O/T WTB Laptop......

crazyseany

crazyseany

New member
I've been thinking about getting a laptop for awhile. I am going to buy a new one. I just wanted some advice on what to look for and what to stay away from.

Main reason for getting on is so I have time to play with Photoshop elements 6.0. I've had the program for months but have hardly gotten to use it.

I am looking for something around or under about $800.

I don't know what all the numbers mean. (excet maybe the 4 gigs of RAM and gigs for a harddrive)

which graphics cards are better or what processor is better or which to stay away from.

any advice or comments would be great!

thanks,
sean
 
stay away from vista... but good luck doing it. do your best and get xp. other than that, for 800 it doesnt really matter.

justmy2cents
 
They stopped selling xp, so real good luck with that. Not that Im a vista fan at all, but if your buying new you should go with the new OS and hope for the best.
 
I got an Acer, it was super cheap, and I love it. Out of pocket I think I spent around 500 for it. It has plenty of hard drive and ram. I'm not a heavy gamer, but if I was, I'd be using a desktop anyways.

Best part is, for 500, I don't feel bad replacing it in a year or so when technology improves even more.

Scott just got a Toshiba for around 700 and he's running photoshop on it.


HTH
 
XP is still available in roll back versions. You need to look at Dell and Toshiba if you want to stick with XP for the time being. I recommend waiting on Vista untill they get a few more of the bugs worked out.
 
check www.cnet.com for reviews ,,, pretty smart staff over there
and always good reviews. they tell you the good and the bad without any bias towards any company , and you can narrow your review to non-vista computers and price .
 
If you go with xp there tech support will stop in 2010. I would go with vista you can only use 3 gigs of ram with a 32 bit operating sysem. you can run 4gigs with a 64 bit o/s. but its like an extra 180 for vista. If you looking for a laptop its hard to get a good graphics card.
 
in the bestbuy add they have a HP with vista 64bit si (i think that's how they put it)

4 gb DDR2
250 gb HD
WIRELESS n

I believe its a T-5500? maybe...lol

for 799

I would probably go with vista because that's what our pc has and I like it well enough ( I don't do a whole lot on it)(i heard windows 98 is good if you want to webhost)

like I said I don't know much about it other then what I said.

I might wait till sunday and see what Labor day ... backtoschool super deal I can get!

sean
 
oh yeah probably won't be gaming on it... I'm more of a console gamer as apposed to pc. (although I am kicking but on the myspace mobsters game LOL)
 
I bought a Dell Vostro 1400 about 10 months ago. They were on sale and with my up-grades, about 700 to my door. I like it and my friend who has had compac and HP said it was very nice for the money.I'm not crazy about HP or the stuff you get at BB or CC. I like to get a computer with the up-grades that are important to me. There are a few web site like Fatwallet.com that can save you some money. Check out the forums for more info.
Phil
 
Go to Dell.com to avoid Vista. There`s more options on the small business side. Search around the site, you can usually find good deals.
 
I get some kind of discount on Dells through my company. not sure what/ how much but something I guess. don't know if I want a dell though. have heard a few bad stories but I'm sure that's same with any brand.

sean
 
Be very careful of the 64 bit operating systems. Have not heard a lot of positives from people trying to use xp or vista 64 bit systems
 
64 bit hardware and the firmware and the software for applications have not caught up with one another. So I might recommend avoiding that for now.

Buy an HP or a Compaq for you can drop it a few times and if it comes with Vista just make sure that the machine can take at least 4 gigs. Ram is cheaper than dirt now, even for laptops. Don't worry about hard drive size larger than 80 to 120 unless it's comes with a big one. If you are saving things properly you'll have a portable drive that if the laptop takes a dive you can still get your data. And if you hate Vista, don't frett just like winblows ME edition Vista will be soon replaced with another multi-billion dollar earning beta op system that should avoid the problems that Vista came with. But that whole issue is another long story...


Oh and if you are editing photos get a decent video upgrade. Go to AnandTech dot com for winners and losers lists on that for what googling complaints about the model(s) within your query cannot find. In between the dreamers and the fools there are some tech folks and game freaks at anandtech that really know their stuff.

At least a while back when I was running the IT needs for a 5 site company and I didn't know the answer that's where I'd start my search.
 
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Heres a nice cheap laptop with 3gb of memory running windows xp. Its a nice computer Check out the laptop here

I think this is a great computer for the price. I personally love my mac book pro but if I had to get a laptop I would recommend this laptop.

I work for a computer company by the way :beer:
 
The Chain
Low grade computers >> E-machine, Gateway, Dell, acer, older compaq <before merging with HP> . low grade computers are most commonly found at most schools and businesses because they are cost efficient and gets simple task done. <most of the time> but most of there components are arent upgradeable because of atx motherboards being lacking in pci slots.

Mid Grade computers>> compaq, hp, fuji, older toshiba, some dells like the xps. these computers are mostly focused on multimedia and entertainment. i have a hp personaly and love the visual effects but still lack a little on preformance. playing doom 3 lags a little on it.

Upper grade Computers>>> Sony, newer toshiba, lenovo, apple. great computers i had two sonys and they never had any problems other then operating system bugs.

Best Computer>>>> AlienWare, hands down best preformance but the cost will get you.

i know this will start an argument posting this reply but its just what i have experience through the years of being a computer tech and network admin. there are exceptions tho but for the most part, it's is as it stands. dell has come a long way and slowly moving up the chain but i don't trust them just yet. and yes vista does suck but it's whats out and it's hard to get xp anymore unless you build your own computer. stay away from celeron processors and durons. look for ati graphic cards or Gforce cards. when when your ready, to buy, i work with cc so i can cut you a deal on any computer you buy there. cnet is a great source for more info, good luck!
 
the recommendation from the above isn't bad but the system bus is two slow and will slow down the processor and the graphics card does not list how much memory other then shared, meaning probably low like 2x64bit shared. i know you can get better for your money!
 
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