Laptop suggestions.

[BigRocsFirebird]

My laptop has been acting up and running out of space and the fan has been rattleing and screaming for the past 5 months. She's getting old and on it's way.

I use my laptop for music and pictures. I didnt really look into laptops yet but do they have some that accept blu-ray movies? I want something with good picture and still fast on the internet. I mainly want a lot of memory.

I figured i'd ask here since a lot of people on here know many of things and could help out. thanks:-P

[redsoxsstink]

i have a hp pavilion dm4, couldnt as for more. it can play itunes, download music on limewire, downloaded movies on utorrent and post on the site like nothing was happening. plus gas millage on this thing is pretty decent to. cost me 1100 with ms office pro and a 4 year unlimited warrante. so without the extras it was around 600 bucks

[r0nin89]

Either a Toshiba or an HP. Nuff said. Any of them will be great for what your looking for. Personally I like Toshiba better only cause I dont like HPs use of chrome on buttons and such.

Just pick a computer with a blue ray player, what ever size screen you want and you'll be good.

[FoodStampsz]

delloutlet.com

they have outlet pricing on brand new products (mostly) I picked up my laptop a few years ago that was "previously ordered new" the lady told me a guy built it and canceled the order before it shipped. If you aren't picky about colors (most are black) thats the way to go. I bought mine for $599 if I had built it through dell.com it was $1,100, not too shabby.

They also have certified re-furbished stuff on there for really sweet deals with a full 1 year warranty included and options to bang it out to 3 years I belive

[Z28 Heritage]

NEVER BUY A HP. I have a HP Dv6000 and its falling apart.


Heres the list

Dead internet card
Dying grafix card
Dead Touch pad
Hard drive problems
Power Button dead
Speakers Dead


I will never buy another HP again.

[Kat]

I've had my Dell XPS Studio 1640 for about a year and a half now.. Haven't had a probb with it aside from the trim coming off. But I think that has more to do with the way I open it all the time.

[Camvill]

buy a mac and never look back

[92REDBIRD]

Mac book pro's are nice.

[DaSkinnyGuy]

http://www.veryfunnypics.com/pics/computers/images/zzzzzzzpink-Laptop.jpg

Best i could do for you, ive only used dell and never had a problem, but mine doesnt have much space.

http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/toshiba-portege-r705-p25/4505-3121_7-34121943.html?tag=contentMain;contentBody

[WildBillyT]

They ALL have issues. Every one. Go by an aggregate rating you find on the web with a decent number of reviews. That way you at least are making an educated guess.

[BigRocsFirebird]

thanks for some info guys and that's cute matt i didnt know you got a new computer

[SilverDropTop]

I bought an acer 5532 from bestbuy for $350. I bought it mainly to use as a tuning laptop but I use it for everything. It works great, came with 3gb ram, 160gb hd, and it was CHEAP. Nice big, clear screen. If money is an issue I would recommend it.

[r0nin89]

I bought an acer 5532 from bestbuy for $350. I bought it mainly to use as a tuning laptop but I use it for everything. It works great, came with 3gb ram, 160gb hd, and it was CHEAP. Nice big, clear screen. If money is an issue I would recommend it.

I got my GF an Asus for $400 last year. What a piece of junk it is.

Why buy a cheap brand like Asus when you can get an entry level Toshiba (or other name brand) for $400 all day on new egg and even in some bestbuys.

[Stevoone]

I've been using my Macbook for the past 3 years and I bought it used from a friend. Best laptop I've ever owned.

My last laptop was a Toshiba and was nothing but problems. Despite the issues with that one I would probably buy another. I've had 3 or 4 Toshibas and that is the only one I've had an issue with.

If your interested in a Mac I would check out their re-certified program. Refurbished current models for a few hundred less and you get a better warranty than the new ones.

[SilverDropTop]

I got my GF an Asus for $400 last year. What a piece of junk it is.

Why buy a cheap brand like Asus when you can get an entry level Toshiba (or other name brand) for $400 all day on new egg and even in some bestbuys.

I don't know, I never had an issue with mine. I bought my fiance a dell last christmas and I really don't notice any difference between the 2. Like I said, I wanted something cheap to use just for tuning so I picked up the acer. It worked out very well for my application.

[ryanfx]

buy a mac and never look back

def. especially if OP is a hippie.

[foff667]

I would stay away from gateways & acer's(same company) I bought a new gateway from bestbuy, had major issues with it right off the bat, returned/exchanged it for a new one, numeric keypad didn't work, exchanged it for a DIFFERENT gateway and its had some weird issues(sometimes screen won't work when coming out of hibernate) and the battery started acting up after only 2 months. Gateway was nice enough to send me out a new battery on their dime but still and all I would've gone another route if I could do it again.

Most laptops over $600 come with blu ray right now.

-Bill

[DarlingReject]

I started off with a Gateway laptop about 11 years ago. It still runs fine, just needs another memory upgrade. Got a Gateway desktop 10 years ago and have only had issues related to the internet. Had to get a MacBook Pro for school and I fell in love with it. Macs are expensive, but they have a ton of space and IMO, they are worth it. There's also not nearly as many viruses and other internet-related issues with them as well compared to PCs. All depends on your budget, just like everything else.

[Green_Phoenix_LT1]

I got my GF an Asus for $400 last year. What a piece of junk it is.

Why buy a cheap brand like Asus when you can get an entry level Toshiba (or other name brand) for $400 all day on new egg and even in some bestbuys.

Asus is by no means a "cheap brand". Are you sire you don't mean Acer? Asus products are used by the military, by the NSA, and by NASA.

My order of preference goes, Dell, Asus, Gateway, and then I don't even look at the rest.

