Have any of you bought a new laptop....

[recycled sixtie]

in the last two years? Looking at buying a new laptop(likely with Windows 7), with CD player, max screen size 13-14 inches. No game playing but must be reliable, fast and ideally max $400-550.

I am thinking Toshiba, Samsung or HP. All suggestions welcome!
Guy.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by recycled sixtie

in the last two years? Looking at buying a new laptop(likely with Windows 7), with CD player, max screen size 13-14 inches. No game playing but must be reliable, fast and ideally max $400-550.

I am thinking Toshiba, Samsung or HP. All suggestions welcome!
Guy.

I just bought one that fits the bill above from Dell. It was an E5530. I think 14" screen and i5.

Dell Outlet | Dell

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by NotaBRG

I've gotten two new Lenovo's in the last year and a half and have been happy with both.

I think I'd go Dell in the <$500 range though.

Actually, Lenovo is a good choice as well. Check their website then go to Amazon a better price, especially if you are Prime.

[VINMAN]

We recent got Lenovo laptops at work. Pretty happy with it so far.

[VincentVega]

HP with decent specs for ~$400. Most use very similar components, I dont the name on the box makes a difference anymore.

[Embraer]

agree...all of the sub $1000 machines are about the same. just go with what's comfy to work with. and get a good external back up drive, and update it periodically. I bought an acer like 3 years ago, and it's been one of my best laptops ever. actually...probably my best one. I think I paid less than $400 for it.

[flipper35]

The difference is the chassis, keyboard and screen. The AMD K series will do better DVD playback but the Intel i series is a faster lower power consumption chip.

[intakexhaust]

Can one still purchase a new laptop loaded with Win7?

Anyhow, I'm quite pleased with a 1 yr. old Asus but had a hard time finding it with Win7. Regardless of use, suggest going for one with a dedicated graphics card. An obvious improvement but also seem to take the load off the motherboard and the machine runs cooler.

Lastly- optical drives are probably not as popular, but the laptop I received has a Blu-ray player AND burner! Love it.

edit: approx. $550 BestBuy Marketplace seller listed but..... BestBuy was higher priced! So, they had to price match the independent Marketplace seller and free ship. This machine was my choice using a free replacement value limit voucher to replace a burned up a 3 y.o. HP from BestBuy. The replacement Asus came with a factory 2 year warranty. Have to say, BestBuy has been good to deal with.

[biosurfer1]

I got a cheap Gateway at Fry's (~$300) almost a year ago after my old laptop took a crap. I just needed something to get me by for a while but it turned out to be great. Has a lot of the bells and whistles too, wireless N, bluetooth, HDMI out, etc.

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by intakexhaust

Can one still purchase a new laptop loaded with Win7?

Anyhow, I'm quite pleased with a 1 yr. old Asus but had a hard time finding it with Win7. Regardless of use, suggest going for one with a dedicated graphics card. An obvious improvement but also seem to take the load off the motherboard and the machine runs cooler.

Lastly- optical drives are probably not as popular, but the laptop I received has a Blu-ray player AND burner! Love it.

edit: approx. $550 BestBuy Marketplace seller listed but..... BestBuy was higher priced! So, they had to price match the independent Marketplace seller and free ship. This machine was my choice using a free replacement value limit voucher to replace a burned up a 3 y.o. HP from BestBuy. The replacement Asus came with a factory 2 year warranty. Have to say, BestBuy has been good to deal with.

Yes, you can still get them with the Win7 downgrade. (upgrade?)

[dad911]

Last few I bought were from Dell outlet store. Supposedly 'refurbed' but they have all been perfect.

Look for the coupons or sales on slickdeals.

[porwolf]

I had good luck with buying used computers and laptops on Craigs List. The big advantage is that they come with istalled software like Windows Pro, and other otherwise expensive stuff.