Originally Posted by ShuttleBug

I'm in the position of needing to purchase a new laptop that must meet the following minimum specs: (1) 512 MB RAM; (2) 56K v 90K modem; (3) 802.11 b/g compliant wireless card; (4) 10/100/1000 Etherneet PC Card; (6) 40+ GB HD; (7) PC card slot; (8) 1 GB MHz processor speed.

While I'm finding that looking for a new laptop is a very educational experience, I'm also a little overwhelmed by the huge number variety of choices available. Would you all help out by guiding me with answers/advice about the following:

1) How important is it to choose a system with IEEE 1394 (FireWire) interface? What exactly is it and how does it work?

-Not important at all unless you have something that is Firewire ONLY, and I doubt you do. Not a show stopper.

2) Is it absolutely necessary to have a digital media reader? 4-in-1 or 6-in-1? What do laptops w/o readers use?

-Not unless you need to plug in the memory/flash card from a camera to upload pictures, and besides that, you can add on an external USB digital media reader (plug it into the USB port) when you need it, you can find them for $20 if you look around. Not a show stopper.

3) What would be the smallest number of 2.0 USB ports
reasonable? Since I know that I will need at least one for (a) parallel port toUSB printer connection) and another for occasional use with (b) external 3.5" 1.44MB floppy drive, should I assume that a system with a total of 3 ports would be adequate?

-Again, you can add on a 1-into-4 USB splitter if you need it for like $20 bucks, you want at least 2 USB ports otherwise. Floppies are being replaced by USB flash drives.

4) I note that on some laptops video memory is shared DDR (128 MB or 64 MB). Is this good?

-if you don't do graphics-intensive applications like some high-end shoot-em-up or car chase games, for solitaire it's fine. What you need to watch out for in memory is the ABILITY to add more (later), some laptops the memory is soldered in, some have only 1 slot, you want a laptop with 2 slots and the ability to remove the memory that comes with it and upgrade (later). I suggest buying memory from a place such as 'memory4less.com' and saving a ton of money. They have 1 gig of laptop memory for $120-140,
512mb for around $60. You want no less than 512, so if it comes with 256mb, add 256 ($35-40) or add a 512 to bring it to 768mb.

5) I also see that the network card in most systems in my price range (+/- $1K) is integrated 10/100. Should I be able to get along with this? It appears that systems with 10/100/1000 are in laptops with faster processors and llarger hard drives; this kicks prices out of my price range.

-you probably won't use 1000 for awhile, if ever, to be honest, and you probably will get a 40 gig to 80 gig HD and only use 8-10 gig of it.

-OH - BE SURE YOUR LAPTOP YOU BUY COMES WITH A BATTERY - SOME DON'T - THEY ADD IT AS AN OPTION FOR $120+.

Any info, advice, and recommendations would be greatly appreciated. TIA