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Which $400 laptop should I buy? Opinions Please :)

what's your intended use?
generic office/work/web?
any gaming? (web games? starcraft 2? source engine?)

i personally would choose, if playing starcraft 2 or any non web games (which i do, although i don't have starcraft 2) or if battery life is important (i <3 battery life)
-the office depot HP for the LLano and 7hr battery life

if just doing officey stuff plugged in
-best buy HP for core i3 + 5 hr 30 battery life, since it runs marginally cooler and has a better cpu

the toshiba if you don't like HP for whatever reason 😉 (i.e. the squaretrade warranty failure rate comparison)
 
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Thanks for the reply,

Daughter going to college... Not a gamer...

Likely homework, movies, web/facebook/twitter/etc.

Is there really any difference between the HP and Toshiba @ BB? They look like almost the exact same specs.
 
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I'm a huge fan of the HP Probook series. Both myself and my sister purchased them over the last 15 months or so, and they're a great bargain in the $375-425 range. The build quality is significantly better when compared to HP's consumer level products, which is a definite plus when talking about a laptop that will be used in a college situation.

I loved my Lenovo's in college, but couldn't justify the cost of getting a new one. The Probook is very close in terms of overall quality.

I'm not familiar with the current models, but I have a 4520s and I believe my sister has a 4530s. Both feature i3 processors.
 
the hp is core i3/intel HD
the toshiba is AMD llano A6 (quadcore)/6520

intel still has the better CPU and lower power consumption -> less heat
amd has better GPU (not useful in your daughter's case)

edit: oh woops wrong notebooks
the toshiba has lower battery life (5:26 hrs vs 7 hrs) and is slightly bigger (5.5 lbs, 1.5" vs 5.2 lbs, 1.4")
sorry about the mixup heh

you might want to look at getting a 12-14" notebook if you expect your daughter to want to bring her notebook around
colleges tend to have small desks and especially in large lecture halls, the seating is usually cramped (more risk to having large notebooks knocked over), and the lighter/smaller notebooks are easier to lug around
if it's just a desktop replacement, 15.6 is okay

i'll see if i can find any cheap smallish notebooks

-----
meh choices
having trouble finding any for $400 :\
this one's $500 but has 4 cell (4 hr) battery
http://www.microsoftstore.com/store...ferralID=f445be61-6d62-11e1-a6d5-001b2166c62d

there's this for $330, but it's not much lighter and has a 4 cell battery
http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2232299

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better choices, but...
between $400 and $500 14" thinkpads and probooks
1) http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...030&amp;CatId=4939
2) http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...819&amp;CatId=4938
3) http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...400&amp;CatId=4939

i'd recommend those 3 in that order
the 3rd one uses an older gen i3 and it weighs more
 
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I'd look for a refurbished ThinkPad over those options. Those models are all made of cheap plastic, and will likely fall apart in a year.
 
I'll answer the question and not interject alternatives. Of the three, I would choose the Office Depot HP because it has the Intel I3 processor. The other two are AMD. That wold be my preference.

As for alternatives, I agree with ultimatebob. Look these over:

http://outlet.lenovo.com/laptops.html
 
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Several friends have tried consumer-grade HPs, and they suck (I've worked on 2/3). Dunno about the Toshiba.

When in doubt, --> used / refurb Thinkpad
 
I like HP's more. The g6-1d16dx is good enough for HD video with the fast CPU and graphics card. And it cost as much as the HP I just got which has a smaller screen and weaker processor.
 
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