Trying to pick a laptop, help please.
 

Anyone know any good places to check out some laptops? I'm looking for something that will most likely be a desktop replacement, at least until I can get everything this virus left off my desktop. I do a little bit of video editing for my youtube videos and I have lots of pictures and music so I know I need plenty of space for that. I spent a lot of time online. I'm not a really a computer gamer, never have been, but I just dowloaded Rigs of Rods and I like playing it, when my desktop decides to run fast enough for it. Any pointers or hints on what I should watch for? I want either an HP or a Compaq. I've had really good luck with them and not so much with Dells so I won't even consider one.

I found an HP factory refurb on best buys website for $520. Here's a link if ya want to check it out:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Fac...&skuId=1535414

I really don't know a whole lot about computers :s: but it seems to have enough capacity and capabilities for me. Plus its got the number pad on the right side like a desktop keyboard that I like. I'm just so used to using it that whenever I use a laptop I always forget its not there.

I know I'll definitely be buying some virus/malware protection for it. Possibly that Webroot or maybe something a little cheaper.

Big sales this Black Friday. Go shopping and walk off that turkey. :tu:

too bad you wont consider a dell I've got a xps m1530 that runs as good if not better than any desktop my dad or I have had

My day job is being an IT guy, and I don't mind helping.

Look at the HP Pavilion DV5 and DV7 series. Decent video cards for playing games, but the hard drive sizes can be a bit small and/or slow. Mine is a DV5 I've had for 2 years and it has an ESATA port so I can plug in an external hard drive for backups. Price for these can be around $1200 new or less if you buy a refurb. My only complaint with it is the hard drive is a 5400 RPM, so accessing data is slow.

For a little more you can get one of the new Asus G series. These run about $1400 or so and have better features than a stock HP does. Check out Newegg.com for the best prices for these.

You could also look at Sager Notebooks. You can get Dell and HP features for less, or if you want to get into outside the box customization (more RAM, more/bigger/faster hard drives, dual video cards, etc.) you have alot more options.

I don't recommend Toshiba .... horrible warranty and even worse customer service.

And please make sure you buy a backup drive. Most laptops are now coming with ESATA and/or USB 3.0, so for an extra $150 you can get lots of extra space to backup critical files like family pictures or tax information.

If you want to take it one step further and make sure no one can access your private information, look at getting a copy of TrueCrypt. It uses some fantastic encryption so that prying eyes can't see it.



Kris

I've heard of lots of people that have had good luck with them but I'm not one of those people, unfortunately.

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Everything you mentioned is WAY out of my budget for a computer of any sort. But I didn't really say what I was looking to spend either...which is about $500 give or take a bit.

Re: Trying to pick a laptop, help please.
 

Dell is Junk.

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i've got a gateway back in july, a little over $500 from best buy, does everything i want and i have had no problems at all with it.

Then look at the refurbished laptops and try to buy an extended warranty. You can get something really nice for half price or less but the only problem is you have to look and buy it as soon as you see it. They have a tendancy to go quickly.



Kris

get in line at 3am and you could get a good deal:w2:

are you crazy between me and my dad we have both had probably 6 dells and the only reason we get newer ones is because the older ones become so outdated so fast now..

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oh im sorry to hear that i've been fortunate enough to be one of the people that never has any problems with them besides the ones i make and thankfully i know how to fix them

oh yeah it just hit me there is a virus program out called vipre and it is supposed to be some of the best stuff i know my buddies dad who is a big time IT guy says it's the best thing he's ever used so you may want to give that a try on your computer if you can before buying a new one

I've been wanting a laptop for a long time so I'm buying one either way. I'll check ti out though. Thanks. :tu:

If you go to office depot they have the IBM thinkpads on sale for right around $500... I have had 4 of them and never had a problem at all with any of them... The reason I have replaced the last 3 was kids broke the display on one, the first one was only a pII and was way out dated when I shelved it... and the third I sold to get the more updated one...

If you can spend alittle more money get the hard drive that is a chip instead of the old platters style it is way quicker and more stable....

If nothing else you can go on Ebay the day after christmas and get all the used ones that people are selling due to getting new ones for christmas.....

I'm going to Best Buy in the morning to buy a new Desktop

HP AMD Quad Core
8 gigs RAM
1TB Hard Drive
23" HD Monitor
HP Wireless Printer

$599 :rocking:

That sounds like a pretty good deal. :tu:

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Since I know nothing about processors and all the other stuff in the specs, can someone tell me if this is a good setup? Is it fairly fast?

Processor Intel Core i3-370M Processor
Memory (RAM) 4GB
Memory Type DDR3
Memory Expandable to 8GB
Hard Drive Size 500GB
Hard Drive Type SATA

It should be able to do most of your needs really well. The hard drive is more than likely a 5400 RPM model, so getting the read/write access will be a bit slow, but most folks don't realize it unless they know what to look for.



