Laptop questions...

[Rother8]

Seriously, if you're spending 1100...get something reliable..macbooks are moneeyyy!
But then again, I hate windows.

[Drek]

Originally Posted by oubronco

Bold

Well you didn't specify a price so I'm going to assume $$$ is no limit.

I'd personally go with something like this:
ASUS G Series G72Gx-A1

This is actually a nice deal on an open box laptop, ASUS makes some good stuff and that laptop is as full featured as you can get (BD drive, built in wireless N, quad core i7, and a Nvidia Geforce GTX 260M).

Bit heavy and you likely won't see a ton of battery life out of it unplugged but it is a legit desktop replacement.

Originally Posted by sirhcyennek81

Up to $1100
Would be nice but not set in stone.
Yes.
More like 50/50.
Yes.
I dont burn CDs often enough. My current laptop has it, but I dont use it much.
Just a scanner/printer.
Yes.
Yes.
14-17 inches.

I'd go with something like this:

MSI E7405-080US NoteBook

Biggest selling points for you:
Best price point that you'll likely get into an ATi 5870. It comes with a nice CPU that will keep pace with pretty much all recent games. It has a lot of nice bells and whistles, such as the 4-in-1 card reader that will let you transfer from the majority of camera's memory cards hassle free.

This laptop is fairly portable for a gaming system (7 lbs.) and comes with a 9-cell battery so it'll provide a decent bit of time off the cord before you need to plug it in (much less if gaming unplugged though).

Overall it'll cover your bases and the MIR slides it in just under your price range. Look for similarly equipped models and you should be happy with it.

[titan]

I've always had good performance from Toshiba lap tops. Dell? I've had problems with 2 Dell desktops and 1 laptop - no more Dell for me. We have two HP desktops now and they've been performing well (good value for each).

[broncosteven]

Originally Posted by sirhcyennek81

Up to $1100
Would be nice but not set in stone.
Yes.
More like 50/50.
Yes.
I dont burn CDs often enough. My current laptop has it, but I dont use it much.
Just a scanner/printer.
Yes.
Yes.
14-17 inches.

Look for an i5 chip or even i7 if you can find one.
Ram should start at 4G, get more if you can afford it.
HD space is up to you, I have yet to max out a 160gig HD for personal use.
Windows 7, PRO 64bit is the way to go.


Check out what bestbuy has to get an idea of spec's and cases but I would recommend you look at Dell Latitude line, anything below a Latitude is cheap consumer crap. I wouldn't get more than the usual warranty unless you drop your laptop often or take it everywhere.

Only get a Mac if you use graphics or make music. For study/word processing and surfing the Web Win7 is the way to go and you may be able to bundle in Office.

If you don't already have Anti-virus get a license of either Symantec or McAfee. Don't get the full security suite just the Anti-virus and anti-spam. Windows firewall is free and will do what you need as long as you keep your OS updated.

[Swedish Extrovert]

Originally Posted by sirhcyennek81

Im fairly sure a thread exists on this topic already, but I am far too lazy to look for it. At any rate, my current laptop, a compaq presario is dying a slow death, and its time to replace it. Any recommendations?

Gracias.

And no, this is not going to be a poll.

Don't know your style/expectations. I ponied up the cash for a 15.4" MacBook Pro (2.8GHz, 4GB RAM, 500GB HD, NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT, 8x SuperDrive), and I love it... but kind of a hipster like that and I'm a music nerd and I do a lot of graphic editing.

For PCs I understand you can get a decent HP w/Office (are can surf the internet well) for like $500.

[sirhcyennek81]

Generally right now my laptop is used for school, games and internet. I have had good luck with Compaqs, other than replacing the adapters. Good info guys, thank you. Never thought about owning a macbook, but will look into it.

[broncosteven]

Originally Posted by sirhcyennek81

Generally right now my laptop is used for school, games and internet. I have had good luck with Compaqs, other than replacing the adapters. Good info guys, thank you. Never thought about owning a macbook, but will look into it.

I would go Dell with lots of RAM. You would have to rebuy your games.

[sirhcyennek81]

Originally Posted by broncosteven

I would go Dell with lots of RAM. You would have to rebuy your games.

The game I generally play on it is Civilization IV, and my compaq is JUST good enough to play it, even though it is rather slow. I want a laptop that can handle Civ V (comes out in sept or oct), be durable and simple. Its primarily used for gaming and school, so it does not have to be a do everything machine.

[Swedish Extrovert]

Originally Posted by sirhcyennek81

Generally right now my laptop is used for school, games and internet. I have had good luck with Compaqs, other than replacing the adapters. Good info guys, thank you. Never thought about owning a macbook, but will look into it.

