Recommendations for a laptop?

[Ajith Kallambella]

It will have an app server( JBoss or WebLogic), Eclipse, a MySQL database, RationalRose and a few office stuff. I don't particularly need a workhorse, but it should perform well. I'm willing to spend about 2 grands.

Any recommendations? Any advice on core dual processor version of ThinkPad ?

[Eric Pascarello]

Search the forum, been talked about many times before.

Eric

[Mark Spritzler]

I suggest a Sony. Also note that a Gateway, Dell, and HP are all built by the exact same company. So besides the name on the machine, they are identical.

Mark

[Ajith Kallambella]

Any particular model of Sony?

[Stan James]

Check the yellow pages for Gentlemen's Club. Pay $20 to $40.

[Mark Spritzler]

Originally posted by Stan James:
Check the yellow pages for Gentlemen's Club. Pay $20 to $40.

Or www.sonystyle.com

As far as model, it depends on what "features" you are looking for. I have the FS500 model, I bought a year ago, I customized it to what I wanted in the laptop, especially the Video Card, and Centrino chip whose number ended with a 0 and not a 5.

Some models are bigger and some smaller. I also suggest checking them out at the store, jsut to see what you like, then order online.

[Bert Bates]

powerbooks and macbooks rule! they come with an actual operating system!

[Ajith Kallambella]

Originally posted by Bert Bates:
powerbooks and macbooks rule! they come with an actual operating system!

Yes, I have heard that. But I am a prisoner of my own fear- of the Mac learning curve.

[paul wheaton]

The mac is mighty sexy and I would love to play with one, but .... my job is to integrate with a different PC world every few months. At this point, anything other than a thinkpad seems scary to me.

I would look at pcconnection and consider buying through ebay.

The thinkpad I am using today is almost two years old. Marilyn bought one just like mine for about $500 on ebay a month or two ago. 1400x1024 lcd, dvd, built in wireless.

[Ram Bhakt]

I bought Acer TM 8104 6 months ago from NewEgg for 1899$ (now it is selling a lot cheaper). I love it. Is has everything that I need for the right price. I liked Acer customer service as well.

Before buying it I had bought a Dell, which was a couple of 100$ cheaper ( it did not have all the features of Acer such as 5in1 card reader) but returned it within a week as I did not like several things. Most importantly, they use a non-standard keyboard layout which I was not able to adapt to.

BTW, Acer is (or probabaly already has ) coming out with 8200 series having dual core processor. For me Pentium M 760 is quite fast and it does feel faster than 750 (which is what the dell refered above had).

The only drawback with Acer is that the lid (back of the lcd screen) is not very sturdy/hard enough so it should be handled with more care.

Bottom line: if I were to buy a laptop again, I would buy Acer again.

[marc weber]

Originally posted by Ajith Kallambella:
...I am a prisoner of my own fear- of the Mac learning curve.

I was too. I literally spent years thinking of reasons that I couldn't switch to Mac. But within a couple weeks of buying one, I was asking myself: "What was I worried about? And why did I wait so long?"

[Bert Bates]

if i couldn't have a mac i'd have a thinkpad - my 8 year old, 266 mhz thinkpad is still chugging along nicely

[Sonny Gill]

Just in case you find this useful, some developers on the blogosphere are absolutely raving about the new Macbook Pro -

http://raibledesigns.com/page/rd?anchor=macbook_pro_kicking_ass_and
http://www.loudthinking.com/arc/000565.html
http://www.jroller.com/page/robwilliams?entry=eclipse_on_macbook_pro