*Must include O/S and Word programs.
*Factor in $150 warranty.
*NO COMPAQ. Seriously, compaq sucks.
*Factor in $150 warranty.
*NO COMPAQ. Seriously, compaq sucks.
$1,000 laptop budget...
- Thread starter Noobtastic
- Start date
Well the insurance check calls for ~1,000 so whatever is left over will be void. My mom just doesn't want compaq, and yeah I know it was bought by HP.
Suggestions?
Some people have been saying Fujitsu, but I'm not familiar with that company.
I think Fujitsu makes alot of ultraportables and tablets, not really what your looking for. I'd probably go with a dell. I'd go with a 7200rpm HD in as high a capacity as you can get, even if you have to take a step down in processor speed to afford it.
Crap, I forgot to mention she wants something very portable and LIGHT. Like 2-6lb light.
I would really like to avoid dell, especially with all the lemon issues involving their laptops.
My mom has no issue in paying up for reliability.
I would really like to avoid dell, especially with all the lemon issues involving their laptops.
My mom has no issue in paying up for reliability.
I have no idea what those are.
She wants the usual: Fast, reliable, comfortable (not hot), light (use on lap/in bed), and vista.
I would assume a thousand dollar budget would be more than enough...but now I'm not so sure.
suggestions?!
Go to Fry's and buy whatever they have on sale that week for $499, plus their extended warranty, Office 2007 S&H, upgrade memory.
If you have a hatred against Compaq then get a HP. I'm an engineer and I say Compaqs rock.
If you have a hatred against Compaq then get a HP. I'm an engineer and I say Compaqs rock.
dude... thinkpads..used to ibm thinkpads, you must have an idea what those are. get s thinkpad it fits all your needs.
VinDSL
Diamond Member
Ultralight
Senior member
- Jul 11, 2004
- 990
- 1
- 76
Go over to the Lenovo site and check out their offerings. They have their 3000 series and their Thinkpad series with the Thinkpad series the better build of the two. However, the 3000 models are pretty fine.
Right now Lenovo is having a sale and the Thinkpad R model offerings may be what you want. If it is light in weight then perhaps the 14.1" model may be right.
The only problem I see with shopping online is that I have actually found better prices for virtually the same laptops at either Staples or Office Depot -- sometimes by as much as $300 - $400 less in price.
You also need to figure in extended warrenty because the cost of replacing a screen is often as much as a full laptop. A warrenty will certainly add $ to the final cost but it is well worth it.
I like HP offerings a whole lot as well and they really have improved the Compaq line. I bought my daughter a Compaq with Vista Home Premium this past summer for college and I have been impressed with its stability. She does course work, surfs and does research online, IMs and plays movies. She is not a gamer so no need for a high end. It sdoes what it it is intended to do.
Staples, Office Depot, Best Buy and Circuit City have some great deals week in and week out. NewEgg also offeres great bargains but you need do a lot of searching to find what you want and I am not sure about the warrenty offered.
Right now Lenovo is having a sale and the Thinkpad R model offerings may be what you want. If it is light in weight then perhaps the 14.1" model may be right.
The only problem I see with shopping online is that I have actually found better prices for virtually the same laptops at either Staples or Office Depot -- sometimes by as much as $300 - $400 less in price.
You also need to figure in extended warrenty because the cost of replacing a screen is often as much as a full laptop. A warrenty will certainly add $ to the final cost but it is well worth it.
I like HP offerings a whole lot as well and they really have improved the Compaq line. I bought my daughter a Compaq with Vista Home Premium this past summer for college and I have been impressed with its stability. She does course work, surfs and does research online, IMs and plays movies. She is not a gamer so no need for a high end. It sdoes what it it is intended to do.
Staples, Office Depot, Best Buy and Circuit City have some great deals week in and week out. NewEgg also offeres great bargains but you need do a lot of searching to find what you want and I am not sure about the warrenty offered.
What do you think of this:
http://shop3.outpost.com/product/5381638
and this:
http://shop3.outpost.com/product/5425559
The sony is slightly out of budget, but my mom doesn't mind paying a little more reliability.
She wants:
A) Light
B) Fast
C) Wireless compatible
D) $900 or less with software/warranty
The HP is doubly attractive because we can fit the $130 frys service warranty and word/anti-virus without going over 1k.
COMMENTS?!
http://shop3.outpost.com/product/5381638
and this:
http://shop3.outpost.com/product/5425559
The sony is slightly out of budget, but my mom doesn't mind paying a little more reliability.
She wants:
A) Light
B) Fast
C) Wireless compatible
D) $900 or less with software/warranty
The HP is doubly attractive because we can fit the $130 frys service warranty and word/anti-virus without going over 1k.
COMMENTS?!
Ultralight
Senior member
- Jul 11, 2004
- 990
- 1
- 76
Both look good for what your mom is looking for. I am partial to HP because I have found -- so far -- their customer service/tech support to be prompt. I would add that the HP has the faster processor though the Sony probably has the stronger built chassis.
