I need a new laptop. Currently running a old, old compaq presario r3000.. its slow, takes for ever to load and cant keep up with the internet connetion. I mainly surf the internet, I watch almost all of my tv shows online also. I have about 140+gig of music that i would like to store on it so it would need some memory. Not sure what i need, would like a mac but thats way out of the budget. Would like to keep it under $450. Looks like that there is a large amount to choose from. So what brands should i stay away from and what are the good ones?
Help me pick a laptop.
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thinkxingu
Minister of Fire
HP have always been bulletproof for me, but I love my Sony for it's tiny size. My advice would be to choose based on ergonomics and price. Specifically, screen size, keyboard size, weight, etc. I think if you stay with the name brands, you'd be good.
S
S
Lenovo bought the ThinkPad line from IBM and those are/were bombproof as far as laptops go. I still have two old T30's (circa 2002) that are still going.
thinkxingu
Minister of Fire
I have a Toshiba and I'd sum it up with 'Meh.' I'd be all over that Lenovo, though--those are solid machines.
S
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Hunderliggur
Minister of Fire
We use the Dell Small Business line of laptops. I have a Vostro 1510 right now. You can get a good laptop for around $500, maybe less with Christmas sales promotions. The small business line uses better parts than the consumer models at $50 less. I have only has one problem with a Dell (out of about 10 of them) and that was with a specific very high end laptop (quad dual core, 4 GB ram, etc) used for a specific purpose (and not $500 either ;-) ). HP has been unreliable for us. Some of our people like MACs but they cost 2X a PC version. I do want an iPad sometime though.
Grisu
Minister of Fire
I am on my second Lenovo Thinkpad and would buy from them again without thinking. They are truly sturdy workhorses and look almost new even after several years of use. With your budget you may need to look for a promotion/sale though.
In my workplace lots of people have Dells. The older ones were really low quality but what people are carrying around now seems much better. With 500 GB drives becoming the norm your music collection should be no problem. What other uses are you planning? Ever thought about a desktop? Having an external monitor should help with watching TV. Otherwise, you may want to look for a laptop with a larger screen but that adds to the price.
In my workplace lots of people have Dells. The older ones were really low quality but what people are carrying around now seems much better. With 500 GB drives becoming the norm your music collection should be no problem. What other uses are you planning? Ever thought about a desktop? Having an external monitor should help with watching TV. Otherwise, you may want to look for a laptop with a larger screen but that adds to the price.
gpcollen1
Minister of Fire
1 - HP and Lenovo
2 - anyone else
Sure, you can have good and bad experiences with many brands but there is a reason why HP and Lenovo are the best...
2 - anyone else
Sure, you can have good and bad experiences with many brands but there is a reason why HP and Lenovo are the best...
I have a buddy who does IT stuff for a global company with thousands of employees. Some years ago we had a purchase question and his answer was "Only look at Dell, and only look at their business class machines." It was great advice. It's the only thing we've bought since, and we've been pleased with every purchase.
So if I was in the market for a new laptop on a low budget, I'd go to delloutlet.com, where they sell the off-lease machines at a discount, and I'd click on the "business & education" link under laptops and click on the "shop" button under Latitude.
So if I was in the market for a new laptop on a low budget, I'd go to delloutlet.com, where they sell the off-lease machines at a discount, and I'd click on the "business & education" link under laptops and click on the "shop" button under Latitude.
mayhem
Minister of Fire
I'm an IT guy and help lots of people try to figure out what to buy. Bottom ine I tell people is to go find one in a store and put your hands on it, even if you don't buy it from that store. Pretty much any currently available laptop is going to do everything you want it to competently enough that you wil be satisfied with it. From my perspective the most important thing is that the physical design fits how your hands and eyes work. You have to like hpw the keyboard feels, the location and action of the touchpad, trackball or eraserhead mouse analog. Make sure you check out the display, nothing worse than buying a nice new laptop only to find out that evrything is great EXCEPT the display.
Some things I recommend as "must have's" on a new laptop:
- Minimum of 4GB RAM.
- Minimum of a 200GB hard drive.
- HDMI port to connect to your TV (especially if you're watching more and ore TV via laptop...might as well hook it t the 50" living room set and enjoy it.
