I love my dell. I have not had a single problem with it. delloutlet.com is where you should look for any general purpose laptop.
i really hate how every laptop seems to have 5400rpm hard drives 
thoughts on this one by MSI?
only things that stick out at me is a bios problem, but flashing to the latest version seems to be an easy fix for it.
mine has a 7200 
but its only 80 gig. ig you go on newegg you can get a 7200 500 gig for 139. so if its something you really want select the smallest HD possible then upgrade when u get it
only problem is, if I get one with a tiny hard drive to replace it, i guarantee you the rest of the parts arent as fast as i want it either haha. anyone have thoughts on the MSI one? i kinda like it, pretty solid reviews. couple minor things that i can avoid or fix.
used macbook / throw in your own 320GB 7200RPM disk and at least 2GB if not 4GB ram
/thread
not getting a mac.
HP/Compaq honestly are not that bad. I was surprised when a long while ago I took apart an HP and saw an Asus motherboard in there. Wow.
Laptop-wise… check slickdeals, and you’ll find that you will consistently be able to get a Dell laptop cheaper than any HP. You may get a little less in the hardware end in terms of stupid little bells and whistles, but where you lose on accessories you gain in support and warranty.
I can’t stress how important it is to get a warranty on a laptop, no matter how cheap it is. Unless we are talking netbooks…
I have a couple Acers they were around $500-600ish…they are quick never had a single issue…had them over a year.
get back to up in another year, and let us know how they are doing. actually i think they are better now then they were a few years back when they came out
my only complaint with all the laptops i seem to find on slickdeals or any of the mid range HPs seem to be they all have integrated graphics. i definitely want one with around a 9600m for the video card or somewhere around there.
hrm, looking around at some of the Acer laptops, they seem pretty nice, and a lot of good reviews on them.
this one seems like a hell of a deal. i almost wish it was a little smaller though, its got an 18.4" screen :o
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115555
I don’t see any reason you couldn’t get long life out of an Acer…
I have seen a large number of HPs blow up lately…they have some graphics card issue where video stops working and the laptop is pretty much junk.
Personally if a laptop lasts a year…I usually sell it and get some more current anyways…
those online coupons are lifesavers.
I got my HP for 1000 and that was with a 3 years accident protection warranty. You need to tailor the computer to your personal needs, but im with Howie… get that warranty.
oh and make sure the coupon is stackable. HP will spit out a %off coupon and compare the savings to what they were offering as that days promotion. there are 250$ off 1099 comps floating around. Good luck man
I don’t know if it is scattered through this thread anywhere or not, but, could you make a comprehensive list of:
What will you be using on it?
Will you be traveling with it? if so, how often?
Screen Size restrictions?
What type of data will be stored?
Any specific device input/outputs needed?
mostly movies, music, some gaming
not often, just over friends houses
screen size doesnt matter too much, i want at least 15"
see above
nothing out of the ordinary, probably just a mouse really.
i was messing around with the HP build a comp thing the other day. i was able to put a decent build or two together but i dont like how they lack good video good cards.
Most laptops don’t come with very good video cards unless you pay $1500+ on em.
You just deal with knowing that it’ll play your games but never at ultra-super-awesome 182X anti-aliasing… 
Even an HD4330 video card in a laptop will play games. 9600M-GT, even the new Nvidia 105 or whatever it is called. NVidia 130M?
I always concentrate on size and quality of the screen, then processor, then graphics. memory can be added later if it only comes with 1GB. A hard drive, as long as it is 160GB seems decent. My desktop stores everything with a backup… the laptop doesn’t need all of my goodies on it.
The HDX16T version laptop has a better LCD “choice” to “upgrade” to. It isn’t even an option with the DV6 models That bummed me out, seeing that extra +$175 option which I’d say is pretty necessary on the HDX.
If you are watching movies, do you want an output for a TV?