finally squeezed the trigger

ok, i had an inspiron 2100 that held me through all 3 years of law school. i didn't mind having a 12" xga screen cuz i had a beefy desktop with a 21" monitor at home that i did all my power-using on. well, i eventually pared down and the 2100 became my only computer. it finally died about 3 months ago and since then i've been watching and waiting for the right laptop. my only real requirements were a 14" or 15" screen with lots of real estate (i.e. (w)uxga). i like to have a full size source document and a full size work document next to each other so i don't have to ALT+TAB between them. i didn't really care about much else; i.e., i don't need a burner of any kind since i use an ipod for music on the go (the only burning i ever did was music CDs and the ipod rendered them obsolete).

i've been looking at anything and everything. numerous trips to best buy, fry's; scouring sites like notebookreview.com, ebay, cnet, newegg, etc. i looked at and priced ibm, fujitsu, sony, avaretec, hp/compaq, dell, toshiba, and on and on... i even thot about having a friend in Hong Kong pick up an LG or Samsung and ship it to me.

today i squeezed the trigger. i decided on a dell; specificially the i6000d (with the dedicated vid card). my budget was 1200ish. i could have pushed myself and got a low end thinkpad for a couple hundred over budget, but nowhere near the specs i got with the i6000d.

here's the lowdown...

specs:

Inspiron 6000D
Pentium M Processor 730 (1.60GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz)
15.4 inch WUXGA LCD Panel
512MB, DDR2,400MHz 2 Dimms
128MB ATI Mobility Radeon X300Video Card
60GB Ultra ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive
Integrated 10/100 Network Cardand Modem
8X DVD Drive
Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 (802.11b/g) Internal Wireless
53 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery
80 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Additional Battery

cost:

$1275.44 otd

ship date:

march 8

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if anybody is interested, i'll do a review since the existing i6000 review is with the integrated graphics card. i also got both a 6 cel AND 9 cel battery, so i can also contribute some input on both battery lifespans.

i noticed that HP/Compaq released some pix of the 4000 series which i have been waiting for. altho i think HP/Compaq models looks infinitely better than dell's inspiron line, i think i'll stick with the inspiron since i doubt i could get similar specs from HP/Compaq for the price i paid.

now, i just have to keep myself occupied for a couple weeks !

 

I am in same thought process - looked at all the ones you did and have come down to Dell or HP.

Finally the 6000 has a decent card, I would like to confirm that the x300 is a card that could be upgraded in the future since it is pci express. Even though it is the lower card of the group, I don't care, but in 2 yrs it would be nice to upgrade it if I bought it.

I am leaning toward the hp nc8230 but am getting impatient. The Dell is out and cheaper for the same specs (PM730,512ddr2,40g 5400,15.4wsxga,x600) The Dell only differing in the cheaper x300 card.

Please review yours as soon as you get it. The other BIG thing is that the HP is a litter slimmer and lighter and wondering in the real world how all the i6000 feels when you actually get it.