Help me pick a laptop

[QuadJunkies]

I am going to be needing a Laptop this next year and I know ZERO about them. :o lol
Ive never had a real needfor oen, but now I do...

I was thinking of buying a DELL again, Ive had good luck with Dell ,but Im open for any other suggestions as well.
I will be needing to have plenty of room for transferring very large photos and storing them,also what ever is needed to get decent Internet when Im traveling .Ill use this at home too as my kids are slowly taking over my home computer .lol
I need to stay within a budget as Ill be buying a new Camera next month as well.

[beaker1214]

Heres your best bang for your buck.



http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8525866&type=product&id=1186007267699

[Flyin-Low]

Sounds like a Macbook would be your best choice.. But I don't know all that much about them either.

I just bought an Acer Aspire 5680 and couldn't be happier, but I bought this one because of its gaming ability.

-Martin

[QuadJunkies]

Originally posted by beaker1214
Heres your best bang for your buck.



http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8525866&type=product&id=1186007267699
So how good are the HP's and are you familiar with this one at all?
Ill go check it out,thanks!:)

[Bradracer18]

Yeah, they are all about the same(dell and HP). I suggest a dell, as I like them...but I know many friends that have HP's that are just as nice.

Just make sure you get ATLEAST 512MB of memory/RAM.

And, most of them will have wireless, or you can select it when purchasing.


Do NOT get a sony, is the only info I can give you

[QuadJunkies]

Originally posted by Bradracer18
Yeah, they are all about the same(dell and HP). I suggest a dell, as I like them...but I know many friends that have HP's that are just as nice.

Just make sure you get ATLEAST 512MB of memory/RAM.

And, most of them will have wireless, or you can select it when purchasing.


Do NOT get a sony, is the only info I can give you
No worries on Sony.. Ive lost alot of my interest in anything Sony sells anymore after replacing 2 cameras and one Camcorder.:ermm:

[416exfreak]

QJ, it sounds like a MacBook or a Vaio might be your best bet.

MacBooks are almost impenetrable and Vaio's have a great built in security system. My friend uses his Vaio instead of the school computers (a mix of Dell and HP) and he doesnt have half of the problems we all do.

[blholtz]

Go with the Macbook you will like it the iPhoto program is awesome and exteremely easy to use, my wife is a picture taking maniac also. We got her an iMac and it came with the iPhoto program and she loves this thing. Not to mention if you do a lot of traveling the Macbook will not be as open to being corrupted by viruses and spyware.

[QuadJunkies]

Originally posted by 416exfreak
QJ, it sounds like a MacBook or a Vaio might be your best bet.

MacBooks are almost impenetrable and Vaio's have a great built in security system. My friend uses his Vaio instead of the school computers (a mix of Dell and HP) and he doesnt have half of the problems we all do.
I was told to stay clear from the Vaio also. Isnt that a Sony ?
Not sure why, but I have heard that more than once.

Does Mac have good programs and is it easy to use?
Like I said, I totally know NOTHING on laptops on whats easy and best to use.
What kind of pricing are they also?

[Ghost-Rider]

We have an HP, decent.

[WhiteYFZ]

sent you a pm, get back to me if u have any questions.

[beaker1214]

Vaio's seem to have alot of problems (and Sony isn't the best to work with when it comes time for parts support), we have dells in the department that I work in and really they are pretty nice we don't have alot of problems with them, but they seem to be pricier really just for an individual to go out and order one. <br>I recommend that HP to alot of the professors and none have brought them back to me to work on, Knock on wood. They also have a bunch of nice features for the money. But with Vista being such a resource hog you really need to make sure you get something that has at least a 1gb if memory, but 2gb is sweet for multimedia purposes.
<br>I have heard alot of good things with the mac books, but I really don't have alot of experience w macs since we just are mostly windows based.

[Ghost-Rider]

I don't recommend Apple/Mac. I just hate using those damned things.

[07250ex]

Macs really are the way to go now Mac osx is the best operating system ever theres so many useful inventions in them its just tough to say but they are actully superior to all other competition btw i have gateway laptop with vista

[QuadJunkies]

So how yall like Vista? Ive heard nothing good about it so far .lol
I like my good ole XP, I wish I could just use that .:ermm:

So can I get a Mac for about 1000.00?
I seen some sweet looking Computers for home and Laps at Costo,thats one place I considered buying one from or Best Buy .

