Crapintosh

So I´m in the market for a new laptop. The old HP is on its last legs and its past time to upgrade. Considering that I paid like $800 bucks for it and its lasted over 3 years, I´d say I got a pretty good value. And with the wife going to the US in October, now is the time to buy. (We looked here already and its cheaper to buy a return ticket to Miami AND a laptop than it is to just buy a laptop.)

So, in my quest for the best possible purchase, the following advice floated across my cyberspace:

"Buy a Mac."

Now, I´m not willing to discount Crapintosh out of hand. After all, the whole IPod thing is pretty cool and even if their marketing makes me want to repeatedly smack Steve Jobs´ bulbous head upside a concrete wall repeatedly until he cries for mommy, I´ll still check out their offerings. That´s just being a good consumer.

So, after looking at their site (which I found aesthetically displeasing and was probably designed by a 3-year old Chiguiro) I can see that they have some very high quality laptops. The only question is:

Why so fokkin expensive????

I mean, really, does the Pope make them by hand or something? The model they offer that I´m interested in costs $2800!!! Comparative models from Dell and HP cost $2200 and $1850 respectively. In fact, the only substantive difference in the specs between the three models is that the Dell is wildly overpriced (small but fast hard drive, 1 GB less of RAM) and the Mac has a backlight keyboard.

I´m sure you can see which way I´m leaning. So, if anyone out there has laptop buying advice, let´s get it here now. At this point, the Crapintosh is clearly out and the Dell is looking like it´s out too (plus I don´t like the crappy outside design). I´ve had pretty good experience with my HP. I´ve taken it around the world, generally treated it like a $2 crackho, and the only real problem it has is a sticky space bar (uh, maybe I shouldn´t have made that crackho joke). That and it´s so outdated it makes playing Civilization 4 almost impossible.

(Note: I have several requirements for the next computer.
First, 17 inch HD widescreen. Non-negotiable. I don´t want IMac eye like one of my co-workers who threw down $1300 and got a 13 inch screen. $100 per inch.
Second, a large and robust hard drive. I consider 140 MB+ to be large. I have no idea what constites a "robust" hard drive but it sounded cool in that sentence.
Third, NVIDIA GeForce 7900 or better. The Dell I mentioned is the 7900, the HP has the 8600. Anyone who can explain the difference gets a strong clap on the back and a "hiya".
Fourth, 2 Ghz with 4 MB cache. I want that gerbil powering my laptop to RUN.
Fifth, CD/DVD burner combo dealio so I can open up an illegal software and movie piracy organization in a small shack I plan to build where the Autopista meets the NQS. Speed not terribly important since I can count on one hand the number of CDs I´ve burned in the last year.
Sixth, at least 1 MB RAM although I prefer 2 MB because I hear chicks dig size and all.
Seventh, less than 2 grand. I don´t want to pay another mortgage thanks.
Eighth, I prefer Intel to all the other crap out there. I´m not just a victim of marketing, I´m a willing victim.
Last, cool free shite. If possible. And a non-crapilicious design like Dell´s XPS.)

UPDATE: Shopping directly on the HP site brings the quality up and the price down. A better system than found at Best Buy is offered for $1549.98 with free shipping.