The value is off for the MacBooks - for itt'l cost you $2,000 for a MacBook that would run $800 for the PC equivalent. I just like their format better, and I think they run a little better, so I'm willing to pay that.

The only problem I have is that for the very little gaming that I do, the Mac is horrible for that. I'm stuck on playing Madden 08, since that's the most recent version for Mac.

[The MVPlaya]

Originally Posted by MightySmurf

The value is off for the MacBooks - for itt'l cost you $2,000 for a MacBook that would run $800 for the PC equivalent. I just like their format better, and I think they run a little better, so I'm willing to pay that.

The only problem I have is that for the very little gaming that I do, the Mac is horrible for that. I'm stuck on playing Madden 08, since that's the most recent version for Mac.

You can run windows on a Mac.. you'll just have to get a copy of Windows

[Swedish Extrovert]

Originally Posted by The MVPlaya

You can run windows on a Mac.. you'll just have to get a copy of Windows

I know, and there is a "spaces" preference just to toggle between the two. But there is no way I'm buying windows for mac just to play Madden.

[Mr. Elway]

Dell Latitudes (business class) are rock solid.

[Bronco Yoda]

I'd just settle for a complete set of disks with my next machine. Is it just my imagination or has everyone suddenly stopped providing the software on disks in case you want to or need to do total reinstall on your machine. I've come to the conclusion that they all just pull battery life numbers out of their ass.

[TDmvp]

Originally Posted by Bronco Yoda

I'd just settle for a complete set of disks with my next machine. Is it just my imagination or has everyone suddenly stopped providing the software on disks in case you want to or need to do total reinstall on your machine. I've come to the conclusion that they all just pull battery life numbers out of their ass.

Never seen anyone not provide reinstall disk and most of the pc's now have all that stuff in a partitioned part of the HD so you can reinstall SUPER fast by tapping a key trigger at bootup ...


Like on my dell lappy it's Ctrl+F11 and it ask would you like to restore to how it was out of the box ... say yes and 10 mins later poof , done ... It's to the point I do it once everyone 6 months to a year just for the hell of it.


But it still came with all that stuff on disk but only way you would need it is if you did something to mess up what was behind the partition .

[Bronco Yoda]

Last time I went into Best Buy they told me that most machines they're getting in only have software partitioned on the HD. I asked the salesmen what happens if your HD blows up (one of my HP's blows a HD every 9 months without fail)... he just looked at me and blinked. They said basically the same thing at Costco. Maybe I just ran into a couple of idiots....I don't know.

I really miss not being able to just drive around the block to walk into a Fry's electronics.

I think I'm going for my first netbook next week. The battery life times on some of them are fantastic... if you can believe them.

[Drek]

Originally Posted by sirhcyennek81

The game I generally play on it is Civilization IV, and my compaq is JUST good enough to play it, even though it is rather slow. I want a laptop that can handle Civ V (comes out in sept or oct), be durable and simple. Its primarily used for gaming and school, so it does not have to be a do everything machine.

Being able to run Civ 5 and run Civ 5 well in late game are two entirely different things.

The laptop I linked would likely run late game well, but if you wanted something that could max out late game scenarios you'd need to go with something more like what I linked for OUBronco. Civ 5 recommended specs ask for a quad core CPU, a fairly high end graphics card, and at least 4 GB of ram (with more being even better).

[That One Guy]

Originally Posted by Bronco Yoda

Last time I went into Best Buy they told me that most machines they're getting in only have software partitioned on the HD. I asked the salesmen what happens if your HD blows up (one of my HP's blows a HD every 9 months without fail)... he just looked at me and blinked. They said basically the same thing at Costco. Maybe I just ran into a couple of idiots....I don't know.

I really miss not being able to just drive around the block to walk into a Fry's electronics.

I think I'm going for my first netbook next week. The battery life times on some of them are fantastic... if you can believe them.

I had an HP I gave my mom that I bought refurb'd in '04 that I was working on about a month ago and the entire recovery partition was f'd. She was having occasional random restart issues and once I ran the recovery, it would restart as soon as the Windows screen popped up.

As usual, I downloaded a copy of windows and lucked out as it being a manufactured PC, the key was still on the side of the box. You may not get the drivers but I prefer having disks that wont go bad.

[CSU Husker]

Go to Micro Center if you are in the Denver area and want a store where people know what they are talking about. Its a nerds paradise there.

