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Have to find a powerful laptop in 2 days.....

H

hoorah

Senior member
Seriously, sometimes I feel like more of a personal shopper than professional computer help. I was just told I needed to find a good laptop for a birthday present, and I have 2 days to have it to the person getting it. Money is no object. Ready? GO!

Thats seriously the basis I have to work with. I'm thinking of this one at the local best buy.

SONY VAIO VGN-FE550G NoteBook Intel Core Duo T2300(1.66GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 1GB DDR2 533 100GB 4200rpm DVD+R DL / DVD±RW Intel GMA950 - Retail

Seems nice, can't find anything wrong with it. Anything else I should look at? We're going for normal size (no moveable desktops), fast as can be, and has to be available for pickup tonight or tomorrow.
 
Originally posted by: hoorah
SONY VAIO VGN-FE550G NoteBook Intel Core Duo T2300(1.66GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 1GB DDR2 533 100GB 4200rpm DVD+R DL / DVD±RW Intel GMA950 - Retail
Click to expand...


Other than maybe the fact that it has a dual layer DVD burner...I don't see anything "Powerful" about that laptop.
 
How about one of the new Asus notebooks with the core duo (check them out at Newegg.com). In particular: the W series and the V series.
 
Acer TravelMate 8204; expensive, feature loaded, very powerful:
http://www.laptoplogic.com/reviews/detail.php?id=113

Lenovo Thinkpad T60p; uber-expensive, arguably one of the most powerful yet portable machines available:
http://www.laptoplogic.com/reviews/detail.php?id=112

Oh, you have to have it in 2 days. Get the 8204 from Buy.com with overnight shipping

Otherwise, everything you find in a store will be an overpriced POS. Seriously most retail stores don't carry even a reasonable selection of laptops
 
Originally posted by: govtcheez75
Originally posted by: hoorah
SONY VAIO VGN-FE550G NoteBook Intel Core Duo T2300(1.66GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 1GB DDR2 533 100GB 4200rpm DVD+R DL / DVD±RW Intel GMA950 - Retail
Click to expand...


Other than maybe the fact that it has a dual layer DVD burner...I don't see anything "Powerful" about that laptop.
Click to expand...

No? Hmm. I really don't know anything about how the core duo chips in laptops compare to desktop equivalents, but I assumed that it was similar to the centrino in rating (i.e., 1.5 ghz centrino benchmarks significantly higher than a 1.5 ghz p4). I suppose I could up the speed of the chip, but I assumed I'd be doing that anyway, getting the fastest of whatever they had at the store.

As for the ram, again, whatever they have at the store. 2 gigs would be cool, but I don't feel like buying it separately and putting it in. 1 gig will be fine for them. If I can get a 5400 hard drive, I'll get that.

Do they sell ASUS notebooks at BM stores? I haven't looked in awhile.
 
Originally posted by: hoorah
Originally posted by: govtcheez75
Originally posted by: hoorah
SONY VAIO VGN-FE550G NoteBook Intel Core Duo T2300(1.66GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 1GB DDR2 533 100GB 4200rpm DVD+R DL / DVD±RW Intel GMA950 - Retail
Click to expand...


Other than maybe the fact that it has a dual layer DVD burner...I don't see anything "Powerful" about that laptop.
Click to expand...

No? Hmm. I really don't know anything about how the core duo chips in laptops compare to desktop equivalents, but I assumed that it was similar to the centrino in rating (i.e., 1.5 ghz centrino benchmarks significantly higher than a 1.5 ghz p4). I suppose I could up the speed of the chip, but I assumed I'd be doing that anyway, getting the fastest of whatever they had at the store.

As for the ram, again, whatever they have at the store. 2 gigs would be cool, but I don't feel like buying it separately and putting it in. 1 gig will be fine for them. If I can get a 5400 hard drive, I'll get that.

Do they sell ASUS notebooks at BM stores? I haven't looked in awhile.
Click to expand...

depends where you are. Most MicroCenters and CompUSA have decent stock of notebooks. Things I would look for:
1.86ghz Core Duo or better
Dedicated video card (NO Intel GMA!)
1-2GB memory
5400-7200 rpm HDD
 
It depends on the person. What exactly will the person use it for? Gaming? Traveling? Schooling? Graphics? Video Editing?

I think it's best to get a laptop that is best suited for its task. You wouldn't want to get a all powerful laptop only then to realize it's too heavy for traveling. I think a 13" widescreen is decent for most tasks (exclude graphics and video editing). But if it's desktop bound, then the largest 17" should be excellent.
 
money no object? mac book pro = configure for dual boot osx productivity + winxp fun? educational discount? winner?

definitely well made. worth it? that's up to you.
 
