Help me pick a laptop!

[SuicidalGrandpa]

I've been told I'm to get one for a graduation preasent, but I know nearly nothing about laptops. Any advice would be lovely.

(Note: Hate macs, would love to have an improvement over my 2.0GHz, 1gig ram, and radeon card.)

[Hoonyo]

I like Tablet PCs A LOT. You pay maybe $200 more than a similarly equipped laptop, but I think it's worth it just to be able to browse the internet in portrait mode. Also, are you graduating high school or college?

[pherai]

Should be in tech talk, and elaborate on what you're using it for.

[FallingEdge]

Lenovo are my laptops of choice.

[AmbiguousCrosup]

Get 3gb's of RAM AT A MINIMUM! If you want Vista to sing(since it is getting increasingly difficult to downgrade due to less and less manufacturers making XP drivers) and run overall pretty well. I would also look at any laptop with either an Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 or an Athlon 64x2 TL60 processor( They have a pretty big FSB). Other than that, brands don't really matter that much anymore. I haven't really noticed build quality be better from one brand to another lately. My personal recommendation though? a 14.1 inch screen.

[mr. newbie]

don't get a compaq. vaios last a while, toshibas are good. if you give more details we'd be better able to help

[orochizoolander]

It depends on how much you're looking to spend. If you're a baller this is the best gaming laptop money can buy http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/dell-xps-m1730/4505-3121_7-32687269.html?tag=prod.txt.4

This is the one I have less expensive bt still pretty high end for a laptop http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/toshiba-satellite-x205-sli3/4505-3121_7-32632650.html?tag=prod.txt.1

[ckrazy]

I am currently using a Toshiba Satellite. I think it great haven't seen one that really superior to it that doesn't rape your pockets, there might be a few but this one is good for everything.

^ what orochi said if you want gaming XPS a very good pick.

[bear]

www.cyberpowerpc.com

I've bought my past two laptops from them. Really cheap, and never had a problem, both with build quality and with their service (though, since I haven't really had any problems, I've barely dealt with the service).

[Capn Spanky]

I'm getting a Dell for my grad laptop. My Bro goes to Cal and they have SWEET student discounts, so I'm getting a nice XPS. Very excited.

[Shim Sang Joon]

How important is portability for you?

[SuicidalGrandpa]

How important is portability for you?

It's not super important, but I don't want a huge hulking thing. I want something that can run, say... WoW well, as well as Counter-Strike: Source.. at medium settings I guess. I'm not looking for anything that'll run Crysis-caliber games simply because I really have no interest in those but I don't want anything equal or slower than what I've got running on my desktop now.

thanks for the advice, though, I'll hunt around.

[VR-Fist]

I am satisfied with HP Pavilion series which have very nice performance/price ratio. I currently have dv6740 which has AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60 (2 GHz), 3 GB DDR2, NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS, DVD burner with LightScribe (you don't know how cool it is unless you use it), nice display and it looks very nice.

IBM Lenovos are also very good.

[Sex)packets]

Check out the Lenovo Y510. I just got one with 3GB RAM, 1.8GHz Core 2, 160GB HDD for ~$680 at Office Depot. It can be downgraded to XP with ease, if that is your thing. It only comes with Intel Integrated Graphics though, which sucks majorly.

Otherwise it is a great deal and I love it.

[Night]

Heh, even this IBM Thinkpad T-42 (now made under the name of Lenovo) I've been using since I think 2004 runs Counter-Strike Source pretty well lol. Thinkpads are pretty portable and also very, very physically durable.

[VruS]

lenovo for reliability
fujitsu and asus for portability and power
sony for the premium shit

[starboy]

macbook pro ftw.

[Alex]

im in LOVE with my HP HDX (the dragon). It was 4,500 and i had to get 2 jobs to buy it. but its tottaly worth it.

20.1 inch HD screen (1920 X 1200)
4 gigs ram
2.8 Ghz processer
bluray player/burner
512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTS graphics card
400GB 7200RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive


Its a beast. but you have to be a beast too to carry this 20 pound monster. PLus if battery life is super important its probly not so good for you. Also it only comes with 64 bit Vista....which is meh. But its hard to find new laptops with XP anyway.

Still highly recomened if you use your laptop for everything and dont care about battery life or weight. Also most cases for this wont fit in airline carryon so not soo good for travel either

[mcginnis]

im in LOVE with my HP HDX (the dragon). It was 4,500 and i had to get 2 jobs to buy it. but its tottaly worth it.

20.1 inch HD screen (1920 X 1200)
4 gigs ram
2.8 Ghz processer
bluray player/burner
512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTS graphics card
400GB 7200RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive


Its a beast. but you have to be a beast too to carry this 20 pound monster. PLus if battery life is super important its probly not so good for you. Also it only comes with 64 bit Vista....which is meh. But its hard to find new laptops with XP anyway.

