Looking for a Notebook

[Abaraion]

Hey everyone...

I'm currently looking for a new notebook, but everywhere i look, there's only flaws and mediocrity.

I'm particularily looking for the following features (in order of importance):

--- sidenote: The notebook would be used for business purposes, I'd also like to sometimes watch a movie in 720p or 1080p ---*

- 15" Display, good resolution
- Long Battery Endurance
- No fans on the bottom (I'd like to put it on a bed every once in a while)*
- Ability to play movies in HD without annoying stuttering
- Silent
- 500GB (or more) HDD, 7200rpm if possible
- around 4GB RAM*
- contemporary CPU... don't really know what's really needed nowadays
- fair prices
- slick design

I've been thinking about getting a macbook pro, they have pretty nice features, but the prices are just horrifying.
Do you know any good products?
Thanks for any advice!

[llDemonll]

Are you looking to game a lot on it also? If not, the MB Pro sounds like it will fit your needs pretty perfectly. I do agree with the price problem, but there's always something imperfect.

If you do decide to go with a macbook, try and wait until they announce the new CPU changes. I've no idea when this will happen, but looking at http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/ you can see that it should be very soon

[Abaraion]

No, I won't use it to play on it much, maybe place some auctions every once in a while... Are there really no alternatives to a macbook? 2500$ for a half-decent macbook seems awfully overpriced...

[llDemonll]

If you want battery life, 15" with great resolution, no fans on bottom, HD without stuttering, etc., etc

then no, there aren't really any alternatives for a portable machine. sure you can get a PC, but they don't look as good, battery won't last as long, and they almost always have fans on the bottom, screen won't be as nice

[Deleted]

I don't know if you have any preference on makes but I've been using alot of the following and I can highly reccommend them;

Acer Aspire 5741G

I work for a small independant firm and we tend to sell alot of these, The link is the correct model however the versions we buy in have 500GB hard drives. I've been very impressed when setting these up & you get alot of hardware for your money.

If Acer isn't a choice then I'd certainly reccommend Toshiba, Samsung & Lenovo (formally IBM) as they tend to have the best value for money, longevity & build quality that makes a decent Notebook.

Hope this helps!

[Deleted]

No, I won't use it to play on it much, maybe place some auctions every once in a while... Are there really no alternatives to a macbook? 2500$ for a half-decent macbook seems awfully overpriced...

I think you will be hard pressed to find a PC notebook with similar size/weight/battery characteristics then the MBP, and then, it probably won't be cheaper.

BTW, where did you get the 2500$ from? Last time I checked, the "middle" model cost 2000$, and it sounds good enough for what you want to do. Or, you could get the lower-end 15" model and install your own hdd, this will be cheaper yet.

[Team Frosty]

Hey everyone...

I'm currently looking for a new notebook, but everywhere i look, there's only flaws and mediocrity.

I'm particularily looking for the following features (in order of importance):

--- sidenote: The notebook would be used for business purposes, I'd also like to sometimes watch a movie in 720p or 1080p ---*

- 15" Display, good resolution
- Long Battery Endurance
- No fans on the bottom (I'd like to put it on a bed every once in a while)*
- Ability to play movies in HD without annoying stuttering
- Silent
- 500GB (or more) HDD, 7200rpm if possible
- around 4GB RAM*
- contemporary CPU... don't really know what's really needed nowadays
- fair prices
- slick design

I've been thinking about getting a macbook pro, they have pretty nice features, but the prices are just horrifying.
Do you know any good products?
Thanks for any advice!

2000 dollars to get high res screen 7200 rpm screen core i5 and 4 gig ram. not horrifying for the quality.

[Abaraion]

I live in Switzerland, prices for the 15" are the following:

1CHF = 1.3 EUR
1CHF = 0.95 $

low: 2149 CHF
mid: 2349 CHF
high: 2599 CHF

[Deleted]

Compared to average Swiss salaries its rather cheap ^^ Computers are on average 10% more expensive here in Germany, and we earn only half of what you guys do (at least in my work branch). Anyway, I've got a PhD fellowship in Zürich starting in summer and I although my salary there is really minimal, I will earn enough to be able afford a new MBP each third month... (just for comparison)

Btw, if you have a friend at a university, there are chances they would have access to the Apple on Campus store (with great rebates).

[Abaraion]

Thx for the Tip, didn't think of the university program, i might use that!

After all I think I'll be buying a MBP as soon as they are shipped with sandy bridge CPUs. thanks for all the advices!