Can I custom order a Toshiba?

I want a 7200rpm hard drive, a P4 2.8, Firewire (800?) and USB 2.0 connections, built-in WiFi, dedicated (non-shared) graphics, 1gig RAM, and XP Pro.

I want to spend as LITTLE money on everything else: size of screen, audio, software, size of hard drive, optical drive (don't need to record DVDs)....

What can I do? The Toshiba website makes you go down a "path" - none of which have what I really want.

Thanks for your advice.

 

Best thing to do is buy a notebook that has the things you want that cannot be changed after you buy it like video controller, screen size and CPU(this can be changed but is expensive)and the type and number of ports (usb,1394) to save tons of money, get the least amount of ram possible as the manufacturer really rapes you on this and it can be easily and cheaply upgraded. This goes for the hard drive as well, if possible get a system with only a 20GB drive and upgrade yourself; a 60GB 7200rpm costs ~$200, but to get it in a new notebook will up the price by $300-$400 easy.

Jack

The color of justice in america is green.
http://pbase.com/joneill

 

Hey Kid,

Currently there are no notebooks that have the Firewire 800 standard. They're the standard Firewire which transfers at 400Mbits/sec. Don't know when the 800 will be incorporated into notebooks.
Regarding the other listed specs, the only Toshiba model I can think of is the P20/P25 series (P20 if in Canada), but you'll be paying a premium for this system. Toshiba seems to be falling behind in their included features for their notebooks, and seem to be catering more to the Business crowd rather than the consumer. I think you're going to have to look for a different brand if you want the listed specs.

What is your spending limit? With that, I can give you some suggestions to brands and models that fit your budget. But you should definitely look into HP/Compaq, possibly Dell (kinda problematic from what I've read here), eMachines (currently have an issue with cracking hinges) or the Averatec.

The Averatec is probably your best low cost alternative. The 6100 series they just released has everything you're looking for. Their base model only costs $1249.99.

Here are the specs for their base model:

Model Name: AV6128H1
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 2.8 GHz
Windows® XP Home
15.4" WXGA Widescreen LCD
DVD+CD-RW
40GB HDD (probably 4200rpm)
512MB DDR
ATI MOBILITY™ RADEON™ 9600
802.11g Wireless LAN
10/100 Wired LAN
56k Modem
3xUSB 2.0
1xIEEE1394 (Firewire)
14.1" x 10.6" x 1.4"
7.7 lbs.

Now, at $1250, you can't really get any better specs than this. Here's the link to the Averatec site.

http://www.averatec.com/notebooks/6100series.htm

-Vb-

 

thanks for the great tips! I'm definitely considering the P25 now - I want to go with a Toshiba.