krc1979 Posted April 15, 2007 CID Share Posted April 15, 2007 Well it's tax time again and I like to spoil myself with something nice once a year. This year I'm looking to buy a new laptop since I've never owned one of my own. Not really sure where to look. I don't need the top of the line but would like to get the best for my money. I'll be looking at about the $700-$800 price range. I'd like something i can play and burn dvds on with a good size screen. Wireless internet is a must also. I guess I'm just looking for some advice. I'm kind of a fan of AMD but wouldn't mind going with Intel if the price was right. Thanks a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlewis23 Posted April 15, 2007 CID Share Posted April 15, 2007 this one is pretty good for the price http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220122 You should also go to dell and configure one there. Don't go with a AMD there mobile processors really suck, Intel is much faster. And get something with at least 1GB of ram. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dn0 Posted April 15, 2007 CID Share Posted April 15, 2007 I was thinking about doing the same thing. What about this one?: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834147359 It has Vista Home Premium and the DVD burner, a 120GB HD and 1 GB memory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krc1979 Posted April 15, 2007 Author CID Share Posted April 15, 2007 Thanks for the advice guys. Both those laptops look pretty nice. If you all say i should go with Intel over AMD I'll do it. I've been looking around a little but can't seem to find much I like. It's kinda hard for me to settle with something anyway. lol. I was hoping to get something with possibly a 17" monitor. i know my price range is a little low. About how much would i need to go up to get a screen that big? Weight is also not an issue as i don't have a problem carrying around something a little heavier. I wouldn't be against having a laptop with WinXP rather than Vista for all the negative things I've heard about the new OS. Also wouldn't be against something refurbished if anybody knows of a good site for them. As you all can probably tell I don't know a whole lot of what I'm talking about. lol. Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryanlautt Posted April 15, 2007 CID Share Posted April 15, 2007 this one is pretty good for the price http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220122 You should also go to dell and configure one there. Don't go with a AMD there mobile processors really suck, Intel is much faster. And get something with at least 1GB of ram. I would have to disagree with you there, in performance benchmarks my Turion64 beats the Pentium Ms Ive benched mine at places like PCpitstop and well what do you know mines rated in the top 10 percent of equally configured hardware as mine. Acers are really good brands, you can get a decent one for around 700 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xx Mazza xX Posted April 16, 2007 CID Share Posted April 16, 2007 here is a couple I have my eyes on. http://www.dell.com/content/products/features.aspx/hot_offers_nb?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&kc=6W300&l=en&oc=blcwb2l&s=bsd http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&kc=6W300&l=en&oc=bncwh1s&s=bsd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimmer Posted April 16, 2007 CID Share Posted April 16, 2007 I would have to disagree with you there, in performance benchmarks my Turion64 beats the Pentium Ms Ive benched mine at places like PCpitstop and well what do you know mines rated in the top 10 percent of equally configured hardware as mine. That is true.. the newer AMDs would out perform a Pentium M.. However, at the same time their battery management is still not as advanced as Intel's. However, just about no manufactures are offering Pentium Ms any more.. They have all moved to the newer core platform. If you take a look at the performance of an Turion64 X2, AMDs top offering, vs the Core Duo.. The Core Duo smokes it every single time.. The main reason.. AMD has never been a mobile chip maker.. AMD does make nice processors for the mobile environment.. But you will get better battery life from and Intel and better performance when you are plugged in. So... I would recommend a Dell or HP Pavilion dv2000t series... A bunch of my buddies are moving off their Dell, which are 3 years old now, and moving to the Pavilions.. I dont know why.. but that is what they are doing and the are actually pretty nice computers.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryanlautt Posted April 16, 2007 CID Share Posted April 16, 2007 That is true.. the newer AMDs would out perform a Pentium M.. However, at the same time their battery management is still not as advanced as Intel's. However, just about no manufactures are offering Pentium Ms any more.. They have all moved to the newer core platform. If you take a look at the performance of an Turion64 X2, AMDs top offering, vs the Core Duo.. The Core Duo smokes it every single time.. The main reason.. AMD has never been a mobile chip maker.. AMD does make nice processors for the mobile environment.. But you will get better battery life from and Intel and better performance when you are plugged in. So... I would recommend a Dell or HP Pavilion dv2000t series... A bunch of my buddies are moving off their Dell, which are 3 years old now, and moving to the Pavilions.. I dont know why.. but that is what they are doing and the are actually pretty nice computers.. yeah the core2 duos are faster but is the naked eye going to tell the diference?? i dont think so. I myself dont even have a dual core i just have a single, i didnt buy this laptop for a desktop replacement i bought it for mobility and the price. and also because i know ACER's laptops are sound systems for the money. HP's are comming along along good. even compaqs have decent laptops but its all comes down to how much your willing to spend. I get about 2.5 hours of battery life with the AMD Turion 64 mk36 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xx Mazza xX Posted April 16, 2007 CID Share Posted April 16, 2007 I get around 3 1/2 hours on my hp dv8000 AMD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le_Murphant Posted April 16, 2007 CID Share Posted April 16, 2007 My Dell Inspiron 5150 from 2004 gets about 3 hours of battery (pentium 4 3 Ghz, but a huge battery and speedstep) and has a 17 inch screen, but it's quite massively heavy and cost me a fortune when I got it. The nspiron 9400 would be the equivalent (more powerful actually) but it overshoots your budget quite a bit (1.3k$). My recommendation is that you keep a good desktop PC and go for a small, cheap laptop. I doubt that you can get 17 inch for that price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryanlautt Posted April 16, 2007 CID Share Posted April 16, 2007 http://www.gateway.com/systems/series/529498113.php Check it out, i found one for 799 at Gateway. even comes with Vista Premium and your 17" that you wanted. Gateway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryanlautt Posted April 16, 2007 CID Share Posted April 16, 2007 Its the NX860S model Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swimmer Posted April 16, 2007 CID Share Posted April 16, 2007 damn that is a pretty decent deal.