<p>OK, I'm looking for a computer and I'm looking for the following"</p>
<p>-Built by a reputable company known for high quality hardware(Levono, Toshiba, HP, etc.,)
- At least 4 hours of battery life, but preferably over 5
- Intel Duo Core 2 processor (the regular Duo Core works too though)
-1GB or RAM
- 80+ GB Hard drive (fast hard drive preferably)
- Built in microphone and webcam
- Built in Bluetooth
- Least amount of crapware possible
- Nice sturdy feeling
- Well lit LCD Monitor
- comfortable and responsive keyboard
- No more than 5.5 lbs
- No larger than 15.3", but preferably 13 -14.1
- Good, receptive WiFi
- Comes with Windows XP (Can come with Vista...I guess, or if it's a Mac, this doesn't apply)
- No more than $1300</p>
<p>Right now I'm looking at the HP Pavilion dv2000t, Dell Latitude D630, Dell Inspiron 1420, and maybe the Lenovo ThinkPad R61( I can't find any ThinkPads in my price range but I know they exist!). Yes, there's lots of Dells there...</p>
<p>Anyway, anyone have any comments about my current selection or suggestions for computers I might want to consider?</p>
<p>inspiron doesn't have the build quality you're looking for.</p>
<p>from what gather, the dv2000 won't give you the battery life unless you get a 12-cell, which sticks out at the bottom. the 9-cell on the latitude (5-6 hrs) will stick out the front.</p>
<p>Alchemy, I've got the Dell Inspiron 1501 and the 9 cell battery. It sticks out the bottom a little, but it's so minor that it's not an issue whatsoever. I can get 5.5 hours I think..</p>
<p>Mine has these specs..</p>
<p>15.4" screen (so a little more than what you want)
AMD Turion 64 bit X2 Dual-core Processor (I believe it's similar to Intel Duo Core 2???)
1GB RAM
Windows Vista Home Basic
80GB Hard drive
Everything seems to be pretty sturdy and the keyboard is pretty good. WIFI seems to be good too for me. It doesn't have the microphone or the webcam, but you could pick those up rather cheap. My parents just picked up the same exact thing as what I've got except they got the 2GB of RAM while I went with a little more warranty. Mine was $899 while theirs was $817. Two months time difference.</p>
<p>^ why is a mac your last resort? just wondering</p>
<p>i dunno how your friend uses it on battery, but i think you could get 5+ hours if you were to use minimum brightness, unplug all peripherals/input devices and turn off all internal devices you aren't using (card readers, bluetooth, wifi, etc), and do something that requires little or no use of the processor or hard drive. solitaire, maybe. otherwise, expect 4 hours of continuous use.</p>
<p>also, do note that macbooks aren't as well-built as macbook pros or the better business laptops (thinkpad, latitude). they can't be beat at that price point though...barring Dell's prodigious number of discounts. keep in mind that if you ever intend to use customer service or tech support, don't count on Dell.</p>
<p>vostros presumably have as good a build quality as latitudes -- they're both business-oriented laptops, after all. i've never seen or handled one, though.</p>
<p>I wrote what is below before this. Here's my short answer: I don't think you'll find what you are looking for at the price you willing to pay. </p>
<h2>more useful stuff</h2>
<p>Lenovo sounds like a good fit to me. I like the X61 series, but the screen would be too small for you. </p>
<p>T61 looks decent enough. Only issue is battery life which is signifcantly lower than you wish even and just meets standards with the 6-cell battery which will stick out. X61 would fit perfectly except for the screen/keyboard...</p>
<p>T61 has a 14 inch screen and you can certainly put together a computer with almost all the specs that you want (including the 7200rpm hd and a 6cell battery) for under $1300. I'm not sure if it would have an integrated microphone, but it would have a camera--not sure if it this is web or not. However, you're much better off just buying something separate in my opinion. Integrated stuff is usually crap. Everything else you listed was included in that price. </p>
<p>I would highly recommend shelling out the extra $389 for 3-year on-site next day service/protection plan. It's been totally worth it in my experience with laptops. I was able to put together your system with this plan for ~1,540.</p>
<p>the R61 looks good, just comes with lots of useless applications, which you don't want. other than that, you can build one with or without a dedicated gfx card for under $1300 with a 6-cell battery. it has vertical USB ports though, some people find that a nuisance.</p>
<p>Dell just has crap customer service. other than that, it's a decent company.</p>
<p>vostros only come with Vista...if you can live with that, though, it looks like a good deal.</p>
<p>Lenovo often have discounts. You can probably get a t61 for $1300 with those specs you are looking for. However you are slightly late in the ball game if you are going to order straight from Lenovo since they are overbooked and it takes a month or more to ship. Anyway Ebay is an option.</p>
<p>I just got a Latitude D630 and so far it has been great. With the 6 cell battery that is standard you get about 4.5 hours of battery life, but you can order a 9 cell instead that gives about 6 hours (it does stick out the front of the laptop a bit though). Everything else about it is perfect: not too large or small, speakers that are decent, quality screen, and the internal components are fine for what I want to do with it.</p>
<p>I'd look around at various reviews for the models you're looking at, just google the model and you'll have some without an issue.</p>
<p>I have a Dell Inspiron E1505 with the 9-cell battery, and get ~5 hours per charge. 15.4", 1GB of RAM, could get a bigger harddrive (this has 60). I don't know why there's so much anti-Dell sentiment around, in terms of build quality. I've never dealt with their customer service (never had to), but I haven't had any build quality issues. Feels sturdy enough to me.</p>
<p>scorched, i haven't figured that one out myself. Everybody is a Dell hater it seems. In my immediate family we've got 4 Dells and a 5th on the way. All laptops. We had one problem with my sister's LCD screen went bad after about 2 years. That was a little bit of a pain, but she no longer had a warranty on it and then the shipping part was a pain. I'm not sure that the shipping was Dell's issue. Otherwise we've been extremely happy with Dell notebooks. That's why I just bought the 1501 in June for college and my parents just ordered one last week for home.</p>
<p>I feel like everyone's heard something bad about some computer, and of course no manufacturer's perfect. However, it seems just irresponsible of people to go around saying "Dells are shoddily made...HPs aren't as good as Toshiba...blah blah."</p>
<p>The truth is, every laptop manufacturer can produce a good product, and it's very much a question of personal preference, and aesthetics. The brand, in the end, has very little to do with the final product.</p>
<p>Very true. I think a lot of the actual computer parts inside are all the same!! It's just some companies give you a better deal by combining certain things.</p>
<p>The big key is finding the computer that is right for the individual user.</p>