New Laptop...

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DrWrong

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So, I'm thinking about getting a new laptop. Not too worried about gaming or anything like that. I just want it to have a good processor, nice sized hard drive, Vista and....well I don't really know.

Don't really want to spend over $800. What do you guys suggest?



NO NETBOOKS LOL! I don't wanna go blind before I'm 40.
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I got a dual-core Compaq for $449 on sale at Best Buy like 1.5 years ago. It does everything you need of it at quick speeds. Never f's up, runs Vista, has a 160GB hard drive, 2GB ram, 16" screen. So if THAT can perform well right now...I'm willing to bet for your applications, the cheapo end of the Best Buy counter would serve you well.
 
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DrWrong said:
Not in particular. Just give me powerpoint, word and internet. Anything I need I'll Pirate :laugh:
Click to expand...

You can't pirate computer performance though.

Are you planning to carry it around a lot? If so you'll want some something with a robust battery life.
Does screen size and resolution matter to you? If you plan to watch movies you might want a larger, higher irresolution screen.
Do you need sufficient HDD space for music and movies?
Etc...
 
Rockinacoustic said:
You can't pirate computer performance though.

Are you planning to carry it around a lot? If so you'll want some something with a robust battery life.
Does screen size and resolution matter to you? If you plan to watch movies you might want a larger, higher irresolution screen.
Do you need sufficient HDD space for music and movies?
Etc...
Click to expand...


Screen size is a plus. My current laptop has a nice sized screen. Yes, it will be carried around a lot. I think, right now i have the 12 cell lithium ion battery, which is supposed to have an extended battery life. From what i've seen the newer laptops have very large HDD and about 4 gb of ram, so anything around there is good.

So, in essence:
-Good processor
-Average sized screen
-Good battery life
-Over 120 GB HD
-DVD/CD player/writer
-Vista
-<800 bucks
 
I wish I would have seen this before I got my new Toshiba... I tried it out at the store and it has a Windows rating of about 5.6, which is great for handling just about anything you wanna do, including games. It comes in different colors, too.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9358009&type=product&id=1218090589869

About the HP laptop, I wouldn't recommend it. My HP motherboard burned out after less than a year of use due to poor construction and incompatible parts (overheating and some kind of incompatibility in the combination of AMD processor and Nvidia graphics card). Ended up spending $300 to get the extended warranty. I used to be all about HP, but not anymore.
 
you really want vista? I'd wait until 7 comes pre-installed, or at least be ready to do a clean install when you get the disc in October.

good call on netbooks, i want to chuck mine out the window sometimes...just comes in handy when i travel and don't feel like bringing my regular laptop along.
 
Milly12 said:
I wish I would have seen this before I got my new Toshiba... I tried it out at the store and it has a Windows rating of about 5.6, which is great for handling just about anything you wanna do, including games. It comes in different colors, too.

About the HP laptop, I wouldn'...y buy HP/Compaq and I've never had a problem.
Click to expand...
 
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Milly12 said:
I wish I would have seen this before I got my new Toshiba... I tried it out at the store and it has a Windows rating of about 5.6, which is great for handling just about anything you wanna do, including games. It comes in different colors, too.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9358009&type=product&id=1218090589869

About the HP laptop, I wouldn't recommend it. My HP motherboard burned out after less than a year of use due to poor construction and incompatible parts (overheating and some kind of incompatibility in the combination of AMD processor and Nvidia graphics card). Ended up spending $300 to get the extended warranty. I used to be all about HP, but not anymore.
Click to expand...


Interesting, but don't the Dells catch on fire?

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1042700/dell-laptop-explodes-japanese-conference
 
confettiflyer said:
It's usually impurities in the battery that'll cause a violent explosion like that...Sony had major issues some years back that caused recalls across almost every brand of laptop.

It's kind of out of the hands of each manufacturer.
Click to expand...

So dell has stepped their game up since they had that "Dude, you got a Dell" guy? From what I remember, Dell used to be cheap made laptops.....Is that no Longer true?
 
DrWrong said:
Interesting, but don't the Dells catch on fire?

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1042700/dell-laptop-explodes-japanese-conference
Click to expand...

Old News. Anything laptop or piece of tech can catch fire if faulty.

If I'm buying a new laptop, I'd go with HP, Dell, or even a Lenovo directly through their website (unless I got a killer deal at a B&M store like Best Buy). Just do a good search for "Dell Coupons" and you should be able to find something like "25% off a laptop of $800," and etc... it can make for some killer deals, and offer what Best Buy can't offer: customization.

I also recommend jumping on the Windows 7 upgrade deal that Passion4Sci mentioned (if your laptop doesn't come with the offer to upgrade for free already).
 
My Compaq is over 6 years old. Come winter, it'll probably be time to buy another one. My purchasing of a new computer has been delayed because of Windows 7 release. I'll have to decide where to buy it.
 
DrWrong said:
So dell has stepped their game up since they had that "Dude, you got a Dell" guy? From what I remember, Dell used to be cheap made laptops.....Is that no Longer true?
Click to expand...

what does this have to do with batteries?

and i don't know...i've never purchased/owned a dell. I just remember them being ugly as hell years ago. Then they started copying apple/sony recently.
 
iphetamine said:
take a look at www.notebookreview.com, great resource!
Click to expand...

again, check it out. its got very good reviews on diff laptops and an excellent forum for any questions you have. also check the individual manufacture's forums (i.e. Dell, Sony, etc.) and see what problems/experiences people had with the diff laptop models.
 
Pretty much any new laptop from a major brand will suite you fine for general use, I'd say just go to a local store to look at a few and decide what size you want and go from there.

Everyone is going post the bad experience they had with a specific brand so really wouldn't worry about those ancedotal stories unless you were to start seeing universal bad reviews of a certain model. I still have my 4-5 yr old Dell that's working fine, besides being slow.

If you can, I would also say wait until you can get windows 7 preinstalled. Been using it at home and it's pretty nice. Also, if you can wait a little longer you might find some good deals during the Christmas shopping season. Last year after Thanksgiving I picked up a 14" Acer for my wife for like $350 that has everything someone needs for general use.
 
http://http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9370441&type=product&id=1218093004316

I just got one of those about a month ago. Only $500, large hard drive, lots of RAM, dual core processor, LED screen with HDMI port, about three hours of battery. The LED screen is pimp, very crisp and clear pictures. Only negative I have with it is the god forsaken vista that came with it. However, they have a free copy of windows 7 with it when it comes out, so that makes up for the crappy vista.
 
The retail version of Win7 was leaked a couple months ago. So go get it for free now.

Win7>>>>>>>>>>>Vista
 
I'll have to find it but I saw a link posted to order a copy of Win 7 for around $30 or so for students, pretty good deal.

I put the RC on my media desktop and on my OLD dell laptop and so far it's been running great. Runs as fast or faster than XP on this old laptop, the media center works great on the desktop, no real compatibility issues so far.
 
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