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[AKingNamedPaul]

I made a thread about deciding what laptop I should buy a few days ago and I got a few vague responses and links to websites. I have narrowed my choice down to two choices.

I will list the laptops along with the pro's and cons in hopes of this thread pushing me towards one rather than the other.

Toshiba Satellite L655-S5156 15.6-Inch LED Laptop (Grey)

Technical Details
Intel Pentium P6200 (Dual core) Processor 2.13 GHz, 3MB Cache
Configured with 4GB DDR3 1066MHz (max 8GB)
320GB (5400 RPM); Serial ATA hard disk drive
15.6" diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT display at 1366 x 768 native resolution (HD) with 16:9 Aspect Ratio and LED Backlite
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit with a 6 cell/48Wh Lithium Ion battery pack; Battery Life (measured by MobileMark 2007): 5 hours, 2 minutes

FINAL PRICE: 333

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Acer AS5552-7474 15.6-Inch Laptop (Mesh Black)

Technical Details
AMD Phenom™ II X4 Quad-Core Processor N970 (2.2GHz, 2MB L2 Cache)
15.6” HD Widescreen CineCrystal™ LCD Display
Windows® 7 Home Premium
Microsoft® Office Starter 2010
4GB DDR3 Dual-Channel Memory
320GB SATA Hard Drive
ATI Radeon™ HD 4250 Graphics
8X DVD-SuperMulti Double-Layer Drive
2-in-1 Digital Media Card Reader
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi CERTIFIED™
10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Dolby® Advanced Audio® v2 Audio Enhancement
High-Definition Audio Support
3- USB 2.0 Ports
1- HDMI™ Port
Built-in 1.3 Megapixel HD Webcam
Multi-Gesture Touchpad
Dedicated Numeric Keypad
6-cell Li-ion Battery
5.74 lbs. | 2.6 kg (system unit only)

FINAL PRICE: 434


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Important side-note:
The Satellite is used (Like new) and the seller has a total of 4 feedback ratings. 2 of which are 5/5 glowing with positivity and two where the people didn't get what they ordered but got a full refund. Not sure if you can tell, but the Acer is not a pretty laptop and it is purely a powerhouse (for my budget anyway.) I Have the money for the Satellite right now and I will have to wait until next month to buy the Acer.

The purpose of this laptop will be to do a bunch of stream watching/internet cruising and maybe some very very light (talking diablo and stuff) gaming. I really want to buy the toshiba because it is nice looking and fits nicely into my budget, but it is not very powerful and it is from a shady seller.


What is my best bet?

 

[gimmmick]

 

[Tunavi]

^^^
Final Price
+1000

 

[CFMOORE!]

^^^
Final Price
+1000

in three months my MBP turns five years old. runs like a fucking champ. just sayin'

 

[AKingNamedPaul]

lol idk why i make advice seeking threads here.

 

[gimmmick]

in three months my MBP turns five years old. runs like a fucking champ. just sayin'

And will still look better than majority of the notebooks on the market.

 

[linko9]

in three months my MBP turns five years old. runs like a fucking champ. just sayin'

And everyone I know with a macbook has had major issues with it after the 3rd year, requiring lots of money to repair. Honestly, that can probably be said for most laptops, and it doesn't seem that macs are really an exception.

 

[Firestorm]

Is the Acer from a store? I'd rather buy a laptop at a store than from a seller on eBay or something.

in three months my MBP turns five years old. runs like a fucking champ. just sayin'

i need to send mine in for repair and i purchased it last september. just sayin'

 

[buhdeh]

What is it with Mac idiots coming into threads and recommending one when they're at minimum 3x the price of the laptops that the OP is comparing.

Next time someone's choosing between a Civic and a Corolla, I'm going to recommend a Porsche 911.

 

[linsivvi]

lol idk why i make advice seeking threads here.

Yeah, I expected some fanatics suggesting Mac Book/iPad after reading your OP. Didn't think it would be the first reply.

 

[AKingNamedPaul]

Is the Acer from a store? I'd rather buy a laptop at a store than from a seller on eBay or something.i need to send mine in for repair and i purchased it last september. just sayin'

No the acer is new from amazon.

 

[linsivvi]

No the acer is new from amazon.

I don't think buying laptop used is a good move in the first place, regardless of the rep of the seller. I'd go for the new one. Who cares how the laptop look? Important thing is the Acer one makes your games look prettier.

 

[IMACOMPUTA]

Acer.
Get the Acer.

 

[hiro4]

in three months my MBP turns five years old. runs like a fucking champ. just sayin'

High-Five! mine too. Well 2 months actually but still.
Only had one issue with a swollen battery but that got replaced with no costs, hooray!

Also I would go for the new Acer laptop.
Might be pricier but does have better specs and a new battery.

 

[Druz]

When you're at that low of a pricepoint the manufacturers typical defective rate probably goes right out the window. In any circumstance I'd pick the Toshiba over another laptop but the faster integrated card/CPU is in the Acer so I'd pick Acer. If theres a cheap protection plan I'd grab that too.

in three months my MBP turns five years old. runs like a fucking champ. just sayin'

Congradufuckinglations. This will be the case for many many computers over(and under) $1,000 from a good brand.

 

[AKingNamedPaul]

Now I remembered why I make threads seeking advice around here. Some gaffers are still awesome.

 

[strata8]

in three months my MBP turns five years old. runs like a fucking champ. just sayin'

So? An ordinary PC with similar specs would run just as well with Windows 7.

@OP: Acer looks like the best deal from those specs. Better CPU and IGP but it might not be worth the price increase.

 

[catmincer]

Acer easily.

 

[JaseC]

I'd go with the Acer. It may have a $100 premium compared to the Toshiba, but the specs are better and since it's new you'll have a warranty period.

 

[Enco]

Second one.

 

[AKingNamedPaul]

So? An ordinary PC with similar specs would run just as well with Windows 7.

@OP: Acer looks like the best deal from those specs. Better CPU and IGP but it might not be worth the price increase.

you don't think the Acer is worth 434 after shipping/tax? The specs are comparable to a $2200 MBP in most areas.

 

[Infinite_Daremo]

Acer. That ATi card will help playing some games, im guessing the Toshiba has integrated graphics? The Toshiba one also looks awful.

 

[AKingNamedPaul]

OK I think I will wait and get the Acer. You guys are a bunch of help somehow.

 

[CFMOORE!]

i like how i get singled out as the asshole suggesting the MBP when I just commented on the guy who posted the pic as the first reply. granted, i should have followed up with my actual suggestion of the Acer which is where I'd put my money in the OP's case. I don't even post in the fucking Apple threads here like all the other "apple idiots".

 

[Plumbob]

Another option to consider for $450:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ASUS+-+...bolsp-app04-40?id=1218360613837&skuId=2881042

This laptop's GPU blows both your other options out of the water. It would beat the GPU of the $1800 Macbook Pro by quite a bit too. Although you said you would be doing some light gaming, if you ever want to try a newer game it might be nice to have a strong GPU.

The laptop also has a 500gb hard drive, quad core processor, and reported 5 hrs of battery life. Very strong deal.

Some reviewers have complained about a screen banding issue, but another review points to an update that fixes the problem:

ftp://ftp.asus.com/pub/ASUS/nb/K43TA/K43TA206.zip