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i was thinking of picking up a laptop from dsp(dicksmithpowerhouse),
there got a compaq presario v2157ap for 1399$ or a the m2045ap for 1082 after cash back
anyone can make any suggestions?

What are you using the lappy for? General surfing and emailing? or PS?

Apart from don't buy a Compaq?

They also have an Acer on special ATM - around 1K neat. Might be worth looking at, but I suspect oit's too small and underpowered for PP

Redline, I just picked up my third Asus from Birddy about a month ago. They seem well made and have lots of connections and facilities for the price, including in this one a camera. Have been very happy with all, and my wife hasn't broken it yet so that is a good sign Compaq seems to have a bad rep in notebooks, I have never has a compaq notebook myself.

Last one I got: http://www.synnex.com.au/Default.aspx?t ... genumber=0

whats wrong with compaq?
maybe i should ask for extended warranty

i thought it would be good for pp and storage since it cost almost a 1K for a nice portable storage device

Have a look at the TPG ones. Great lappy at a great price. http://www.tpg.com.au

Glen wrote:Redline, I just picked up my third Asus from Birddy about a month ago. They seem well made and have lots of connections and facilities for the price, including in this one a camera. Have been very happy with all, and my wife hasn't broken it yet so that is a good sign Compaq seems to have a bad rep in notebooks, I have never has a compaq notebook myself.

Last one I got: http://www.synnex.com.au/Default.aspx?t ... genumber=0

Redline,

Had you have been at the meet when Glen picked up the third Asus, you too would be buying an Asus right now.

I think he paid about AUD1500 but seem to have quite a few features. I was very impressed with his sales technique

I'm typing on the TPG widescreen Centrino laptop Vince mentions; I intend to write up a review of it in the equipment reviews section later. I'm also happy to bring it to the minimeet on Saturday for people to play with, but that doesn't help you much redline. In terms of processing power and memory, Dothan 1.6 GHz and 1 GB DDR is more than adequate, RAW conversion using RAWShooter Essentials is a snap. That plus DVD burner and 64 MB 9700 mobility card makes for a pretty nice combination. Battery life is looking good, around 4 hours for general use, heavy PP may decrease this a bit. I'm not entirely sure it's going to be great for PP yet, as the screen shows some backlight leakage at the top and bottom. It's a little 'plastic fantastic' but it's pretty light, and in terms of bang for buck they're decent, $1697 delivered. I was fortunate enough to snaffle one second hand (2 weeks old) for $280 less, which sealed the deal. I'll report back later once it meets my Spyder.

shutterbug wrote:Have a look at the TPG ones. Great lappy at a great price. http://www.tpg.com.au

I got the Centrino one about a month ago , Very happy with it

It's got 1.6 pentium m , 15.4" widescreen , 1 gig of ram , 60 gig hdd and Radeon 9700 video

What's wrong with Compaq?

As a software developer, I can tell you that they do some strange things with memory, and I've seen some pretty wierd errors that, at the end of the day, came back to "it's a Compaq" as the reason.

Not recommended at all. Likewise Sony, who build very high priced comsumer oriented planned obselescence hardware; their keyboards such, and their batteries cost nearly as much as a new laptop.

As Glen mentioned, the Asus is a very nice box, and while I have a different model to what Glen has, it's what I use as my personal laptop.

thanks Gary for clearing that,
not too sure with buying from tpg or from asus.

what about acer?, it use to be called benq right?

I think that Acer and Benq remain joined at the hip.

Buying an ASUS is no more difficult than buying a new lens for your D70; D70Gear@D70Users.com is your friend, remember?

Redline - I can't recommend a Compaq. Altho I use one myself (Presario V1008AP).

Firstly, they outsource their warranty service in Australia. I personally experience sheer torture trying to deal with my 4 week old unit not turning on (it took 7 weeks for it to finally return to me). The Indian call centre guys were surprisingly pleasant to deal with, however the company that services Compaq on behalf of HP Australia is shit. They claim to represent HP for all warranty service and repair purposes, but are very quick to distance themselves when tough questions are asked. Apart from the said call centre, this was my only point of contact with HP Aust.

