I'm almost ready to buy a laptop but I need some help!

I am going to be using it primarily for graphic design (multi-tasking a lot), watching movies, music, etc. Maybe some minor recording/midi/audio stuff. Almost no gaming, I would just use my desktop for that.

First of all, do I want a glossy or matte screen? Which is easier to work with and displays colors the most accurately? Second, WXGA or WSXGA screen? 15.4 sounds about right to me.

Now lastly, where should I buy from? What will get me the best deal?

I really like the look of the s96j, I don't understand why everyone talks down the design (I'm a sucker for the minimalistic sleek look, do the pictures deceive me?) What else should I look at? I'm aiming for around $1100-1400, the cheaper the better.

I'm ready to buy tonight so any help is appreciated! I will be sure to post my review on whichever laptop I end up getting. Thanks

 

Since you need the most accurate colors possible, get the glossy display. Much more vibrant, as long as you can put up with a little bit of possible glare. The S96J with its x1600 should fufill your needs quite well.

 

Sorry for double post, forgot to mention that Milestonepc will give you a great price for the S96J. They always get great feedback on customer service as well, and help others in this forum quite a lot.

 

I second glossy. Your graphics design and movie viewing will like the glossy screen.

Buy from MilestonePC.com or PROPortable. They both participate in the forums and are well known around the forums for being trustable, supportive and overall nice!

Its all personal opinion, if you think you like the looks of the S96J, then take it! Its not that bad looking.

I'm not sure if you can meet the budget. Unless you want Photoshop to run slow and have lag in recording, I'd recommend upgrading the specs a bit, past your current budget amount.

 

ive never been able to order a s96j from milestonepc

Are there any forumers here who bought the s96j from milestonepc?


I dont think they actually carried it outside of canada.

Most of the users Ive seen that hang out here bought theirs from powernotebooks or gen tech geared2play.com was popular. mwave for the barebones possibly..

I didnt see anyone buy from proportable either but I didnt look to see if they carried it.

I just want to correct recomendations to buy it where it might not be for sale...

 

geared2play.com seems like a pretty decent place to buy from, does anyone have some input on how I should configure the system?


http://geared2play.com/store/products/laptops/asus/s96j/s96j.htm


Why is the 64 bit T5600 is cheaper than the 32 bit T2500?

Does it come with bluetooth? The $99 option seems a bit steep

How fast are these guys, I would like it this week if possible so should I check the 48 hour turnaround for $30? Any warrantees especially good to get?

 

Would I be better off buying the hard drive, memory, etc from mwave/newegg and assembling it myself? I wouldn't mind doing that if I could get slightly better parts.

 

Its possible.

I actually am finished fornow in pricing my notebook.

You will have to price it yourself, using your own time lol.

 

how does GenTech compare to Gear2Play? I find the laptop is slightly cheaper through them, and they have a cheaper bluetooth option (external)

Are there any forum member discounts (I read this somewhere?)

 

There is a popular forum discount from Proportable, its stickied in fact. Gives all the details. Wont find a better deal for forum members.

 

External bt is cheaper becuase its external. We offer Internal for 99$ becuase it requires gutting the whole notebook. As you can see thus far no other vendor has this option on any models that dont have standard internal bt. Models like s96, z62f, a8j, f3j, s62j, z84. All these models dont have bt option and known by all not to be possible. We made it possible so i guess it is justified if you wanted internal. It is an option and it requires the checkbox to be checked. We are certainly not forcing any one to take it.

 

If the users' laptop is not available to install a bluetooth module, to put an external USB bluetooth is a best choice, it is simple, easy and cheap. Even though it is available to do this, to disassemble and ensemble is not worth when taking much time and dealing with a complicated task.......
Cheers

 

Been doing that for years now. Ever since the original z70v and z63a. Its not easy and complicated but i like to think we perfected it. But you may be right as i dont see anyone else doing it,.

 

I went ahead and placed my order:

s96j:

Dual Core 2 1.83ghz
2gb ram
ATI Radeon x1600
60gb 5400rpm hard drive
Internal bluetooth

total after shipping was $1490, a little over my budget but I went for 2gb of ram at the last second. I plan to upgrade the hard drive in a few months too.

Can't wait to get it

 

Great choice, although you could have just purchased the extra gig of ram aftermarket from newegg, this would have put you within your budget.