Still highly recomened if you use your laptop for everything and dont care about battery life or weight. Also most cases for this wont fit in airline carryon so not soo good for travel either

Whoa! 4,500?! :wasted: Seems like a waste since you said you can't really travel with the thing and uses up the battery to quickly. You should've just got a desktop and got something way better than those specs and still had 2,000 left over for whatever else you wanted. Still, to each his own I guess.

This is one of the reasons I decided not to get a laptop. For one, it'll never be as good as a desktop and I would NOT want to travel with a piece of equipment worth that much to begin with. It'll probably get jacked and then what?

[Canto]

2 suggestions

1. www.ibuypower.com

Why? You can customize your laptop and it is not that expensive. A really nice one can be from $1400 - $1600 and you can put it to your specs.
I just ran through it and for the Battalion 101 CLX Ultra you got a Dual AMD processor at 2.2ghz, 4gb ram, 200gb hard drive, and 256mb video card all for $1200. Plus it comes with some free shit.

2. Macbook Pro (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&node=home/shop_mac/family/macbook_pro)

Man.. my dad just got one of these and they are fucking amazing. Very fast, very light, very awesome! The base model has 2.4ghz duo processor, 200gb hard drive, 2gb ram, and 256mb video card and its at $2000, but you can get an education discount for like $50 off. You can install windows on the laptop in case you have any gaming withdrawals. The battery life is amazin.. around 4:30 with everything on.. now gaming will probably take it down to 3 or 2:30. Great OS.. no viruses.. really easy to use.. fantastic. Its really great.

Good luck.. hard decision.

[OneInchPunch]

I like Tablet PCs A LOT. You pay maybe $200 more than a similarly equipped laptop, but I think it's worth it just to be able to browse the internet in portrait mode. Also, are you graduating high school or college?
Whoa 200? Where do you buy your tablets from? Everything that I've seen is atleast a $1000 more. The only exception that I've seen is the HP TX2000 which has a AMD core 2 duo instead of an intel core 2 duo.

[tokerblue]

www.notebookreview.com is a great site to read up on reviews. There are also several forums that can guide you to what you need. Just fill out the FAQ and you'll receive a lot of suggestions. I'm a big fan of Asus laptops.

[SuicidalGrandpa]

So, I was thinking about going with something like this (remember that I'm not very good at computer spec stuff, so I'm still unsure if this is a good setup) (http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/7609/possibilitytj2.png)

Thoughts?

[grokslam]

the new toshiba line is sick. really nice screens on them. i sell laptops at best buy, but tbh dont look to a laptop if you are gonna game on it. if you are looking to use it for school... seriously look at the 13.3 or 14.1 inch toshibas that are new. that is my advice

[Canto]

So, I was thinking about going with something like this (remember that I'm not very good at computer spec stuff, so I'm still unsure if this is a good setup) (http://img265.imageshack.us/img265/7609/possibilitytj2.png)

Thoughts?

That is a good setup, only thing I would recommend is making the processor 2.2ghz. 2gb ram is good enough and 200gb hardrive is fine.. but you could always buy a separate external hd.. but you cant replace or change the processor speed unless you buy a whole new one, so go for 2.2 ghz methinks.

[SuicidalGrandpa]

That is a good setup, only thing I would recommend is making the processor 2.2ghz. 2gb ram is good enough and 200gb hardrive is fine.. but you could always buy a separate external hd.. but you cant replace or change the processor speed unless you buy a whole new one, so go for 2.2 ghz methinks.

I see! :tup: Alright, thanks for the advice. Think I just might go with that 2.2. (Which happens to be better than my current desktop :lol:)

[sait0u]

asus laptops are pretty good. Check those out too.

[Mizuki]

I'm using a Sony Viao for home/tournaments. It's really good. I have a Thinkpad T42 and that sucker is tough and pretty reliable. I would like to get a Macbook Pro and dualboot maybe even triple boot PCBSD if possible, plus you can get a free ipod touch which is cool imo (because I'd never buy one)

Do NOT get a Dell. My experiences with them are just god awful. I have to deal with them at work, helping my friends fix them they're just a pain in the ass. HP's are pretty cool. I can't help you if you're trying to play high-end new games. (Although it played Battlefield 2 and Doom 3 very nice when I had them installed.)

[tokerblue]

I don't know if you have your heart set on a IBP laptop, but they have had some very mixed reviews.
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/iBUYPOWER

[SuicidalGrandpa]

I don't know if you have your heart set on a IBP laptop, but they have had some very mixed reviews.
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/iBUYPOWER

ooh shit, thank you for the link. The glaring poor reviews overshadow the positive ones for me. Maybe I should just buy locally...

[Canto]

Personally I never bought from them, but a friend of mind did and has had his laptop for about a year without any issues.