O/T WTB Laptop......

[maggie]

laptop

laptop

i would not buy a Compaq again. my DVD player which i only used 3 times quit working 3 months past the warranty---compaq arrogantly said "you want to buy a replacement for $300.00." the volume control quit working ---the coatings wore off--- along with some other little things. also their customer service is not very good. m2c

 

[crazyseany]

I was looking at a toshiba ltd...lol whatever limited addition meant.
it was on sale for 799 also. had 4 gigs ram 250 harddrive... and looked and felt descent (had the little design on the case if that makes a difference)

is CC still in business? they closed all the ones down in the akron area

still confused

sean

 

[aznnutty]

compaq almost when out of business until hp picked it up personaly I still don't like them

 

[shawnz28]

I always build my own desktops but I have owned a Dell, then a Gateway, then now a Sony SZ series laptop. I just bought my daughter a new lappy and went with a Sony again(a CR510E... was on sale at the time too). I have used Sony's support on my laptop, sent it in and had it back repaired quickly. I have also used Gateways support on my desktops LCD and were friendly and had me fixed up quickly.

Like above go with one with 3 gigs of ram if not 4(32 bit OS cant properly address a full 4 gig anyhow so 4 is not manditory). At the moment I would stick with an Intel CPU, I was always a AMD fanboy but at the moment they are playing catch up. Something like a Intel T5750 or above.... though the newer T8xxx series would be better yet which is based on the newer Penryn CPU design

As for Vista, it really isnt that bad IMO, I have been running it for almost a year. When it came out and for a while after it was rough, but most of the bugs have since been worked out. Another black eye was alot of PCs sold early on as being Vista compatable really did not have the horsepower needed. And alot of the problems even then were driver issues, which XP had as well when it was new. In all honesty there isnt anything to really fear with Vista these days, it is pretty solid.

One thing for me is check the potential purchase out locally if you can. Some you may not like the design of feel of in person even though it looks cool, or the keys might not have the tactile response you like, screen might be too reflective etc...

Like Mike mentioned anandtech is a great site, kind like the RC of pc's. Another site to check is notebookreview, especially for laptop stuff, hence the name

The new Dell Studio series seem nice for the price too and have had solid reviews... something like this
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8907052&type=product&id=1213046783444
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4518

 

[Python73]

For all the Vista haters, there are some things you should know about it. Vista runs like a ROCK on a new laptop. What Vista is terrible at is old hardware, hardware upgrades, and especially video cards, both middling and top of the line.

So in general: if you are an out of the box experience sort of person, you want Vista. It will run and run well, and you will be happy. And vista won't address more than 3G of RAM unless you have a 64 bit or an Ultimate version, so don't pay extra for 4G. If, however, you are a gamer, someone who tweaks settings and replaces hardware... Vista and you will not see eye to eye.

Things to look for in a laptop:

- Hard drive speed in RPMs. Everyone knows what bigger is, but faster is better than bigger. In most bargain systems you will be getting a 5400RPM drive. What you want is a 7200RPM drive. Trust me on this.

- Non-Intel video. Again with bargain laptops, they tend to give you Intel video. This is garbage. Like someone said above, you want a NVidia or an ATI video card. Shoot for 128M of video RAM. More is better.

- Glossy screens. I like glossy screens, but not everyone does. Go to a Best Buy, and paw over all the screens. Look at glossy vs not. Also if given the choice choose WXGA upgrade on your screen.

- Batteries. Not all batteries are alike. Talk to a bunch of laptop users and most complaints will have something to do with battery life. Most companies offer "extended" or "9 cell" batteries. You want that.

That's all I can think of for now. Back to work fixing company laptops.

S !

 

[crazyseany]

here's the one I was looking at

Price $999 on sale for $799
Processor 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5750
Memory 4GB at 667MHz
Hard drive 250GB 5,400rpm
Chipset Intel 965
Graphics Intel GMA X3100 (integrated)
Operating System Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WDH) 14.1 x 10.1 x 1.1 inches
Screen size (diagonal) 15.4 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter 6.6 / 7.4 pounds (includes extended battery)

it has a 12 cell battery.... 5hrs + bat life. but has the integrated graphics card and 5400 rpm HD.
am I going to find one with all the above that python mentioned for $800?

like I said before will probably wait till sunday to see the new adds.

sean

 

[shawnz28]

Not saying it is impossible but you probably will not find one for that price with those features unless you find something at a great deal on fatwallet etc....

7200rpm drives are nice but you likely wont find many of store shelves with them especially in the price range, most mainstream ones are 5400 both cause of cost and to a point battery life. Dell you can order them as options on many system but there is a good premium for doing so usually.

IMO for what it's worth, dont worry too much about a graphics card if you are not gaming, many of the ones you will come across are rather low end if not in a gaming machines and wont play newer games well anyhow, but again depends on your goal and what you want to play and expectations. If you are playing older or less graphics intense games or dont need all the bells and whistles on they might work just fine. If you can find something in the price range with a dedicated grapics card, make sure it has dedicated memory not just shared memory. Shared memory the graphics card shares the system ram which a) uses system resources and b) is slower as it has to travel across the system bus.

If gaming will be your thing then I would save a little more money. Here is something more along the lines of what he was talking about and a pretty beefy machine for the price.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8906133&type=product&id=1213046768588

Again just my opinions

 

[crazyseany]

I don't see myself gaming at all on it. I've never really liked pc gaming. I'm more of a xbox/playstation person.

basically want it for photoshop and maybe play dvds in the car for the kids. I'm sure I might do a little more such as interenet and music downloads but not much else I can think of.

sean

 

[Eggs]

I would agree with Python73 regarding Vista. It runs well on two laptops that I have that came loaded with them. Sounds like many of the problems are from upgrades. I use XP at work and miss the stability and some other features that Vista offers.

 

[Kreeger1]

I don't like how slow vista loads. I bought a gaming pc with all the bells and whistles this time around. In the past I've always built my rigs but decide on the quick purchase this time.

It loads 40 seconds slower then my last computer running xp. 40 seconds doesn't sound like alot but when you spend top dollar for speed, 40 seconds is a slap in the face.


Looking forward to a new os....Hurry up microsoft
Erik

 

[shawnz28]

I think the load times might vary by install and bloatware(even if uninstalled) I am not at home and have not timed it but I honestly think my Vista install loads as fast if not faster than my XP install on my last pc.

 

[Kreeger1]

I've gotten the load time down with tweak sites, but for some reason this pc loads slow

 

[shawnz28]

Man shouldnt have listened to the guy that told you to buy it HAHA.... just kidding... inside joke

 

[Kreeger1]

other then load times and a blue screen I get when I play WOW to long its decent. My OC video card that came OC over heats I think...giving me the blue screen.

I will build again next time.