Laptop/Notebook

[Furball]

I am calling upon the help of you computer experts.  I need a laptop to take travelling with me, so ideally looking for something small, light and pretty high spec.

Was ideally thinking of a screen size of around 12" but doesn't really matter, DVD writer, big hard drive for storing films etc. and would be nice to have dedicated graphics, but not essential.

Looking to spend around $700 or so.

Can any of you recommend anything? Or tell me what to stick clear of?

Thanks in advance.

[Mojava]

 Have you checked out Newegg yet? http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=32&name=Laptops-Notebooks

[Furball]

Thanks for that.  Will check it out.  I am in England, but can get it delivered to a friend in the US - you get things much cheaper than us

[Nilsen]

Lenovo has a few interesting models in its Thinkpad range and you may also want to look at the new latitudes found on the Dell store. One of the best sites for us laptop junkies is http://www.notebookreview.com/

[indy007]

Newegg has always been solid for me. 90% of my components have come from there for over 5 years now. On time, no bad hardware, nothing to complain about.

I just picked up an HP Pavilion dv6000 special edition. It's pretty nice. The downside to buying a laptop nowadays is you're stuck getting a Vista license for the most part. The hardware performance gains don't really show up well on it

[Vulcan]

My current beast is an NEC S9100, luvly laptop, 12.1" screen ultaportable, quite sturdy, good features. Not sure what the RRP in the US is though.

[REP0MAN]

Newegg has always been solid for me. 90% of my components have come from there for over 5 years now. On time, no bad hardware, nothing to complain about.

I just picked up an HP Pavilion dv6000 special edition. It's pretty nice. The downside to buying a laptop nowadays is you're stuck getting a Vista license for the most part. The hardware performance gains don't really show up well on it

Dell is still selling XP on some models.....

Just sayin'

[68Wooley]

I am calling upon the help of you computer experts.  I need a laptop to take travelling with me...

When you say traveling, what do you have in mind? If you're doing anything adventurous, you might want to take a look at a Panasonic Toughbook.

Of the mainstream brands, I reckon Lenovo (nee. IBM) have the best build quality.

[Trell]

take a look at the dell models,   they have a 12 or 13 inch  xps that is really well made.

one of the most durable laptops i had was actualy a sony 13 inch   fell out of my backpack twice onto the pavement and got knocked off my desk at work and was still working. could not believe it.

[indy007]

Dell is still selling XP on some models.....

Just sayin'

If I ever owned a Dell that I didn't have to take a rubber coated mallet to, I might consider it