suggest a company to build me a custom laptop

[Pythagorean]

Hi All,

Although my job is supposed to be providing me with a laptop for travel, because of continued problems with their HP Pavillion dv2000, I have decided to buy my own.

I have always bought custom desktop computers and started researching companies that will insert your hardware choices into a barebones system. I found AVA Direct and Pro-star as well as a couple of others, but am worried about some negative reviews I found floating around the internet. I was wondering if you could suggest a reputable online company that offers clevo barebones notebooks for customization.

Here is the setup I was considering:

CUSTOM NOTEBOOK, Clevo M722T Core™2 Ultraportable Notebook, 12.1" WXGA TFT Glossy LCD, Integrated Intel® GMA X4500HD Graphics $1013.08 $1013.08
CLEVO, M722T/XG Notebook Barebone, Socket P, Intel® GM45, 12.1" WXGA TFT Glossy, DVD±RW SM, WiFi, Integrated Intel® X4500HD Graphics
INTEL, Core™ 2 Duo P8400 2.26GHz Processor, 1066MHz FSB, 3MB L2 cache, 25.0W, 45nm, Retail
ARCTIC COOLING, MX-2 High-Performance Thermal Compound, Non-Electrical Conductive
OCZ, 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 800MHz SDRAM SODIMM, CL5 (5-5-5-15), Non-ECC
SEAGATE, 200GB Momentus 7200.2, 7200 RPM, 16MB cache, 2.5-Inch, SATA 3 Gb/s, w/ G-Force Protection, OEM
OPTICAL DRIVE, Super-Multi DVD±RW Optical Drive (Built-in)
NETWORK, Built-in 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet LAN Card
INTEL, Wireless WiFi Link 5300, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/Draft N, 11/54/450 Mbps, Internal PCIe Mini Card
MODEM, 56K V90/92 Fax/Modem (Integrated)
NOTEBOOK ACCESSORIES, AC Adapter 100/240V (Included)
ACCESSORY, Built-in Fingerprint Reader (Included)
MICROSOFT, Windows XP Home Edition w/ SP3, OEM
WARRANTY, Standard 1 Year Warranty for Clevo Notebooks

$1013.08

Thanks for your feedback,
Susie

[jdeb]

i know a re branded sager is a fine unit when tweaked and all but why do you really think you need this? I think Lenovo's quality is very good or excellent and they may not take the "fit and finish" as serious... so my question is, what is your benefit from choosing a re branded unit or "I got to have a Clevo?" I am not sold on the rebranded track, if it is good hardware, it is good hardware. if you can make the hardware better than so be it. excellence in detail has value but at the end of the day it may not make the hardware perform any better.

Unfortunately the term "buy a dell" doesn't apply to by a IBM / Lenovo laptop.

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...8E19B36EC665A7

[glc]

I would beg to differ - Dell's new "E" series Latitude business laptops are every bit as good as Lenovo.

[Pythagorean]

Originally Posted by jdeb i know a re branded sager is a fine unit when tweaked and all but why do you really think you need this? I think Lenovo's quality is very good or excellent and they may not take the "fit and finish" as serious... so my question is, what is your benefit from choosing a re branded unit or "I got to have a Clevo?" I am not sold on the rebranded track, if it is good hardware, it is good hardware. if you can make the hardware better than so be it. excellence in detail has value but at the end of the day it may not make the hardware perform any better. Unfortunately the term "buy a dell" doesn't apply to by a IBM / Lenovo laptop. http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...8E19B36EC665A7

I do not have to have a clevo, but after having bad experiences with 2 "off the shelf" computers I am not really interested in Dell or Lenovo. I have had 2 custom desktop PCs which I have been extremely happy with, therefore, I am inclined to buy something that I have some control over what components are put in it. I don't want bloatware either.

It must be light, I travel constantly: 4.5lbs or less. I want the fastest processor I can get for $1000 or less. I run a unix platform on windows and it doesn't take much to get bogged down. After looking at a couple of MSI laptops, I decided the clevos offered a longer trackrecord of quality and bang for your buck.

Its been very difficult to narrow my choices down to clevo, i'm open to other suggestions but I have already done quite a bit of research on brands/models. So, unless you know of the best kept secret in laptops...

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by glc I would beg to differ - Dell's new "E" series Latitude business laptops are every bit as good as Lenovo.

I agree, "it ain't a dell" was a pretentious marketing strategy launched by dell. I was being facetious that clevo was the only quality brand or re brand I should say. see the analogy? You did... to disagree and that was my clever point or should I say clevo point?

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by Pythagorean I do not have to have a clevo, but after having bad experiences with 2 "off the shelf" computers I am not really interested in Dell or Lenovo. I have had 2 custom desktop PCs which I have been extremely happy with, therefore, I am inclined to buy something that I have some control over what components are put in it. I don't want bloatware either. It must be light, I travel constantly: 4.5lbs or less. I want the fastest processor I can get for $1000 or less. I run a unix platform on windows and it doesn't take much to get bogged down. After looking at a couple of MSI laptops, I decided the clevos offered a longer trackrecord of quality and bang for your buck. Its been very difficult to narrow my choices down to clevo, i'm open to other suggestions but I have already done quite a bit of research on brands/models. So, unless you know of the best kept secret in laptops...

You seem to have made your decision. I have no problem with your choice. Was your off the shelf a Dell or Lenevo?

[Pythagorean]

Originally Posted by jdeb You seem to have made your decision. I have no problem with your choice. Was your off the shelf a Dell or Lenevo?

no, but I just looked at some Lenovos, for $1000 you don't get nearly as much in processor speed, ram or hard drive size.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by Pythagorean no, but I just looked at some Lenovos, for $1000 you don't get nearly as much in processor speed, ram or hard drive size.

well custom built with your specs from Lenevo for a t500 puts you at 1200.00 with them, I guess you win.

[Pythagorean]

Originally Posted by jdeb well custom built with your specs from Lenevo for a t500 puts you at 1200.00 with them, I guess you win.

I'm not trying to 'win', if you read my thread question it 'is who is a reputable online company from which I can buy a custom laptop', not 'what laptop should I buy'.

Thanks for your input.

[glc]

http://www.powernotebooks.com/index.php3

Nothing but good things are said about these people.