Looking at new lappy in $800-$900 range. 15.4" no OS

[j_v_z]

First of all, every time i get looking at laptops im overwhelmed by the number of processors, different names, models etc. seems much more diverse than desktop processors. Anyway, i want a very solid cpu that will give me a solid 3 years before its a dinosaur, and hard drive space is not that important, and i am willing to manually install ram upgrades if it is cheaper to do so. Can anyone tell me what some of the best processors i can hope for would be when looking in this price range? core duo sounds solid, but what model? and what puts up similar bang for buck? i would prefere also to not pay for an OS as i have just purchased a retail copy of vista

 

[dude_se]

id suggest one of the core 2 duos that are 2.0ghz or more (cant remember the model numbers exactly), and 3mb or cache or more. that should give you decent performance when backed up by some fast ram

 

[j_v_z]

is it usually cheaper to install your own ram and hd? or does it matter?

 

[dude_se]

depends where you are buying from. for example when i bought a new laptop off dell recently they wanted £20 per 1gb of ram, which isnt too bad, considering its fitted for you (and its pre built)
its worth buying a pre built laptop, and if you are not happy with the specs, then it works out cheaper to upgrade the ram and hdd yourself instead of getting a more expensive model (if you shop around). the only exception, is as i said above ^ places like dell where you can customise your system, and i payed £20 for an extra 70gb (250gb > 320gb, or something like that)