Kris

Re: Trying to pick a laptop, help please.
 

Well when I got to Best Buy they had 2 of these computers left so I was able to snag one.

DB is going to look sweet on this new 23" LED HD Monitor.

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I had that same puter for about 9 months and I do agree it was awesome

I am buying an I-pad this week I have heard those things are tits so I gotta try one

oh it's awesome i love this thing besides having to completely restart it once because my anti virus was out and didn't know it :( lost a lot of good stuff that day

I'm not sure i'd want an all touchscreen only computer :nope: You'll have to let us know what its like though.

i-pad :argh:
[IMG]http://i737.photobucket.com/albums/x...watermelon.jpg[/IMG]

:lol:

its ok hes just jealous :w2:

lol lol lol


That thing looks useless to me.

more or less its just a "cyber" way to read the paper thats all i want it for I have a kick ass built PC for work/hosting

To me, that's what it looks like it was made for. Every pic I've seen of the ipad has the New York Times on it.

I am buying it to help out with the "global warming" trying to offset my morning paper waste so it will make me feel better...........

until I start my truck :w2:

I'd still rather use my Laptop.

if ur wanting to have a laptop for a long time ull probly want to spend more money up front and keep it for a while.

what kinda battery life do u need
how many songs/pics/vids/anything else of that sorts are we talking
how fast do u want it to run are we talking u wanna host games or is it gunna be a type writer or r u looking for a combo of both.
with the graphics card theres alot of options u can go really high end but it will kill your battery life

in my case i bought a gamers laptop (asus) 80gb main memory 250gb secondary memory 3d graphics card and like 8 gigs of ram. problem is the thing will die in a hr off the charger :argh::argh::argh:so be sure to look at ur battery life

A few hours for battery life should be fine for me. I don't imagine I'll need something that's going to last all day.
I have a bunch of pics and lots a video footage. I'm not sure how or where to check to see how much I've got. I suppose I could always just get an external hard drive to put some of that on.
I'm not much of a computer gamer. I leave that to my gaming consoles. I did just start messing around with rigs of rods though so something fast enough to run that for sure.
Most of my time spent on the computer is spent on the internet. Since I'm not currently in school I don't do much typing documents up or anything like that.

personally i hate gateway...i call em getaways...lol...
dells are ok imo
hps r tied with dell
how big a screen are u looking for...15 17 18 19 20

id to agree the gateways suck I currently have one and it has had nothing but issues since it was new

honestly i would say ur better off spending a little more money up front and have a better computer that you can keep for longer. but thats just me

Probably just a 15.6" or if I can get a good deal on the 17.3 or whatever it is I'll go that route. Portability is not really a big issue with me. I'll pack around the 17 incher.

I'm not real sure what constitutes a better computer. Like I've said, I know nothing about them. I can read the specs on them and be like "Sweet! Its got ____. Now what's that mean?" lol

just burn the paper when your done like i do then eat your watermellon:tu:

lol

Like I said earlier in this thread, if you guys have questions just send me a PM.

Compaq, Gateway and Toshiba are junk. Dell is pretty good if you up front the cash for their extended warranties, and if they don't have parts for it you end up getting an upgrade. HP's are okay, too, and while you can get an extended warranty you can't get the extended warranties like Dell offers. They're basically a step up from Compaq and a step down from Dell.

Sager is really good but these are custom built laptops and are considered desktop replacements. You have to be careful with these due to their weight (up to 17 lbs) and can mess up your back if you carry them alot.


Most of today's laptops are good if you have the following:

1.6GHz dual core processor or faster
250GB hard drive or bigger*
15.4 inch widescreen or better
Multifunction optical drive (Blue Ray drive with CD/DVD burning and BD movie player software)
Wireless (A/B/G/N)

*Most laptop hard drives are only 5400 RPM. Some offer 7200 RPM drives which are faster but this is usually an upgrade.

Everything else they offer is secondary.



Kris

Thanks. That's the kind of info I was looking for. :tu:

I second the Toshiba as junk. My wife has a Satellite and its been sent back twice for problems. First was the motherboard then the charge jack. Its only a year and a half old and she is gentle with it. My 4 year old Gateway gets dropped and bounced around and the only problems are virus related. Its old and slow but it keeps working so its hard to replace. :c:

Re: Trying to pick a laptop, help please.
 

I've had lots of issues out of all the Dells I have ever owned. I had an emachine that everyone told me to stay away from that I just replaced that is 7yrs old and never had the first issue with at all. I say just find one u like for a good price and go for it buddy.

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