Originally posted by: makoto00
money no object? mac book pro = configure for dual boot osx productivity + winxp fun? educational discount? winner?

definitely well made. worth it? that's up to you.
Click to expand...

I don't think OSX actually makes people more productive. I would still consider the MBP as it's a nice machine, and Apple has mall stores in many areas.
 
Originally posted by: Koharski
price no object? I'll PM you on my birthday 😉
Click to expand...

hehe, money is no object to the person paying for the laptop....not me 🙂

Actually, I was tasked to buy two laptops, one for the mother, and one for the daughter. They've changed their mind on the daughter for now, so I guess I'm just getting one. If they decide to get one for her though, I'm going to buy another of what I just bought last night, which was:

The VAIO FE660G. I wanted the 670g (Compusa had it, not in stock), and while I insisted to the the comissioned salesman that I needed it for the weekend, he firmly believed that I could wait until monday, and that if I couldn't, I should buy whatever floor model he thought was best for me. I know alot about PCs, at least as much as the average ATer (which is obviously ages beyond what the average shopper they get knows), but I don't show it when shopping for one. The guy totally assumed I knew nothing and definitely would have taken advantage of someone not as well versed.

So I headed over to best buy and got one of the 660's from them. Not too terrible a deal either ($1400). I can't believe I actually said to the salesman "I would like to purchase an extended warranty." I thought I would never utter those words, but hey, its not my money, and they wanted a warranty. Laptop, bag, mouse, warranty, norton + 1 GB of DDR2700 for their desktop was $2200 (and I got a nice little bonus using my rewards card too).

Played with it a little last night. Can't speak for performance, because I didn't really use anything other than windows, norton, and some DVDs, but it seemed at least as fast as my A3200. BEAUTIFUL screen. Best I've seen yet. Gotta install Norton AV and Spysweeper, openoffice and then it should be deliverable.

Thanks for the suggesstions everyone. If it were me, I might have gotten a more techie solution (like a dualboot mac or something), but this should suit them just fine. By saturday, they'll be well on their way to getting viruses and turning thier computer into a DOS bot 🙂
 
Got a costco membership? Go to costco! They got great everyday deals there usually, and if you dont like it Return policy FTW.
 
dell outlet also has ready to ship systems (i think?)... so i guess overnight shipping?

Anyways, I work at CompUSA and we do NOT get comission if we're wearing a red shirt. The only people who get comission are the business sales reps who arent even on the sales floor.... So in other words, the guy you spoke to is just a plain idiot. lol
 
Anyways, I work at CompUSA and we do NOT get comission if we're wearing a red shirt. The only people who get comission are the business sales reps who arent even on the sales floor.... So in other words, the guy you spoke to is just a plain idiot. lol
Click to expand...

Interesting. The guy was not wearing a red shirt, he was wearing a white collared shirt, but he was definitely on the sales floor.

I can't say for sure, because I don't have any real evidence of it, but everything about him felt like a comissioned salesman. Circled me for about 10 mins, made sure I was interested in buying right that day before helping me any further, wouldn't let me out of his sight to look at anything else. Panic mode when I tried to leave. It was pretty obvious.

As for the notebook, I got the approval to purchase a second notebook as well. Went back to Best buy and bought another of the FE660G, same as the first one. I really wanted to see the look on the techs face at best buy when I came in to get another of the same exact one, but he wasnt there. Instead, I got a different guy that pushed the Geeksquad services VERY hard, totally ignoring any response that indicated I didn't need the services. He was VERY condescending about any abilities I may or may not have had about simple things like upgrading memory or installing windows patches. For example, he downright told me that if I plugged the laptop into the internet without their patches, I would get the sasser worm. "Even if I'm behind a router firewall with NAT?" I replied. He answered that yes, I definitely would, then proceeded to tell me that if I wanted to mess up the laptop that it was my business. Damn right.

So I delivered the laptops to the customers on Saturday, and they absolutely loved them. They really liked the screen best of all, totally blown out of the water. Copied all their documents from their old PCs to the new ones and they were off. Then, the following Sunday, Best buy had an ad for that same notebook for $150 off! Walked into BB, showed the reciept, got $300 back instantly. Nice 🙂

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. I can't comment on reliability or gaming performance, but if you want a lightweight laptop with a core duo and a beautiful screen for $1250, I really liked the Vaio FE660G, and so did my customers.
 
Glad to hear things seemed to have worked out. It would have been nice to get more lead time, because that would have meant the difference between a Best Buy run and ordering an uber-system from an online shop.

I don't think Best Buy reps are commissioned, but it's still in their best interests to show that they can move products. That's likely why the second rep was fearmongering and trying to get you to buy the Geek Squad services. They might not get paid anything extra for it, but it helps their chances for raises or promotions to attach as much to the purchase as possible.
 
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