Buy a laptop

[kromen]

I'm buying my first laptop and I would like some advice. I plan to use it for my writing, photos, and lots of surfing and downloading. I really need to know who should i buy from. I've been to Best Buy and Ive searched the Dell website too. Should I be more concerned about being hands on with the product or can I put faith in the online sites. This is a major investment and I dont want FUBAR.

 

[Colton_White]

first you need to list down your requirements:-

are you a 3d-computer game addict ? [like me] then you need decent laptop with good graphics card and RAM etc.
are you a movie/music junkie> need bigger hard disk with DVD writer etc.

also for surfing and downloading lot stuff..u need decent RAM, and big hard disk.

I've an Acer laptop with 15.4" Widescreen/AMD 2 GHz/512 RAM / 60 GB Hard-disk/ATI 1100 Grapics card [64 MB]

nowadays I feel that my hard disk is very small. its stuffed with lot games and porn. and I need
to delete/back up something on DVD every now and then.. before saving some new stuff.

so my 'must' advice.. have a big HARD DISK.
you can invest more in RAM..its always better.
===========

I be more concerned about being hands on with the product or can I put faith in the online sites.

just take a visit of some good computer showroom on weekend.. and have a look and feel of different brands.

============

some cost cutting methods:-

1. don't put much emphasis on 'light weight' laptops.
2. don't put much emphasis on 'vista etc.' > xp works fine.
3. a laptop with inbuilt 'webcam' doesn't make much difference cause you can't move it around.
so its better to buy a separate digital/ webcam instead of putting bucks on a 'cool laptop with inbuilt webcam'.

4. don't buy some thing just cause that model comes with lot freewares- games/software/movies etc. I mean once you get the internet you'll be able to download it all. besides most of the softwares coming FREE are never much of use

5. keep in mind that dualcore and core 2 duo > are separate CPUs and with big prize difference in between.

6. if too much cost cutting required> you can buy a USB DVD writer etc./hard disk later-on .but don't compromise on RAM much. [atleast 512 MB]

7. there is big difference of features and performance between Intel's graphics card and that of ATI/NVidia etc.

8.don't forget to buy an external USB mouse.. touchpad of laptop is a big mess to operate.



[I tried to give advice based on my personal experience and of my friends.. everything I said keeping money in mind.]

{above things are my lame advices for 'which type' of laptop to buy}
your question:-
''whom to buy from" .....

wait for Mr.Harold/other computer experts to post advice.. you will get better ideas.

 

[luvtofly]

All good advice.

Now my two cents for what it is worth. I have an E-machines laptop and it works amazingly well, my girlfriend has an acer laptop and it works well. Both of these were bought online at www.tigerdirect as new laptops and haev no problems whatsoever.

Just take your time, do a little research and if you want to, feel free to ask back here, I'm sure a lot of us will be able to tell you if it is a good buy or not

 

[HannahMouse]

http://www.dabs.com/productview.asp...lectedId=11105&PageMode=1&NavigationKey=11105
This is what I've got, so far it's been good value for money and can do all the things that you have mentioned (built-in wireless card, too). Dabs is also a reliable site. I know several people who have ordered from here with no complaints.

 

[SweetErika]

Avoid Dell and Vista if you can. Dell computers are usually overpriced for what you're getting and have proprietary shit which makes them more difficult to upgrade, find parts for, etc.

Watch the ads for Circuit City, BestBuy, OfficeDepot, OfficeMax, Staples, etc., and you can get a good laptop in the $500-600 range (usually they have rebates, and the best deals are often in the summer and around back-to-school time). The back-to-school offers often add in free (after rebate) multifunction printers, wireless routers and other things that can be useful. Several years ago, I got a Compaq laptop, multifunction printer and wireless router for $500 after rebates in August/September. There are some good deals online, too. Another site with lots of good reviews is newegg.com.

With a basic laptop, you'll probably want to invest about $50 in more RAM. If you're stuck with Vista, you'll most certainly need it. You can get it online far more cheaply than at a store in most cases. Once you have your laptop, we can tell you what type of RAM you need if you can't find it on your own.

Instead of ponying up a bunch of money for Microsoft Office, check out http://www.OpenOffice.org . It's a completely FREE office suite that's very much like Office, and it works great!

Be careful with computer salespeople. They often try to sell you far more than you actually need or don't know what they're doing. Double check what they tell you before purchasing.

We have HP laptops (around $500 after rebates), and they work just fine. I recently got my battery and power cord replaced under warranty, and it was an easy process, so the support is definitely there. Because technology changes rapidly and we use our laptops a lot, we buy cheap, add RAM, and replace them every few years.