There are only something like 3 real manufacturers that make all laptops/notebooks for all OEMs. I would not expect performance (of the same spec) or quality to really differ between the brands. Therefore the only source of difference for me comes down to price, and after sales service.

On the plus side, I believe the display panels used (at least on my unit) are top grade. Certainly better than IBM's T4x series and Dell's Inspiron range that other members of my family owns. The first time the LCD on my lappy was calibrated with a Spyder, the resultant display was very close to being no different from the uncalibrated one. Also I have not had any dead, stuck or partially dead pixels on my entire screen - which I believe is a rarity these days when the occasional dead pixel are deemed by most manufacturers as 'within tolerance'. It's beautiful for reviewing images and post processing (once the memory's upgraded).

Dell also have some pretty good deals on now , not the best build but bang for you bucks for what you get. compared to others

Get a mac.........

cheers
bp

ditto what Bix Pix said... get a mac
http://www.apple.com.au

Meh. Mac. Overrated systems and not really all that impressive value, in my opinion.

That said, I just had to get a G4 Titanium Powerbook with a severely crushed screen working again at work... about 10 minutes ago.

Dell continue to perpetrate the spelling error in their name.

My experience with them resulted in them recieving a terminally serious failing grade, and don't forget that they will charge you $100 for delivery, whether you need it or not.

Likewise TPG, I should note.

gstark wrote:don't forget that they will charge you $100 for delivery, whether you need it or not.

Likewise TPG, I should note.

I hate 'compulsory added extras' like this, airline taxes etc, just give me the total price goddamn it! To Dell's credit however, I think most (if not all) of their prices these days include delivery. The TPG doesn't, you're right, it's $1697 including delivery.

A TPG is pretty much a generic built box with a TPG name pasted onto it, as far as I understand it.

If you're going to go with a TPG, you might as well look at the gear that other companies deal, including many of the computer companies from around Australia or even build your own lappy...

I don't know what Garry's experiance is with Dells...and I value his judgement very highly, but my kid who is a computer geek recently brought a top of the line Dell laptop and it knocked the socks off me for power, performance...and that magic black large screen.

He did upgrade the graphics card though at purchase time.

Nnnnsic wrote:A TPG is pretty much a generic built box with a TPG name pasted onto it, as far as I understand it.

Correct, it's a rebadged Arima W621. You're right, if you're going to go down this track, places like this and this are well worth considering, along with Dell, Asus etc. Some of the ones in the second link are just rebadged OEM Asus machines...

Yup, probably.

Even places like Custo would be good to check out.

I use them for components quite regularly.

I am happy with my Toshiba Satellite Pro 6100. (P4 2GHz, 1Gb RAM)

Altough i did just recently have to change out the hard drive. But that was a good excuse to put in a bigger faster one anyway.

It's two years old and still packs a punch. Does everything i want it to do and travels with me virtually everywhere i go or have been.

Sounds about right with Toshiba.

They have got to be the best laptop brand. Ever.

I also have been looking at purchasing a laptop, around next year for my wife. Looking at specs for $3000 dollar mark bang for you bucks if you wait for the dell site to give out some good deals.
Also another contender as some have mentioned is TPG for $1700 mark it's hard to beat.
But for POWERNOTE 259IA
http://www.digitalstar.com.au/_PowerNot ... A_BTO.aspx

This seems like a good balance between the two mentioned above. I don't know much about notebooks and only have started to take some interest in it. Would anyone here recommend POWERNOTE for a laptop. Or would this be a brand to keep away from???

I guess somehow somewhere they are all built from the same company but rebadged..... opinions

Powernote would be just like TPG would be just like Custo would be just like... etc... it goes on and on like that.

If they're a brand not incredibly known and touted by the said computer dealer, it's likely that they're all the same model with a different brand.

That said, look at some of the LG's which are coming down in price, as well as always look at Asus and Toshiba who make some of the best laptops in the world.