Trying to buy a Laptop

Hi,

 

I am looking for some advice.

 

I am in the process of purchasing a laptop and trying to decide which one suits me best. I have planned to purchase a Dell.

 

Firstly I will describe my requirements. I am a college student who needs a laptop for wireless internet access, word processing, sql server, PowerPoint presentations, spreadsheets, email and a lot of project work. I also do some web design on the side, primarily .NET so will probably be using Visual studio. I would like the laptop to help me in final year and also be set up correctly for when I enter the business world.

 

Some personal wishes (hopes) include lightweight, powerful (Pentium or centrino processor), medium to large sized screens, fast, medium sized storage (30 – 40MB +), Bluetooth enabled, XP Professional, DVD rewriter, USB 2.0 etc.

 

 I understand that I will have to perform a trade-off in my requirements but was hoping to get as many as possible in my laptop.

 

I was looking at the latitude and inspiron series and have wondered the benefits of each.

 

Also what is the norm widescreen or other and what does the future hold? A major issue I have is that my laptop would be future compatible and be aimed for the future and be able to adapt with changes in technology.

 

Could somebody give me a hand choosing a laptop or advice on what I should look out for, and which Dell may complement my needs best. I would appreciate it a great deal.

 

Thanks,

Niall

Remember for SQL Server it's recommended you have 1gig of ram.

well i have ran sql server on 256MB ram and it did fine with database enough to serve my purpose for next 10 years

I have the D810 here at work and am very happy with it. I opted for the better screen, 1GB of RAM and the 80GB Hard Drive.The screen can run 1920x1200 which makes text pretty small but great for graphics, dvd watching etc. Overall I think this laptop beats the xpgen because of the price. The software that comes with it is crap so if you don't have nero or so to burn cd's buy it seperately. On my 9-block battery it runs a true 4:20 without DVD usage and about 2:20 when I watch a movie on battery.