Buying a New Laptop

Hi,

I am in the market for a new laptop. I am also impatient :D and don't want to wait very long! I don't do anything that (I would think) requires a lot of resources (no gaming, just office suite, music, youtube, etc.), but I do believe in making my computer multi-task - I will have maybe 8 - 12 windows open at one time. Any brands to stay away from? Most popular due to reliability? Any other considerations? I know that I want a fairly good size screen, 15" or better.

Any suggestions welcome. Price-wise...my max is probably $500, but don't really want to spend that much if I don't have to. My last computer (now a paperweight :mad:) was a Dell Latitude D830.

Thanks! :)

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my max is probably $500, but don't really want to spend that much if I don't have to.

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Not much you can get at that price. You might find one at Walmart for $500 or less, but it won't have enough ram from, and processor would probably be too slow.

What do you mean, he can't get much for that price. He can get a Toshiba Satellite C850, with an Intel i3-2370, 6GB of ram and a 500GB hard drive. This type of laptop would be great for what the op want's to do. He doesn't need an add-on video card, he says that he doesn't want to play heavy games on his laptop.

Never mind. glussier, you find her one. But isn't an Intel i3 kind of old? Btw, GetaGrip is a woman. :D

If you are in a hurry, it might be a little harder to find a decent laptop at that price, although it can be done. If you can wait for the Black Friday deals, it might be easier.

Possibly useful links:

http://shopping.yahoo.com/blogs/digi...205042747.html
(August 2012 article)

http://blog.laptopmag.com/top-8-lapt...-less-than-500
(January 2012 article)

http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/ga...nder-500-23075
(December 2011 article)

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2385602,00.asp
(2011 article)

Thank you for all the replies and suggestions. I'm also re-thinking my budget some although it has to have a cap on it somewhere. My line of work has me out of touch with the latest computer info, etc so your ideas and suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!
Oh, and YES I am most definitely of the female persuasion. :D

You may also want to consider just putting a healthy down payment on a slightly more expensive and higher quality Dell laptop and then just make payments through the Dell payment plan. I had to buy a laptop for my daughter for college and this worked out great. Had a nearly $1,000 laptop paid off in just a few months. I forget the model, but it was a 17" with 8 gigs of memory and an Intel i7 CPU. It can handle pretty much anything you can throw at it. She loves it. Yeah, a 17" is not quite as portable, but she loves the big screen for doing homework, surfing the net and watching Netflix (uh....hopefully in that order). If you need good portability though, go for the 15". I wouldn't go any smaller than that.

I might just be falling in love with this one....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834215615

Yeah, it's over my budget... so I have to consider it carefully. What'cha think?

It comes with Windows 8,definitely worth giving Windows 8 a try before spending $$$. IMO

Continuing with wonderinguy34's point,
Be aware that online support will likely be sporadic since Win8 is a new OS.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834215418

only 4gb of RAM ,but it is pretty cheap/easy to upgrade RAM currently.One thing ,especially on Laptops is the keyboard feel/functionality.I have tried some laptops with reaaly bad IMO keyboards that required too much effort to depress the keys.If you could physically try it first or be able to return it easily if it doesn't work for you.

Good points re: Win 8. Thanks for the input and the links, all of it helps! Looking at these now:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006740%20600004344%20600372103&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=32|34-215-403^34-215-403-TS%2C34-230-533^34-230-533-10%23

That ASUS sounds very good, 6 cell battery and this "Accidental Damage Warranty -1 Year Accidental Damage/" and it uses the latest Intel Ivy Bridge i5. :thumbs up:



edit: couldn't find any reviews ,so maybe someone can speak up on ASUS Laptop quality/reliability.

For $579, the Acer Aspire AS5750-9422's i7-2670QM will kick that i5-3210M.

Here it is added to your comparison page: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...%2D533%2D10%23

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Originally Posted by SpywareDr

For $579, the Acer Aspire AS5750-9422's i7-2670QM will kick that i5-3210M.

Here it is added to your comparison page: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-230-533-10%23

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Don't think she'll need the extra multithreading of the i7.The HD4000 graphics on the i5 may be more of a noticeable benefit.Although small ,the i5 uses less power/battery,which if she isn't connected to a wall may also be a plus.

