Looking for a new laptop..

[Big Dan]

Sorry for placing this in TechGuy's forum, it's the only place where I see computer stuff.. I'm hope it's not a problem.

Long story short, I'm looking to purchase a halfway decent laptop. My requirements aren't all that huge I've settled on a price cap of $700. For that I'd like to get a big a screen as possible, atleast 2 GB of RAM and a Dal Core Processor.

I don't plan on using it as a desktop replacement but as a temporary desktop. Long story short I have some heath issues which require me staying in bed most of the time for the foreseeable near future so my new desktop is pretty much going to waste. If that makes any sense. I don't need the laptop to be a huge power house just enough to do my webmaster work without the machine struggling to open a new Firefox tab.

My main programs are:
Web Browser
GIMP (image editor)
Text Editor
FTP App
Shell App (Putty or WINSCP)
iTunesPrimarily iTunes (or Winamp), Firefox, and Putty will be open at all times. I really wanted to stay with XP as I'd get more bang for my buck out of the hardware.. but Laptops with XP seem to be more expensive then a comparable Vista one. :banghead:

One of things I see on all laptops at this price point is the hard drive only spins at 5400 RPM. Is this going to be a noticeable slow down, will it result in wasted processor power if the HD cannot feed it information fast enough?

So far I've seen a few from Wal-mart that have what I want but they're Acer brand.. I've never had an Acer computer any feedback on that?

Thanks,
Dan

[Raven]

Sorry to hear you have to stay in bed alot. I know the feeling, there are days I have to do the same. Nice pic of you BTW. Good luck with the laptop finding. I would help with this but it is best left to the pros.

[Big Dan]

Yeah it's not easy being stuck in bed especially when you're used to being on the move all the time like me. I'm about to tell this doc we gotta figure out something else, I have a compression boot on my leg which means I cannot take a shower. :crybaby2:I have taken a few but it involves two plastic bags duct taped around my leg and the boot still gets wet. :banghead: Supposedly I should be all healed in another couple weeks but I already got the stuck in the house blues 2 weeks ago.:(

In other news, I got the new laptop yesterday!!!! I'm pumped! I found the one I really wanted. I price shopped around and found this one: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8221532 which from my research was is an excellent price for the specs. The problem was all the local Wal-Mart's were sold out of it, only one had limited stock and I called bright and early yesterday to see if they still had it. The person in electronics said No, all we have is Dell.

On a hunch, I took a ride up there. They had this model on display and still had two sitting in the cage underneath it. I was got so excited like a kid on Christmas morning! In fact if I had the extra money I would've bought 2 and sold one on eBay. I don't think you can beat the price vs specs, I couldn't in my comparison shopping anyhow.

Lots of extra features on this puppy that I didn't even look for. Built in webcam and microphones, a bunch of media touch buttons that are actually thoughtfully placed, some interesting encryption software, media card readers, 3 USB ports and a firewire port.

All in all, I'm really happy with this model it actually scores hired on the Window's Vista scale than my brand new, more expensive desktop. :eek:

[Raven]

Glad to see you were able to get the laptop you wanted.