throwing in my 2 cents...

1) USB is more widespread than firewire, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a laptop without USB. firewire's typically used for DV cameras or other high-data-quantity applications

2) digital media reader built into the laptopi s convenient if you have a digicam or mp3 player or something that uses flash media. if you only use stuff like that infrequently, you can always use an external reader, which are cheap and quiet compact these days

3) you want at least 2 USB ports, if you're getting a new laptop they'll almost definitely be USB 2.0. I would recommend going all USB if possible - parallel ports are more and more rare these days, and bulky. you're post implied you had a parallel port printer, I couldn't quite tell, but they do make parallel port to USB adapters

4) shared video memory is fine for basic uses - web surfing, office apps, etc. I wouldn't recommend it (at all) for gaming. keep in mind if it is shared, it's taking away from main sysetm memory, so I'd want at least 512mb total ram to keep things running smoothly (assuming you're running windows xp)

5) for $1k, you can definitely get a laptop with integrated wifi, and I've definitely seen laptops at that price point with 802.11g. even still, unless you need fast network access, 10/100 would be fine for most net surfing

hope this helps

Let me start by saving Powerbooks are very nice but everything about them is more expensive (hardware, software, later add-ons) and limited. These are also the same things that make them great stable machines. The only thing I dislike are the graphics - most windows and linux based laptops are now better.

If you want a good basic machine that runs Windows XP (most people would get frustrated with a Linux machine). Stick with the one of the big established five (Toshiba, Dell, IBM, Gateway, Sony). You did not mention 2 of the most important aspects of a laptop screen size or hd space. Screen size is one of the biggest issues because bigger screens usually mean more weight not true with hard disk size. If you get a large screen (16-17 inches) get replacemnet support/insurance. A new study have found they are most likely to break and/or be stolen. Theory is they are heavier and less balanced so people drop them more.

The best place to check out laptops is www.cnet.com by far - you even get reviews and rankings by real people.

1. Firewire is not this important. There are devices out that have only firewire but do you own one of those ? If no, it is not needed. Most newer things can be bought with USB connectors and worst case just buy a pcmcia firewire card.

2. Same here, do you have digital media ? And even if you have them you can always buy an external reader or a pcmcia adapter for cheap. I would not make this a main criteria.

3. smallest number is 1 but it needs to be USB 2.0. You can always for home usage buy a hub. I would personally prefer 2 but with my laptop I used the second one like once in the last 3 years. Worst case you plug one cable in and another one out. Floppy drives are basically not needed much anymore, I can't even remember when I used mine the last time. Rather get a CD burner or a DVD burner.

4. except for gaming shared vs. non shared won't matter. What do you plan to do with the laptop ? If it is word, excel, internet browsing etc. then it really is irrelevant.

5. You won't need a Gigabit network card. It really does not matter this much and consider that e.g. your internet connection is maybe 10 Mbit the most. Gigabit is still more used on the server side and for clients only if you shuffle HUGE amounts of data around (e.g. CAD drawings).

But judging from your questions you miss the most important issues.

First, what do you plan to use the laptop for ? Mainly at home or travel a lot with it ? How much is weight a consideration ? With laptops reliability is a very important criteria since they can break a lot more often then a desktop.

Also I would strongly recommend that you get some type of backup solution (external USB hard disk, CD burner, DVD burner, ...).

Honestly with most modern laptops speed is faster then what most people would use it for.

I buy based on reliabilty, size of the laptop and durability. I saw laptops falling apart after 6 month on the road with some of our sales people.

Also if price is a consideration you might want to check

www.techbargains.com

once in a while to see what deals are out.

I have a piece of news for you: stock prices don't always have to do with profit

I'm willing to bet that many people on Wall Street couldn't name 3 different Apple computers, but could probably name every single iPod there is

My opinion: without the iPod Apple would have died last year.

So; what big iPod news can we expect today?

Wow... Thank you, to each and everyone who chimed in here with info, advice, comments and/or recommendations. I appreciate all of your comments.

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I am looking for Windows based system (although the Apple vs. Windows discussion was enlightening too...).

You all have pretty much widened my horizons ^ ^ and I now have a much better understanding of the meaning of these spec numbers I am looking at!

And that leaves me with just a few more questions:

1) Most systems I see in this price range are running Windows XP Home Edition. Can this be upgraded to Windows XP Professional? Installed or would I have to purchase upgrade software and do it myself? Does self installing of an upgrade change the benefit of the service agreement or warranty?

2) Is there a way to tell how RAM is installed if it is not speciffically mentioned in the specs? i.e., two 1 x 256K using two slots, or 1 x 512K in one slot? Affecting ability to upgrade RAM (in case I suddenly get the urge for heavy gaming?)

3) Would any of you consider buying a refurbished system (former top of the line model in its series)? Why or why not? If so, what would you expect in terms of warranty and/or service agmt etc.

4) Other than price, what are some of the factors you would consider in making the final decision; i.e., for example, what technical spec for you would be the deal maker?

Again, TIA for your participation here and your support.

