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In the Market for a New Computer

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mberan42:
(Cross posted a few places - I want the most advice possible.)

So I need a new computer. I want a laptop.

Here's what I'm thinking of getting. Any advice on it would be appreciated:

Sony Vaio - VGN-AR370
[*]17" WXGA+ display with XBRITE-HiColor Technology and NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 GPU
[*]120GB SATA Hard Disk Drive
[*]Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5600 (1.83GHz)
[o]     Should I up to the 2.0GHz for $100?
[*]2 GB DDR-SDRAM (DDR2-667, 1 GBx2)
[*]DVD+-R Double Layer/DVD+-RW Drive
[*]Wireless LAN 802.11 a/b/g with Bluetooth Technology
[*]Microsoft Windows Vista Business
[*]Microsoft Office Small Business Edition 2007
[o]     Is upgrading to Professional to get MS Access worth the extra $125? I don't know if I'd need it, though.
[*]Norton Internet Security 2007 (2 Yr)
[*]Standard Li-Ion battery
[o]     Should I upgrade to the Large Capacity for $100? Should I get a 2nd battery?
[*]2 Year Express Ship Service Plan for Notebooks
[o]     Should I get anything else? This one is standard.
[*]Price as configured: $2,529.98. Financing as low as $74 a month; no interest, no payments for 12 months.

What do you think? A comparably-equipped 15.3" Vaio is only $340 cheaper. I'd much prefer to have a 17", so I'll pay the extra.

Any other brand you think I should check out? I won't buy a Mac - the 17" MacBook Pro is $2,800.

My desktop is really starting to die on me, and I don't know why... It randomly shuts down when it's almost finished loading XP. Last night was something new, though - rather than shutting down, it kept resetting. It must've reset 6 or 7 times on its own before I finally turned the damn thing off.

So, I'm thinking about buying this sooner rather than later. If I can get a good finance plan on it, I'm thinking about buying it by the end of next week.

Melodic:
I'm not very knowledgable with laptops, but I'd advise upgrading to the 2.0ghz, and staying the hell away from Vista. That is all.

Will:
The only question I can really give any input on really is the battery question, and as far as should you go for a second battery or a large capacity battery, depends on how you plan to use it.  I use my laptop primarily at home, and it's plugged in roughly 80% of the time.  I have a battery life of around 3 hours give or take (standard HP 6-cell lithium) but for my purposes that's almost always enough.  If you're going to be travelling with it a lot, or using it on the go where you rely on the battery heavily, I'd say go for it; if you're going to use your notebook more as a replacement for a desktop system, then that's probably just an extra expense that you could avoid.

mberan42:
Yeah, I suppose I should've mentioned the primary uses for it: typing papers for Grad School, surfing the interwebs and that's about it. It's not going to be a gaming machine at all, except for Solitaire and maybe Civ IV.

I'll be using it at home, in class, in the library and in coffee shops (in order of most-to-less usage), all of which have outlets readily available.

Anyone have a Vaio? Comments on it? Any other brand recommendations?

Catfish_Man:
Boooooooooooooo Sony.

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