 

[Emilio_di_Roccabruna]

Unfortunately I learned at my own expense that Vista is almost never an option on laptops, at least over here in Europe. Vista nearly always comes pre-installed and with an OEM license, which means that there is no way you can avoid it.

My advice is to try and narrow your options down to a few laptops and then find out if you can download the necessary XP drivers from the company's website.
Then you can remove that satanic operating system Vista and have something much easier to work with.

As for the actual choice, have a look at http://www.notebookreview.com/. I found it extremely helpful to read other people's opinions. It helped me a lot with information the retailers wouldn-t give me, such as noise, heat, USB port placement...

Personally I bought an Asus, and I found the PC to be great, after I purified it from Vista's demonic presence. Also Sony makes great laptops, even though they are quite expensive. Acer has recently started using lower quality materials, so I would think twice about buying a new Acer laptop (no offence Colton_White!). As for the rest, I've never tried tem, so I can't tell you anything specific...

Let me know if you have any questions! I hope this helps...

 

[kromen]

many thanx

all of your advice is sound and greatly helps my decision making. But, does anyone own a Mac. Thats all I used back in the day, but I'm willing to go PC. I really don't plan to use the laptop for gaming, thats what i have the X360 for. Thanks again.

 

[Emilio_di_Roccabruna]

Wow, a Mac would certainly be great choice for a laptop, I personally can't afford the price tag, but I've seen and tried a few and they're certainly worth every cent!
Unfortunately, though, they are generally more expensive than their MS equivalent, so you'll have to take that into account.

Still, if you don't plan on running any games, can afford it and you already know your way around a Mac, I would certainly recommend a MacBook. Looking at the specs it'll probably handle anything you can throw at it, short of a hammer.
And I guess you probably already know this, but there are very few viruses that can violate a Mac OS!

The downside of course is the compatibility with MS-based applications, but if you've already used one you'll know this already.

Hope this helps...

 

[SweetErika]

Unfortunately I learned at my own expense that Vista is almost never an option on laptops, at least over here in Europe. Vista nearly always comes pre-installed and with an OEM license, which means that there is no way you can avoid it.

A lot of the companies are tailoring laptops to Vista, so you can't go to XP easily.

I was having problems with Vista, so I installed XP. Unfortunately, too many things didn't work well.

I finally went to Linux, and everything I use is working great. Much more stable and secure than Windows, that's for sure!

Kromen, Mac's are great, but you pay a premium for them. For what you want to do, it may be overkill.

 

[SCcreampieLvr]

Macintosh- all the way

Dell computers

 

[SweetErika]

While it is true you can get PC laptops for less than the mac, If you get a really good model PC and load it with comparable stuff, the price difference is not that great.

I look at it like getting a Really nice car, like a BMW instead of a Ford Escort. Or even a nice Nissan Max instead of the Altima. YOu pay more, you get more.

If someone GAVE me a honkin PC laptop, i would sell it and get a Mac in a minute.

and to the haters, Yes, i use both at work. But i get WORK done on the Mac.

Understand I'm not saying anything bad about Macs here.

But I think you have to look at what the person is using the tool for. Someone who's surfing, downloading, using a word processor and doing relatively minor stuff with photos is likely to be perfectly happy with a more basic PC and spend the extra money a Mac would cost on something else.

With Apple products, you pay extra the brand name, too. That's important to some people, but not important to others. Macs are like hybrid cars: they're quality, work very well and make a statement, but you're definitely paying extra for that statement and the novelty factor.

To use your analogy, a person who's commuting 30 miles roundtrip daily and on a budget doesn't need that Max or BMW. They just need something that's fuel efficient, budget-friendly and dependable; a luxury vehicle with a bunch of doodads would be nice and make a statement, but it's overkill.

That said, Mac's OS and Linux are FAR better than Vista. But one can buy a $500 notebook, put a user-friendly distribution of Linux on it, put in some extra RAM and get most of the benefits of a Mac, plus some nice extras without the higher pricetag.

 

[SCcreampieLvr]

re: Mac

Understand I'm not saying anything bad about Macs here.

But I think you have to look at what the person is using the tool for. Someone who's surfing, downloading, using a word processor and doing relatively minor stuff with photos is likely to be perfectly happy with a more basic PC and spend the extra money a Mac would cost on something else.

With Apple products, you pay extra the brand name, too. That's important to some people, but not important to others. Macs are like hybrid cars: they're quality, work very well and make a statement, but you're definitely paying extra for that statement and the novelty factor.

To use your analogy, a person who's commuting 30 miles roundtrip daily and on a budget doesn't need that Max or BMW. They just need something that's fuel efficient, budget-friendly and dependable; a luxury vehicle with a bunch of doodads would be nice and make a statement, but it's overkill.

