Opinions on Laptop?

If you aren't looking to game on it, I think you have a lot of options. I picked up a Acer a few years (4-5) ago from now for $275. It had a dedicated graphics card and a relatively medicore nivida card as well. I have played some relatively demanding games on it over the years (which require much more in the minimum requirements than I have now) and it does just fine for a few hours.

I love my acer, and I would get another in a heartbeat. If you are just looking to write and such as you mention you don't need to spend near as much as $900 us. Unless you are looking for something novel, like a touchscreen?

It'll be a cold day in hell before I buy a touchscreen laptop. Those are the ones that come with the crappy Win 8/8.1, and considering my situation, they aren't going to be of any use to me either. No point in spending money over that extra crap.

Thanks for the suggestion, Lee, and thanks for the catalogue, Zeb! I seriously didn't know amazon provided that (not a big fan of amazon).

Now, it's time for some personal intel gathering and laptop hunting.

Thanks to all those who have helped. I never expected so many helpful suggestions. Anyone with any more suggestions, feel free to chip in.

Thanks again.

The Soulful Bard said:

Anyone with any more suggestions, feel free to chip in.

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Don't use Olive Oil for frying. They lose their healthy ingredients to the excess heat. Use it as a salad dressing instead.

And stay away from marmalades.

Learin said:

Don't use Olive Oil for frying. They lose their healthy ingredients to the excess heat. Use it as a salad dressing instead.

And stay away from marmalades.

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LOL....I walked right into that, didn't I?


I'll keep that in mind.

Buy the best system that you can afford - don't give up performance to save a few $$. As computers are always being improved, and new software products demand ever more performance, get the best that you can afford, and keep it for a while. On your budget, you should be able to swing a Core I-7 chip, 16 GB of RAM, 4 GB graphics, and a 1 TB hard drive. Avoid touch screen, unless that's something you specifically want.

soulful bard, i don't know how knowledgeable you are about computers but if you're comfortable designing one yourself, see about a SSD (solid state drive) as your boot/OS-only drive.

ed

silverwhisper said:

soulful bard, i don't know how knowledgeable you are about computers but if you're comfortable designing one yourself, see about a SSD (solid state drive) as your boot/OS-only drive.

ed

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Really only necessary for a gaming computer and not even then, especially with SATA III drives and controllers.

Learin said:

Don't use Olive Oil for frying. They lose their healthy ingredients to the excess heat. Use it as a salad dressing instead.

And stay away from marmalades.

Click to expand...

What's wrong with marmalades?

My previous laptop was purchased in 2007 and was still functional when I retired it last year. It was a Toshiba Tecra A8. It was a very good line of laptops, but I would also say to stay away from the Satellite family from Toshiba. They're mass market and not built to last.

My new laptop was purchased from xoticpc.com and I HIGHLY recommend them! I bought a mid-level Sager. I wanted decent graphics because I do a lot of photo editing and light gaming, so I chose one with a separate graphics card (Nvidia). I tend towards bleeding edge when I buy so that I can stick with my machine for as long as possible, but you certainly wouldn't have to go with an i7 for your purposes. I would, however, go for 8 GB.

The nice thing with xoticPC is that you can customize to your heart's content (budget notwithstanding). Go to their site, shop around with laptop options, and don't be shy about configuring and reconfiguring until you find a design and price point that makes you happy. You can also call them and get them to advise you, and they won't try to sell you more than you need.

Also, if you're military, they offer a discount. That was a nice treat.

Just for the record, I haven't settled on any price yet. 1000 USD remains my floating limit. I'll buy whichever feels right. As of now, there's nothing that floats my boat.

I'm familiar with SSD. Although they have a lot of advantage over HDDs, it still depends on what the consumer wants. I can live with a tad slower speed and slightly more battery consumption on an HDD laptop. I'm not really hard pressed for an SSDs at this point.

I customised my desktop with a mechanic friend when I was 12, which is now eating dust back at home. I'm not familiar with customised laptops, as I've been a desktop users for an entire childhood. I still feel more at home with desktops than their portable other halves. I'm being forced to settle for laptops due to circumstances.

xoticPC sounds really cool. I'll definitely check it out. Do they provide international services outside USA? (Non-American here)

For the record: If I was looking to purchase a new laptop these are the things I would want it to do.

