Laptop purchasing help...

[|Zach|]

In the market for a laptap. I don't do any gaming but a lot of photo\video editing. Needs 5-1 card reader and firewire port. With two businesses that are driven by the internet and I can't only be tethered to a desktop. I would be using this machine a lot. Would love to be in $1k range but can go up to $1,500 or so. Getting a computer that will do a great job for me is more important than saving pennies. Weight or size isn't much of a factor. Looking for ease of connectivity...ability to input and manage rich media easily and ability to multitask (I am a bit of a browser tab monster) built in webcam is a plus but not a deal breaker.

Any ideas or good places to start seaching? I appreciate anyone's input.

[Talisman]

I unfortunately don't have any advice for you, Zach, but I'm interested to see what others have to say. I'm pretty much in the same boat - needing a laptop for photo and video editing, but not really for gaming. I bought my current laptop with gaming in mind and the thing weighs a ton and has terrible battery life. Now that I have a 360, I don't game as much on my laptop.

The laptop I have right now is turning 5 this year, and since computer years are somewhat like dog years, that's pretty ancient. Doing much of anything on it is a painful process and editing and rendering video projects is a joke.

I have been holding off on getting a new one and thought about waiting until Windows 7 is released (probably sometime between August and the end of the year). I heard that it is supposed to fix a lot of the problems Vista had and be a much better operating system.

In looking into everything, I have even considered a mac for the first time in my life - mainly due to stability and that I've heard they're great for photo and video editing. The price is a real drawback, though. I just can't bring myself to spend $2,500 on a macbook when the PC laptop sitting next to it has pretty much the same specs for half the price.

[Hammock Parties]

Get a Core 2 Duo.

Do not settle for a lesser dual core.

My personal recommendation if you want to go PC. This is a fucking beast and will last you a LONG time. The HDMI port is fucking AWESOME. I might trade in my laptop and get this because hooking my laptop up to a fucking HDTV with HDMI = AWESOME!

http://a-power.com/product-9100-0-1