Looking for a new laptop, completely overwhelmed, need some guidance

[vf-xx]

yes 72000 will eat into battery life. If you really want fast and low power, then shell out for an SSD. I think I heard that some newer cheaper ones should be out soon.

[teufelhunden]

Another option would be to get a 5400 internal HDD and a 7200/SSD external and run it via e-sata to store your videos there. Might be the most economical while affording you more cord-free life.

[Lohman446]

Size of hard drive isn't a big concern, I've got a 500 gig external drive that serves me well and I can always pick up another if need be, they're getting crazy cheap. Will 7200rpm significantly diminish battery life? I'd like to have a bit of a mobile option if possible, but I'd also like to be able to move around RAW files quickly with a faster HDD.

I was thinking that exact thing when I was looking at them. The price difference to go up in size of hard drive was 3 times what I could buy externals (bigger) for.

[Army]

I bought this Toshiba from the PX in Balad Iraq when my Acer took a royal dump (dooooooon't buy Acer)

http://laptops.toshiba.com/laptops/satellite-pro/U400

LOVE this little thing! I do not game on mine other than COD, MOH, and Battlefield 2, as it doesn't have the graphics gear for most games (barely runs these). I use it for writing reports, Power Point presentations, and internet...which it does most excellent.

The case (mine is all black) is sleek, slick, easy to use, has all the ports you need including card readers, and built in camera and fingerprint security. I especially love the keyboard surface and touchpad as they are glass smooth, and so far have not shown any indication of rubbing into the plastic (like silver colored surfaces do). Wi-Fi pickup is pretty dang good (I can get plenty of signal from a neighbor way down the street)

I'm not a techno-geek, so I use what I like, not what has the most bells and whistles and nuclear capability.....and Ilike this!

[vf-xx]

Oh, as a random note, the IdeaPads don't have a fingerprint reader, but I believe that the ones with a built in webacam have a facial recognition security. I know mine does.

[BobTheCow]

Oh, as a random note, the IdeaPads don't have a fingerprint reader, but I believe that the ones with a built in webacam have a facial recognition security. I know mine does.

Oh yeah, I saw something about that, and was very curious. Does that actually work/is it worth using? Honestly it sounds pretty gimicky and liable to just cause more problems to me.

[vf-xx]

Oh yeah, I saw something about that, and was very curious. Does that actually work/is it worth using? Honestly it sounds pretty gimicky and liable to just cause more problems to me.

It's worked for me. I don't think it's quite as advanced as we'd like to think it is. But it works for me, still worked even after I got lasik and stopped wearing glasses, and doesn't work for anybody else.

Lets me be lazy and not type in my password all the time.

Note: It doesn't work well if you're backlit.