ASUS G1 is excellent. Only 5400rpm hard drive, but 160GB, and you may find a place that will upgrade it to 7200rpm drive.

The rest: 2gb ram, 15.4", 1680 x 1050, 2ghz core2duo, nVidia 7700go. All that for around $1750.

I suspect dell cancelled your order because they sold it to you for too little, and changed their mind.

Equal or greater performance for less?.....

Use IE, go back and try the Dell outlet, you'll find a better deal and instant receipt. I've purchased two there with not a hiccup.

If I were buying an editing laptop I'd get one of these: http://www.everex.com/products/xt5000t/xt5000t.htm
Room for two (2) SATA HD's among other goodies. And only $899.

I have two Toshiba, two Compaq, and two Dell laptops. I had to buy another recently and started with Dell (my last two were Dell), but they wouldn't sell XP (only Vista, a decision they later changed) and I didn't care for their configuration. After two weeks research and lots of phone calls I ended up with Fujitsu. They make some amazingly good laptops, and have LOTS of configuration choices. I couldn't be happier, and really love the fingerprint ID feature.

I don't have a specific model number to match what you're looking for, but I'm sure you can find it on their site.

Just have to say, Dell gave me the worst customer experience I've ever had.
First, the order process was screwed up from day one (they actually lost the laptop before shipping and then sent it to the wrong place)
Their customer service is the worst I've ever seen.
And the computer, once I got it, was absolute crap. Kept crashing and lived only a year and a half. Didn't perform half as well as it was supposed to, and random things would only sometimes work (like the sound card and modem). Again Customer service was absolutely no help, couldn't get it fixed, and I had unwittingly not got the extra warranty.
All told, Dell is the worst computer you can possibly get.
Although we have never had a high-end HP, we are considering one. We had a basic laptop that works beautifully, going on 5 years. And their customer support is really good.
Just my opinion, but avoid Dell, they are thieves.

"Just my opinion, but avoid Dell, they are thieves."

My experience with Dell laptops has been just the opposite. I had a laptop hard drive fail and they shipped me a new one overnight, no charge.

On another occasion, I had an intermittent issue with one of my Dell 2407 monitors. I was on the phone with Dell for maybe five minutes total around 4 in the afternoon. They shipped me a replacement, also overnight, and it was up and running by 9:00 the next morning. They even arranged for the shipper to come and pick up my old one, also no charge.

I'd recommend a Macbook Pro without hesitation. I've been a longtime Mac user but could never fully switch over because some applications were PC-only, Vegas being the main one that I use. I can't stand Final Cut so it never made sense to switch my editing stations over to PC. However, since Boot Camp came out it has opened up a new world for me. I've goot Boot Camp installed with XP and Mac OS X on the same Macbook. XP & Vegas are lightning fast on the machine also - definitely the fastest laptop I've used Vegas on. So all your PC stuff is there and then you've got Mac OS as well. The only real downside right now is that you need to partition your hard drive for Boot Camp and the most space you can allot and still share files well between the 2 OS's is 32gb. So you basically just install your apps and then use external drives for most everything else - or store some stuff on the mac partition and use macdrive.

Anyways, my experience has been wonderful so far and I would recommend this solution without hesitation.

A few years ago, when Tablet PCs first came out, I volunteered to assess the Fujitsu. Frankly, it was a piece of crap with random crashes and other instabilities. But I've heard that their current generation of laptops are excellent.

I've always been partial to Toshiba laptops (have used them since 1987), but my latest Portege is nothing to write home about. My employer is a Dell shop (but always bought Toshiba laptops), and now we're buying Dell laptops.

The last Dell laptop I used was in 1999 on a consulting project (provided to me brand new by the client). It was so clunky compared to my then-current Toshiba that I used my personal laptop during the project and handed the Dell back at the end, virtually unused. The buzz has been Dell makes good desktops but lousy portables, but from this thread, experiences seem to be all over the board. I guess I'm about to find out... :-)

Bob.

The other laptop brand to look at is the IBM Thinkpad, now marketed under the Lenovo namebrand. They always get great ratings, but I have never used one myself. I came close to buying one before I made the decision on Fujutsu. For me, the Fujitsu beat HP/Compaq, Dell, Toshiba, and Lenovo (which were the other brands I compared) on just about every feature that I wanted. Admittedly, I ended up with a no-holds-barred, $2,000+ 14" laptop (I still wanted relatively light and portable).

No one like the VIAO made by, oh,.. yes, who is it now? .. you know who, right? .. yes, them, that's it.

I second the MacBook Pro. The price may be an issue for you though, as you also have to have a full copy of XP or Vista. I've had mine about 3 weeks and am loving it. Had to eat some crow with my friends about the Mac thing, but two of them are just about ready to take the leap too.

Rick

No one like the VIAO made by, oh,.. yes, who is it now?

Several people recommended that I get a Vaio laptop, and I did look at them.

If Apple made PC laptops, this is what they'd look like. 10+ points for style.

However, they were WAY too expensive for what they offer, and I wasn't able to find a way to choose the configuration I wanted.

Thank you all for your highly-valuable input, but it seems that things only turn for the worse.

