Choosing a Laptop

[mlagoo]

Hey guys,

I just wanted to get some general information about choosing a laptop for online poker. First off, my "base" system I'm working from is a Dell E1505 Dual Core. Is this a mistake?

My price ceiling at this point is probably around $1600 where I'd start to feel uncomfortable, preferably $1300 and under.

I'd like to be able to 8-table without any slowdown, and obviously fit those tables on the screen with as little overlap as possible. 17" monitor is out of the question (I have a laptop with a 17" monitor now and hate it, for various reasons). What sorts of things are important to consider? How important is a processor? Is 1GB of ram sufficient?

I really don't even know what questions I should be asking, which is the first problem. I'd like for it to be durable, lightweight, fast, and quiet. I also play occasionally play online computer games, so I'd like for it to work for that.

Any help/advice you guys can give would be great. Thanks a lot.

[ProsperousOne]

FWIW,

I just got an Insprion 1705, and upgraded to 1M, and got the 2nd upgraded processor, and got the 60GB 7500RPM disk drive.

I have an employee discount (my employer has a program with dell) and I got it for $1200, including shipping, and zero interest for 1 year.

LOVE the monitor.

Special thanks to flash8pro for his help and post at http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...rue#Post6549467

He helped me configure mine and I feel like I owe him at least a 3 BB pot!!!

[mlagoo]

oh cool, thanks for the tip and the link.

my big problem with the 17" monitor is that i'm in law school now, so i am taking my computer around with me EVERY DAY. i'd like to have something i could fit in a small bag. and something with a longer battery life. and something a bit quieter. so yeah, 15" for me!

[mkflsam]

dell inspiron 6400

dell just started sticking the new core 2 duo processors in the E17s and the small business inspiron 6400s (basically the E15). if you're okay with the 16xx by 10xx resolution, the inspiron 6400 is your best bet. getting the core 2 duo upgrade is definitely worth it although you don't really need it for poker.

if all you care about is resolution, you can get 1900x1200 resolution 15.4" laptops from dell (same resolution as the highest 17" laptops in a 15.4 form). they're in small business, notebooks, latitude D820. best upgrades will probably be the 7200 rpm hd and extra memory, 1 gig is fine for poker playing. latitude

oh, if you order the latitude today you get $400 off when you configure it up to $1699. coupon expires today. i'd get the 7200 rpm hd, nvidia card, 1 gig memory, screen wuxga upgrade, and 9 cell battery.

[mlagoo]

awesome.

what do you think about dell as a manufacturer? good, bad, or whatever?

[mkflsam]

they're perfectly fine. only behind to ibm thinkpad in build quality, and apple's design/formfactor imo.

i've heard complaints about their customer service (call center, getting stuff sorted out, not problems with the laptops themselves), but it's usually very mixed. some have no problems at all, others it's like pulling teeth. ymmv i guess.

[bhudson]

Beware, 1900x1200 in a 15" form factor is not for everyone.