[Cito Pelon]

Originally Posted by sirhcyennek81

Im fairly sure a thread exists on this topic already, but I am far too lazy to look for it. At any rate, my current laptop, a compaq presario is dying a slow death, and its time to replace it. Any recommendations?

Gracias.

And no, this is not going to be a poll.

I've gone with the Dell refurbished models twice since 1998. Both times I got a top model (current year) for about 70% of the price for the new model.

The refurbished models are brand new ones sent back for initial defects, then repaired in the factory. You get the extended warranty as part of the package. It's a no-brainer for me. I had the first one from 1998-2005 with no problems til it became obsolete. This one I've had since 2005 with no problems.

You get a top of the line $1000 laptop for $700. I'll do it again once this one becomes obsolete.

http://www.dell.com/us/en/dfh/notebo...ks&s=dfh&cs=22

[Cito Pelon]

Dell Outlet Store:

Inspiron 15 - 1545
Inspiron 15 (1545) Laptop: Intel Pentium Dual Core T4400 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/1MB cache)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
250 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
3 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz (2 DIMMs)
8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability
Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD
Range: $439.00 - $599.00

Inspiron 17 - 1764
Inspiron 17 - 1764 Laptop
Processor: Intel Core i5-430M Processor (2.26GHz, 4Threads, turbo boost up to 2.53Ghz,3M cache)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
500 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1066MHz (2 DIMMs)
8X DVD +/- RW Drive
Intel HD Graphics
Range: $559.00 - $609.00


Just two examples of the many available. People get scared of the "refurbished" label, but I'm two-for-two on them in 12 years. And you even get the best factory warranty available as part of the package.

[Bronco Yoda]

Originally Posted by CSU Husker

Go to Micro Center if you are in the Denver area and want a store where people know what they are talking about. Its a nerds paradise there.

Best experience I ever had with a store was the Micro Center in Santa Ana/Irvine California in the late 90's. As long as you bought one of their in-house built machines, you could just walk into their lab sit down and they'd fix just about anything for free while you sat there and asked questions. I first got the nerve to build my own machine from just watching the tech nerds do their thing while I picked their brain. I just recently threw away my last micro-machine a few weeks ago. It a P233 with 72 pin simms. The thing was the size of a small refrigerator and about as heavy. It still worked running windows 95 but was tired of the giant dust collector taking up so much room in my garage.

Wouldn't you know I just found a box of old zip disks... and nothing to read them with now.

[maher_tyler]

I just got a Sony Vaio a month and a half ago and works great! I play Starcraft 2 on it no problem. 4GB hard drive 500 GB of memory..BD player..got it at Best Buy for around $650 with taxes and the spy sweeper..great deal!!

[broncosteven]

Originally Posted by Bronco Yoda

Best experience I ever had with a store was the Micro Center in Santa Ana/Irvine California in the late 90's. As long as you bought one of their in-house built machines, you could just walk into their lab sit down and they'd fix just about anything for free while you sat there and asked questions. I first got the nerve to build my own machine from just watching the tech nerds do their thing while I picked their brain. I just recently threw away my last micro-machine a few weeks ago. It a P233 with 72 pin simms. The thing was the size of a small refrigerator and about as heavy. It still worked running windows 95 but was tired of the giant dust collector taking up so much room in my garage.

Wouldn't you know I just found a box of old zip disks... and nothing to read them with now.

Micro Centers are a good chain, I like the sheer size of Fry's though.

[ShutDownPoster]

I was a Mac man for a long time as I work in the design industry, But at about '99 or so I went with windows and Ive owned:

Dell Latitude D800
Dell Precision M50
Dell XPS 1210
Sony Vaio Z.

I got the Vaio about 2 years ago - first run ordered directly from Japan was happy with it - but realized that I really didn't like windows at all.

3 months ago, got a 13" Macbook Pro - back to Mac and loving it. I have bootcamp installed but I never need it. I know depending on usage/and or budget will determine most folks final choice. But if you care for premium, the Mac is really worth it. It's the same thing with my camera equipment - I choose Nikon over Canon or Sony any day.

BTW - wow, my 500th post - only took 6 frigging years!!

[sirhcyennek81]

Originally Posted by maher_tyler

I just got a Sony Vaio a month and a half ago and works great! I play Starcraft 2 on it no problem. 4GB hard drive 500 GB of memory..BD player..got it at Best Buy for around $650 with taxes and the spy sweeper..great deal!!

I think I am going to go with the Vaio. I like sony, have a PS3...plus it has blueray and I have a ton of movies...if I am going to be stuck working at the royal gorge this winter...at least I wont be bored.