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Buying a new laptop - need advice

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J

JRPereira

Member
New! - Current Contenders

- HP Pavilion dv9000t
- ASUS F3 Series F3JP-AP035C-A
- HP Pavilion dv9330us

-------------------------

So, my current laptop is in pretty junky condition. The backlight only sort-of works (there's some sort of broken/loose cable I can't track down, although I've gotten it working a few times by opening the case (aka messing with ze interiors) and then putting things back together), the case is cracked up, the dvd burner never worked well (although it reads just fine), the hinge is worn, etc. I've been getting sick of its weight and more noticeably dim than ever screen.

Seeing as I had originally planned to replace the laptop early this year, and the laptop's no longer under warranty, I figure it's about time to get a new one.

The bad news is that I've only got about $600 of my own spending money (not enough for the kind of laptop I'm going to need), so I'll have to borrow a chunk of money from my dad and pay that off slowly.

The good news is that I can get a pretty decent laptop and make sure to get a warranty to cover 2-3 years of the same heavy use that eventually killed my current laptop. Also good news is that I'm good with paying back borrowed money so my dad is going to lend me as much money as I'm comfortable spending.

-------------

My current laptop is a gateway 7426gx.

Views:
http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/Gateway/7000Series/4651tc.shtml

Specs:
http://support.gateway.com/s/Mobile/Gateway/7000Series/4651sp3.shtml

-------------

I want to get a laptop that's equal to or better than my current one. Probably better at this point, considering it needs to be useful in a couple of years.

While I had originally bought the laptop more for personal use/gaming than for work, my current one has pretty become a work laptop. Gaming/personal use would probably go back up with a decent video card.

I've been doing the majority of my programming work on the laptop, as well as photoshop/3dsm/etc.

I've been looking at some of the stuff dell has but haven't yet been able to make a solid choice.

-------------

I'm not yet ready to have a mac as my primary laptop.

Preferred Budget: $1500

Requirements:

- 80gb+ hdd
- 1+gb ram
- core 2 duo (anything better than a amd64 3700)
- windows xp pro (or no os, I can always install my own copy/find necessary drivers). Vista is considered acceptable now, but I'd like to not have to format/install xp if I can avoid it
- (anything better than a radeon 9600 - no intel graphics)
- dvdrom (preferably cdrw as well, dvdrw+- optional but preferred)
- Under 7lbs (lower the better)
- 15.4"-17ish widescreen preferred (1280x800 minimum, would like to go higher)
- Integrated 802.11b/g (no pcmcia/external stuff)
- Minimum of 2 usb ports
- vga/dvi out
- integrated sd card reader (other cards would also be nice)
- slim enter key/backslash key right above
- ethernet port
- capability for 1.5-2gb of ram
- 2-3 year warranty

NO SONY LAPTOPS
NO TOSHIBA LAPTOPS

- Must be able to survive a lot of abuse - bumps/minor drops/etc.
- Must be able to be left on for 12++ hour periods at a time (on a/c power). No heat issues whatsoever.
- Battery must be able to do a minimum of 2.5 hours (with power saving options such as darkened screen/no wifi/etc).

Optional, although would like to have these
- Analog volume control if possible (one of those plastic discs would be nice)
- Firewire port
- s-video out
- microphone
- camera
- 56k modem (any will do)
- integrated bluetooth
- Black case (no white, preferably no silver, no other colors)
- Blue lcd's when possible
- Non-explosive battery. At least have it away from the hdd.
 
Y

Yixian

Banned
Why not just get a Mac, partition the HD and install Windows, so you can make the transfer easier, if you think you aren't quite ready to go all the way yet.
 
NekoFever

NekoFever

Member
alr1ghtstart said:
EVERY ****ING PC THREAD..."get a mac". Please leave mac trolls.
Click to expand...
It's a defence mechanism from all those years spent being told how shitty our computers are. Now that they're not (not that they ever were) we're overcome with a need to ram it down everyone's throat.

