Need advice: First time purchasing a laptop.

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DoctorCarta

Senior member
Mar 7, 2004
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Looking to buy a laptop for school next semester. I'll be using it for the following : internet surfing,bussiness/data-base applications,other school work,watching dvds,possible light gaming,burning cds/possibly dvds?/capable of vista with Aero.My limit will probably be around $1500 but the cheaper the better...I hear intel dual cores are the way to go.Worth spending extra cash for Intel core duo 2? would like to stay around a 15inch display and what size of a pixel resolution should i get? 7200rpm hard drive worth it?Video card options?worth purchasing 2gb of ram out the gate?warranty,if so,how long?I was looking at dells and hps.Just started looking at refurb'd dells.Is it worth waiting after xmas or before for a better deal?Any advice or direction would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
 
Brainonska511

Brainonska511

Lifer
Dec 10, 2005
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-If you want to run with Vista, go with the Core 2 Duo (for the 64-bit processing and it is faster than the Core Duos).
-Get at least a 7600/7700 Go or MR X1600/X1700 if you want to light gaming (those are midrange mobile cards).
-The 7200RPM drive is a little faster, but I haven't felt hampered by the 5400RPM drive in my laptop. With your budget, it may be easier to stick with the 5400RPM drive.
-Warranty: 1 year should be good if it is a quality machine, 2 - 3 years if you're going to be going with a Dell or HP.

Edit:
Asus F3Jp (MR X1700, Core 2 Duo, 1GB DDR2, 15.4" WXGA (1280x800)) $1500

iBUYPOWER HEL-80IN2 (Core 2 Duo, 7600 Go, 15.4" WXGA (1280x800), 1GB DDR2) $1410AR

iBUYPOWER HEL80IN1 (Core 2 Duo, 7600 Go, 15.4" WXGA, 1GB DDR2) $1235AR

They all have 5400RPM hdd and all have 1 year warranties. Asus builds quality machines, so I wouldn't be to worried with that. iBUYPOWER uses barebones systems from companies like Asus, Quanta, and Compal, so they should be pretty good too, especially the last iBUYPOWER machine I listed.
 
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alimoalem

Diamond Member
Sep 22, 2005
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go with the core2duo (as brainonska said, it has 64-bit processing).
for pixel resolution, i have a 14.1" at 1280x800. i'm a college kid so i don't have any near-sighted vision problems but i still prefer having it at that...1440x900 or whatever the higher one is shouldn't be bad, either.
unless the 7200rpm drive is like $20-30 more, don't do it. i haven't seen my 5400rpm drive slow me down, yet.
depending on your definition of "light gaming" and what games you play, a 7400Go or MR X1400 could cut it.
from what i've seen, 2gb out the door is rarely ever worth it. this one guy wanted to buy a dell from canada and to my surprise dell was offering a free upgrade to 2gb (canada buyers only)..usually it's like a $300 upgrade...plus, i've yet to use all my 1gb, but then again, i don't game.
i'm not a warranty guy so i would get other opinions, but from my experience, unless you go all out on the warranty, it's not worth it.

i would look into lenovo's thinkpad (if the x1400 will suffice for your uses), hp's pavilion line (probably only the dv6000t would do it for you), dell (i would stay away from inspirons...check out the latitude d620 in "Small Business"), and asus (especially if you'll be needing a 7600/7700go or MR X1600/X1700).

i'm not sure about the christmas thing but if you find a good deal before it, go for it. if not, just wait.

EDIT: from the laptops brainonska posted above, i think the cheapest ibuypower is the best one. it comes with a fingerprint reader, too, if that matters. the only concern i have about it is in this link.
if you look at the second picture from the left, it looks like the screen is wrinkled or something...everything looks real good though
 
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DoctorCarta

Senior member
Mar 7, 2004
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you guys don't think dell and hps are quality machines?id figure asus would be less reliable since dell/hps concentrate more the mobile world...?
 
Brainonska511

Brainonska511

Lifer
Dec 10, 2005
28,720
13,883
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Originally posted by: DoctorCarta
you guys don't think dell and hps are quality machines?id figure asus would be less reliable since dell/hps concentrate more the mobile world...?
Click to expand...

Ha.

