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Originally Posted by gmku

I need a laptop. But damn these things are pricey. What do you recommend? I need it for my new life as a freelance writer in a coupla months. PC, Mac? How big? Where are the best deals?

get a good business class laptop, like a thinkpad or a dell latitude. it's gonna cost you but it will be worth it. consumer laptops are worthless pieces of junk.

i personally am a fan of the thinkpad X series-- i own an x30 and i'm planning on an x60/x60s soon. you're talking about $2K-- but for that price, what do i buy? a) a titanium frame b) reliability like no other brand except the panasonic toughbooks they sell to the military. i've had my x30 i think for 3 years now, runs all day, it's suffered accidents and mishaps and it keeps going and going. in fact i'm going to refurbish it to squeeze some xtra life out of it.

consumer laptops-- cracked lids is problem #1. overheating. short battery life. crummy all around. heavy, too.

so it's not about the "bargain" but about the good value of quality hardware, protecting your data, and enjoying good productivity at work.

oh, the X series machines have a tiny screen (12"), but you can carry them around like a waffle, and if you have a desktop you can plug an external monitor (like i'm doing right now) or 2!! with the matrox dualhead2go

http://images.digitalmedianet.com/20...display400.jpg

now if you just want it for writing/email/etc you can find a used/refurbished model and live happy for less.

my x30 i bought on an official ibm auction off ebay-- it was the previous year's model, cost me $1000---that's about $300 per year, or $25 a month, for this sweetness of a machine i've been abusing day in & day out. i mean-- carried in a bike bag, a portfolio, dump under the car seat, flung over the bed, you name it, it has endured it.

im planning to go all the way with my next purchase though, top of the line stuff FTW. it will be $$ but it's for work so i can justify the expense.