Welp, mine finally shit the bed. I am not a computer guru nor do i know much about them. I want something that is not going to put me in the poor house but still function reliably. Any suggestions?
do you play games or do any type of graphical work?
I categorize laptops in two ways… 1. dedicated graphics 2. onboard graphics
The rest is all about personal preference in size. What size are you looking for? 17" or 18.4" monster? 12.1" teeny? 10" netbook for basic web browsing? 13" or 14" or as I call them “the good size” ?
If you’re still in the area, what does “shit the bed” mean to you? Depending on how old/what’s wrong with it… I could take a look at it and possibly save you $100’s by getting it back up and running normally again.
if you do play games what kind? i get people all the time who say they play games and they mean flash games lol.
Dell Outlet…find one with the specs you want and spend a little extra for the at home warranty, if anything goes wrong they’ll fix it at your house two days later. Plus there are always coupon codes floating around.
I would like to be able to do the basic stuff with graphics. I am not a gamer, i think the last computer game i played was Medal of Honor Allied Assault :lol: I do make the occasional track day video etc with like windows movie maker… I dont want something super small, but i am really not picky. Yeahh… this one is beyond fixing, i tripped and it went down with me, cracked screen. So it literally is junk.
a screen can cost 100-200 so not necessarily.
you probably want 15.4" screen, that seems to pretty much be the standard.
this one looks nice
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146705
Well, its a 3 year old compaq that was kinda beat up to begin with. Time for an upgrade.
Can I have it for parts? 
As for a laptop, it sounds like you’d be fine with integrated graphics and a 13-16" screen with basic support.
Check out techbargains.com, dealnews.com and slickdeals.net for a laptop that looks decent for you. They all have pretty comparable deals but you can narrow it down. Try and get a Core2Duo or Corei3 laptop if you can find one for under $700.
i just got a HP pavilian dv4 2045dx at bestbuy for 598 with tax. has windows7 64bit 4gb ddr2ram 320gb hd and a 256 onboard graphics. and a 14.1 screen i think. so far i like it alot. i just surf the web and do basic photoshop stuff
Which is more than the laptop is worth probably.
Look @ techbargains.com, customize one on Dell/HP. I’d avoid the netbooks, or at least the Windows 7 Starter ones.
I was thinking about a mac… hmmm
so much for not putting you in the poor house
i just that almost the same one from bestbuy for 598 with Tax. except its ddr2 ram and a dulequadcoe
Stay away from Dell. Everyone I know who’s bought a Dell laptop in the last 3 years has had problems with it. In fact, there’s one over in our hardware support department all torn apart with a blown motherboard just out of warranty right now.
Asus or HP for the next one I buy.
Do you plan to take it with you lots of places, or just have it mainly around the house as a computer you can use in any room? If not traveling I’d suggest a 17". The bigger screen is really nice and so is getting a real number pad. I wouldn’t want to lug one around every day outside the house though.
I was just looking through my emails and this was the last one I suggested for a friend back in October.
HP G71-340US Laptop
* Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
* Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T6600
* 4GB installed memory
* 320GB hard drive
* LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVDñR/RW with Double Layer Support
* HP Imprint finish & HP Webcam with integrated microphone
* Built-in wireless WLAN 802.11b/g/n wirelessly connects to the Internet
* 101-key compatible with full size keyboard with integrated numeric keypad
* Dimensions 16.24"(L) x 10.90" (D) 1.42" (min) - 1.77"(max) (H) (6.72lbs)
* 6-Cell Lithium-Ion battery; Battery Life up to 4 hours
* 1 year warranty
Offer Expires on 10/24/2009
Reg: $749.98
Save: -$52.00
Now: $697.98
Instant Savings: -$98.00
Rebate: -$50.00
Price after rebate: $549.98Each
She ended up buying and loves it. Also not a gamer.
Yeah, they are $$ but everyone i know with them never shuts the fuck up about how great they are :lol:… and i like low maintenance
I’ve had just the opposite experience. I used to have HP’s. Every time they would break I would have to mail them in at my expense, wait weeks, then they would find some BS excuse to void the warranty. Dells have problems on occasion too, like any laptop, but they come to your house two days later and fix it. Spend the $ on the 3 year warranty and be done with it. And Asus’s customer service consists of, “It’s not our problem, call the retailer you bought it from.”
We use Lenovo’s at work and short of someone stepping on a screen I haven’t seen any problems in a fleet of 50-75 that are about a year old now, but they are a little pricier.
I would stay away from both dell and HP.
here are the manufactorers i do like
Asus
MSI
Acer
Lenovo
dells are cheap and proprietary
HPs seem to have cheap screens that break often
toshiba’s aren’t bad, but when they do break it costs more to fix them (parts are more)
Sony is the epitome of proprietary
What size is the screen on your old laptop that broke? i’ve got a few lying around here.