for acer, their latest 'folio' design is really eye candy, especially the TM 3200 model. The curve is very nice. spec consider reasonable for business or even IT students. It has ATI M11 onboard with centrino 715 n 60gb hdd however it cost 5.9k

for normal use, AS 1681wlci would b the best choice. at 5.3k u get roughly the same spec as the 3200 but with a larger casing due to the larger screen.

if under budget, TM4001 series will b the best.. as recommended by a fren, get 4001LCI_M11P coz the normal 4001 comes with intel extreme graphic whereas the M11P comes with ATI M11(mobile rad 9700). this all at the price of 4.8k

considering the paper spec, acer models seems to hv a better balance of price n wat u get. there're other brands which offers slightly more at about 100 or 200 more, but... the built quality n brand-name confidence is another issue.

r u sure?!!
any links to confirm it?
wat about pricing?
is it the same as Acer's RRP?

most lappie that has 15.4" screen will b 3kg....
so far, budget range under 5k will land u with an acer.... it somehow has the best price n components...
weight... as with most sub 5k that is 15.4", expect to lug around +-4kg with the power adapters, mouse n some of ur tid-bits....

nec...no doubt has quite a quality assurance... but, the spec is not that appealing... that is on top of their conventionally high price...

twin head... heh heh... so far i only seen girls using the 12.1" model... in terms of speed... it's slow... dont know y even when compared with a similarly equipped compaq x1000 series.

asus.... the l4r is below 5k, b4 the upgrade of an extra 512 stick... u hv to add another 512 since the onboard 9100igp can suck up 128mb max... however, if talking about small size, 12.1".. asus's 12.1" model looks great..especially the casing is alloy..if not mistaken...

other chapalang... hmm... this is quite a subjective question... i feel those r quite flimsy... try examine their keyboard n the casing built...

this is an ACER specific issue:
due to acer's international travellers warranty (ITW);s limitation, only buyers who buy in the residing country will be eligible to claim for ITW at a foreign country. a foreigner buy an acer laptop at the foreign country will end up with a dead ITW when back in home country.

i got to know this when exchanging idea on a notebook forum. this is confimed by acer AUS n US... not sure about malaysia.

i feel, better wait n get the laptop at pc fair(book at least coz u dont hv to bring the 'brick' of money n make a purchase there)... they might take away something, but they give a reasonable price rebate/discount that let's u buy more stuff than wat u can get with the same amount of money now. just wait n c wat they will throw inside. forget about 'free' thumbdrives n mice unless u really need them... they should b able to give u another 1 or 200 discount in case u dont want those offer.
moreover, if not mistaken, acer will roll out their new ePowermanagement at roughly that time.. they might take it as a product highlight to compete with asus's powergear. looking at the trend of laptop hdd going to break the 40gb tradition, there's a possibility u might get an upgrade to 60gb at the same price. the RAM.. u can get it at quite a low price off czone... no worry...
thumb drive? get else where... cheaper...
conclusion... research more n find the lappy that u live the most...

i feel laptop is only for those who need processing power on the run, need to do fairly much graphical presentation+want to save setting up time doing presentation on the go. no way u can recreate the intense graphical workaholic from such a small object.

buying laptop i feel, is fitting ur budget with what u need it to do for u. if u need it for fun and gaming, get alienware/acer amd64 series that makes sure u nvr leave ur adapter at home.
if u need long battery time, get those 12" n set everything to run slow n hopefully u will squeeze approx. 7 hours on certain laptops such as sony.
if u need a balance in everything, the norm, 15.4" rad9700 acers r pretty good buy. if u r bias against acer, get hp/compaq or dell, which sells for roughly 500 to 1000 more expensive at roughly the same spec. however, on a laptop, a 9200 n 9700 doesnt show much difference coz ur FPS game will still be lagging since the constrains is at the snail hdd spinning at 4200rpm... cant really get the speed of a 7.2k monster..

btw, 15.4", u cant avoid 3kg... nothing is light... even if it's 2.something kg... u will need to carry the adapters in case u need to use it for more than 2 hours... or some say, 4 hours on certain laptops...

i owns an acer 1681.. so far satisfy with the speed it provides. i nvr used a p4 b4.. so far only hv a 1.4G AMD t-bird. speed is identical to my desktop. at certain times, the lappy is even a bit faster/smoother.

if u go by paper, pentium m or the so-called centrino processors, they r actually faster when compared to P4 at speed about 1 time faster than the pentium m. (check at tomshardware's review)

if ur constraint is at budget, get amd athlon at price less than 3900, including necessary upgrade such as upgrading ur RAM to 512mb at least.
if ur constraint is at size/weight, dont ask n dont look further, get 12" ONLY n dont forget transmeta...
if ur constraint is speed.. forget it... laptop is not for u.. get a desktop instead.. or... SFF may b...
if u hv a little bit of patience, a little bit of strength to carry 3kg, a little bit of budget... get a laptop...
if u r clumsy n expect to drop ur laptop, get ibm (since they claim they hv the best shock proof system)... or those military class...
brand? it's just a matter of luck n preference... nothing wont fail...
even myself.. i consider unlucky since the first unit i get has a dead pixel.. but exchanged... (touch wood) hopefully my lappy wont fail me n will work with me for the coming years...

p/s: no doubt, acer lappy is a bit on the plasticky side.. but considering it's price... u got to accept it... if not, where does the money to cover ur dothan 1.5 n rad 9700+15.4" 1280x800 comes? somemore a laptop is a fragile thing...it's difference from trashing ur desktop... i like nice, shinny alloy covers too.. but at a price that i dont hv the luxury to spend...

guess wat...
b4 i started on wide screen.. i hv the same opinion..
but after i got used to it... looking at normal screen seems weird... the horizontal view space seems "not enough"...

if i remember correctly, there's a thread in Gamers Hideout which provides a link to some sites to get fix/work-around for playing games under wide screen....

wide screen is fun... the horizontal view space is wide n that saves u a few line to scroll..

though, i hvnt done any programming, screen design especially, on wide screen yet... not sure if the output will be weird...
normal applications might feels a bit "weird" if u r picky about extra space around the usuall type area in Microsoft Word, for example. Lowyat.net seems a bit wide as well... haha....

but... all depends on personal preference... nvr know if u didnt try...

built in graphic n plastic case, screen a bit smaller(very small n might not b visible when compared to nx7010)...
but no doubt is good looking.. at least better than nx7010.....

oops... sorry...misguided u...
the small i meant was very small difference... comparing a 15.4" wide n a 14" wide (if i read the spec correctly)...

the built in graphic i meant is Intel Extreme... i m not sure how much does this new 2000 series sells for... but the 15.4", rad 9200 counterpart, nx7010 is selling for around RM5300... as far as the spec sheet shows... there isn't option for u to customize the graphic controller.
slight price difference... but i do strongly agrees... the 2000 that u set ur eyes is more good looking...

edit:slight info..

This post has been edited by xenothrix: Oct 31 2004, 04:10 PM

which model?
normally, 256mb is just right to run Windows XP alone.. let alone the extra features in SP2 like the new built in firewall and stuff that requires extra memory. I was told that it's best for laptop to get more ram to reduce disk access n pull down loading speed.

If u dont intend to run graphic intensive applications like playing full 3d games, then it's not that good... add another 512mb ram n u will wont regret coz (512+256)-64, u still hv plenty of ram left.