[insert token MacBook/Boot Camp reply]
 
J

JRPereira

Member
IfAllElseFailsUseFire said:
the laptop you're searching for is the hp pavillion dv9000
Click to expand...

Congratulations. You've put forth the first on-topic reply to this post that contains a laptop suggestion which appears to match my requirements.


/me adds laptop to the list of contenders


[edit] Weighs a ton though. I wonder if I can get anything lighter
 
UltimaKilo

UltimaKilo

Gold Member
I remember a couple of years ago whena friend came and stayed at my house for a day. In the morning he busted out his iBook G4 and I got to play around with it for a bit. That was the first time in many, many years that I had used an apple in a long time. I said to him "I'm getting one of those" and so I did, and that's what I am on right now. I only loved it more after I learned all the cool things it can do. Although I still don't know Macs as well as Windows PCs, I'd tell everyone to swtch to a Mac in the notebook department. They are the best. I don't think I would switch my PC for an iMac or Mac Mini. If I could afford a Mac Pro with all the bells, then yes. :)
 
W

White Man

Member
What's the build quality like on Dell notebooks these days? I was fiddling around there the other day and I put something together at a nice price.
 
S

scorcho

testicles on a cold fall morning
White Man said:
What's the build quality like on Dell notebooks these days? I was fiddling around there the other day and I put something together at a nice price.
Click to expand...
they're not too shabby from my experience, although I wish they offered a pointing stick or made the touchpad area larger on the Inspirion models.
 
J

JRPereira

Member
salva said:
this one is a great laptop if you don't mind Vista and other specs

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220142#spec
Click to expand...

After looking at the specs, I've decided to add this one as a strong contender as well. I like how it has the webcam/mic, bluetooth, integrated wireless, card reader/etc.

Not a big fan of silver, but I can live with it. It's still a bit heavy as well, but at least it's still lighter than my current one.
 
Tornado Condor

Tornado Condor

Member
JRPereira said:
After looking at the specs, I've decided to add this one as a strong contender as well. I like how it has the webcam/mic, bluetooth, integrated wireless, card reader/etc.

Not a big fan of silver, but I can live with it. It's still a bit heavy as well, but at least it's still lighter than my current one.
Click to expand...

yeah it's a pretty good good laptop for that price
i'm going to buy it too
 
I

IfAllElseFailsUseFire

Member
JRPereira said:
Congratulations. You've put forth the first on-topic reply to this post that contains a laptop suggestion which appears to match my requirements.


/me adds laptop to the list of contenders


[edit] Weighs a ton though. I wonder if I can get anything lighter
Click to expand...

yeah, the only problem is its weight (4 kgs) hurts my shoulder when I have to carry it for hours. But it's so awesome (and relatively cheap, got mine for 999€) that it's the best for you I guess.


(works perfectly with vista)
 
J

JRPereira

Member
IfAllElseFailsUseFire said:
yeah, the only problem is its weight (4 kgs) hurts my shoulder when I have to carry it for hours. But it's so awesome (and relatively cheap, got mine for 999€) that it's the best for you I guess.


(works perfectly with vista)
Click to expand...

I'm used to carrying a 7lb laptop with a bunch of extra stuff in the bag/case thing I bought. Even though I'd prefer less, weight even in the high 6-7lbs range isn't a deal-breaker if the laptop has everything else. I'm using it mostly for bring to area/sit down for a few hours type work, not a lot of long travel times.
 
J

JRPereira

Member
I

icecream

Public Health Threat
I've tried out the ASUS, it's pretty decent for the price, comes with a bag and is not too flimsy. No external volume control though.

Why no Sony or Toshiba?
 
L

Lhadatt

Member
White Man said:
What's the build quality like on Dell notebooks these days? I was fiddling around there the other day and I put something together at a nice price.
Click to expand...
The Latitudes are good, and the Inspirons less so. A Latitude should stay together for more than 3 years if you treat it right, where I wouldn't expect the Inspiron to last much longer than that. The primary reason is the two lines are made by different outsourcing companies and with different quality specs. Latitudes are mostly made by Quanta, and I think Compel makes Inspirons. I'd expect anything from Quanta to have a longer usable life.

icecream said:
Why no Sony or Toshiba?
Click to expand...
Both Sony and Toshiba products are garbage. I've been burned professionally by Toshiba's crappy customer service and will never buy or recommend one of their products again. My Toshiba laptop (provided by work) feels flimsy, and I know it won't last longer than a Dell Latitude.
 
