• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Which <$400 Black Friday laptop to buy?

S

Sunrise089

Senior member
Best Buy is selling This Toshiba laptop for $379.99 w/o any rebates. It is basically a Celeron M 1.5ghz, 256 megs memory, 5400RPM hard drive, and a 4 cell battery.

Wallmart is selling This HP for $399 the same day. Its a Mobile Sempron 2800+, 256 memory, 4200RPM hard drive, and a 6 cell battery.

I am confident I can get either laptop (read: I am getting to Best Buy at 9:00pm the night before.) but don't know which one to pick. I don't really know anything about Mobile Celeron performance, nor do I know anything about how important the slower hard drive is or the different battery. I also have no warrenty experience with either company. Finally whichever laptop I choose must be able to accept a memory upgrade, but I don't really see that as a problem.

So which would everyone choose? Thanks in advance for the opinions.
 
(Before I respond... This question should probably should be in one of the Black friday threads.)

Personally I'll be after the HP.

While I've prefered the the build quality of toshiba laptops over HP or Compaq, I'd rather have a Sempron (it's Athlon64 based not AthlonXP based). I also have a spare 256M DDR333 memory module that will work in the HP.
 
First of all, no deals here. Post in some other forum.

To answer your question, both are equally horrible. I learned my lesson to not buy crappy notebooks back in 1991 when I bought a new 486SLC-33 notebook for $1900. Spend a little more and get a low-end Dell? To quote a bad movie: "whichever one wins, we lose".
 
I remember my Dell 8100 came with a 4200 RPM drive....and frankly, it sucked. I stuck in a 7200 RPM hitachi drive and it greatly improved the overall responsiveness of the system. If you get the HP I'd just plan on getting a faster drive and you'll be much happier.
 
I'd go with the Toshiba, especially if it supports 533FSB processors (can anyone say pinmod) also the faster drive would be a plus.


As for both of the laptops being "horrible" that is an idiotic statement, either of these laptops would be perfect for what most people do with laptops (WWW, Word Processing, Email, etc.)
 
The HP Walmart laptop is the better laptop IMO and the I would buy.

Here is the list of black fridy laptops

Bestbuy : L25-S1192 $380
CircuitCity : L25-S1193 $450
Difference between these two? The Circuit City laptop has a larger 60gb drive 512mb ram, and a TruBrite screen. The BB laptop has a 40gb, 256mb ram, and does NOT have the better TruBrite screen. Both these models come with the low-capacity 4-cell battery. 🙁


Ive seen both the Toshiba and HP models in-store and Id have to go with the HP IMO.
 
Originally posted by: SilentVixen
Note that the Toshiba has a 90 day warranty. This means it's refurbished. Wonder if BB is selling refurb as new!
Click to expand...

Wrong. These are NOT refurbs. Thats rediculous. Where do you think of these things???
 
Originally posted by: Garlic
Originally posted by: SilentVixen
Note that the Toshiba has a 90 day warranty. This means it's refurbished. Wonder if BB is selling refurb as new!
Click to expand...

Wrong. These are NOT refurbs. Thats rediculous. Where do you think of these things???
Click to expand...

I called Toshiba and they said the ONLY computers that EVER come with a 90 day warranty are REFURBISHED!

EDIT: And they looked up that model and confirmed it to be refurb only.
 
Originally posted by: S13SilviaK
As for both of the laptops being "horrible" that is an idiotic statement, either of these laptops would be perfect for what most people do with laptops (WWW, Word Processing, Email, etc.)
Click to expand...
Thank you. I suppose I should state that I know neither laptop will be setting any 3dmark records (in fact they might not run it at all). I will only use this PC as a portable companion to my desktop.
Originally posted by: Garlic
The HP Walmart laptop is the better laptop IMO and the I would buy.

Here is the list of black fridy laptops

Bestbuy : L25-S1192 $380
CircuitCity : L25-S1193 $450
Difference between these two? The Circuit City laptop has a larger 60gb drive 512mb ram, and a TruBrite screen. The BB laptop has a 40gb, 256mb ram, and does NOT have the better TruBrite screen. Both these models come with the low-capacity 4-cell battery. 🙁


Ive seen both the Toshiba and HP models in-store and Id have to go with the HP IMO.
Click to expand...
Do you have a link to the CC deal? I don't see it on the black friday page I have been using.
Originally posted by: SilentVixen
Note that the Toshiba has a 90 day warranty. This means it's refurbished. Wonder if BB is selling refurb as new!
Click to expand...
Don't know if I caused confusion here, I simply found this link that someone claimed was the laptop BB was selling, and the specs match. I know BB wouldn't sell a refurb as new (right?) so maybe the warrenty info isn't the same as the one that will be in store. If on Black Friday it really does turn out to be only 90 days, I guess that should make my decision for me, right?
 
Originally posted by: SilentVixen
Originally posted by: Garlic
Originally posted by: SilentVixen
Note that the Toshiba has a 90 day warranty. This means it's refurbished. Wonder if BB is selling refurb as new!
Click to expand...