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryanlautt Posted April 17, 2007 CID Share Posted April 17, 2007 damn that is a pretty decent deal.. Yeah thats what i thought to for a 17inch, Gateway is coming back building alot better systems, actually they moved back to SD from Sioux City Iowa. Hey i still have a Gateway 486DX Turbo, came with a monster 500 MB hard drive and 8 mb of Ram. lol if you kicked the turbo in it would run at 66 mhz without the turbo would run 33 mhz lol. ive put the fastest processor that i could it in and it was the AMD 133 and upgraded the memory to 40mb and loaded win 95 on it lol actually it did pretty good with 95 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starship_troopers Posted April 17, 2007 CID Share Posted April 17, 2007 sweet, i bet that can run all the newest apps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krc1979 Posted April 17, 2007 Author CID Share Posted April 17, 2007 Thanks for all the advice guys. I've been looking around myself and came across this one... http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4162127 Now I have never ordered anything through them but figured it might be worth it. This looks like a pretty good deal. Maybe some of you have order through J&R. I saw it was refurbished. Not sure if this is right but doesn't that mean it's been factory tested to be as good as new? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryanlautt Posted April 17, 2007 CID Share Posted April 17, 2007 Thanks for all the advice guys. I've been looking around myself and came across this one... http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4162127 Now I have never ordered anything through them but figured it might be worth it. This looks like a pretty good deal. Maybe some of you have order through J&R. I saw it was refurbished. Not sure if this is right but doesn't that mean it's been factory tested to be as good as new? Yeah thats a good deal, referbish just means a customer had it at one time and didnt like it or somethning was wrong with it within there return grace period and so the manufacture or a qualified service center went through the whole system and cleaned it up and fixed whatever was wrong withit. I have own referbish products and atually its still going. bought it back in 1990. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyantm06 Posted April 23, 2007 CID Share Posted April 23, 2007 I just bought this laptop the other day. check it out >> http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/rdet.jsp?seg=HHO&poid=360055 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryanlautt Posted April 23, 2007 CID Share Posted April 23, 2007 I just bought this laptop the other day. check it out >> http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/rdet.jsp?seg=HHO&poid=360055 Sounds sweet, whats the price and you'll have to let us know what kind of battery life you get with that 17incher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyantm06 Posted April 23, 2007 CID Share Posted April 23, 2007 Sounds sweet, whats the price and you'll have to let us know what kind of battery life you get with that 17incher. Price was $1200. Battery life is 2 hours, about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krc1979 Posted April 26, 2007 Author CID Share Posted April 26, 2007 Well the laptop from J&R didn't work out. I waited too long and now they're out of stock. I've been looking around a lot on ebay cause i want to get the most computer for my money but I'm kinda scared to order something that big on there. I'd really like the 17" monitor cause it would be really nice for movies which is something i plan to use it for a lot but from what I hear the battery life isn't so great on those for obvious reasons. It's hard for me to settle for just anything. I'd like something with 2GB of ram so i don't have to worry about upgrading it later on but not sure if it's really needed or not. I've heard mixed reviews on Vista both on here and elsewhere so I can't decide if I want it or to just stick with XP. I know i definitely want something with at least a 120GB hard drive so I don't have to worry about space. Maybe you all know of some sites I could look at to find the best possible deal, or maybe shed some light on the whole idea of buying a laptop on ebay. Also, if somebody could explain to me exactly what cache is and how important that is? Thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bryanlautt Posted April 26, 2007 CID Share Posted April 26, 2007 Well the laptop from J&R didn't work out. I waited too long and now they're out of stock. I've been looking around a lot on ebay cause i want to get the most computer for my money but I'm kinda scared to order something that big on there. I'd really like the 17" monitor cause it would be really nice for movies which is something i plan to use it for a lot but from what I hear the battery life isn't so great on those for obvious reasons. It's hard for me to settle for just anything. I'd like something with 2GB of ram so i don't have to worry about upgrading it later on but not sure if it's really needed or not. I've heard mixed reviews on Vista both on here and elsewhere so I can't decide if I want it or to just stick with XP. I know i definitely want something with at least a 120GB hard drive so I don't have to worry about space. Maybe you all know of some sites I could look at to find the best possible deal, or maybe shed some light on the whole idea of buying a laptop on ebay. Also, if somebody could explain to me exactly what cache is and how important that is? Thanks again. Let me give you some advise, whatever you buy for around 800 dollars will be obsolete the next day. I would stay away from ebay when it comes with computers but thats just my opinion, you can never be sure if you buying someone elses junk. Your not going to get 2gig of ram and 120 gig hard and especially and 17inch lcd screen for less then 800 dollars. Just isnt going to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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