[geeks] Best laptop for $3K max

[Joshua Boyd]

On Wed, Oct 31, 2007 at 02:44:20AM -0800, Francois Dion wrote:
> On 10/30/07, John Francini <francini at mac.com> wrote:
> > Don't buy your memory from Apple -- they always overcharge for it.
> > Good-quality 3rd party memory is less than half what Apple charges.
> >
> > And even though the laptop comes with a 1440x900 screen
> 
> Current laptop has 1440x1050 and back then was available in 1600x1200,
> but I thought that would have been too small and I didn't need the
> screen real estate. I was wrong, hence almost 3 years later, I'm
> looking for a new laptop (plus I need more memory and fast 64 bit
> support). I really need a minimum of 1600x1200 and I have a feeling
> that if I dont go for 1920 I will regret it.

I had a Thinkpad with 1400x1050, and I never felt that it was a
particularly useful upgrade over 1280x1024.

I sometimes use at work a Dell laptop with a 1600x1200 15" display, and
I feel that it definately isn't too small.

I'm suprised at how comfortable 1600x1050 has been turning out to be,
especially on OS X.

I wish that 1600x1200 LCD displays were more affordable, but OTOH,
1920x1200 is rapidly coming down in price, so maybe those will be
affordable to me in another year or so.
 
I've never seen 1920x1200 in a 15" LCD display.  That is finally a
resolution/screen size that will make me wonder if it is too small.  Not
that I'd rule it out until I see it.

> I've heard that you _can_ get 1600x1200 on a 15" macbook pro, is that
> true? what is the secret handshake option on apple's web site?

Since it is a wide screen laptop, that would be a rather strange
resolution to use.  A 15" MacBook Pro with 1600x1050 would certainly be
a nice option though.