Have Fun & Help Me Choose a New Notebook

Hi all,

Going back to school and I will have to leave my trusty desktop at home. I'm looking for a new notebook but feeling sick of Dell. I'll go with it if need be. I'm looking for best value here... something that will last me four years and perform well. I'm going to be using it non-stop (law school) and need something quick, reliable, but not fancy.

System requirements are:
Windows XP Professional OS
1 GB RAM
40 GB hard drive
802.11b or g network
CDRW w/DVD optical

They recommend and sell through the school (although do not stock) the Dell Latitude D620. I've read some good reviews about the system but terrible reviews about the screen. I don't know if those were people who purchased a business platform unit for entertainment (and were consequently let down) or if there are really serious issues. If anyone's seen or heard of this let me know. I've also looked at Sony Vaio but found they are more entertainment based. The Lenovo/Thinkpad Z60t was nice too but very pricey with the accident coverage. If you have a recommendation for a performance notebook with long life (3 years +) and good battery life, please let me know!

(I found the Latitude on sale for today only, right at $1400. I'm trying to avoid spending $1900, but I'm nervous about the screen complaints!)

 

You can get a decent system for under $1000.00, and it will also come with a AMD 64bit processor, and a 80gb hard drive. HP are good, but short on battery life, where as the Lenova are great and have a longer battery life.

 

I use the Latitude D505 and D510 for work. I have four of them networked together...I personally don't like the Latitudes, but haven't had any problems with the screens...I think the problems we do have are mainly caused by the software that we use...

My personal laptop is a HP. I haven't had any problems with it except
for how hot it gets sometimes...

It's about three years old

Pentium 4 2.66 G
80 gb hd
1 gb ram upgraded from 512 Mb
cd/rw can't write DVD's but can watch
802.11 b/g

I mainly just use it for itunes and internet..

 

toshiba:
same specs but,
80GB HD.
DVD burner
the ultra-bright screen,
appx. 1.5 hrs on full brightness,
$1000 at best buy before the warranty!