In the next couple of months, im gonna be looking to buy a laptop. I will mainly use it at home. But, will use it at Freightliner to hook the diagnostic equipment up to trucks. I am wanting to stay under a thousand if at all possible. It doesnt have to be new. A used or refurbished notebook is fine. Would like to have at least 128mb of ram and 10gb of hard disk space, a 14'' monitor, 56k modem, CD-ROM, USB port, and at least a Pentium 3 or AMD equivelant. The software doesnt have to be pre loaded. <br><br>So, with that in mind, what brand would best suit my needs. I was thinking along the lines of a Dell, but am open to any and all options. What brands do I need to steer clear of?<br><br> Thanks in advance.<br> Monty

 

I am using an Acer TravelMate- I do like it. The Acer Aspire series had some problems with the display swivels. <br>I'd look for good wormanship and sturdy construction of the case. <br><br>AlpineRAM

 

Definately check out Dell go to www.techbargains.com and look over the daily specials they list for Dell. You can pick up some great discounts thru them on all kinds of electronics.<br> I don't have a Dell laptop, I just have seen the deals on them there. Payment plans look good too.

 

Try to find an old IBM lab top.Ive drop mine out the door of my KW ,thought it was gone but to my surprize it still worked.

 

We've had pretty good luck with Toshibas in the durability department. I know Panasonic makes some they call Toughbooks that are supposed to be quite well &quot;ruggedized&quot; but I'm pretty sure anything they make in that line that fits your specs is out of the price range.

 

Had good experiences with Toshiba too. BMW engine research dept. had lots of them. Good stuff, but $$$<br><br>AlpineRAM

 

Thanks for the input guys. I will keep you updated on what I come accross.

 

I've gone through about 4 Toshibas in the past few years. They're pretty good machine. I had some Tecra 8000's and a couple 8100's. (I beat mine to death). Under normal conditions, they would last a long time. I would recommend one if you can find them for a good price. I think some people are selling them for less than 1k now.

 

Okie, I have used a Dell Inspiron 5000e at work for the last couple of years. I take it home quite a bit and have never had any problems with it.<br><br>CR

 

Well, I went ahead and got one. ;D It is a Dell Inspiron 2650C . After the rebates, the total price came to $902.00. It should get here about Novevember 4th. Thanks guys for all of your input.