[thelist] Laptop - Web Design Wishlist

[Chris Spruck]

Tim,

You might want to take a look at a Sager (http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.html), depending on the specs you really need. Everyone I've seen basically says you get way more for your money with a Sager than with a Dell or a Sony, but you'd have to judge that based on your needs. They generally run full P4s instead of the Ms or Centrinos, so battery life is a little shorter (see articles below). They can be heavier than the average laptop, for instance, if you put 2-3 hard drives in a RAID (yes, in a laptop! only in the top model though), but that's because these are basically desktops crammed into a laptop case.  I know a 3D animator with an 8-series model who runs Softimage XSI on it all the time and he loves it.  I don't have one myself yet, but I've researched them quite a bit and they are pretty impressive.

http://pctorque.com/ is the best reseller out there for these (here in the US though, not sure if that will be an issue for you) and they have an extremely active support forum (http://sagerforums.com) with almost instantaneous responses from PCTorque personnel. Lots of people have posted their own reviews of the various models as well and I seem to recall some comparisons to Dells the last time I went through the forums.

More for reference, PowerNotebooks is another reseller and they have a couple good articles:

The truth about the Pentium-M vs. the Pentium 4
http://www.powernotebooks.com/P4_Truth.php3

The concept of 'Name Brand' as it applies to laptop computers
http://www.powernotebooks.com/Name_Brand.php3

I have no affiliation with these - just can't wait to get one. Hope this helps!

Chris