Help student choose shiny new notebook

[plant]

Thanks in advance for any help you guys can give.

I’m currently looking for a new notebook, which will be used primarily for word processing, internet, watching DVDs, etc. I won’t be doing any gaming, or anything particularly taxing. It will be used mostly at home and at the library, but I need to be able to bring it to classes with me as well, so I’d like a decent battery life and something capable of withstanding the wear and tear of daily trips back and forth between school and home.

In terms of features, I’m not overly demanding. At least 30G hard drive would be nice, but I could make do with 20G, DVD/CDRW is preferable, and nothing smaller than a 14’ screen, since I’ll be staring at it a lot. I definitely want wireless capability. Most importantly, I need a good keyboard, since I will be doing a lot of writing on this thing.

I’m open to suggestions on different brands – the notebook I have now is an ancient NEC VersaNote that I inherited about 4 years ago.

As far as budget, I’m afraid it’s not a lot. About $1500 Canadian, taxes included, so say … about $1000US, before taxes.

A couple of models I had been looking at are:

ACER 292EXC
Celeron M 1.3
256MB
30GB
14.1 XGA
8 cell Li-Ion (says about 4 hours battery life)
DVD/CDRW
802.11b/g (optional, but I would be adding it)
6.25lbs
$1190 ($1090, plus approx. $100 for wireless)
*Cons to this one include, by most accounts, a slightly sub-par keyboard and the Celeron M CPU, which I have been warned away from (will it really be that bad?).

ACER Aspire 1355LCi
Athlon XP-M 2600+
512MB
30GB
15" XGA
NiMH (about 2.5 hours battery life)
DVD/CDRW
802.11g
8.2lbs
$1390
*Cons to this one include that NiMH battery, and its comparative priciness next to the TM292EXC.

But I’m open to other suggestions, since I feel rather unsure either of the above are my best options.

Thanks again, notebook gurus.

[Venombite]

Hi Plant,

Welcome to the site my fellow Canuck, eh []!

Regarding the specs, is the 292EXC a Celeron model? I checked the Acer Canada site and they don't have this model listed. You should also checkout Futureshop, they have a Toshiba A70 on sale for $1699. I know this is more than what you're looking to pay, but it offers more features for the money, especially the video card.

But, between the 2 systems you listed, the 1355 would probably give you more bang for the buck, but will not be the most portable at over 8lbs. For portability and also since you're not going to be doing anything other than standard office apps, internet and watching DVD's, the Celeron model should be fine.

At $1500 Canadian (after taxes), the list of other suggestions that have similar specs or better gets a bit difficult. But Toshiba has a few models that may fit the bill. The Satellite A40 & A60 series. They are nice looking units and have decent specs for your uses.

-vBulletin-