Dell couldn't sort out the affair, and while they spoke near-perfect english they said the most illegible non-sense sometimes. Anyway, the family friend who was fronting my payments (because I don't have a credit card) no longer trusts Dell, so I'm out my financier. Perhaps I should be thankful there were no other complications and my own name soiled - but seriously - I restrain my furiousness.

The end result is I will have no computer, unless I figure out a new strategy. The cash I earn from there obviously doesn't count for anything now, retroactively. So, hey, maybe I'll be selling my copy of Vegas soon. It's the only thing I held onto when I sold my old machine. Man, I'm so bummed about this.

If price is the main requirement, but you want better than average performance, then it is time to consider "off brands." ASUS is certainly one. Acer is another. Winbook used to be, but I don't think they're around anymore.

What I recommend is that you visit TigerDirect and look at their laptops:

TigerDirect Laptops

Here's a Systemax Core 2 Duo for $999:

Systemax

Systemax Pursuit 4155 B20 Laptop Computer- Intel Core Duo T2250 1.73GHz, Genuine Windows® XP Professional, 802.11a/b/g Wireless, 1.3 Mega Pixel Camera, 1GB DDR2, 80GB HDD, CD-RW/DVD Combo, 15.4" WXGA

There are lots more like that one.

ASUS = good

Fujitsu = good

Apple = Buy ASUS, save $500, print out Apple logo and glue it to the case.

If you wanted to go ASUS (which of course makes lots of stuff for other people), here's a site (disclaimer: I know nothing about these people) that lets you configure the ASUS laptop:

Asus Z62Fm 14" WXGA Core® 2 Duo Barebone Notebook

$509 starting price.

Just for grins, I configured it to match your original Dell configuration. $1,430, although I don't know how the screen and video card compare, and that of course is important.

the best laptop for the money right now? hands down... Lenovo. You'll pay more, but let me tell you a little tidbit that isn't so readily talked about everywhere. If you buy HP or Dell you will find that within about 1.5 years the motherboard has a weak solder on the connection for the power supply. Cheap manufacturing bites you in the butt. Now HP has a docking port that can be attached to their machines so that can save you since power can be supplied via that connector when the power port goes bad. Lenovo thinkpads are the bombdiggity beyond compare, but the price may hurt you a bit, but it will be around for more than 12-18 months. (that power connector repair BTW, if you're not in under insurance, $500 +/-

Dave

Well over half the laptops in the world are made by a Taiwanese company named "Clevo" (http://www.clevo.com.tw), they make laptops for Alienware, Dell, Hypersonic, Sager and a bunch of others. I've been using a Hypersonic (Clevo) laptop for a couple of years and it's been great. At the time I got it, it was as powerful as pretty much any desktop machine out there. (3.2Ghz P4, 1 gig of RAM, two 100gig hard drives, DVD burner, ATI 9600 graphics card.)

Clevo has a new laptop that has a Core 2 Extreme, 20" widescreen monitor, nVidia SLI using two 7950GTX cards and three 200gig hard drives. You can check it out at www.sagernotebook.com. They have other notebooks starting at $599.

John

Funny to see people mention "Dell" like it was one company.

The support from Dell Small Business is not quite as bad as Dell Home, although you may still want to hang yourself after draining the batteries in your phone handset while on hold.

I have recent multi-year experience with a Compaq/HP notebook and an Apple MacBook Pro, both in daily use.

The Apple never needed support of any kind, so I can't vouch for that personally, only indirectly through others who just walk into the nearest Apple store and get whatever ails them taken care of immy (I live in L.A.).

The HP needed a few service calls that were promptly taken care of. One call was truly unusual and high level complex, and was taken care of with a support conversation via chat with a U.S. engineer who really knew his stuff, and afterwards he e-mailed me a copy of the chat so I had access to the updated chipset drivers I needed and the very unusual instructions. Absolutely A+, couldn't ask for better than that!

As for Asus building Apple's MacBooks etc., we've been through that before here and the answer is no. There may be similarities in the appearance, but that's where it ends. In the cases where contract manufacturers also do push their own brands, they will of course usually also set their own specifications in a relaxed way to get the price down to a point where they can compete aggressively, in order to get people to buy their no-name machines.

I wouldn't buy a Dell computer this year. They are likely to make a come-back with Mickey at the helm again (because they have no choice), but it sure won't happen overnight.

HP/Compaq is great, Apple is great, Lenovo is great (just got one for my wife2 mos. ago, good specs and design). For the rest, check the reviews carefully (and note that cnet reviews are of limited value...)

FWIW, B&H has a number of VAIO laptops in configurations well-suited for Vegas (i.e., more emphasis on a fast processor and big hard drive than gaming-quality graphics). Their prices seem pretty reasonable, too.

I'm fairly fond of this new ASUS I got back in December. Hasn't been long enough to really test longevity, but it's pretty slick so far. I chose ASUS after doing research on toughness. Apparently that the world on the street. Since ASUS makes for others, then they can make a good one for themselves. Who knows. But I haven't had a problem with mine yet and it's fast. And yep, you can get them configured how you want with the right company. Most are listed on the ASUS site.

Oh and most of the ASUS come standard with a firewire port. Those are harder to find on other brands except Apple and Sony.

Oh and most of the ASUS come standard with a firewire port.

So does the Fujitsu, which is one of the reasons I went with that brand.