I want to buy a laptop in the very near future. I am leaving for Japan on the 15th and would like to have one by then but I'm not sure if I should wait to see what Japan has to offer. Should I try to find one now or wait and what specs should I look to get in either case?

I think it really depends on what you need it for.

For temporary use, extended battery life, consider something with Centrino. Some of the Toshiba M55x models are fairly nice. I've got an A70 which is a beast, but, it is my primary machine.

I found Toshiba (for the 4th time in 12 years) to have the most bang for the buck. Comparing features versus price, Toshiba came in well under the competition in terms of price versus performance.

IBM's thinkpads are very nice and rugged.

HP and Compaq have a few very nice machines. Dell has pretty good price/performance ratios.

However, you need to figure out:

Are you using this occasionally, sometimes, or a lot. Do you need a lot of battery life or will you usually be near power? Some laptops have firewire, usb, bluetooth, pcmcia, memory stick access, CF cards, etc.

Then, figure out your budget and see if the features are worth the $$.

No reason not to wait and see how it prices out locally once you get there. Then either get it local or you can have it ordered and shipped to you from the U.S. via MomEx.

Specs depend on what you're looking for.

If you dont want to play games, you can get a darned decent laptop for $1000 or so these days loaded with nice screen, big hard drive, plenty of ram, wireless, etc...

If you want a laptop capable of decent gaming, you're gonna need to open the wallet much wider.

you gotta specify:
size?
weight?
budget?

No reason not to wait and see how it prices out locally once you get there. Then either get it local or you can have it ordered and shipped to you from the U.S. via MomEx. [/b][/quote]
Thank you - I seem to have heard this exact same thing somewhere before said by some short fat old chick :P

I've also suggested he might not be real happy with a laptop. He likes to tinker and add things. Not as easy with a laptop. And he won't be doing that much traveling where he'll need the portability.

It's going to cost at least a hundred dollars to ship a 3.5 year old one and my suggestion was to see what he can get at the BX and go from there.

I have a Toshiba P35 I'm very happy with.

Nice

Size and weight don't really matter. I am only looking to spend around $1000-1100. The only specifications I'm really looking for are CD/DVD ROM, at least 30gb HDD, at least 256mb RAM, and an Intel Centrino processor.

Size and weight don't really matter. I am only looking to spend around $1000-1100. The only specifications I'm really looking for are CD/DVD ROM, at least 30gb HDD, at least 256mb RAM, and an Intel Centrino processor. [/b][/quote]
And like I said, you really don't need a Centrino since most of your usage will be connected to an electrical outlet :awinky:

And like I said, you really don't need a Centrino since most of your usage will be connected to an electrical outlet :awinky: [/b][/quote]
You were the one who suggested getting a Centrino...

Size and weight don't really matter. I am only looking to spend around $1000-1100. The only specifications I'm really looking for are CD/DVD ROM, at least 30gb HDD, at least 256mb RAM, and an Intel Centrino processor. [/b][/quote]
Unless Im mistaken, Centrino is a chipset, not a processor

You were the one who suggested getting a Centrino... [/b][/quote]
I wasn't thinking clearly :P

Size and weight don't really matter. I am only looking to spend around $1000-1100. The only specifications I'm really looking for are CD/DVD ROM, at least 30gb HDD, at least 256mb RAM, and an Intel Centrino processor. [/b][/quote]
I'd save some more money up and get a Sony Vaio.

If you were living in States, I would say go with Dell. THey have great support!

But since you will be out of country - I would go with a Sony. If you are going to Japan, I would buy one there.

The problem with buying one "in Japan" is that it's based on Japanese, i.e. the OS is in Japanese, the power supply is based on Japan, etc.

Buying one in the BX (they had HP and Dell the time I was there) makes more sense because you are buying one with an English OS that works on the American electrical current that runs through the base :)

Since he will have an APO, shipping is the exact same price as shipping to the states so that won't be a problem if he goes with Dell. Heck, when his hard drive was whacked out of the box, even though they offered inhouse repair, we knew it would take awhile before they actually MADE it our house and and just had them ship a new one - we're used to being off the beaten path :)

I still think he needs to get a desktop...........

Those things we used in the old days?

Those things we used in the old days? [/b][/quote]
Those things that cost half the price...... :P

Those things we used in the old days? [/b][/quote]
if you dont need it to work away from a power supply, the small form factor PCs are now pretty powerful while being (kinda) easy to lug around.


http://www4.tomshardware.com/howto/20050105/index.html