Asus is one of the top manufacturers in the world. I know that they make the Macbook (not sure who makes the MBP). Dell and HP don't actually make their own machines. They find ODMs to design them and then slap their own names on them. In fact, I'm typing away on my Asus W3J and can only say that the quality is almost unbeaten (except maybe by Lenovo's Thinkpad line).
 
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DoctorCarta

Senior member
Mar 7, 2004
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Originally posted by: Brainonska511
Originally posted by: DoctorCarta
you guys don't think dell and hps are quality machines?id figure asus would be less reliable since dell/hps concentrate more the mobile world...?
Click to expand...

Ha.

Asus is one of the top manufacturers in the world. I know that they make the Macbook (not sure who makes the MBP). Dell and HP don't actually make their own machines. They find ODMs to design them and then slap their own names on them. In fact, I'm typing away on my Asus W3J and can only say that the quality is almost unbeaten (except maybe by Lenovo's Thinkpad line).
Click to expand...


interesting...i thought dell made their own stuff.Thanks!
 
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alimoalem

Diamond Member
Sep 22, 2005
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Originally posted by: DoctorCarta
you guys don't think dell and hps are quality machines?id figure asus would be less reliable since dell/hps concentrate more the mobile world...?
Click to expand...

no i think hp's pavilion line is quality (i'm typing on my hp dv2000t right now) but dell's inspiron line is garbage, imo. the dell latitude is quality but the inspirons are from it.
 
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cheesehead

Lifer
Aug 11, 2000
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Originally posted by: alimoalem
Originally posted by: DoctorCarta
you guys don't think dell and hps are quality machines?id figure asus would be less reliable since dell/hps concentrate more the mobile world...?
Click to expand...

no i think hp's pavilion line is quality (i'm typing on my hp dv2000t right now) but dell's inspiron line is garbage, imo. the dell latitude is quality but the inspirons are from it.
Click to expand...


I'm going to back him up on this ones. Some of the HP stuff is built a bit cheaply, but it's always a few steps up from the Inspiron series - and HP tech support is far, far, far better than anything Dell provides.
 
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CCityInstaller

Banned
Jan 9, 2001
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I picked up thisHP from CompuUSA two weeks ago when it was on sale for $749.99 after rebate. It will be heavier then your average 15.4" WS, but you will have a larger viewing area with the higher resolution 17" WS. It only came equipped with 512MB of DDR2, however a quick trip to NewEgg netted me a full GB for $100 more. I am going to resell the orginal 512MB on ebay to offset the upgrade cost. The biggest feature to this laptop is that it comes with the Geforce Go 7600 which has a full 256MB of VRAM, not the more crippled 128MB Go 7400. I was quite surprised to see this when I opened the box. I made a quick phone call to HP to ask if this was the norm, and they confirmed that the 8408 ships with just the GO 7600. I was quite happy as this is usually a $150-200 upgrade on most systems. I am puzzled why HP equipped it with only 512MB of ram but, like I mentioned before, it is easily fixed. I hope this might be a good choice for you. I have been using mine daily for AutoCAD and Visual work, and having a dual core like in my main rig is wonderful. Another huge plus for me was the fact that it includes a full number pad, which is invaluable for the CAD work I do. It's kinda hard to find a decent notebook with a number pad these days.


Josh
 
postmortemIA

postmortemIA

Diamond Member
Jul 11, 2006
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make sure that you are satisfied with resolution. 1280x800 is pretty much useless for any computer based work.
 
Brainonska511

Brainonska511

Lifer
Dec 10, 2005
28,720
13,883
136
Originally posted by: postmortemIA
make sure that you are satisfied with resolution. 1280x800 is pretty much useless for any computer based work.
Click to expand...

1280x800 isn't that bad. I do feel that you lack the vertical resolution at times, but it isn't that bad. It is hard to find machines that have WSXGA screens in that price range and WUXGA is (IMO) a little extreme in a 15.4" screen.
 
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alimoalem

Diamond Member
Sep 22, 2005
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Originally posted by: postmortemIA
make sure that you are satisfied with resolution. 1280x800 is pretty much useless for any computer based work.
Click to expand...

i use 1280x800 as my default...i don't need any higher
 
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