Decision made!
I bought: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834230533

Thanks for all of the great help :)

Word of caution, a quick search through the ASUS website did not turn up any information, drivers, manual... of that model.
Upon receiving that notebook, suggest you:
1. Read the manual thoroughly prior to initial setup.
2. Make a backup of any/all relevant disc(s) shipped with that notebook.

Good luck.

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Originally Posted by Shinma

Word of caution, a quick search through the ASUS website did not turn up any information, drivers, manual... of that model.
Upon receiving that notebook, suggest you:
1. Read the manual thoroughly prior to initial setup.
2. Make a backup of any/all relevant disc(s) shipped with that notebook.

Good luck.

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???

http://support.asus.com/download.asp...hashedid=n%2fa

Nice find wonderinguy34.

I used the search function through the "US" and "Global" websites of ASUS.
I should have gone through "Support" ASUS link instead.

I found it interesting when reading this thread that no one mentioned a touch screen display. Or did I miss it?

Nope, it doesn't have a touch screen display.
I DON'T have CDO ( that's OCD but with the letters in the correct order ;) ) but I can't stay off of the UPS Tracking site. :D

NewEgg's tracking links are nice.

I am not a fan of touch screens. I don't like trying to view a display covered with greasy fingerprints.

Let us know your thoughts on the laptop, and on Windows 8, if that is what it has, after you have had a chance to use the new computer.

I don't think I would have chosen one with w touch screen. Greasy or smeared with chocolate, LOL, I hear you. I will post when I get it and let everyone know. Not sure about Win 8 yet...have to think on that one.

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Originally Posted by GetaGrrrip

I DON'T have CDO ( that's OCD but with the letters in the correct order ;) ) but I can't stay off of the UPS Tracking site. :D

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Is it there yet .;)

Sorry it took so long to post. The first computer arrived...and was stolen! UPS left it on the front porch and it wasn't there when my family came home. Never have had anything stolen off the porch before, it's always been pretty safe. Anyway, spoke to my UPS driver at work, he called the UPS driver that delivered to my house and actually came by the house shortly after I arrived home from work. We got a claim going (theft) and I got up with newegg as well. It took about 7 or 8 business days, but I finally got my computer! This one I had delivered to work, which is what I wanted to do in the first place, but as I didn't have work address on my ship to list, it raised a flag the first go around and I wasn't able to use that credit card because of it.

I am enjoying this computer, but I did disable the tap to click (or whatever it's called) as it was driving me crazy. I was accidentally clicking on things and it was a real nuisance. Apparently I don't arch my hands/wrists enough to avoid it when I'm typing. No matter how long I'm using this laptop, it barely ever gets lukewarm. It is definitely a cool running machine.

I hope the thief that stole the first computer delivered has nothing but problems and hopefully received a lemon!

Thanks again for everyone's help and suggestions. :)

Thanks for the update. Sorry to hear about the theft, but that is not unusual these days.

Tap to click always gets disabled on my touchpads as well.

Great news ,enjoy.

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I am not a fan of touch screens. I don't like trying to view a display covered with greasy fingerprints.

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Yes I have a nice 28 inch lcd monitor and trying to clean greasy finger prints of the flexible plastic screen would be a bear. It wasn't so bad on the hard glass fronts of crt screens.

The whole touch screen concept for laptop pc's seems like an incredibly stupid idea to me.

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I am not a fan of touch screens. I don't like trying to view a display covered with greasy fingerprints.

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Yes I have a nice 28 inch lcd monitor and trying to clean greasy finger prints off the flexible plastic screen would be a bear. It wasn't so bad on the hard glass fronts of crt screens.

The whole touch screen concept for laptop pc's seems like an incredibly stupid idea to me.

I don't know how, but my screen gets really dirty just from general use. I can't imagine having it as a touch-screen! It would look like PigPen from Charlie Brown used it.

Another thing I really am enjoying with this laptop is the two finger scrolling and the two finger enlarging thinga-ma-bobber. Yeah, I know that's really technical, but I think you can figure it out! :D

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Originally Posted by GetaGrrrip

[COLOR="#9900cc"]

... the two finger enlarging thinga-ma-bobber. Yeah, I know that's really technical, but I think you can figure it out! :D

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I'm not too sure I want to "figure out" how you are "enlarging" your "thinga-ma-bobber" with "two finger"s.

:eek: :D

LOL, you just "ain't right" Spyware! :eek:

That's exactly what my wife says. :)