KWSN Orbiting Fortress

stooper101 · Posted: Wed Jul 14, 2010 9:09 pm Post subject: Laptop help

I am considering getting a laptop. Never had one before, so don't know who makes decent stuff. I think I'm going to try to avoid the 17" monitors in favor of the 15" ones. I don't mind the lighter weight and I imagine the smaller screen size lends to better battery life.

As far as specs, I got that figured out. There are those I can afford, and those I can dream about. But need to narrow down brands. As a fancy brand will get me less specs for my budget and a budget brand will get me more stuff.

Anybody have any thoughts on the Dell Outlet? Any manufacturers that are good for the money? Or ones that are hellish and should be avoided at all costs? Saw a good deal on an Acer. Am I getting what I pay for or does it really matter all that much?
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Yankton · Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 12:23 am Post subject:

I'd avoid dell. As always newegg.com is a great place to start, you can see what's popular and what has good reviews. Newegg tends to be frequented by geeks, which makes a prime technology place. Go through the specs and find one that does what you want it to do.
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Mildew · Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 6:08 am Post subject:

There's a lot of religion here, as usual with these types of questions.

I've been doing some work as a software tester, and we were running tests on several different models of Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo, and HP.
My personal experience is that:

Dell - Nice finish, but seem to have lots of problems with audio drivers and CD/DVD drives.

Toshiba - Lacks the build quality of the others, but no serious issues. The do seem to include a LOT of crapware pre-installed on their systems.

Lenovo - Best build quality, surprisingly quiet fans on all models I've used, but is aimed at the professional market. Many models would have weaker graphics cards that are not suitable for gaming. Many models do not have touchpads (something I personally find very annoying)

HP - In my experience the best of the four. No specific problems with those.

I also have an Acer at home that I'm quite happy with.
I've had some difficulties with their spare parts system (broken fan that was no longer in stock), but I suppose that could be an issue with all manufacturers.

Bottom line: my next laptop will probably be an HP. Wink

stooper101 · Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 1:02 pm Post subject:

Newegg is usually my first stop for anything these days, and I've been going through there lists pretty frequently (as well as looking at Tiger Direct, Amazon, etc...). But I'm intrigued with the new Phenom II's I've been really happy with my desktop version and it looks like the performance will put them on par with the i5's. Both are at my budget. But since the Phenom's are new to market, not many reviews are out for the laptops.

This may take some thinkun' Also, what are the prospects of back-to-school sales coming up in a month or two? Never paid attention to the notebooks during this time, but I would think some could go pretty cheaply.
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PhastPhred · Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 7:43 pm Post subject:

I have on more than one occasion run across a customer who had the Tiger Direct purchase and then needed to upgrade the BIOS or something. Seems a lot of the Tiger Direct is CLOSE OUT deals - In otehr words, NOT your 'normal' Warranty! - Not saying don't buy, but I'd certainly think twice about any 'Deal' they offer!!
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Yankton · Posted: Fri Jul 16, 2010 12:01 am Post subject:

One thing to remember about tiger direct is they don't like returns or warranty work so if you have a problem be ready to do a lot of arm twisting to even have a chance of getting it fixed.
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stooper101 · Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 12:34 am Post subject:

Well, I took most of your fine suggestions and used that in careful consideration. I picked out a very fine couple of choices at which point the wife decided we should go with something more affordable. But I was still able to manage getting an i5 (was shooting for an i7) with a discreet GPU (5470 which I've found can do a little Collatz). All in a Gateway package. Am firing it up tonight on boinc, we'll see how it goes.

Good news, with the money I saved from not getting the primo laptop that I wanted, I was able to get a new GPS to replace one that was failing. Helps out with one of my other hobbies.
#ni-1

Thanks for the suggestions!
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Gemjunkie · Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 12:45 am Post subject:

Finding your way home? Laughing

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