laptop recomendation

[problu]

whats up guys im on the market right now for a new laptop do you guys have any suggestion because im not that good when it comes to computer.i need something good but its not pricy.thank you

[Riverside666]

With the future in mind I'm really liking the Gateway offered by Best Buy. Considering it's Specs/Price/Size I think 1300 for this thing is a steal or at least a GREAT price. It doesn't have Blu Ray but I'm absoultely sure you could add blu ray to it. Keep in mind the videocard on this puppy is Sick, and not too many places will offer you this rare card at such a hot price.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1195599780039

The list is huge on this thing:

I won't list the specs out cause you can see them yourself but I'll note the High Points

512 8800 GTS Videocard, Processor, 3 gig Ram, HDMI.

[Riverside666]

Note I've never actaully owned a gateway before but I hear they're pretty good. I've been using both Alienware's and Dell's to this point. But I can assure you that getting these specs on any other computer is 2 Grand+

[problu]

thank you guys

[w_tanoto]

Originally Posted by problu

thank you guys

any spec that you want? processor, hard disk, RAM, screen size, optical drive, etc

PS..... avoid Sony. They are overpriced

[fatediesel]

With the HDMI, can I just hook it up to my tv and use that to watch videos or is there more to it? Do settings need to be changed?

[dadkins]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

With the HDMI, can I just hook it up to my tv and use that to watch videos or is there more to it? Do settings need to be changed?

May have to switch from laptop display to TV, but that's *usually* simple enough.

[Sylin]

I'm a big fan of Mac laptops, having made the "switch" in 2006, and I haven't looked back. They are very user-friendly, IMHO.

But if you absolutely must go with a Windows-based machine, I'd recommend Dell or Sony. You can find relatively inexpensive ones on Craigslist.

Brands to avoid: Toshiba, HP, Gateway. Just my opinion.

If you post and let us know what you want to use it for, I can give you a more guided recommendation.

[tilallr1]

Personally, I buy Dell for my company and find they are a great balance of price and quality. Of course service is much, much better then dealing with Bestbuy or the like.

From my experience here are the brands you want to avoid, due to cost and/or crap components:

SONY
HP
IBM

If you hate Dell, then go with Toshiba, they are also good, but expensive. But still cheaper than IBM.

Please note, these days if I were to buy a laptop for myself, I may just buy an Mac. Reason being that they now come with Intel chips which allow you to install Windows on it. So you can get the best of both worlds on the Mac PC's and laptops. But again, if you are only interested in PC then DELL is a much cheaper/better choice all around. I personally recommend also there Precision line of laptops. Lots of power in those beasts.

[Riverside666]

Macs have horrid graphics cards IMO. They were among the last companies to move to a PCI express video solution as the MacBook Pros are the first generation with the PCI express. Most companies are currently on their third maybe forth. Macs dont currently have Blu Ray support.

I currently use a Dell XPS m1710 which is ok, but Dell's aren't really that great. They are literally cheap simple builds that really only provide value. Of course the new slimline XPS series are sleak and cool but I question their ability to upgrade as well as cool. You have to realize that many of these laptops are small, thin and light and do not have a great cooling solution because they feel or believe that the lack of a fast HDD or True videocard will reduce the overall temps. And of course the processors are getting smaller, but at the same time when you're watching a Blu ray film or even playing a game possibly or just using your laptop like a desktop it will get hot, real hot.

I really like my Alienware m9750, but will be selling it soon to move to the new Sager NP9262. My first Sager, but the specs are Brutal.

[problu]

Originally Posted by ikcizokm

I'm a big fan of Mac laptops, having made the "switch" in 2006, and I haven't looked back. They are very user-friendly, IMHO.

But if you absolutely must go with a Windows-based machine, I'd recommend Dell or Sony. You can find relatively inexpensive ones on Craigslist.

Brands to avoid: Toshiba, HP, Gateway. Just my opinion.

If you post and let us know what you want to use it for, I can give you a more guided recommendation.

pretty much for basic use only

[w_tanoto]

definitely avoid sony. they're quality products, but too pricey (loved to get one myself). avoid tosiba. their quality is decreasing now. i recommend HP, compaq, dell, apple (if you love mac), asus. oh, btw, avoid acer. i had a bad experience with my sister's laptop (I installed it for her). Some programs don't work, while in my laptop (HP), it works perfectly

[Sylin]

Originally Posted by problu

pretty much for basic use only

Try the Gateway T2330, at BB presently for under $600. Or, scour Craigslist for higher-end models at a lower price.

Remember that RAM is your friend, so go for more RAM over more hard drive space.

