I am pretty clueless when it comes to features of computers. I'm looking for a laptop (new or refurbished) that has a DVD (with CDRW if possible).

I noticed that Pentium 4's are the most expenisve and Anthalon/Celerons are cheaper - is there really any true difference?

My usage needs are very basic - I want to be able to access the internet, download photos from my camera (USB port), listen to music (MP3s & CDs), and watch DVD's. I'd like to have a laptop with at least 30GB hard drive and I assume a minimum 256 SDRAM, enough juice to watch 3hrs of DVD on a flight, and have Microsoft XP - I want to pay as little as possible. The capability to use wifi would be nice, but not 100% necessary. Any suggestions or recommendations? I know its alot, but if it were possible to keep the price under 700 or so, that'd be great.

Is that realistic or probably not. Cheapest machine I've been able to find is about 900.

Edited to add: http://www.overstock.com/cgi-bin/d2....PROD_ID=522678 is the one I was looking at

[This message has been edited by bhatnasx (edited 10-10-2003).]

That deal isn't all that great, for a little more you'll get a new (non-reconditioned) machine with a 15" screen and built in wireless.

Like this one: http://www.techdepot.com/product.asp...affid=10000485

Check Froogle for more:

http://froogle.google.com/froogle?pr...&price=between

Thanks Scott - I'll check out Froogle (didn't even know it existed!)

I dont have a lotta experience, but I would guess 3 hr on a DVD on a typical 15" screen is pushing it, especially with a power hungry P4 (even with SpeedStep technology). You should easily get by with a P3 or even an old P2 processor. Also you may need a heavy duty battery for the full 3 hr.

Built in Wi-Fi is nice, but you can get many fine 802.11b PCMCIA cards to add Wi-Fi for less than $30. I have bought them for $20 and saw them on sale for $10.

MisterNice

A low-end processor will be plenty for your needs, no need for a power-hungry P4, Speedstep or not.

For low power consumption, the best CPU's are:
- Transmeta (not found in any 15" model, though)
- (ultra-)low-voltage P3 or Celeron (as above, mostly found in ultraslims)
- Pentium M (Centrino)
- late-model P3 or previous generation Celeron (100/133MHz FSB), preferably a proper laptop implementation with Speedstep

Early P3's (400-500MHz), all P2's, current 400MHz FSB Celerons, all P4's, and AMD 'Anthalon'� processors have higher current draw.

A Pentium M or Transmeta Efficeon would be ideal... Pentium 4's are really only good on systems that are desktop replacements where you won't expect GOOD battery life.

Also, don't compare Processor speeds from CPU type to CPU type... every architecture has its performance advantages and it's baggage...

Is there a reason why AMD Athlon or Duron gfot not mention at all?

they did, they did!

For marketing reasons (perception of high heat generation + pressure from Intel), Mobile Athlons are mostly found in larger value-line laptops at the few majors which use them (Compaq, Sony, ?). Note that with the ability to slow down to [email protected], a Mobile Athlon can be relatively thrifty when using PowerNow!

I have not had a chance to try the DVD yet (as they shipped me the wrong drive), but I have a brand new Dell with a 1.8 (iirc) Pentium-M, sans the mini-PCI 802.11 and with a Cisco Aironet 802.11 PCMCIA card.

After only a few discharge cycles, I can get about 4 hours of work with the wireless card blazing away and some reasonably heavy disk access so long as I have speedstep backing things off. 14.x inch screen.

As an aside, Dell laptops are flimsy, and I'll be angry forever that my firm sourced the laptop concession away from IBM. I could beat somebody to death with my thinkpad and immediately use it to check e-mail. The Dell, by comparison, seems/feels/looks cheap and flimsy.

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Don't feed the trolls.

AMD didn't get mentioned as they don't really have a true mobile core... It's akin to running a P4-M (which really pretends to be a mobile device as well).

For long battery life, ignore the current AMD notebooks... If you don't care about low battery life and want a true desktop replacement then by all means look at the AMD solutions as you would with the P4-M's

Yes my friend you do need some guidance with computers

On a more reverential note I suggest just going with a basic setup that you could get at a Target or Wal-Mart even. $900 sounds right. The even low-end computers of today beat the socks off of the top of the line machines you could have bought a year or so ago, so it's all relative.

You need not fall into the market hype that companies keep hawking to upsell you to equipage that you really don't need. The incremental margin to them is huge, but the benefit to you in light of your stated needs would be marginal at best.

[This message has been edited by Jim Phillips (edited 10-13-2003).]