J

JRPereira

Member
icecream said:
I've tried out the ASUS, it's pretty decent for the price, comes with a bag and is not too flimsy. No external volume control though.

Why no Sony or Toshiba?
Click to expand...

I've heard a lot of shitty things about toshiba laptops. I'm not too inclined to confirm my suspicions that they're terrible. I did have an old 266mhz toshiba satellite [which was junk btw], but it's too old to maky any reasonable comparisons with anything they might make now.


As far as sony is concerned, between various lawsuits, the ps3's terrible sales, their shutting down of lik sang, exploding batteries, etc, I'd rather not deal with those people if I can avoid it.
ALSO, I have a sony ericsson t610 cell phone which is pure crap. I intend to replace it once I get a new cell provider (t-mobile has shit coverage here. I'm switching to either verizon wireless (bleh) or cingular). (Oddly enough, the phone has appeared in various sony media, including spiderman 3 as mary jane's phone).
 
L

Lhadatt

Member
JRPereira said:
Well, if I get a laptop at best buy, this'll probably be the one I get. I still have to see what other places nearby might have a laptop similar to it.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...ategoryId=pcmcat103700050028&id=1174092131053

If I get it local, at least I can knock over a magazine rack and hope for a refund if it's got dead pixels or is doa/etc.
Click to expand...
Woah there, chief. That's 17". It's going to be very hard to lug around with any frequency. You'd better hope that stays on the desk all the time, or you'll hate yourself for buying it.

Get a 15" or smaller.
 
J

JRPereira

Member
Lhadatt said:
Woah there, chief. That's 17". It's going to be very hard to lug around with any frequency. You'd better hope that stays on the desk all the time, or you'll hate yourself for buying it.

Get a 15" or smaller.
Click to expand...

Yea, I know it's a 17". It's basically going to be moving from desk to desk, to table/etc. It's mostly for to and from work.

If you're going purely on weight concerns, I'm already used to carrying around a 7.6lb laptop and a bunch of other junk in the bag I carry it in.


If it was a high-movement college/school type thing or frequent business traveler thing, then I'd probably a get a lightweight low cost 14" laptop.
 
A

Armitage

Member
If you're not carrying it around every day, a 17 inch is great. It feels much more like a desktop replacement than a laptop.
 
J

JRPereira

Member
Armitage said:
If you're not carrying it around every day, a 17 inch is great. It feels much more like a desktop replacement than a laptop.
Click to expand...

99% of the travel going to be is to/from a car and up/down a flight of stairs. I will be carrying it to and from work every day, but the total time carrying the laptop will hardly be 10 minutes a day.
 
6

60_gig_PS3

Banned
i use a macbook with Windows 2000 running on top of it.

Just click an icon and it opens a window win Win2K in it.
The good thing about this setup is if Windows gets screwed up it's just a matter of deleting the file and copying over a fresh one.

Not powerful enough for gaming but for just about everything else it's pretty nice.
 
L

Lhadatt

Member
JRPereira said:
99% of the travel going to be is to/from a car and up/down a flight of stairs. I will be carrying it to and from work every day, but the total time carrying the laptop will hardly be 10 minutes a day.
Click to expand...
My boss does that, and he hates it. If you want a big monitor, buy a smaller notebook and dump the savings into a 20"-22" widescreen.
 
J

JRPereira

Member
I went and bought the hp pavilion dv9335nr over the weekend and have been getting used to it for the past few days.

It's a pretty solid laptop - I'm going to be formatting it and installing xp mce soon, but first am collecting drivers and reading up on if there's anything I need to watch before I format.
 
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