There might be a drawback to the Turion X2 TL-58 is that it might run hot. The TL-56 @ 1.8 does run hot from everything I could read on it; perhaps AMD rectified the issue with the TL-58. I would ask about the cooling. My daughter's cpu is the TL-50 @1.6MHz. If you could find something similar in the TL-50 or TL-52 you may want to consider those models if indeed the TL-58 runs hot but this is only conjecture on my part.
The Sony does have the bigger harddrive but it is below the standard 5400.
Both motherboards can be expanded another 2 gigs but Windows Vista Home Premium is a 32 bit OS, not a 64 bit OS. When and if she ever upgrades to Vista 64 at least the ability to add another two gigs in either is a plus.
Both have 2 gigs of RAM: Good. Vista runs much better with two than 1 Gig.
CONS: Both have loaded software offerings that need to be cleaned up. When my daughter returned for Christmas vacation I made sure a lot of the "offerings" were removed, i.e., Norton and Office 2007.
I have nothing against Office 2007 but I already had 2003 which I loaded on her Laptop and it runs on Vista without a hitch.
There might be a drawback to the Turion X2 TL-58 is that it might run hot. The TL-56 @ 1.8 does run hot from everything I could read on it; perhaps AMD rectified the issue with the TL-58. I would ask about the cooling. My daughter's cpu is the TL-50 @1.6MHz. If you could find something similar in the TL-50 or TL-52 you may want to consider those models if indeed the TL-58 runs hot but this is only conjecture on my part.
The Sony does have the bigger harddrive but it is below the standard 5400.
Both motherboards can be expanded another 2 gigs but Windows Vista Home Premium is a 32 bit OS, not a 64 bit OS. When and if she ever upgrades to Vista 64 at least the ability to add another two gigs in either is a plus.
Both have 2 gigs of RAM: Good. Vista runs much better with two than 1 Gig.
CONS: Both have loaded software offerings that need to be cleaned up. When my daughter returned for Christmas vacation I made sure a lot of the "offerings" were removed, i.e., Norton and Office 2007.
I have nothing against Office 2007 but I already had 2003 which I loaded on her Laptop and it runs on Vista without a hitch.
We aren't going to upgrade the laptop ever, so no opening up the mobo and tossing in extra memory.
I was concerned about the CPU and that it would run hot, but again I know nothing specifically. Is intel better in that sense? I know speed isn't really an issue since all she will be doing is basic functions.
No concern about the warranty, since it will be covered by Fry's (hopefully) for 3+ years. All computer manufacturers are prepared to give away service, so in the event that her computer does die I doubt going through HP or sony is going to help.
We tried to replace a compaq battery and it ended up costings us $200 PLUS shipping and RESTOCKING fee. We then discovered the battery was worth $40. The new one didn't even work properly, but by then the entire computer shut down so the battery issue was nothing.
So...what do you say, HP or Sony? My mom's digging the sony because of the webcam and extra features...but I like the HP more because of the price and very similar specs (though I like INTEL a lot more).
Do you have any more recommendations? If you see a laptop from outpost.com that you feel is worthy of a mention feel free to post. My mom is buying this week so any advice will be appreciated! I don't think you want me posting a dozen threads about laptop issues...
XD
I was concerned about the CPU and that it would run hot, but again I know nothing specifically. Is intel better in that sense? I know speed isn't really an issue since all she will be doing is basic functions.
No concern about the warranty, since it will be covered by Fry's (hopefully) for 3+ years. All computer manufacturers are prepared to give away service, so in the event that her computer does die I doubt going through HP or sony is going to help.
We tried to replace a compaq battery and it ended up costings us $200 PLUS shipping and RESTOCKING fee. We then discovered the battery was worth $40. The new one didn't even work properly, but by then the entire computer shut down so the battery issue was nothing.
So...what do you say, HP or Sony? My mom's digging the sony because of the webcam and extra features...but I like the HP more because of the price and very similar specs (though I like INTEL a lot more).
Do you have any more recommendations? If you see a laptop from outpost.com that you feel is worthy of a mention feel free to post. My mom is buying this week so any advice will be appreciated! I don't think you want me posting a dozen threads about laptop issues...
XD
Rottie
Diamond Member
- Feb 10, 2002
- 4,795
- 2
- 81
get sony notebook and forget about hp because someday compaq will change hp brand name to compaq you still hate compaq.
she loves webcam let her have sony then
oh by the way i have 4 months old 6420us which is close to 6645us I bought it from Fry's as well plus 200.00 for 5 years warranty.
she loves webcam let her have sony then
oh by the way i have 4 months old 6420us which is close to 6645us I bought it from Fry's as well plus 200.00 for 5 years warranty.
thecoolnessrune
Diamond Member
- Jun 8, 2005
- 9,673
- 583
- 126
I got my grandmother a small business Dell Vostro 1500 for Christmas. I personally have an HP dv6500t and bro has a dv9500t (only differences being mostly 15" vs. 17" screens though his is an 8600GT vs. 8400GS graphics, 2.2Ghz Core 2 vs. 2Ghz Core 2, and Vista Ultimate vs. Home Premium). Regardless, of all 3, I'm really digging the dell above all three of them. The problem is that it doesn't have the biometric reader, or the bluetooth module that our HPs have. But in all honesty its build quality and heatsinks are actually better than the HPs :Q!
