2. Choosing A New Notebook

I spent a week comparing specs, reading reviews and asking the opinions of friends and colleagues, as I weighed and considered pricing, my personal needs and style. Because ya know, you can't be seen with just anything at press briefings these days. Some jerk is always parading his stylish Sony or sleek Apple about the place, and I can't make a show of myself by turning up with a brick of a machine. Of course, at the same time, when the AMD vs. Intel and NVIDIA vs. ATI rows break out, I need something hefty that I can use to take a swing at the fanboys.

My profession requires something that can do all the office things and a bit of heavy lifting with images and such, so a decent processor and a bit of RAM is in order. I figured a 1.6 GHz Centrino with a gig of RAM would do me.

But what else does a man like me do with his notebook1? Well, I'm fond of my entertainment, I need battery enough, and I'm fond enough of my family jewels that I don't want a desktop replacement that'll produce more heat than the A-Bomb. So, something with a widescreen but not a load of fancy mobility graphics is in order.

Finally, I wanted a 60 GB hard drive, and enough warranty support to make me feel confident that I could drop it out a window and have a replacement the next week. I realized that it looked like I was going to Dell, and the Inspiron 6000 seemed just the ticket.