Dell Latitude D630

The goal of this configuration is to build an affordable laptop that will be good for modern daily life. This includes tasks such as graphics editing, amateur to intermediate video, surfing multimedia websites, music and watching movies. This system will also be easy to bring around. I chose the D630 because it's a 14" widescreen laptop that weights about 5 lbs. The base price is $949.

CPU: The 2.2 Ghz Core 2 is the best option because there's a huge jump in price for the 2.4 Ghz. Generally, I configure systems with the 2nd best processor of the time period. $1099

Windows: Windows XP Pro & Windows Vista Business both cost the same, so it depends on which one you feel comfortable with. XP Pro will run faster, but Vista Business will last longer into the future. $1099

LCD: For high resolution, choose the WXGA+ option. This is the one thing the other manufacturers don't offer. Dell is ahead of the market with display technology. $1129

RAM: This system can go up to 4 GB, but that adds a hefty $700 to the price. For now, I would go with the 2 GB 1 DIMM option. It goes halfway there and you can add the other DIMM later in the future. If you get 2 GB / 2 DIMMs, you'll have to throw out those units if you ever want to upgrade to 4 GB. $1485

Hard Drive: Choose the lowest capacity drive that's 7200 RPM. THe goal is to make this system as fast as possible. The faster it is, the longer it will survive future software upgrades. The capacity isn't a factor because this isn't going to be a media center PC. 80 GB is plenty. $1525

Optical Drive: I left this as the default option... a combo drive. I don't think laptops should be used for DVD authoring, so I usually don't configure them with DVD burners. Video conversions take too long and should be tasked to a desktop system. $1525

Video Card: The only reason to upgrade this to the 128 MB Nvidia card is to connect to a hi-res external monitor. I left it as default because the built-in WXGA+ at 1440x900 is plenty of desktop space. $1525

Wi-fi: I chose the lowest Intel option here. I went for Intel instead of Dell because of personal experience. My current laptop has an Intel Wi-fi card and it has no trouble connecting to any network (believe me, I've tested a lot of wi-fi cards and Intel is the best). $1554

Battery: A 9-cell primary is plenty of power. A true portable should be able to play one of the Lord of the Rings movies on a single charge. $1583

Not bad at all... $1583 for a powerful little system. This will beat any 14" or 15" preconfigured laptop you see at your local store.