That said, Mac's OS and Linux are FAR better than Vista. But one can buy a $500 notebook, put a user-friendly distribution of Linux on it, put in some extra RAM and get most of the benefits of a Mac, plus some nice extras without the higher pricetag.

All good points.

 

[Colton_White]

@both SCcreampieLvr and Erica

no disrespect intended
but an average users is so much psychologically addicted to microsoft that
he just can't switch over to mac/linux that easily.

I myself tried linuxes : Fedora/Ubantu etc. but always came back to XP, not cause I didn't understand how to use them, but cause there are many application and games I m used to operate on XP.

plus I'm used to Bill's lame microsoft products [although I never pay for it]
but its hard to 'switch over to others' for an 'average user'

mac is costly and needs lot RAM.

I just use Brico's Vista transformer Pack.. that makes my xp look like vista
and fool around happily on internet.

[ok the real point]
the OP hasn't specified what he wants... linux/mac/microsoft. and how much computer OS knowledge he has..so its not worth it debating which on is better

@Emilio_di_Roccabruna..
I agree.. acer's customer support etc sucks a big time. its not a great brand.
I purchased it when vista wasn't launched.. it came with linux..and I just installed xp.

 

[kindashy]

I have Mac laptop (iBook G3 running Tiger) and I have Xp on my other machines. I prefer Xp.

I would not do business with TigerDirect again. I have done business with Newegg.com and Geeks.com , I will deal with them again, but not with TigerDirect.

Gaming laptop is an oxymoron. Please take no offense, that is my opinion on the whole subject of the Gaming Laptop.

In my family we got Acer laptop for parents, I have iBook G3 that I bought used, my sister has iBook G4. For regular stuff, it does not matter what I use, be that Mac or PC, I am familiar with both. For specific stuff, I prefer PC.

 

[SunnyGirl]

If it can be at all avoided, definitely stay away from Dell. I spent a lot of time taking the useless software off of it, and freeing up some hard drive space. In hindsight, it wasn't worth all of the trouble.

 

[Emilio_di_Roccabruna]

@SweetErika
I think you're right, a MacBook would probably be a bit too much for just surfing and downloading. I was probably a bit too quick in my advice. A normal PC loaded with some user-friendly version of Linux would probably be a good idea, and possibly a lot cheaper than a Mac.

@kindashy
I'm not sure a gaming laptop is a contradiction in terms, have you ever seen Alienware laptops? Granted they cost a fortune, but I would play any game any day on one of those...

@Colton_White
Apart from the psychological Microsoft addiction most of us have, I find that I am forced to use Windows (XP) for two reasons:
- I can play games on it without having to emulate the working environment
- it allows me to use more advanced device drivers, which are not supported on Linux

Apart from those two stupid points, I would have absolutely no problem with moving on to Linux.

So, summing it all up: a PC with a Linux OS would be a good compromise between price and ease of use, I think...

 

[kromen]

The road less traveled sure is rocky

Started my laptop hunt with the research genorously donated by u guys. Crossed Dell of my list. I was up to 1800 bones before I even got to the warranty. LOL. Stopped by C city for a lil hands-on. I posed the dual-core/duo 2 question to the clerk and got a pocketful of errrrs and ummmms before I thanked him for his time and sent him packing. I did notice that Vista comes pre-installed and thats not gonna happen to this kid. Still giving Mac a chance, 9.2 was the latest OP I used, but I can get my hands on a load of free software for it. Still not making a purchase for about a month though. I'm stoppin by a local shop tomorrow to see about building one from scratch. Still listening to reason from my lit ppl. pardon my typos, using my Blackjack.

 

[SweetErika]

We build our desktops, but I wouldn't do a laptop. I actually want the warranty because things DO go wrong with them. My battery and power cable weren't up to par on my laptop (partly my fault, partly HP's), and it was nice to have HP replace them for free very quickly (it would have cost about $200 to buy them myself ).

Are you able to install and use a Linux distribution (or learn how to do so), or is that beyond your know-how? If you are, getting a laptop with Vista pre-installed is OK (we have 2 laptops that came with Vista). I can run all but one program, and that's my fertility software, which is a pretty obscure program in the grand scheme of things.

What's your maximum budget, and what are you most comfortable spending?

 

[kromen]

Dont know that much about Linux that a few books from the library cant cure. As far as heading to a local store, its mostly to see if Vista can get pulled off any laptop if i were to buy from a big box store. What really sux is CompUSA went out of business. The ppl there really knew there specs and techs, plus they also had a Mac specialty guy

 

[SweetErika]

Dont know that much about Linux that a few books from the library cant cure. As far as heading to a local store, its mostly to see if Vista can get pulled off any laptop if i were to buy from a big box store. What really sux is CompUSA went out of business. The ppl there really knew there specs and techs, plus they also had a Mac specialty guy

As far as I know, Vista can be pulled off any system. What you want to do is leave the factory restore on a partition so you can have a (technically) functioning OS if something goes wrong.

