Shopping for a laptop and could use some advice please

[dad911]

I bought a cheap toshiba on sale from Staples for $350, works fine with netflix, etc. Even runs autocad. Has HDMI, and I've used it to drive a flatscreen TV

Use the extra money for decent speakers and a larger moniter.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by island911

Dell . .yeah, Milt,, and Porsche made a sh:t-load of 924's.

Point is, Dell product spreads from the cheapest to the high-end.

I buy the Precision series, (3 year warranty) and when I had a little rubber foot peal off the bottom of a laptop, they over-nighted me a whole new (magnesium) bottom cover for replacement.

I didn't realize I was speaking to you. And if $2500 doesn't get one towards the high end of things, then I suggest spending that kind of money where it does and for something that comes with accessories that don't break as easily. Did I mention it has required 2 new HD's in five years?

[island911]

Originally Posted by milt

I didn't realize I was speaking to you...

Oh, sorry. Please let me know when I can comment.

btw, I do agree that $2500 should get you a hearty cmptr. Your post reminds me that my ($3500) Dell had a drive crap out w/in a couple months. Spinners do that. -sucks. SSD's seem to be the way to go.

btw2, I've suspected that my 911 isn't nice to spinner drives, in laptops going for a ride on the floor.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by island911

Oh, sorry. Please let me know when I can comment.

btw, I do agree that $2500 should get you a hearty cmptr. Your post reminds me that my ($3500) Dell had a drive crap out w/in a couple months. Spinners do that. -sucks. SSD's seem to be the way to go.

btw2, I've suspected that my 911 isn't nice to spinner drives, in laptops going for a ride on the floor.

My High-end Dell Laptop E6500, lost the video card portion of the MB and required a new MB at about 1 yr old. They mailed me a box, I sent them the Laptop and all fixed and back in a few days. If it was my only computer, I would have been hosed.

[Zeke]

Well, then, I suspect that daily travel in a Boxster is the probable cause of failure. I wonder why these things are portable.

[LSA]

Originally Posted by cantdrv55

I need it for school and for entertainment like watching Hulu, YouTube, Pelican, etc. I am not a gamer and am not into creating movies or anything fancy like that. I'm looking at the ads this morning and there seems to be some good deals out there but the specs are thoroughly confusing to me.

Should I consider machines with non-Intel chips like AMD V-series or Athlon II? The price differences are almost negligible. What's the difference between Intel Core i3 vs Dual Core? Lastly, which brand is the most reliable - HP, Compaq, Dell or Toshiba? I'd need the computer to last no less than 3 years. I'm hoping that a 4gb memory, 500gb drive and a >2ghz processor machine won't become obsolete too soon. My budget is around $550 not incl tax and shipping. What do you think Thanks!

All the brands are almost all the same. It's all made in China there are lemons with every brand, it happens. Most laptops will have very similar performance to comparable laptops within their price range especially if it's just for office work. To get a good deal though I highly recommend newegg.com and sign up for their emailing list. They send you daily listing of shell shocker deals (sometimes more than 50% off) and guerrilla deals weekly or so. For laptops you can get 100/200 off so it's worth it.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by LSA

All the brands are almost all the same. It's all made in China there are lemons with every brand, it happens. Most laptops will have very similar performance to comparable laptops within their price range especially if it's just for office work. To get a good deal though I highly recommend newegg.com and sign up for their emailing list. They send you daily listing of shell shocker deals (sometimes more than 50% off) and guerrilla deals weekly or so. For laptops you can get 100/200 off so it's worth it.

I buy a lot from Newegg, but, if I can find it on Amazon, usually it is a couple of bucks cheaper.

[LSA]

Originally Posted by red-beard

I buy a lot from Newegg, but, if I can find it on Amazon, usually it is a couple of bucks cheaper.

Really? I'll have to take a look at that then I usually just use amazon for textbooks/music. I don't really buy whole computers though so don't know how much use that will be I use newegg for the components. Does amazon have components?

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by LSA

Really? I'll have to take a look at that then I usually just use amazon for textbooks/music. I don't really buy whole computers though so don't know how much use that will be I use newegg for the components. Does amazon have components?

Yup. And I pay for the Prime membership, so I have to faactor in the shipping. I always check both. And Amazon is usually faster.