Another thing I noticed, is that for the longest time, when LCDs were just starting to become popular, it was determined that good quality panels don't start until 17" That's still true. Unless you get a premium display (like the 15" dell panels doing 1680x1050), any view below 17" sucks. The view on my bro's HP is gorgeous, whereas the panel on this 15" is horrible. Bad black levels, and you can never see everything clearly at once. The Dell panel isn't much better.
My vote goes for the Dell for your desires. The new Vostros are actually really nice.
Another thing I noticed, is that for the longest time, when LCDs were just starting to become popular, it was determined that good quality panels don't start until 17" That's still true. Unless you get a premium display (like the 15" dell panels doing 1680x1050), any view below 17" sucks. The view on my bro's HP is gorgeous, whereas the panel on this 15" is horrible. Bad black levels, and you can never see everything clearly at once. The Dell panel isn't much better.
My vote goes for the Dell for your desires. The new Vostros are actually really nice.
My mom is now considering the Dell after reading about some Fry's horror stories.
Argh..I'll post it soon, I'm not sure which model (it's their online store).
Argh..I'll post it soon, I'm not sure which model (it's their online store).
ok this is the laptop my mo was looking at:
SYSTEM COLOR Jet Black edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core? 2 Duo T5250 (1.5GHz/667Mhz FSB/2MB cache) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® Vista Home Premium Edition edit
HD DISPLAY Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280x800) edit
VIDEO CARD Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 edit
MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz edit
HARD DRIVE 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM) edit
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE CD / DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW Drive) edit
WIRELESS NETWORK CARDS Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini-Card edit
INTEGRATED WEBCAM Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam edit
BATTERY OPTIONS 56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell) edit
SOUND OPTIONS High Definition Audio 2.0 edit
My Software & Accessories
PRINTER Dell AIO 926 - Includes Media Card Reader edit
SERVICE & SUPPORT 1Yr Ltd. Warranty, 1 yr HW Warranty Support, 1 yr Advance Exchange edit
ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE No Security Subscription edit
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD edit
My Service
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 3Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor - Next Day edit
DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP Included 3 GB DataSafe Online Backup for 1Yr edit
DIAL-UP INTERNET ACCESS No ISP requested edit
ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 8.1
Total: $1,089
I personally think it's a little overboard, espcially considering it doesn't come with Word.
Here is the dell link:
http://configure.us.dell.com/d...NDWPA4&pg=review&s=dhs
SYSTEM COLOR Jet Black edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core? 2 Duo T5250 (1.5GHz/667Mhz FSB/2MB cache) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® Vista Home Premium Edition edit
HD DISPLAY Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280x800) edit
VIDEO CARD Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 edit
MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz edit
HARD DRIVE 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM) edit
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE CD / DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW Drive) edit
WIRELESS NETWORK CARDS Dell Wireless 1390 802.11g Mini-Card edit
INTEGRATED WEBCAM Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam edit
BATTERY OPTIONS 56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell) edit
SOUND OPTIONS High Definition Audio 2.0 edit
My Software & Accessories
PRINTER Dell AIO 926 - Includes Media Card Reader edit
SERVICE & SUPPORT 1Yr Ltd. Warranty, 1 yr HW Warranty Support, 1 yr Advance Exchange edit
ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE No Security Subscription edit
OFFICE SOFTWARE Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD edit
My Service
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 3Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor - Next Day edit
DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP Included 3 GB DataSafe Online Backup for 1Yr edit
DIAL-UP INTERNET ACCESS No ISP requested edit
ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 8.1
Total: $1,089
I personally think it's a little overboard, espcially considering it doesn't come with Word.
Here is the dell link:
http://configure.us.dell.com/d...NDWPA4&pg=review&s=dhs
Brainonska511
Lifer
- Dec 10, 2005
- 27,946
- 12,492
- 136
Why not cut it down to a 2 year warranty and add in Office with the savings?
Is the DataSafe stuff something you have to pay for? You may want to skip this too and just perform your own backups with an external hard drive.
Also, do you need the Dell printer? They are kind of a rip off, especially when it comes to buying ink.
Is the DataSafe stuff something you have to pay for? You may want to skip this too and just perform your own backups with an external hard drive.
Also, do you need the Dell printer? They are kind of a rip off, especially when it comes to buying ink.
Rottie
Diamond Member
- Feb 10, 2002
- 4,795
- 2
- 81
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