If you're in this price range (sub-$1000), most laptops are all about the same quality- and component-wise. Just don't expect to be able to play 3D games or do any hardcore video or graphics work on them. IMHO, any laptop under $1000 is a glorified Internet appliance. But the portability is nice.

[Riverside666]

No go for more Hard drive space over ram. Ram is among the easiest, cheapest upgrades to do on a laptop. If you've actually looked at ram prices you'd see that they're currently running on average of like 60 dollars for 2 gigs worth. Replacing a HDD is not easy nor is it fun. Backing up old files? and reinstalling windows? Installing new ram takes like 30 seconds tops. And getting a 72k RPM HDD is alot better then getting 3 gigs while having a 40 gig 5200 rpm drive. Trust me I've owned many notebooks in the past and have built a few as well.

From experiences the upgrades should fall under this priority 1) Ram 2) HDD 3) Videocard 4) CPU

The third is not always possible, of course. And obviously if you were buying a PC you'd want to max that out in reverse order because the later 2 can be costly.

So you should buy your new PC with consideration in this order
1) CPU 2) Videocard 3) HDD 4) Ram

SO ram is the LAST thing you worry about. And you can include screen and resolution with number 2, videocard. Trust me from experience and talking to many others you should consider you PC components in that order, it works out best over the long run.

[Sylin]

Originally Posted by Riverside666

SO ram is the LAST thing you worry about.

I'll still respectfully disagree here. Yes, RAM is a cheap and easy upgrade, but if the OP was tech-savvy he wouldn't have asked for this advice in the first place.

Secondly, HDD sizes are ridiculously large these days. Even budget laptops hover around 160gb. Factor in formatting, then OS + OEM software and you've still got 120gb of space left to fill right out of the box. YOU might be able to fill this, but the average user--particularly the OP, who said he wanted a "basic" laptop--will never come close. And a backup external HDD, which he should have anyhow, will cost less than a RAM upgrade.

Nope, unless you're using it as a workstation or for gaming (neither of which are "basic" uses), then a budget laptop should be 1.) RAM, 2.) CPU, 3.) GPU, 4.) HDD.

Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks, but I did sell computers for 8 years while also working in technology journalism, so I stand by my opinion.

[Riverside666]

Many people fail to realize the difference between a 7200 rpm HDD over a 5200 rpm HDD. I can tell you right now that if you moved from a 2 ghz dual core to a 2.6 and from a 5200 rpm disk to a 7200 rpm disk you'd see more of a difference from switching hard disks. The average user as you so eloquently put doesn't even have to use more then 2 gigs or 1.5 gigs to begin with so I don't even know why you're stressing a 40 dollar ram piece so hard. Have a look

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCateg...=Laptop-Memory

Anyways, I actually build and assist in the design of circuit and motherboards for laptops cellphones and alot of other contract work I can get my hands on from companies such as Samsung, Nokia, Toshiba, and Fujitsu. The co-owner of the company (a family relative) was a premiere designer from the Intel Centrino Chip Design Team a few years back. There was more money in independent contract work so that's where we are today. So I mean if you're trying to telling me that I don't know anything, you're very much mistaken. My laptop right now has 4 gigs of ram clocked at 800mhz and I don't even think I use even half of it. Oh and if you want me to I'll put up a pics guide for you on how to upgrade ram on a laptop, or whoever needs it. It's as easy as 1-2-3

[ps3andlovinit]

Originally Posted by tilallr1

From my experience here are the brands you want to avoid, due to cost and/or crap components:

SONY
HP
IBM

If you hate Dell, then go with Toshiba, they are also good, but expensive. But still cheaper than IBM.

Well with Thinkpads it's clearly a case of you get what you pay for...the T series is simply the best quality product on the market. All of ours have averaged a 4-5 years of hard usage in our business . HP's that we tried had more features for the money but were quite literally pieces of junk. 3 out 4 completely failed in less than 2 years (1 within 9 months) and were mainly being used as desktops and not travelling around like the Thinkpads. Even a 20-30% premium for the same features of the other brands is well worth it IMO. Barring that I would take less HDD and video on a Thinkpad if I needed to keep the pricing equal.

The keyboard is so far ahead of anything else on the market it's really not a competition..it's one of those things you have to use to truly appreciate the quality of xp it creates. It's simply beautiful. And since the keyboard is *the* interface to your system not something to dismiss lightly.

[McClendonThaBoss]

If you want a good laptop, go to Sonystyle.com and look at their 17'' plus laptop screen sizes. The new 730 series has built in blu ray, 3 gig ram, and a good vdeio card. Check em out.

I have a AR520 and its pretty good.