[07250ex]

yeh theres some macs for about a grand .. vistas ight but my cousin who knows alot about computers was saying how much he hates vista and i used to hate macs cuz are school uses them but they were old and junky (gave me a bad impretion of macs) he took me to the mall and the apple store and showed me the new macs their the coolest things ive ever seen i wish i had one

[250RXCrider]

Here are a few things I would consider when buying a laptop. What kind of envirnoment are you going to be using it, like hotel rooms or track/trailer side? You may want to consider mobility features like battery life and weight. If you get a "desk top" replacement laptop you could be dragging something around with a 17" LCD and weights ten pounds and the battery lasts 1 hour! Most of the new Intel Core 2 Duo processors should have plenty of performance for you and I would recommend at least a 80 GB or larger HD with at least 1GB of RAM. Outside of that make sure which ever laptop you buy you have access to good customer support and service. Not just a mail in of 1 800 number in India, but I store you could take it to for support. Most of the laptops today will have 802.11 A/G wireless and you could even go with WAN like Verizon EVDO or ATT HSDPA if you want to connect anywhere. The upload speeds on wide area wireless is getting pretty fast and you could even upload photos. I do a lot of traveling for work and there is nothing worse then carrying around a heavy laptop with no battery life.

Hope this helps and sorry for the long post!!!! Good Luck!

[Sjorge450R]

good thing you started this


i just bought a laptop today. My plan this morning was to come home with a Macbook, but instead, returned with a HP. I have had a HP desktop for over 8 years and it still works better than most new computers.

I went with teh DV2000. I only paid 600 for it and its usually 850 or 900. It is amazing. I love it. Still getting used to vista, but so far, I still like XP much better. I got the HP with a AMD Athlon 64x2 with 2gb of ram and 160gb hard drive. Check best buys website, cause they were on there this morning, or if you need a product number let me know. I can get it for you.

[Robin Hood]

I picked up my Dell M90 through my college. Originally was around 3000$ with all my add ons but came to around 2200$ with the student discount, plus came with all the civil engineering goodies!

The laptop is great, but lacks a little bit when it's not connected to the charger. Otherwise dell gets a thumbs up from me.

[QuadJunkies]

Originally posted by 250RXCrider
Here are a few things I would consider when buying a laptop. What kind of envirnoment are you going to be using it, like hotel rooms or track/trailer side? You may want to consider mobility features like battery life and weight. If you get a "desk top" replacement laptop you could be dragging something around with a 17" LCD and weights ten pounds and the battery lasts 1 hour! Most of the new Intel Core 2 Duo processors should have plenty of performance for you and I would recommend at least a 80 GB or larger HD with at least 1GB of RAM. Outside of that make sure which ever laptop you buy you have access to good customer support and service. Not just a mail in of 1 800 number in India, but I store you could take it to for support. Most of the laptops today will have 802.11 A/G wireless and you could even go with WAN like Verizon EVDO or ATT HSDPA if you want to connect anywhere. The upload speeds on wide area wireless is getting pretty fast and you could even upload photos. I do a lot of traveling for work and there is nothing worse then carrying around a heavy laptop with no battery life.

Hope this helps and sorry for the long post!!!! Good Luck!

Theres some good info!
Ill be at Hotels and at the track with mine,so it will be in a variety of places ;)
Whats WAN ?
So I have T-moblie,should I consider getting servce for my laptop with them? I dont use Verizon, I wish I did. lol
Thank you!

[QuadJunkies]

Originally posted by Sjorge300EX
good thing you started this


i just bought a laptop today. My plan this morning was to come home with a Macbook, but instead, returned with a HP. I have had a HP desktop for over 8 years and it still works better than most new computers.