1. Not run so hot that I can't use it in my lap without some sort of cooling pad or platform.(doubtful in todays market place unless you buy a Chromebook)
2. It would have to run Windows 7 (8 & 8.1 are crap)
3. It would have to run Microsoft Office - I own three licenses.
4. 750GBytes hard disk I shouldn't need any more for just writing and watching movies
5. 8GBytes of Ram Memory - enough for Win7
6. 15" monitor or more - the bigger the better - NO touchscreen
7. All the do-dads - USB, WiFi, Blueray player/burner, etc. (standard stuff)

I would prefer an Acer, but wouldn't turn my nose up at an HP or Asus.

Leonov, I would hesitate to buy.

Dell...for 13 years I worked on Dell Latitudes, biggest complaint...Keyboards, they always crapped out. Other then that I loved them...all metal, not plastic. Would I buy one, no, too expensive. Inspiron...no.

Just my two cents worth.

That's pretty much what I think would be great for my laptop, Zeb.

glynndah said:

What's wrong with marmalades?

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<<< Typical Anti-Marmalade Squad Leader.

SexyLitForAll said:

Buy the best system that you can afford - don't give up performance to save a few $$. As computers are always being improved, and new software products demand ever more performance, get the best that you can afford, and keep it for a while. On your budget, you should be able to swing a Core I-7 chip, 16 GB of RAM, 4 GB graphics, and a 1 TB hard drive. Avoid touch screen, unless that's something you specifically want.

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It's not necessary that people go out guns blazing on everything they have on a laptop. It very much depends on what you want to do with it. I'd agree with you if he were looking to play games on it, though. But that ain't the case.

Our friend here is looking for a laptop from which he can type his stories and drafts, and he can easily do that from a low-end laptop with no high-end specs. Writing doesn't require much except a MS-Word/G-Docs and a keyboard. The software associated with MS-Office changes very little with time.

I'd recommend a Dell. I'm waiting for a new one to arrive this week actually. I really hope I like it. It's one of their workstation ones, a bit more expensive than your range you wanted to spend. Their customer service cannot be beat, and if you go on their live chat rather than self order it on the site, they will give you a discount, they did to me, of a couple of hundred dollars.

It is a Windows 7, and I'm already having panic attacks about what I will do in 2020 when Microsoft will no longer offer support for Windows 7 and we will all be forced to go to Windows 10 or face security issues. I cannot for the life of me understand why if you are willing to spend, why you can't choose the OS you want. I'd be happy to pay $5-$10 a month to continue to be able to use Windows 7 forever.

As for a backup for your data, I'm surprised everyone here is mentioning free sources. You get what you pay for. Carbonite backup is $5 a month for total peace of mind, it backs up automatically constantly when your computer is on. It is imperative I have files backed up for work, hundreds of audios, pics, blogs I write for websites. I will never risk losing it all for the sake of $5 a month I can claim as a business expense no less. Just like I would never recommend anyone use a free blogging service, I'd never recommend anyone use any free backup service. It's amazing what people will do to avoid spending $5 a month. Oh well, people usually need to learn the hard way I find.

Personally, my next try will be an Asus. If you do a little googling (or binging), each year PC Magazine publishes a reliability survey, and you'll notice slight changes over the years. In general, Lenovo, Toshiba, Asus, HP, and Dell are usually nearish the top, but the ratings changes each year. As a noted hater, I will reluctantly say that Apple is always near the top too, but you said "computer", not "toy"... ;-) (Just kidding, I know I will be flamed for that comment).

Anyway, someone else pointed out Lenovo distributing Spyware, other brands distributing bloatware, etc. I am personally in the midst of a grudge against Toshiba and Dell, but to be fair, what they did to warrant my grudge is no different to what ALL the manufacturers do.

Also, pay close attention to this: Universally, across all brands, there is a dirty secret to laptops: Stuff that's breakable (usually the screen) is NOT covered by the standard warranty, and that applies to all the brands. Extended bumper to bumper style warranties often do cover screens, but the regular manufacturer's warranty won't. Just something to consider. And "regular" non-touch LCD screens are much cheaper than touch screens, if you're handy enough to buy a screen from eBay/etc. So touch screens involve a bit more risk than non-touch.

jsmiam said:

Personally, my next try will be an Asus. If you do a little googling (or binging), each year PC Magazine publishes a reliability survey, and you'll notice slight changes over the years. In general, Lenovo, Toshiba, Asus, HP, and Dell are usually nearish the top, but the ratings changes each year. As a noted hater, I will reluctantly say that Apple is always near the top too, but you said "computer", not "toy"... ;-) (Just kidding, I know I will be flamed for that comment).