Wrong. These are NOT refurbs. Thats rediculous. Where do you think of these things???
Click to expand...

I called Toshiba and they said the ONLY computers that EVER come with a 90 day warranty are REFURBISHED!

EDIT: And they looked up that model and confirmed it to be refurb only.
Click to expand...

ITS NOT A REFURB!!

My god these model are specifically sold to retailers with a 90 day warranty. THESE ARE NOT REFURBS. I just spoke with THREE toshiba reps about this and they confirmed these are brand new and NOT refurbs.

Please STOP posting false info. Better yet just stop posting in this entire forum PLEASE.
 
Can anyone confirm that the Sempron is the A64-based chip and not the old Socket-A based one? That alone would make me recommend the HP.
 
Originally posted by: Solema
Can anyone confirm that the Sempron is the A64-based chip and not the old Socket-A based one? That alone would make me recommend the HP.
Click to expand...

Yes it the A64-based chip. Its right on the HP website in the specs. They stopped selling laptops with the AthlonXP-based chips long ago.
 
Originally posted by: Garlic
Originally posted by: Solema
Can anyone confirm that the Sempron is the A64-based chip and not the old Socket-A based one? That alone would make me recommend the HP.
Click to expand...

Yes it the A64-based chip. Its right on the HP website in the specs. They stopped selling laptops with the AthlonXP-based chips long ago.
Click to expand...

could be a 939 sempron? cause HP is where the 939 sempron goes to.
 
Originally posted by: lsman
Originally posted by: Garlic
Originally posted by: Solema
Can anyone confirm that the Sempron is the A64-based chip and not the old Socket-A based one? That alone would make me recommend the HP.
Click to expand...

Yes it the A64-based chip. Its right on the HP website in the specs. They stopped selling laptops with the AthlonXP-based chips long ago.
Click to expand...

could be a 939 sempron? cause HP is where the 939 sempron goes to.
Click to expand...

No, because all AMD mobile chips use socket 754 now. There is no mobile 939 socket, with some few exceptions (like the uber high end Alienwares that can handle FX-57s and X2s).
 
Originally posted by: int342
To answer your question, both are equally horrible. I learned my lesson to not buy crappy notebooks back in 1991 when I bought a new 486SLC-33 notebook for $1900. Spend a little more and get a low-end Dell? To quote a bad movie: "whichever one wins, we lose".
Click to expand...

WTH is up with that statement?! Sure, if you wanted to get those lappys to run CS:S on the go or something, they are horrible. The build quality on HP and Toshiba is pretty decent and those specs are more than sufficient for general office apps, light encoding work, etc. So I'm guessing that you'd prefer something like this or some other sort of 1U chasis on wheels 😀

Not to mention that the BF lappys are great if you want to get a cheap beater (the closest I can think of is that recent Inspiron 1200 deal for ~$450-500 shipped).

 
Personally I like the BB Gateway lappy for $200 more than the Toshiba. For that $200 you get the beautiful 15.4" brightscreen, 512 RAM, DVD burner, and a bigger 60 gb HD (not sure if it's 4200 or 5400 rpm).
 
I would buy the HP, CPU's are usually harder and it cost's more $$$ to upgrade than a simple HD upgrade...and I would be doing a HD upgrade.
 
Originally posted by: Garlic
Originally posted by: Solema
Can anyone confirm that the Sempron is the A64-based chip and not the old Socket-A based one? That alone would make me recommend the HP.
Click to expand...

Yes it the A64-based chip. Its right on the HP website in the specs. They stopped selling laptops with the AthlonXP-based chips long ago.
Click to expand...

Wait, I'm confused now. The HP laptop has a 64bit processor?
 
i dont know how walmart handles the crowd, but i am pleased with the way BB handles the bigger ticket items. they give out vouchers so that ppl do not get screwed by others further back in line who try to bum rush a certain section of the store. perhaps it's something u might wanna think about.
 
Originally posted by: spanky
i dont know how walmart handles the crowd, but i am pleased with the way BB handles the bigger ticket items. they give out vouchers so that ppl do not get screwed by others further back in line who try to bum rush a certain section of the store. perhaps it's something u might wanna think about.
Click to expand...

Right - If I do choose Walmart (or Circuit City for that matter) I will be calling first to make sure the first person in line has a oppurtunity to get a ticket. My main concern isn't my ability to get the item (although I do appreciate people letting me know about potential problems) but rather:

a) warrenty concerns
b) battery concerns
c) performance concerns
 
i forget which forum i read it on, but apparently the walmart hps are crap. the model numbers are just slightly off (ie, 2587a instead of 2587) and when the member actually looked up the guts to compare the two the walmart model had generic everything, whereas the normal model had name brand stuff. motherboard, ram, hdd, video card and all.

im really wanting a cheap laptop almost striclty for internet access but am wondering if itll be worth getting up early, waiting and fighting. anyone with experience?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top