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0 Subject: New Laptop

Posted by: Great One
- [26234311] Mon, Mar 08, 2010, 15:50

Going to be getting a new laptop in the next few weeks as mine is on life support.

Generally use for internet, email, pictures and lots of mp3's. So my brother said start with a minimum of 4GB hard drive so I've got some space. I know I want a CD/DVD burner and Windows 7. Looking to keep it in the $500-800 range max.

So any more tips from anyone else?
reccomendations on what brands to target and where to buy?
I had the Dell Inspiron for 5 years and it had a good run, so I'm comfortable with Dell. but I've heard good things about Toshiba (and saw a decent one on sale at Best Buy).

1Building 7
      ID: 471052128
      Mon, Mar 08, 2010, 16:36
Do you mean 4 GB RAM? That's not much for a hard-drive. I ordered a new one and it has a 320 GB hard drive. I think that was the lowest option.

2GoatLocker
      Leader
      ID: 060151121
      Tue, Mar 09, 2010, 00:18
You will run into some out there at that price point with any where from 250GB to 500GB Hard-drives.
Ditto on the 4 GB RAM.
Take your time and search around.
Check the On-line sites and look for the best deal you can get on what you want.

I'm of the opinion brand doesn't matter.
You can get good and bad from any of them.
The daughter's Dell has been back to the factory like 5 times.

3Great One
      ID: 26234311
      Tue, Mar 09, 2010, 08:59
Yeah, 4GB RAM was the one I saw (with 320 hard drive). Seemed like a solid starting point.
4Frick
      ID: 723887
      Tue, Mar 09, 2010, 09:05
At this point you should be getting Windows 7, so 4GB is fine. With Vista unless you had the 64bit version anything over 4GB (actually 3.5GB) couldn't be used. Windows 7 runs well on netbooks with as little as 1GB of Ram so 4GB should be fine.

If you want to play videos or HD videos you might want a graphics card of some sort. Integrated would be fine for a laptop as long as you didn't want to play new video games. It would also help out if you wanted to hook the laptop up to a bigger display, i.e. TV.
5Great One
      ID: 26234311
      Tue, Mar 09, 2010, 09:28
Oh I definitely need a graphics card then, cause sometimes I do the s-video to my TV and watch Hulu or whatever on it. Good call.
6C.SuperFreak
      ID: 537392611
      Tue, Mar 09, 2010, 11:15
Great One. I have no reccomendation but Dell is having their Days of Deals sale.

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/days_of_deals?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&dgc=IR&cid=46701&lid=1365153
7Great One
      ID: 26234311
      Tue, Mar 09, 2010, 11:30
Good call, seem like some good buying opportunities. The tricky part is I am buying with my tax rebate... but it still hasn't arrived via direct deposit. Any day now...
8RecycledSpinalFluid
      Dude
      ID: 204401122
      Tue, Mar 09, 2010, 11:46
Dang...I know I just got a 15% off Dell stuff coupon code the other day. Think I might have chucked it, but I'll dig around and see if I can find it.
9Great One
      ID: 26234311
      Tue, Mar 09, 2010, 11:50
Thanks RSF -- usually I can google coupon codes and come up with something, so no big deal if not. Thats actually a pretty good idea for another thread. Successful coupon codes.
10RecycledSpinalFluid
      Dude
      ID: 204401122
      Tue, Mar 09, 2010, 11:57
And of course, don't forget Bing.com for 5% cashback (was 20 or 25% at Christmas...), or whatever other cashback site you might use.
11holt
      Donor
      ID: 308491916
      Wed, Mar 10, 2010, 01:08
check for deals on something in the HP G-60 line. I got one back in October for $450 from staples. core 2 duo (t4200 I think), 350 gig hd, 3 gb ram, 16" screen, windows 7 32 bit, has hdmi output so you can connect to your flat screen.

I can understand the temptation to go for 4 gb ram, 64 bit, and possibly a dedicated graphics card, but unless you do hardcore gaming or heavy graphics work then they all seem overboard to me. my laptop has handled everything I've thrown at it with ease. I'm glad I only spent $450, because I had my heart set on a bunch of features that put me in the $900 range, and now I know it would have been a waste (for me, anyway).

if you research processors, you'll find a lot of advice to go with intel and avoid amd. I figured better safe than sorry so I took that advice, but it may be something you want to research.

btw, s-video is low def. It's time for you to step up to HD my friend! HDMI
12holt
      Donor
      ID: 308491916
      Wed, Mar 10, 2010, 01:42
btw - you may want to make sure your laptop has wireless N, as opposed to G. when my internet goes down I'm able to pick up usable signals from all over the neighborhood. there's always some unsecure signals I can connect to in a pinch. It's amazing how far away some of them are. also, I upgraded from a G to an N router at the same time I bought my laptop, just to take advantage of the laptop's wireless N card. Just something to consider.

here's an HP G-60 at a good price.

sorry to write so much, but just a couple more things I like about this computer. It has a numeric keypad and a very nice keyboard, and it never gets hot. I made my Mom try mine out, just to show it off to her, and she went to staples and bought one for herself a week later.
13Great One
      ID: 26234311
      Wed, Mar 10, 2010, 08:47
Ya know, on my old laptop lately my internet connection (wireless G linksys)has been spotty, so that would be a big upgrade. But I would have to buy a better router as well? And would my iTouch and phone that have WiFi - would they work with the wireless N?
14GoatLocker
      Leader
      ID: 060151121
      Wed, Mar 10, 2010, 09:18
Wireless N still supports b/g
Really extends range big time.

And ditto what Holt said about how you are going to use it.
We probably all tend to overbuy a lot more computer than we need.

15C1-NRB
      ID: 401412422
      Sat, Mar 13, 2010, 16:33
Just thought of this- Dell has the "Restore Factory Settings" option. I picked up a virus a while back (even with McAfee, it seems) so I did the Factory Reset rather than pay for Geek Squad to clean it when they could get to it three to four WEEKS later. Now we save all document-type data externally as well as do remote online backups. If I need to reset again I won't lose too much, if anything.

I also went with Microsoft Security Essentials (free w/ registered Windows) this time. I heard good things about it, so we'll see.
16holt
      Donor
      ID: 308491916
      Sun, Mar 21, 2010, 22:51
did you ever get a new comp GO?
17Great One
      ID: 392321511
      Mon, Mar 22, 2010, 10:17
Still waiting on my tax rebate, been 5 weeks. Guessing its even slower since I get the big home buyer rebate.
18holt
      ID: 56217179
      Tue, Mar 30, 2010, 13:04
laptop at newegg

I believe with this combo code it is 429.99.
EMCYPPY36

Acer, 64 bit windows 7, t4400 (intel core 2 duo), 4gb memory, 250 gb hd, 15.6" monitor, wireless N.

Looks like it has vga out instead of hdmi, could possibly be an issue if you want to connect it to a flatscreen. Can't tell if it has a numeric keypad or not. Also only has 2 usb ports. Could be a good deal if those things aren't issues.

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