1) you would need to buy an upgrade. But there should be no reason. Home edition should work perfectly well for all your needs.

2) Almost every laptop will have at least 1 slot open to install more ram. You would need to look at the manufacturers web site to find out how much and how to install it. Actually ram is a big saving if you buy 3rd party ram instead of oem. I just bought 512 MB additional ram for my private spare laptop for around 40$.

3) I would probably not buy refurb looking at how inexpensive you can get brand new models. I would buy slightly older models, e.g. the IBM T42 (ok Leonvo ) is a very nice laptop and there is hardly any difference to the T43. By not buying the greatest newest model you can save a bundle and won't really loose out this much.

4) For me technical specs really don't matter this much. Consider that the processor is the same for all (either Intel or AMD), the hard disk is from a similar manufacturer with similar specs, USB is USB, whether your CD writer does 12x or 16x speed hardly matters. Almost every laptop should have what you need. I would look at reliability, general look and feel, repair history, how much a 3 year warranty is (a laptop is one of the view things I would buy extended warranty for).

Also in my experience if you buy on your own money you are better off buying the second best cheaper model and rather replace it a little earlier. Instead of spending 2000$ on the newest greatest you can spend 1000$ now, resell it later on fleabay and buy a new one. Even your 2000$ model is outdated when you unpack it. I would also look at the keyboard, screen etc. Also do you plan to watch DVD's (movies) on it ? If you do that a lot a wide screen model might be nice.

I have very good personal experience with IBM laptop's and really like their look and feel (nice keyboard, etc.) but they are pricey.

the specs should tell you the ram configuration. usually cheaper models have ram split across sticks, so 512mb would be 2x256mb, which may be the only 2 slots you have. ram upgrades for laptops purchased from the retailer tend to be overpriced, so you might be better off buying a model with a single stick and upgrading on your own

as for refurbished, I would only buy if it's notably cheaper and has at least a 1yr warranty. in general the longer the warranty the better, since laptops can be delicate. battery is important too - I'd want at least 2 hours, and a second battery included or offered as a cheap add-on is a plus. don't forget weight, if you're a traveler lightweight is key, though it usually means compromising on screen size...I myself would love a widescreen model, but then you're talking at least 6-7 pounds...

I'd like to add two issues that affect me:
1. travel weight, go for the lighter/lightest models if you travel a lot. An 8 pound laptop plus AC adapter plus spare battery is a lot to lug around.
2. Battery life. Go for the model with the extra battery life (usually Intel Centrino models) or an extra battery. You can never have enough battery life.

Bob

Definitely true, though nothing in the bit you quoted mentioned anything about stock price. I should have mentioned that after two unprofitable quarters, it took three quarters of marked profitability (exceeding analyst expectations) before the stock price would reflect the financial gains. It has only been in the last few quarters that Apple has been rewarded with stock bounces following earnings announcements.

That's not really relevant. Many people on Wall Street can't name 3 different Dell computers, or 3 different products from Microsoft besides Windows.

If you had followed the company as closely as I have from the vantage point I have, you might have noticed that the $4.5 billion cash reserve nestegg made the company extremely difficult to sink. Even in the worst of quarters, when marketshare shrunk down to less than 2% and growth was extremely limited, the combination of the cash reserve and the extremely lean way the company operates day-to-day (we're talking tight belt, Lance Armstrong no fat lean -- and even today in much better times we still operate the same way), the company never lost more than it could make up in the proceeds of its cash reserves. In fact, the correlation was uncanny.

The cash reserve today is up to $7.5 Billion.


now we know. Steve Shows really are quite fun, aren't they? And to think some people criticize Apple for being so secretive. Everyone loves a surprise.

If you've been using a Windows PC for 15 years, then you must have been an early adopter on Windows 3.0!

Actually, earlier than that

I had Windows 1.01. It was terrible.

These specs are impossible. Corrections:

56k v90 modem.
1Ghz processor.

It could be very useful if you have a firewire device you want to hook up. Likely candidates are video cameras. Otherwise you'll probably never use it.

Again, do you want to read digital media? You have to answer this based on what you expect to do with it. Note that you can get inexpensive external readers. Obviously this adds bulk to you bag.

How often will you use that external floppy??? For most purposes thumbdrives are superior. I'm in the laptop market myself right now and the unit I've almost settled on has no internal floppy. I expect to use my external *ONCE* during setup.

Bad.

I wouldn't worry about the /1000. It's rare that it's going to make much difference, and the /1000 is a bit of a misnomer anyway. While the wires handle that there's no ordinary PC that can actually do that, the best you get is the equivalent of about /300. Gigabit is total overkill compared to the rest of what you speced.

There are plenty of gigabit switches out there in a home type configuration.

However, unless you have other gigabit equipment to connect it to you won't get *ANY* advantage from it.

Wouldn't agree with that. On my office LAN I get exctly 10* the speed I had on my 100mbit lan. It all comes down to a good set of cables and a speedy drive to serve off it.

The PCI bus can't even handle gigabit.