I went with teh DV2000. I only paid 600 for it and its usually 850 or 900. It is amazing. I love it. Still getting used to vista, but so far, I still like XP much better. I got the HP with a AMD Athlon 64x2 with 2gb of ram and 160gb hard drive. Check best buys website, cause they were on there this morning, or if you need a product number let me know. I can get it for you.
thanks, I just might!
Lots to think about . :p

[250RXCrider]

Originally posted by QuadJunkies
Theres some good info!
Ill be at Hotels and at the track with mine,so it will be in a variety of places ;)
Whats WAN ?
So I have T-moblie,should I consider getting servce for my laptop with them? I dont use Verizon, I wish I did. lol
Thank you!

WAN is wide area wireless, kind of like cell phone technology, but designed for data. I use Verizon so just as an example you can get unlimited service for around $50 a month and this would allow you to connect to the internet where ever you get a signal. On laptops designed for business users you can get built in WAN for the carrier of your choice. On most other laptops for can plug in a WAN card into your PC slot.:D Any other questions let me know:)

[QuadJunkies]

Originally posted by 250RXCrider
WAN is wide area wireless, kind of like cell phone technology, but designed for data. I use Verizon so just as an example you can get unlimited service for around $50 a month and this would allow you to connect to the internet where ever you get a signal. On laptops designed for business users you can get built in WAN for the carrier of your choice. On most other laptops for can plug in a WAN card into your PC slot.:D Any other questions let me know:)
What do built in ones cost?
That might be what Ill want to add.
Thanks for not making me feel like a dumb@$$ :o

Im not trying to be a total tight wad,but I may need to buy an extra race bike this year, so the best bang for the buck is important ,not to mention about 11,000 miles of driving and just ALOT moreexpenses this year in general .:scary:

[250RXCrider]

Originally posted by QuadJunkies
What do built in ones cost?
That might be what Ill want to add.
Thanks for not making me feel like a dumb@$$ :o

Im not trying to be a total tight wad,but I may need to buy an extra race bike this year, so the best bang for the buck is important ,not to mention about 11,000 miles of driving and just ALOT moreexpenses this year in general .:scary:

You are going to be looking at a few more $$$'s to have this built into the laptop. Any of the major laptop companies should offer this feature, I know Lenovo and Panasonic do, but these are systems more designed for the mobile business user, so cost will be a little higher. Check out their websites as well as Dell and HP, but look under their SMB sections and not the consumer site.

[trick450r]

Originally posted by Bradracer18
Yeah, they are all about the same(dell and HP). I suggest a dell, as I like them...but I know many friends that have HP's that are just as nice.

Just make sure you get ATLEAST 512MB of memory/RAM.

And, most of them will have wireless, or you can select it when purchasing.


Do NOT get a sony, is the only info I can give you

why not sony, im quite sure i wouldnt replace my Vaio with any other laptop on the market?

[MOFO]

QJ,

I have not followed technology much in terms of laptops, but I can tell you a few minimum requirements you should look for - to be happy.

1gig memory min (especially if you are going to process photo's)
Long Battery Life (read up on any models)
WiFi (to use wireless hotel connections)
Personally I would avoid Vista if at all possible. Stick with XP.
If you need mass storage, look to purchase an external USB Hard drive - much cheaper than trying to find a laptop with a huge internal drive - plus its portable and can easily transfer large amounts of data between PC's.
Also look for something with a decent internal video card (since you edit photo's)

I currently have a DELL D610 running XP with 1 gig of memory (will be upgraded shortly to the D630). It run's pretty good, but I use this thing 8hr's a day (5-6 days a week). The Dells seem to hold up OK under extreme situations, but the IBM's were the best in terms of reliablity.

[i30nes]

Originally posted by MOFO
QJ,

I have not followed technology much in terms of laptops, but I can tell you a few minimum requirements you should look for - to be happy.