- At least 3 USB ports located on at least 2 different sides.
I like HP laptops, Lenovo also makes a nice product. I've been really surprised by a little old Acer Aspire that a friend gave me...shockingly good quality and very comfortable to use. I have never put my hands on a Toshiba that I liked the feel of. Sager is also a really good manufacturer, my sister has had 3. Dell makes decent machines and some of my customers are loyal to the brand and have been treated well by their laptops...I would never recommend looking at Dell to the exclusion of other brands...the quality simply isn't there in my opinion and its foolish to limit yourself in any way like that for a personal computer. I had a 74% failure rate of Dell business class desktop PC's (bought 20 of em) in the first 15 months of ownership...most were power supplies but I also had two motherboards, one hard drive and one CPU failure mixed in there. I'm sure quality has improved since its been a few years and Dell is still in business...in fact I'm typing this on a Dell Professional Workstation thats been problem free since I bought it about 18 months ago...but it can't hold a candle performance wise to the HP professional workstations I put in our engineering department.
HP is going exactly nowhere in the desktop/laptop business. They're an industry standard and make billions at it.
Pretty much all of them are going to come pre-loaded with tons and tons of crap that make it slower than it ought to be and will pester you to buy, install , renew or some other idiocy. I recommend once you get the thing setup that you uninstall any anti-virus and other security software as well as all the other junk you'll find the Programs applet in Control Panel. Once you get it cleaned up, install AVG Free antivirus and KEEP IT UP TO DATE. Its 100% free and will do a very good job of keeping your computer free of viruses, malware, rootkits, trojans and other junk we all pick up throughout the course of using a computer on the internet, whether we know it or not.
So bottom line, pretty much any laptop in your range will do what you want (avoid netbooks). You should put your hands on the keyboards and look at the displayw ith your own eyes to make sure you like it before you drop some Benjamins on one.
Some things I recommend as "must have's" on a new laptop:
- Minimum of 4GB RAM.
- Minimum of a 200GB hard drive.
- HDMI port to connect to your TV (especially if you're watching more and ore TV via laptop...might as well hook it t the 50" living room set and enjoy it.
- At least 3 USB ports located on at least 2 different sides.
I like HP laptops, Lenovo also makes a nice product. I've been really surprised by a little old Acer Aspire that a friend gave me...shockingly good quality and very comfortable to use. I have never put my hands on a Toshiba that I liked the feel of. Sager is also a really good manufacturer, my sister has had 3. Dell makes decent machines and some of my customers are loyal to the brand and have been treated well by their laptops...I would never recommend looking at Dell to the exclusion of other brands...the quality simply isn't there in my opinion and its foolish to limit yourself in any way like that for a personal computer. I had a 74% failure rate of Dell business class desktop PC's (bought 20 of em) in the first 15 months of ownership...most were power supplies but I also had two motherboards, one hard drive and one CPU failure mixed in there. I'm sure quality has improved since its been a few years and Dell is still in business...in fact I'm typing this on a Dell Professional Workstation thats been problem free since I bought it about 18 months ago...but it can't hold a candle performance wise to the HP professional workstations I put in our engineering department.
HP is going exactly nowhere in the desktop/laptop business. They're an industry standard and make billions at it.
Pretty much all of them are going to come pre-loaded with tons and tons of crap that make it slower than it ought to be and will pester you to buy, install , renew or some other idiocy. I recommend once you get the thing setup that you uninstall any anti-virus and other security software as well as all the other junk you'll find the Programs applet in Control Panel. Once you get it cleaned up, install AVG Free antivirus and KEEP IT UP TO DATE. Its 100% free and will do a very good job of keeping your computer free of viruses, malware, rootkits, trojans and other junk we all pick up throughout the course of using a computer on the internet, whether we know it or not.
So bottom line, pretty much any laptop in your range will do what you want (avoid netbooks). You should put your hands on the keyboards and look at the displayw ith your own eyes to make sure you like it before you drop some Benjamins on one.
Adios Pantalones
Minister of Fire
I have a Toshiba- mostly for surfing, a little website maintenance and home-photo cropping. It's been fine. I can't stand all the "value added" features that just get in the way, but I'm sure they're not the only ones that do this.
