[Fayt19]

Hey im leaving for boot camp for the Air Force July 10th. ill be gone for about 2 months then after that i have to go to Tech training to learn my job. Well its kinda like college and im going to need a laptop. I would also like to game a little such as CS 1.6 and WoW.

What are some good brands and what should i look for in a laptop to accomplish my tasks?

And no i cant bring my Desktop to Tech Training = \

As for my budget? I dont really have a price...being in the military im sure id be accepted to finance one.

[Arumuni]

Well this one should be able to handle WoW and CS 1.6 without any problems, but if you really don't have a budget you can go all out.

[Fayt19]

well i was looking for something around 1000-2000 USD

[Jorsoft]

This one is very good. Or atleast go for something similar. Powerful enough to play any game out there on high settings and you can buy another gig of ram for under $40 to max it out.
Newegg.com - ASUS F3 Series F3JP-AS096C NoteBook Intel Core 2 Duo T7200(2.00GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA+ 1GB DDR2 667 160GB 5400rpm DVD Super Multi ATI Mobility Radeon X1700 - Retail

[drewjustforyou]

anything core2 ought to suit your needs, WoW really isnt actually that demanding untill you get to shattrath nowdays xD.

[Kubel]

CS 1.6 and WoW will both play nicely on modern integrated graphics (Intel's X3100, ATi's 1250, or NVIDIA's 6150), so just about any notebook will do fine.

I would also advise against consumer notebooks, and I would avoid anything over 14.1". You will probably want something a little more rugged and light weight since you will be toting it around with you from class to class. Consumer notebooks have very poor build quality, and are designed for in home use. They aren't built for real world handling and treatment.

I suggest the T61 if you want the option of dedicated graphics:
Lenovo ThinkPad T61 Review

Or the 6510B with integrated graphics:
HP Compaq 6510b Review

The Compaq doesn't have a magnesium roll cage or dedicated graphics, but it's a good system at a good price. And unlike their consumer models, HPaq business systems actually meet or exceed the build quality of Lenovos, and are cheaper.

One more piece of advice: Purchase the notebook with a credit card if you can do so, and pay it off quickly. Even if you have the cash in hand, pay with a credit card. This is unknown to most people, but you actually get a free extended warranty (covered by credit card) on electronic devices. Depending on your card company, you can get 1 to 3 years in addition to the manufacturers warranty.

[Fayt19]

not bad. Well how about a small and VERY light laptop?

i didnt know you could add ram to laptops?

[saltynay]

rams easy to add its normally very accessible protected by 4 screws as well as the hard drive protected by one screw and the optical drive on mine is held in with a latch optical drive, the battery can also be removed using a latch

the lightest laptop on the market by 100grams the Toshibab R500

Toshiba - Series Homepage

[straightv6]

Good luck in basic. What's your AFSC going to be?

I would wait until you get there before you buy a laptop. You should have a couple of dollars saved up and like someone said buy it on a credit card and just pay it off.