What Should I Buy?

[witness]

My son is graduating from Navy boot camp soon and we want to get him a laptop. We have been looking around, but I'd like to get some recommendations on what to get. He is the typical 20 year old, online playing games and online all night long, at least while he was at home. We were thinking about getting something with wireless internet. I could say more, but I'd just like to see what kind of stuff ya'll would recommend. Keep it below $2000. Preferably, around $1500.

Thanks,
DD

[glc]

A Dell Inspiron E1705 with the GeForce Go 7800 upgrade would easily fall into that price range.

[kilgoretrout]

You can get any number of extremely nice laptops in that price range. It hard to make a recommendation without knowing more about the end user's requirements. There is usually a tradeoff between portability(size/weight) and capability. On the heavy end, there are desktop replacement laptops which have the capabilities of a high end gaming PC but they are pretty heavy, have a short battery time and are really not practical for carrying around with you to a coffe shop, ect. On the light end, there are some very slim, lightweight laptops with longer battery time that are designed for those on the go but have less capability re gaming and some other features. Then there is everything in between. I think the easiest way to go about this is to ask your son what he would like. Since you mention that he is an avid computer user, he probably has some definite ideas on the subject.

[juicelooser]

If you end up going with glc's suggestion, or any Dell for that matter--search around for coupons--I've seen a few recently as high as $750 off a $1999 laptop.

[thefultonhow]

Keep in mind that the E1705 is a 17" widescreen -- pretty big and not ideal for mobility. If you want a smaller laptop, Acer has several good 15.4" options at around $1500, and one very good one at a bit above $2000. But you won't get any higher power than an Inspiron E1705 with the Go 7800 in your price range.

With that said, the Go 7800 is an option and not standard -- make sure you select it when ordering. Other noteworthy options include the WUXGA screen upgrade if your son has good eyes, more RAM (1 GB or 2 GB) and a bigger hard drive. A CompleteCare warranty can also be a very good investment.

[glc]

1 gb ram is the standard offering on the E1705 right now the way I got into the configurator. Dell's configurator can be strange, depending on exactly how you dig in.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...E1705SP1&s=dhs

Base price $999. Go option brings it to $1228.