1gig memory min (especially if you are going to process photo's)
Long Battery Life (read up on any models)
WiFi (to use wireless hotel connections)
Personally I would avoid Vista if at all possible. Stick with XP.
If you need mass storage, look to purchase an external USB Hard drive - much cheaper than trying to find a laptop with a huge internal drive - plus its portable and can easily transfer large amounts of data between PC's.
Also look for something with a decent internal video card (since you edit photo's)

Possibly couldnt have said it any better... Now as a pc gamer my requirements for computers are a bit high... But one thing you cant really go wrong with is RAM. I used to have 3gb of ram in my computer and now I am down to 1gb... Which when your gaming let alone doing any form of multimedia editing you will notice a difference...
In regards to your question about which to get. Mac or a Pc? I by no means am a Mac person. In fact I dont like them the least. But, Apple has some of the best computers for multimedia rendering. But you can do all that on a PC. You just need to get the programs. Now your question on Vista. I dont like it the least bit from the performance standpoint. It is the biggest resource hog of an operating system. I will still prefer to use XP over it due to those performance issues. But being a person thats going into Computers, I gotta eventually deal with it. Since at some point it will end up being the next thing to deal with. But if you got any other questions just lemme know :macho

[suck my pipe]

Mac book

[QuadJunkies]

Originally posted by MOFO
QJ,

I have not followed technology much in terms of laptops, but I can tell you a few minimum requirements you should look for - to be happy.

1gig memory min (especially if you are going to process photo's)
Long Battery Life (read up on any models)
WiFi (to use wireless hotel connections)
Personally I would avoid Vista if at all possible. Stick with XP.
If you need mass storage, look to purchase an external USB Hard drive - much cheaper than trying to find a laptop with a huge internal drive - plus its portable and can easily transfer large amounts of data between PC's.
Also look for something with a decent internal video card (since you edit photo's)

I currently have a DELL D610 running XP with 1 gig of memory (will be upgraded shortly to the D630). It run's pretty good, but I use this thing 8hr's a day (5-6 days a week). The Dells seem to hold up OK under extreme situations, but the IBM's were the best in terms of reliablity.
So there IS systems out there that you can still order XP?? I didnt think you could still get XP on anything anymore..
Ive heard nothing positive on Vista so far. lol:p

I dont have the time to mess with something Foreign ,so Id rather work with what I know I have some knowledge of .

[MOFO]

Originally posted by QuadJunkies
So there IS systems out there that you can still order XP?? I didnt think you could still get XP on anything anymore..
Ive heard nothing positive on Vista so far. lol:p

I dont have the time to mess with something Foreign ,so Id rather work with what I know I have some knowledge of .


Great question - I'm not sure.

If you were to order a PC from Dell, I would ask them. I know when a new OS comes out, sometimes they give you the option between the two.

[250RXCrider]

Originally posted by QuadJunkies
So there IS systems out there that you can still order XP?? I didnt think you could still get XP on anything anymore..
Ive heard nothing positive on Vista so far. lol:p

I dont have the time to mess with something Foreign ,so Id rather work with what I know I have some knowledge of .

You should still be able to get systems with XP pro. Many of the big companies are offering Vista Business with a down grade to XP Pro. This would give you a lisence for both operating systems and you could change to Vista down the road if you choose to. Last I heard by the end of Jan 08 Microsoft will not let any OEM's sell XP on a new system, just Vista.

[cbrooks118]

the reason mac books are more "secure" as previous people have said is because 90% of consumers us PC format, therefore the malicous viruses are usually created on that format.... If everyone switched to MAC OS overnight, people would create malicious software for MAC OS instead of Windows.

IMHO every brand has laptops that perform well, differentiate what features you need vs price. HP, DELL, Sony, Toshiba, Acer, MAC, offer nice laptops. One thing to remeber is that RAM is usually upgradedable very cheap. I bought a 1gb SSRD ram chip to double my total ram to 2g for $60. Usually in a laptop the only things you cant upgrade is the video card and sound card, becasue in my experience they are usually fixed tothe motherboard (soldered) to save space, vs in a desktop their is a slot for it so it can be changed. You got good advice earlier on looking for battery life, WiFi and staying away from Vista. As for Internet connectivity at the track, i would look into a data card from a cellphone company. Just check their coverage and make sure the card you get will fit the PC card slot your laptop has... As far as i know they make 2 kinds of slot, a type II and an express card slot. Most cellphone companies have both. Look for nationwide service to be around $50 a month.....

Good luck!

[i30nes]

You can still "order" a pc with xp on it. But usually through the stores like best buy or circuit city I think they are pre-loaded with Vista...

