Looking for a laptop around 600-900 dollars

[Nvidiaguy07]

My mothers laptop is at the end of its life, so im now faced with a decision.

Give her mine and buy myself a new one, or just get her something decent.

The second option isnt as appealing to me because i would probably be getting a new laptop in the next few years, and the one id be buying her will probably be only as good as the current one i have now. So instead of spending ~500 dollars for a decent laptop for her, look at it as an opportunity to upgrade my current laptop. (the equivalent of selling my current laptop for 500)

Currently my laptop meets all my needs. It has:
P8600 @ 2.4GHZ - that still holds its own
15.6" 1680x1050 screen (love higher res screens)
9600M GT video card
4GB DDR2
HDMI and VGA ports
(Its a MSI-MS1651 FYI, which is the same as a GX620, with a better screen and faster CPU)

If i do buy myself a new laptop, i need to definitely get something that is better than what i currently have, otherwise i feel like its a waste.


Things i would like in the new laptop are:

-HDMI out - i think these are pretty standard nowadays

-13-15" screen that must be a high res. was looking at a dell, but they listed the screen as "720p" WTF? i hope they dont mean the res on a 15" screen is only 1280x720. I would prefer at least 1600x900 on a 13-15" screen

**GOOD BUILD QUALITY** This is one reason why i would consider a mac, but i am going to be using windows 90% of the time, and ive heard running windows on a mac isn't the best idea. I would much rather buy a laptop that is hackintoshable, for the occasion that id like to use osx.

decent graphics? Im actually questioning this need. In the past ive always bought a laptop with dedicated graphics, but now im questioning whether or not its necesary anymore. I wont be doing much gaming on it, if at all, so is an i5 or i7 with integrated graphics good enough? (might be using Photoshop and other programs like it)

I'd prefer to buy it from a store, so i can check it out first. My biggest gripe with my current laptop is that i bought it based on stats, and even though its an awesome laptop, the keyboard sucks. Its got a really cheap feel to it, and they jammed in a full keyboard, when the number pad was clearly pushing it.

Id really like to just buy a mac and call it a day, but i dont want to deal with any bugs that youll have running windows on a macbook pro or macbook air.

Any suggestions?

 

[fralexandr]

720p usually means 1366x768
if you're not gaming, intel HD (sandybridge) is more than enough
there are some benefits to having an nvidia or amd gpu in the quality of HD playback, but i doubt it'd be noticeable unless you had an intel and nvidia/amd running side by side
new macbook pros are kind of out of your price range (they're the only reason i'd consider getting a mac <3 aluminum unibody) (and then you need to factor in windows OS cost)

i kind of like the Asus U36SD but i don't think the screen res would be acceptable for you

the only notebooks i think would fit your needs might be the Dell XPS 15 or HP envy 14 with coupons or discounts and the upgraded screen (i don't like HP though, as they historically have had higher than normal failure rates)
hp coupons
dell coupons
the HP envy is often found in stores though which should allow you to get a feel for it

currently, there's a coupon for the HP Envy 14 until tomorrow :S

the dell XPS 15 and hp envy have great screens, and are some of the only ones that do so in your price range
if you don't mind buying used Dell Outlet often has some good deals as well
getting a high res screen is costly though and this is where you'll find most of your problems in staying in a budget of 600-900 (having nice build quality makes it even more difficult)

other than a CPU upgrade, performance wise you might look into getting a decently sized SSD in the future as that would be one of the only things that would make a notebook seem noticeably faster than yours

ugh, why hasn't HP been offering their higher res display on the 14" anymore...

 

[marcplante]

You have an external screen to hook up to? The graphics on this box's screen are good enough. IMO, if you're gaming, you're not doing it on a 15" notebook screen, you output to a monitor (24" --$150) Otherwise, the specs on this box speak for themselves, and Lenovo build quality is very good.


http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...1FBDB172571912

I'm about ready to pull the trigger myself. I need to get away from my tower and do things in the living room and HT room, but want to run videos and gameson the plasma downstairs.

Check out IBM ergonomics at a local shop then pull the trigger on the specs. you have to decide if you trust Win7 vs Mac OS or want to pay $1500 for a lesser specced Macbook vs a lenovo.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

yea screen res seems to be a deal-breaker for many laptops i find.

Coming from 1680x1050, I've really gotten used to the extra space, and i pretty much need at least 1600x900.

I might just end up getting a 13" macbook air, hopefully refurbished. The build quality and screen res and what im looking for, and ive heard bootcamp has come a long way. I'm gonna be using windows 7 most of the time - so is this a good idea?

Still looking for something else, but the air is the only thing i see myself getting excited for