I need to buy a laptop today/tomorrow because mine has just died.

Requirements:
- 3 year warranty (essential)
- Sturdy, thin and light (will be carried around in a backpack 3-4 days a week)
- Screen: wide/non doesnt matter; no bigger than about 14"; higher res is better
- T7100 Core 2 Duo at least (pref. T7300)
- 2GB RAM or 1GB with a spare slot
- Vista Business or XP Pro

Budget:
about £800 ex VAT

All suggestions welcome!

I quite like this Sony Vaio CR but its £877 ex VAT once you add on the warranty extension plus its only T7100 and I would prefer a higher res screen.

The rightmost of these Dell Latitude D630 configurations meets my requirements perfectly but Ive used these models before and Im not too fond of the look or feel...

We use the D630s at work, just about to order two more and theyre very good. Obviously Dells warranty service is pretty darn good.

Have to admit I do like the look of the Sony, although Im not sure on the quality of their servicing department.

The last laptop I bought for myself was an IBM and in my mind they have the best support Ive experienced not to mention the best designed notebook (T-series), although they tend to cost more. Yes Lenovos taken over, although the quality of the support is still good.

Id go for the Sony just to see what theyre like. I dont get the IBM love at all, theyre reliable as feck but the touchpad is horrible and the keys fly off the kb if you type too fast. They look really 80s too.

Dell are ok but I dont like the colour.

Id also be serously tempted to take a look at HP at that price range

The thing that stands out about the Dell is that it comes with a 3-year next business day on-site warranty as standard whereas most others are only 1 year and usually collect and return too rather than on-site.

I think Ill end up going with it for that reason.

Quote from: RobThe thing that stands out about the Dell is that it comes with a 3-year next business day on-site warranty as standard whereas most others are only 1 year and usually collect and return too rather than on-site.

I think Ill end up going with it for that reason.

Yea value for money in terms of spec and warranty the Dell is hard to beat.

Id have little hesitation going for the dell.  Very good bits of kit, study, well made, light and very rarely loaded with any junk software.

If you want battery life and portability, Id recommend the D420.  It is  fantastic bit of kit, 12" Widescreen 1,280 x 800, Bluetooth, Wifi etc.  Ive honestly never been impressed by a laptop so much before.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/notebooks/review/2006/09/01/Dell-Latitude-D420-HSDPA-Notebook/p1

//Edit, looks like its now the 430???

Yeah, D430 is nice enough but two things put me off: the lack of an internal optical drive and the lower screen resolution (compared to D630 1440x900).

Plus I am happy enough carrying around an extra 2" of screen for the better spec.

Ive ordered the D630 now.

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7300 (2.0GHz/4MB/800MHz)
nVidia Quadro NVS 135M
Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN for Core 2 Duo processors
14.1 WXGA+ (1440 X 900 resolution) Wide Aspect Ratio display
2.0GB, 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM Memory (2 x 1024MB)
160GB serial ATA HDD 7200RPM
8x DVD+/- RW Drive
3Y NBD International (Next Business Day) On-site Warranty

£799 + VAT

And I got free delivery by phoning up