Buying a Laptop

I have about $1600 - $1800 in the budget.

It's alot harder to choose a laptop than custom building a pC

I'd love a Mac but it ain't gonna happen.

Was looking at all the deals they have at harvey normans at the mo, but can't for the life of me find any reviews on any of the models.

I do like the HP Pavilion DV6-1106AX

Are AMD processors alot better than they used to be? Can't find one with Intel.

I want to watch movies, use photoshop, play around with website templates and websites a little (starting a couple), play itunes, surf the net ALOT - ya know the usual.

P.S What's the best wireless modem out there at the mo??

Cheers guys.

When I was last in NZ (~2 years ago), Harvey Norman was a bit of a no-go if you were buying outright with no hire purchase, because even if they were on special they were still significantly more expensive than other stores. I'm not sure whether this is still the case, but I'd hazard a guess and say it is.

Since you're doing Photoshop etc I'd pay attention to the maximum resolution and look for at least 1680x1050.

AMD processors are fine. Just make sure you get enough memory regardless of the processor.

JB HiFi will likely be your best bet outside of decent specials at the other retailers. Seemingly people have had good luck haggling deals out of them too.

Nothing wrong with AMD processors at all (never has been)....I personally prefer the Intel's for laptop use, but there really is fuck all difference 99% of the time.

Ok sweet - I just read a forum way back with alot of peeps favouring Intel.

Personally I've had a AMD in my PC and it has run sweet for 4 years.

Any idea for wireless modems oh wise one?

I don't really use consumer friendly ones so not really any help there sorry.

Not Siemens and not DLink is about all I can say.

Not D-Link?
Can I ask why? I have always bought D-Link, and never had a problem with them, and recommend them to people if they ask.

To the OP- nothing wrong with AMD, as Kris said. Personally as far as the actual laptop goes, I prefer HP/Compaq, Lenovo, Asus, Dell, but its really down to personal preference, and I know there are peeps on here who would disagree with me on those choices. That said, AFAIK, acer are pretty much universally rubbish- don't buy them.

Linksys / Cisco FTW

Every single one I've ever dealt with (which is a lot) is a unstable steaming turd?

Not that I know anything about puters or anything, if you want to get a laptop I recommend a 17" Mac Book pro and if not then a Toshiba.

They go the distance and they don't have all that annoying hp software that comes with compaqs, hps, presarios etc. Not too many resource draining internal devices that never get used and very reliable.

AMD just has that little bit of extra kick in it when you need it.

The thompson wireless router is pretty good

As always, your contribution is welcomed.

I'd check out PBTech , seemed to have some good specials lately. I got an HP for the girl for about $1300. Basic stuff. XP Pro 1 gig ram. Prices have come down even since then a couple of months ago.

You should be ok on that budget, get lots of ram esp if you get Vista. pretty colours cost more too so unless thats important avoid.
something like this
http://www.pbtech.co.nz/index.php?item=NBKHNB0535B

I've had nothing but trouble with my toshiba since I bought it in Jan