Help me buy a notebook!

I need a laptop, primarily for Quickbooks entries. As I was starting my online research into which laptop to buy, it suddenly occurred to me that I hang out with a bunch of computer geeks in SL who could save me a lot of time! LOL

I do NOT want this computer to be high-end because I'd never get my work done--I'd find some excuse to log on.

I would, however, like a large screen and a user-friendly keyboard (if there is such a thing on a notebook).

That's it. That's about all the requirements I have.

Any suggestions anybody?

Maggie

last laptop i bought was a refurbished one from dell. been pretty damn happy with it.
dell refurbishment place since it can be a pain to find heh go figure, they want you to buy a new system

Agrees with Nada.

I have a two or so year old Compaq Armada M700, with a pentium 3 and a new Toshiba P25, and I absolutely love that Armada. It is a trusty, sturdy, loyal little machine with a battery that lasts a good long time. The screen is plenty big and with a mouse the keyboard is great. I mainly replaced it because I couldn't upgrade it to SL standard video specs. I see them all the time on Ebay going in the range of $275US. The Toshiba...well I'm learning to live with it.

hmmmm....somebody else told me they really loved their Armada.

I played with a friend's Dell Inspiron (sp?) yesterday and found the keyboard a little uncomfortable. But I'm not sure there IS a laptop with a comfortable keyboard.

Thanks for the input.

Maggie

Other people have commented on the actual specs of the machine, but I'll comment on the user side.

I've got an IBM T-21 with Win98SE. Big screen, lightweight. Love it. The only problem is that I *hate* the little joystick thing in the middle, as my previous laptop was a Dell Inspiron 7K (hello brick desktop replacement) and had a trackpad. I've had the thing for about 3 years, and haven't had any serious problems with it at all. Given this track record, I suspect that the most up to date IBM T-series model would probably work well. However, battery life is a little wonky -- 1 4 hour plane ride with my laptop in tow means that even using a minimal battery demand results in about 10% of juice left at the end.

My current work laptop is a Dell Latitude C60 with XP Pro, which has both the joystick thing and a trackpad. If you do get a Dell with a trackpad, I highly suggest downloading the ... uh, I think it was Syntaptic touchpad... drivers. They let you scroll using an edge of the trackpad. That was one of the best bennies of the input method for me. Otherwise I bought a notebook size mouse. The Latitude is a tetch heavier than my home laptop, with a slightly smaller screen. Battery performance is weaker, as well.

Anyway, I haven't mentioned exact specs here as you can easily find the specs of the most current model on the mfr's websites. Both series are good choices, I think. Good luck!

I bought a Dell Inspiron refurbished almost a year ago... and absolutely love it! Every refurbished package is different... mine came with an extra battery, some additional software, a carrying case, and a few other goodies... and is exactly what I wanted for less than what I would have paid.

I did have a problem with my CDR not working... but the customer support helped me out and I was able to get a replacement. They told me it probably broke when shipping. *shrug*

The plastic on the cover where the screen connects to the monitor has a few hairline fractures I picked up from somewhere (either heavy use or something I did, not sure)... but besides that it works great.