I have a dell latitude for work. Excellent machine - lugged all over the country (sometimes globe). Tossed onto my home couch, knocked around. Very satisfied with all aspects of it.
The biggest thing for you is going to be feel and screen resolution. That only you can decide.
I like the Dell Outlet personally. It's not too difficult to find a coupon for 10-20% off, and look what I just found on there at retail price:
Dell Studio 14z - 1440
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T6600 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
•Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
•Studio 14z - 1440 Laptop, No internal DVD or CD Drive
•500 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
•4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1066MHz (4 DIMMs)
•Integrated Memory - 1 GB
•NVIDIA GeForce 9400M G
It's in scratch & dent, which is hit or miss, but this is listed for $389. You can find brand new versions for similar. These are very nice laptops.
Joe
P.s. Lenovo is one of the most bulletproof in the industry. However, you pay for that sturdiness. If you are mostly at home/office/coffee shop, limited hard travel, not using it constantly sitting on a comforter with no airflow, etc.....then I say skip it. Go with something you intend to replace in 2-4 years - think of a laptop today as a $100-200 a year investment, max.
The biggest thing for you is going to be feel and screen resolution. That only you can decide.
I like the Dell Outlet personally. It's not too difficult to find a coupon for 10-20% off, and look what I just found on there at retail price:
Dell Studio 14z - 1440
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T6600 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)
•Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
•Studio 14z - 1440 Laptop, No internal DVD or CD Drive
•500 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
•4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1066MHz (4 DIMMs)
•Integrated Memory - 1 GB
•NVIDIA GeForce 9400M G
It's in scratch & dent, which is hit or miss, but this is listed for $389. You can find brand new versions for similar. These are very nice laptops.
Joe
P.s. Lenovo is one of the most bulletproof in the industry. However, you pay for that sturdiness. If you are mostly at home/office/coffee shop, limited hard travel, not using it constantly sitting on a comforter with no airflow, etc.....then I say skip it. Go with something you intend to replace in 2-4 years - think of a laptop today as a $100-200 a year investment, max.
Adabiviak
Feeling the Heat
Three I.T. guys, and no Linux recommendations? If all you're doing is surfing the Internet and listening to some music, throwing Linux on there will definitely breathe new life into it for the price of some download/install time. That said, it should have some minimum specs for speedy Internet surfing, given all the Flash and otherwise poorly coded/bloated websites around today. How much RAM does your current laptop have, what's your processor speed, and are there otherwise any hardware issues that would be a deal breaker (broken USB ports, unresponsive keys, spotty power supply, I'd like a built-in wireless NIC, etc.)?
Go to Walmart, Target, Fred Meyers, wherever and pick up the $200-300 special.
It'll be fine for a couple years, and then do teh same. No sense in spending big bucks on a computer unless you really need that kind of power.
For cruising the web and listening to songs something 10 years old would be working ok even. I still use my first laptop from time to time. Bought in 2000.
It'll be fine for a couple years, and then do teh same. No sense in spending big bucks on a computer unless you really need that kind of power.
For cruising the web and listening to songs something 10 years old would be working ok even. I still use my first laptop from time to time. Bought in 2000.
We use Lenovo exclusively where I work, both laptops and PC's. They are bulletproof even with all the big brother stuff installed and running.
I will buy a Lenovo for home use when the one there dies.
I will buy a Lenovo for home use when the one there dies.
maverick06
Minister of Fire
i have recently had 2 gateway machines, both very nice, and just got an asus. Good stuff there too. I had an hp machine years ago (5 years go, it was cheap, in cost and build quality).
I have bought mine from tigerdirect.com and newegg.com My choice has been 17" screen and a good video card, whatever the cheapest is that had the card and screen I wanted, I got. Great success so far, but I am not very hard on the computer, it sits on my coffee table and I surf the web or play video games on it.
This is my current machine: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220707 The power cord isnt at an idea position, and it does get hot when playing games. But it works great! very good with games.
