OT: Need help picking a laptop

[abolanwoski]

I will be deploying soon and need a laptop to take with me. I need the following:
1. Webcam (integrated)
2. Optical drive (internal)
3. WiFi
4. the lighter the better
5. decent to excellent battery life
6. CHEAP

I am considering the HP dv4t and the dell inspiron 15 or 14z

Any thoughts would be welcome.

 

[gk90]

We have a netbook so no optical drive, but when we were looking to buy, overstock.com and microcenter.com had good deals on refurbished/clearance laptops and netbooks.

 

[skiingfast]

These look fine. The smaller the screen the longer the battery will last and the lighter the weight. That qualifies most of your needs. Also they are by far the most trustworthy brands.

I would say that if you want to watch movies 16 or 17 inches gets a lot better for viewing and the keyboards starts to feel normal.

Make sure you up the Ram to at least 4gb. The windows Vista and 7 versions need lot more than XP could run on.

I don't want to rush you but if you order a computer do it so you have enough time, before reporting, to return it in case it has an odd qwerk and won't start or something. Otherwise see what deals staples or best buy have.