Like I said, my "downgrade" to XP didn't go well, so I had to drop my resistance and go to Linux (Ubuntu, to be exact; Hubby chose it because it's especially Linux newbie-friendly, I think). There have been some kinks, but we've been able to work them out fairly easily and the Linux support forums are great when we can't figure it out ourselves. I'd go back to XP, but even as much as I didn't want to switch to Linux, I'm a convert now.

 

[Emilio_di_Roccabruna]

Don't worry kromen, there are a lot of user-friendly versions of Linux out there. As SweetErika said Ubuntu is a great example, it looks and feels a lot like windows XP, so you probably won't have any problems after you get used to it a bit.
If you don't have the time to learn a totally new OS or you simply don't want to, consider Kubuntu, it's the exact same thing as Ubuntu Linux, but with the KDE desktop environment, which is even similar to windows than Ubuntu.

As for the actual installation you can try it out with a live CD (or DVD, I can't remember), which doesn't actually install anything on your PC until you specifically request it to.
That means you can pop the CD in the tray, close it and reboot the PC. At startup you will be presented with your Linux Operating System, so you can see how it works for you. If you don't like it you simply reboot without the CD and you're back in windows-land! If you need any help, I'm always available, just let me know!

I would not suggest you build up a laptop from scratch though, they usually have millions of compatibility problems afterwards.

Tell you what, why don't you get a few leaflets/brochures/infos from your local PC stores if there are any special offers or something and we can discuss them here!

 

[Colton_White]

As for the actual installation you can try it out with a live CD (or DVD, I can't remember), which doesn't actually install anything on your PC until you specifically request it to.
That means you can pop the CD in the tray, close it and reboot the PC. At startup you will be presented with your Linux Operating System, so you can see how it works for you. If you don't like it you simply reboot without the CD and you're back in windows-land! If you need any help, I'm always available, just let me know!

true

live CD roXXX !!

I've used live CD of
knopixx
live-DVD of
mandriva 2008.
also others..

but my favorite was a small program called 'damn small linux'..
its a live cd type thing.. but only 50 MB> with functionality similar to any
linux with ..and basic features. and you can carry it in Pen-drive..
and boot on any computer
even better can be used within microsoft xp ..
via MS-DOS prompt route. [no need to even boot]

but with the reason same like yours
I keep myself to Microsoft XP..for games

 

[ApprenticeApril]

I have a Macbook.
I use it for surfing/music/photos
But I prefer to be in windows for Office programs.
I use parallels to run Windows as a virtual machine.
Works perfect.
Or if you go the PC route, you can do like my bf. He runs Ubuntu and parallels to open windows.

 

[versatile1]

If it is a Mac you want, the Mid Priced MacBook gives you the best bang for the buck. It may be more than you need now, but the useful life of the laptop will be extended. I bought a G4 Tower 9 years ago, and with a few upgrades, that baby is still running great. The 13.3 inch screen is nice and portable and has the same resolution as most 14-15 inch screens.

If you like OS 9.2, you'll love OSX. Rock solid stable, esthetically pleasing and it includes virtually seamless integration between iLife applications making it easy to integrate sound, video, and audio into any project. iWork also provides a great, user friendly productivity suite at bargain basement prices (it too integrates with iLife). You'll be surprised with what you can do with those photos!

When I make comparisons with similarly configured Dell computers have come up more expensive.

Another thing with the mac is that you can load windows or linux on the same machine.

I like Linux too, and run a linux box in my home, but I am not satisfied with multimedia software, particularly photoediting. GIMP is okay, but it certainly isn't PhotoShop--over even PhotoShop Elements

I'd run at least a gig of ram, although for my use anything less than 2 gigs is pretty limiting.

See if you can swing an educational discount. That knocks $100 off from the start and each upgrade option is discounted as well.

 

[N_B]

You might also look in your phonebook for mom-and-pop computer stores. The little guy might have to charge a little more due to overhead, inventory, and general cost of business, but he is in it because it's what he likes to do. He cares about the customers too, because word of mouth is big advertisemnet. Since you're his bread and butter, instead of being another number in a chian store's books, you will have a much better buying experience. Probably get a better deal as well. I was going to build a machine from scratch myself, and the local guy I bought the parts from assembeled on the spot free, because I only mentioned that it was my first build. He wanted me to see it done in person to make sure I was confortable doing it in the future. Mom and Pop stores rock.