configuration is pretty solid, though if I were you, I would order the RAM straight from whatever company you decide to by the C90S from. People are still having alot of compatibility problems; I ordered mine from GenTech and had them send me the tested ram as well. 1X1 GB Nanya stick and 1X2 GB Kingston stick. Either way though, I would still order straight from the supplier you buy the C90 from.

 

Like WhiteEightBall said you may want to get memory from the same place you get the system. Other than that you should be able to configure it however you like. (Most people who studied the overclocking of the system and wrote reviews - AlexonFire and ViciousXUSMC - have said the 6600 processor is the best processor to get in the system).

Many people who installed XP on their C90s found problems using some of the Asus software like the overclocking software, but I believe they found a way to correct the problem.

 

The battery time of C90S wouldn't cut it.

 

Just get a second battery is you need more...