Looking for a laptop for Mom

[Davidh373]

I've been looking at this Toshiba laptop for $500 (w/ free shipping) for my mom. She wants to do some photo editing in some obscure creative memories software, facebook, web-browse, ect. I know this machine is probably far more than she needs but it's like $15 more than the average Pentium/ Celeron notebook only this one has a triple core Phenom and 4GB DDR3. So here it is. Really, I'm just asking for opinions. I know that this is WAY overkill, but the price is right. I might even try to work out a deal where I get it in trade for my Macbook Pro, because it appears to be better than my Santa Rosa w/ 4GB DDR2 667. So what kind of reputation does Toshiba have? Is there anything that catches your eye that's wrong with it?

http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Satell...9190993&sr=1-1

There's this HP with a 15.6" screen as well.
http://www.amazon.com/HP-Pavilion-dv6-3013nr-15-6-Inch-Laptop/dp/B003OBZKYS/ref=pd_cp_pc_1

 

[StrangerGuy]

1st one wins by default by being not from HP. I seen way too many horror stories on the DV series.

 

[gsaldivar]

I had to decide between these exact two models for a client recently.

The Toshiba was cheaper but also looked like crap to me - lots of fingerprint-loving glossy black plastic with cheap chrome highlights. I remember the price being lower on this model, but I was really turned off by the "budget" appearance. Imho, keyboard is marginal on both laptops, but not as bad as the entry-level Acer keyboards...

The HP (the one I ended up buying) looks and feels great. The outer shell is laser etched steel/aluminum that feels way more sturdy than plastic. The laser etching creates a surface that is a bit rough on the fingers at first, but helps with grip I suppose. One other caveat with the HP is that the touchpad uses integrated hotspot buttons that are "part" of the touchpad as opposed to physical buttons that are separate from the touchpad itself. This means it takes some time to get used to not hitting those hotspot areas by accident. My client planned to use a USB mouse most of the time, which made this a non-issue. But honestly, if I bought this for myself, the touchpad would be a dealbreaker.

Good luck!

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

Is it a good idea to buy a laptop this soon before black friday? Or are you planning on waiting until black friday. Just curious, because I am waiting til then to buy one myself.

 

[gsaldivar]

I've never really been a fan of wasting hours of time standing in line. I guess it comes down to the amount of the discount and the value that you place on your time.

 

[tHa ShIzNiT]

I've never really been a fan of wasting hours of time standing in line. I guess it comes down to the amount of the discount and the value that you place on your time.

oh yeah, I would never ever go and wait in those lines. more power to those people who do...but I agree with the time value of money statement. I'm referring to the online sales that happen at the same time. like 2 years ago I bought a 46 inch TV for 500 bucks off just by waiting a few days until amazon had their black friday sale. I assume amazon and newegg among others will have plenty of laptops at a discount.

 

[mfenn]

A 1.8GHz Phenom II core is pretty pathetic IMHO. Check out this Lenovo. It's got a 32nm Arrandale clocked a 2.0GHz, which needless to say, will spank that Phenom. It should get much better battery life as well.

 

[Davidh373]

I had to decide between these exact two models for a client recently.

The Toshiba was cheaper but also looked like crap to me - lots of fingerprint-loving glossy black plastic with cheap chrome highlights. I remember the price being lower on this model, but I was really turned off by the "budget" appearance. Imho, keyboard is marginal on both laptops, but not as bad as the entry-level Acer keyboards...

The HP (the one I ended up buying) looks and feels great. The outer shell is laser etched steel/aluminum that feels way more sturdy than plastic. The laser etching creates a surface that is a bit rough on the fingers at first, but helps with grip I suppose. One other caveat with the HP is that the touchpad uses integrated hotspot buttons that are "part" of the touchpad as opposed to physical buttons that are separate from the touchpad itself. This means it takes some time to get used to not hitting those hotspot areas by accident. My client planned to use a USB mouse most of the time, which made this a non-issue. But honestly, if I bought this for myself, the touchpad would be a dealbreaker.

Good luck!

Thanks

Is it a good idea to buy a laptop this soon before black friday? Or are you planning on waiting until black friday. Just curious, because I am waiting til then to buy one myself.

Christmas present

A 1.8GHz Phenom II core is pretty pathetic IMHO. Check out this Lenovo. It's got a 32nm Arrandale clocked a 2.0GHz, which needless to say, will spank that Phenom. It should get much better battery life as well.

Are you sure about that? Looking at benchmarks it seems to be better than a 2.4Ghz C2 D notebook processor. At least that's what I've read. It is a 3 core, so 1.86Ghz is per core.

1K posts 😀

 

[mfenn]

Are you sure about that? Looking at benchmarks it seems to be better than a 2.4Ghz C2 D notebook processor. At least that's what I've read. It is a 3 core, so 1.86Ghz is per core.

An Arrandale ain't no Core 2! 😉

Single-threaded performance still matters a lot. In desktops, we're able to have our cake (quad core) and eat it too (high clock speeds) because the power restrictions aren't so tight. Not so in a notebook.

1K posts 😀

Gratz!

 

[Davidh373]

PII X3 bench
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=AMD+Phenom+II+N830+Triple-Core

PD
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+P6100+%40+2.00GHz

Bench comparison
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Phenom-II-X3-N830-Notebook-Processor.30280.0.html

It looks better than the Core2 Duos and Pentium Ds in both of these. Can you tell me why a 2Ghz dual core would be better than a 1.86GHz triple core? It seems like a no brainer to me, but knowing you, you know something/ have a benchmark I don't 🙂.

 

[mfenn]

PII X3 bench
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=AMD+Phenom+II+N830+Triple-Core

PD
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Pentium+P6100+%40+2.00GHz

Bench comparison
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Phenom-II-X3-N830-Notebook-Processor.30280.0.html

It looks better than the Core2 Duos and Pentium Ds in both of these. Can you tell me why a 2Ghz dual core would be better than a 1.86GHz triple core? It seems like a no brainer to me, but knowing you, you know something/ have a benchmark I don't 🙂.

Remember that the CPU that you're looking at in the Toshiba is the P820, not the N830. The HP with the N830 is $50 more than the Lenovo, so it's not a fair comparison.

Anyway, looking at the benches, the performance is pretty much the same between the two. So I guess I was wrong about the P6100 being faster. I guess it's because the Pentium dual-cores have no Turbo boost.

 

[Davidh373]

Remember that the CPU that you're looking at in the Toshiba is the P820, not the N830. The HP with the N830 is $50 more than the Lenovo, so it's not a fair comparison.

Anyway, looking at the benches, the performance is pretty much the same between the two. So I guess I was wrong about the P6100 being faster.

I was actually looking more toward the HP for the $50 more. My Dad seems fine with that price and it would be well worth it to my mother to have the better looking shell and card reader the lenovo does not.

EDIT: plus, the 15.6" screen vs. the 14" for my mom's bad eyes.