Anyway, someone else pointed out Lenovo distributing Spyware, other brands distributing bloatware, etc. I am personally in the midst of a grudge against Toshiba and Dell, but to be fair, what they did to warrant my grudge is no different to what ALL the manufacturers do.

Also, pay close attention to this: Universally, across all brands, there is a dirty secret to laptops: Stuff that's breakable (usually the screen) is NOT covered by the standard warranty, and that applies to all the brands. Extended bumper to bumper style warranties often do cover screens, but the regular manufacturer's warranty won't. Just something to consider. And "regular" non-touch LCD screens are much cheaper than touch screens, if you're handy enough to buy a screen from eBay/etc. So touch screens involve a bit more risk than non-touch.

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I didn't mention Apple for the same reason, although...you can now run Windows on an Apple machine(toy), making it a full fledged computing device.

Touchscreen is fine. Don't use it much but it comes in handy on occasion, and I'm a mouse guy, not facile with the touchpad.

Touch screens are cool on tablets and phones, not on notebooks, laptops or desktops.

The Soulful Bard said:

That's pretty much what I think would be great for my laptop, Zeb.

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Probably too late to weigh in on this discussion - but maybe it will help someone else? Would love to know what you went with.

My general laptop buying advice hasn't changed much. The sweet spot, price-wise, remains with Intel i5 processors. They offer the most bang for the buck. Be sure you're getting the latest version (currently the 4XXX series).

For any kind of gaming, you're looking for a laptop with a discreet graphics card, meaning, it has a graphics card in addition to the graphics provided by Intel.

Touchscreens - not worth avoiding. If everything else you want is there, don't let the touchscreen bother you.

Hard drive space - anything less than 500 gb is a joke, unless it's all SSD. This is a battery life/portability function. The longer battery life and greater portability will come with a SSD hard drive, but at the expense of space. I think the sweet spot between lots of storage space and portability comes in the form of a portable external hard drive. Trust me, if it's a 3.0 USB drive, it'll feel about as fast as any 5400 rpm drive built into a lower end hard drive.

Size of Laptop - A lot of people want to use their laptops as desktops, and that sounds like you - so size doesn't matter. The sweet spot, price wise, will be a 15.6" screen running at 1366 x 768 resolution. It's a very low end and inexpensive monitor that doesn't use a low power. If you're doing a medium amount of video or photo work, you'll want a higher resolution. If you go bigger than 15.6", and you have decent eyesight, you'll want much bigger numbers.

Brands: Expect lots of bloatware on most computers, that's part of how manufacturers make money. I'm not a big fan of Dell or HP computers, laptops or desktops. I've had good luck with Toshiba & lesser luck with Asus. I happen to like Lenovo.

Keyboards: Check the damn keyboard style. I've adjusted to the chicklet style keyboards, but I still don't like them. Also, at 15.6" screens, you should get the numbers pad to the right of the keyboard. Some people like that, some people don't care. I have two laptops I use daily, one with and one without. I traded portability and screen size for the one without and I often miss the darn thing.

Where to buy: Check dealnews.com regularly. They often will have a lead on a great system at a great price. I'm a big fan of buying refurb and I've done so with good luck. Cowboom.com is Best Buy's liquidation site that's good. Newegg.com and Amazon.com are good, though it's tough to find a bargain at Amazon, they can be found. Microcenter.com, especially if you have one near you, is good. Generally, once you find a computer you like, toss it into Google and do a price search. Lots of places price match.

If portability is important, consider a 2-in-1 machine. I like mine, though I prefer the bigger size of my 15.6" laptop.

I'm a bit late to the party, but I found this interesting video for you:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP_8EYQ-2RA

You mentioned keeping older laptops, so I thought this might be something you, and all the others reading this, could give a try.

This definitely looks cheaper than a brand new laptop.