Choosing a laptop

Buying computer equipment is an essential part of starting a new business. PC Magazine recently published an article on the type of equipment a small business will need to start out (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2130280,00.asp) that has a lot of good tips when choosing servers, desktops, and laptops.

When it was time to replace my 2 year old and beloved Dell 700m, I initially looked for the upgrade model: the Dell XPS M1210. This highly portable laptop boasted performance (Core 2 Duo processor) and entertainment (integrated webcam). I purchased my 700m two years ago from the Dell Outlet website, which sells refurbished, canceled orders, and scratch & dent equipment. My 700m was a refurbished laptop and the only problem I had in the two years I owned it was a malfunctioning DVD/CDRW drive. Luckily it failed right before my 1 year limited warranty expired. This was enough for me to trust another refurbished laptop.

Unfortunately this process was not as easy as I thought it would be. The Dell outlet website contains a shifting stock of inventory. You have 15 minutes to purchase the item after you’ve added it to your shopping cart. I required a DVD-RW drive for the new laptop (the inability to burn DVDs in the 700m was an annoyance), but there never seemed to be any good deals when I searched for M1210’s with DVD-RW drives.

I ultimately became frustrated with trying to find a good deal on a refurbished Dell laptop. After a few days of searching, comparing, and reading reviews, I ended up buying an HP Pavilion TX1110US from my local CompUSA. I paid $1199 , but it came with a $50 mail-in rebate. The laptop is a 12.1”, 4.18lb, AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual Core Mobile Technology 1.6 Ghz power horse. Oh, and a DVD-RW w/LightScribe technology :). The screen swivels 180 degrees, but it is not a touch screen like the higher model, TX1120US. It came with Windows Vista Home Premium preloaded, which was my first experience with Vista after briefly messing with a beta version last year. Here’s a good review from NotebookReview.com: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3656.

I also went ahead and purchased the HP QuickDock port replicator for $149, which was essential to me because I use a monitor and countless USB peripherals in the office. However, the QuickDock does not come with its own power cord, which was very disappointing.

I’ve had the laptop for about 2 weeks. At first I was very disappointed with the performance. I blamed it on the 1GB of RAM, which I read on many pages was not advisable with Vista. I ended up breaking down and buying 2 1GB sticks of Crucial memory from NewEgg.com. Now I’ll have to find some time to sell on eBay the 2 sticks of 512 MB of memory I pulled out of the laptop. In hindsight I wish I would’ve gotten the higher model, which comes with 2 GB of memory PLUS a touch screen. As the NotebookReview.com reviewer found, the swivel screen is sort of useless without a touch screen.

Overall, I think it was a good purchase for the price. Unfortunately, just a few days after I bought it (and spent hours transferring my data from the old 700m), HP released a $150 rebate that I could not take advantage of!