I have bought mine from tigerdirect.com and newegg.com My choice has been 17" screen and a good video card, whatever the cheapest is that had the card and screen I wanted, I got. Great success so far, but I am not very hard on the computer, it sits on my coffee table and I surf the web or play video games on it.
This is my current machine: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220707 The power cord isnt at an idea position, and it does get hot when playing games. But it works great! very good with games.
bluedogz
Minister of Fire
cwill said:
http://www.buy.com/prod/apple-12-1-...rpc-7447a-g4-1gb-40gb-hdd-slot/223167950.html
A NEW Mac might be out of the budget, but factory refurbs are another story. I'm on my fourth.
My wife hasn't killed this one yet... straight-up email, web-surfing, etc. If you want you can stuff a monster hard drive in it for like $49.
Is it the latest and greatest? No.
Will it do what you asked? Yes. Very well.
This isnt a new laptop however it will be a new laptop after words and its free! I ran Ubuntu for many years and it is great you should check it out if you have not bought yet and money is an issue. Ubuntu.com the site shows you alot and it is easy to set up, if you went that route I could have you up and running in no time. I would be glad to help.
Good luck whatever you do!
Pete
Good luck whatever you do!
Pete
mayhem
Minister of Fire
Adabiviak said:
As a career IT guy I'm slightly ashamed to admit I've NEVER installed linux in any form other than a distro that may have come as part of a package like VMWare or something. There's never really been a call for it as all the apps and app servers are windows mased. That said, I've got a few spare older single and dual core laptops that I think I'm going to go screw wtih.
But we're not talking about OS's anyway...we're talking hardware...though to be fair everything the OP is going to look at will come with 7 on it.
Thanks for the many replies, lots of good info to ponder. havent decided what we will get but leaning towards the lenovo. everything i have read backs up what you guys are saying, They are bulletproof machines. Im not opposed to still using this machine for surfing and using the new one for everything else. Is this one worth keeping around. it's really slow to open programs and is generally frustrating to use. takes forever to do simple stuff it seems.
Here is some specs on my current machine.
OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard
System Model Presario R3200 (PR472UA#ABA)
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 10 AuthenticAMD ~1595 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Hewlett-Packard F.34, 12/23/2004
SMBIOS Version 2.31
Windows Directory C:WINDOWS
System Directory C:WINDOWSsystem32
Boot Device DeviceHarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)"
Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 76.87 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.95 GB
Page File Space 1.35 GB
Here is some specs on my current machine.
OS Name Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Version 5.1.2600 Service Pack 3 Build 2600
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard
System Model Presario R3200 (PR472UA#ABA)
System Type X86-based PC
Processor x86 Family 15 Model 4 Stepping 10 AuthenticAMD ~1595 Mhz
BIOS Version/Date Hewlett-Packard F.34, 12/23/2004
SMBIOS Version 2.31
Windows Directory C:WINDOWS
System Directory C:WINDOWSsystem32
Boot Device DeviceHarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2111)"
Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Total Physical Memory 512.00 MB
Available Physical Memory 76.87 MB
Total Virtual Memory 2.00 GB
Available Virtual Memory 1.95 GB
Page File Space 1.35 GB
I just got myself a MacBook Air, also have a Macpro tower and an ibook. Been working with apple products since the late 80's. Nothing is more reliable and customer service is superb. Go check one out or ask a friend that uses Mac. You won't be disappointed.
Check out the Mac mini it is closer to your price range and is somewhat portable.
Sent from my iPad.
Check out the Mac mini it is closer to your price range and is somewhat portable.
Sent from my iPad.
btuser
Minister of Fire
The last couple laptops we've bought have been Acer. Not bad and cheap. Just surfing the web, maybe outputting to the TV, nothing heavy.
The big one for me is whether or not you need the CD rom/bluray/whatever drive. I'm starting to put together a home theater PC that will act like a TIVO and stream to the wifi tvs and setups I don't even have yet. If it wasn't for that damn Catholic channel my mother needs I'd get rid of Comcast.
The big one for me is whether or not you need the CD rom/bluray/whatever drive. I'm starting to put together a home theater PC that will act like a TIVO and stream to the wifi tvs and setups I don't even have yet. If it wasn't for that damn Catholic channel my mother needs I'd get rid of Comcast.
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