[QuadJunkies]

Originally posted by i30nes
You can still "order" a pc with xp on it. But usually through the stores like best buy or circuit city I think they are pre-loaded with Vista...
So I could still order a custom package threw HP or Dell then,correct?
WEll, I know you can threw dell, but wasnt sure about the HP's.
I think thats what Ill do :)

[i30nes]

Either Dell or HP(Compaq) should do ya good. But its all a matter of preference. Both have good tech support for any issues if need be. I called them up when I was about 10 to fix a computer we had. And surprisingly enough they were more than happy to help me out and didnt demand the "parent" to be the one dealing with it.

Still just make sure you have enough RAM and hard drive space for what you will be doing.

[Sjorge450R]

NO ONE has better Customer Serivce than HP.Def get their 3 year warrenty when you buy. THEY COVER EVERYTHING. They even come to your house if its a desktop to fix it. Not sure on laptops this is my first HP.

After having my HP laptop for a few days now, I am now confident to say, I am starting to enjoy vista more and icant wait for teh service pack to come out at the end of the month. I switch most of the settings so its basically XP...lol.

Oh BTW its a HP Pavilion dv2418nr

[MyIce]

Macbook or Macbook pro.

I have always been a windows guy until trying a mac last year and will never go back....

Give it a shot and you will love it!

[KB Motorsports]

Originally posted by beaker1214
Heres your best bang for your buck.



http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8525866&type=product&id=1186007267699

I have a model similar to that, but mine came with 1gb of memory.. It froze a whole lot multitasking. After upgrading my memory I love my computer.. Cost me about 90.00 and 15 mins of my time to install extra memory.

[QuadJunkies]

Thanks for all the suggestions. :)
Ill be sure to print this off when I place my order so I dont miss anything important!:)

[FHKracingZ]

coming from a technition point of view DONT buy a dell. junk.

[Sjorge450R]

i would never consider buying a dell. Mainly because i just dont like them.I Have never seen a dell that functions the same as the day it was built after a year of use.

If you are going with PC, stay with HP Compaq and the high end sonys.

[bustedknuckle]

if your just surfing the net.try walmart.they beat best buy.my wife worked at best buy,we are getting one from walmart.its cheaper.just depends what your doing with it...

[QuadJunkies]

After the customer service I got today on my new printer ,Im seriously questioning HP.
And how about we get someone who can SPEAK ENGLISH PLEASE!:mad:
Is ther ANY tech support in our own country anymore??!!!!:ermm:

[i30nes]

Originally posted by QuadJunkies
After the customer service I got today on my new printer ,Im seriously questioning HP.
And how about we get someone who can SPEAK ENGLISH PLEASE!:mad:
Is ther ANY tech support in our own country anymore??!!!!:ermm:

HAH very rarely will you get someone that speaks english... Gotta just love outsourcing :rolleyes:

[Sjorge450R]

that really surprises me about HP. Everything in my house is HP and we have never had a problem when we called for customer service. I mean we have a desktop, my laptop, printer, scanner, digital cameras and I have never had serious problems with any of them. Maybe you called on the wrong day...lol

[QuadJunkies]

Originally posted by Sjorge300EX
Maybe you called on the wrong day...lol
Im on day 3 with this thing. lol
I think its more about MY luck, I dont have any .:p
Ive always had good luck with my HP printers,but not this time around . Im now wondering if a Canon is what I will switch to . If there tech support is here in the US,that alone will be worth the switch. LOL!

[i30nes]

Not to sure on Cannon. Dell which has a support center up the road from me is for certain models and warranty selection. Which you gotta pay extra money for. So then you can actually speak to a english person. But its basically for businesses and corporations.

[<DRS>GPF]

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptop-buying-guide/?tag=dir

the review doesnt seem biased..

[KB Motorsports]

History with HP
1. First computer lasted 2 1/2 years.
2. Second computer lasted 1 year - Replaced motherboard and video card.
3. Compaq (similar to HP) broke 4 times and got a new one from best buy for a 100.00
4 HP DV9000 . the wireless card just fried and i'm now connected by using Ethernet line. Had to upgrade my memory to 2gb because it would freeze while multi-tasking


Overall I like HP.. I hate their printers!! (I went threw three in one year)I always buy cannon printers but the ink is very expensive compared to HP.