I have had major issues with HP, Toshiba, and Sony in the past.

Macs are great if you can pony up the cash however lol.

[ryanfx]

I nearly forgot, instead of taking everyone's statistically crappy opinion about what brand is good, you should take a look at this. (scroll towards the bottom)

http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/SquareTrade_laptop_reliability_1109.pdf

[WildBillyT]

I nearly forgot, instead of taking everyone's statistically crappy opinion about what brand is good, you should take a look at this. (scroll towards the bottom)

http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/SquareTrade_laptop_reliability_1109.pdf

Thank you, Ryan. This is exactly what I was talking about above.

[Firebird92]

TOSHIBA Qosmio X505
18.4in screen
1 TB of space
8 GB of ram
and the I7 processor
i love mines never had a problem NEVER

[BigRocsFirebird]

These suggestions are really helping out, my laptop now is a gateway. It's coming up on 2 years it's nothing major going wrong with it besides the fan and running out of space. running low on space explains why it's slowing up. Also the normal my battery lasts about 30 min off the charger. I don't know what model mine is but it was 800$ wasnt too expensive but also wasnt cheep.

[r0nin89]

Asus is by no means a "cheap brand". Are you sire you don't mean Acer? Asus products are used by the military, by the NSA, and by NASA.

My order of preference goes, Dell, Asus, Gateway, and then I don't even look at the rest.

I have had major issues with HP, Toshiba, and Sony in the past.

Macs are great if you can pony up the cash however lol.

You are correct I misread. Stay away from ACER is what I mean to say.

I havent had a single issue with my toshiba. Plus it was the only 13.3 laptop on the market with a DVD rom drive and dedicated graphics card.

[foff667]

You are correct I misread. Stay away from ACER is what I mean to say.

I havent had a single issue with my toshiba. Plus it was the only 13.3 laptop on the market with a DVD rom drive and dedicated graphics card.

As previously stated ACER=Gateway they go hand in hand.

With my recent experience with gateway I won't be using them for a while. My previous laptop was a compaq and the one before that a gateway so its not like I had a bad taste in my mouth before having gone through 3 crappy gateways recently.

-Bill

[qwikz28]

so who makes EMachines?

I love the Dell I am on right now. a year and 3 months of law student abuse, and it is running great. Honestly, I couldn't live without the Dell drivers anymore. Plugging in my external mouse, for example, disables the touchpad. That alone is enough for me to stick with dell.

[r0nin89]

so who makes EMachines?

I love the Dell I am on right now. a year and 3 months of law student abuse, and it is running great. Honestly, I couldn't live without the Dell drivers anymore. Plugging in my external mouse, for example, disables the touchpad. That alone is enough for me to stick with dell.


Thats an option on any laptop that has the proper drivers lol.

[fmybody]

NEVER BUY A HP. I have a HP Dv6000 and its falling apart.


Heres the list

Dead internet card
Dying grafix card
Dead Touch pad
Hard drive problems
Power Button dead
Speakers Dead


I will never buy another HP again.

i have this same lap top or simular to it.. its the special edition one its white...anyways wanted to say i have had 1 problem with this computer since 2007 and i still use it DAILY. the problem i had was the keyboard got some stuff in it and it like the letter 'T' wouldnt work lol thats it.. it was under waruntee and it got fixed and sent back in like a day..

my gf on the other hand has had a dell prob for a year or so. and has had problems since day one... under waruntee has gone thru literally 3 and is on her fourth one... service sucks and has had nothing but a horrible experience..

anyways... i say go HP or even macbook if u got the money... stay away from dell IMHO..

edit: there is one more thing... i got into photography about 8 months ago and since ive been storing ALL of my photos from my canon 450D.. my hard drive is nearly full but im gonna get an external and transfer the music and photos... just get the most space u can get i guess..

[qwikz28]

Thats an option on any laptop that has the proper drivers lol.

are you saying you can put dell drivers on any laptop? :scratch: I'm a bit confused. To clarify, this is what I was referring to:

http://www.askdavetaylor.com/3-blog-pics/vista-dell-touchpad-preferences-customization.png

[BigRocsFirebird]

:lol:^ but yes this stuff is helping me. i also want to see some of these in person i guess i'll go check some stuff out at best buys or some place like that.

[Tru2Chevy]

are you saying you can put dell drivers on any laptop? :scratch: I'm a bit confused. To clarify, this is what I was referring to: *snip*

What he's saying is that the feature you describe is not exclusive to Dell. Most laptops will give you the option to do the same thing.

- Justin

[qwikz28]

What he's saying is that the feature you describe is not exclusive to Dell. Most laptops will give you the option to do the same thing.

- Justin

Dang, I thought I was special! :lol:

Honestly, I think there are certain things you can't quantify in a laptop, like keyboard comfort. Go check em out and report back with what you find!

[Tru2Chevy]

Honestly, I think there are certain things you can't quantify in a laptop, like keyboard comfort. Go check em out and report back with what you find!

Yup, I agree. Go to the stores and use different brands - see what you do and don't like. Keep track of brands and model numbers. Chances are pretty good that you are going to get a better price online than in a box store, so you can try in the store and then buy that model (or a comparable one) online for less.

- Justin

[WildBillyT]

Yup, I agree. Go to the stores and use different brands - see what you do and don't like. Keep track of brands and model numbers. Chances are pretty good that you are going to get a better price online than in a box store, so you can try in the store and then buy that model (or a comparable one) online for less.

- Justin

True in some cases but not all of them. Some manufacturers make specific models for specific chains so that they can defeat price matching.

[Tru2Chevy]

True in some cases but not all of them. Some manufacturers make specific models for specific chains so that they can defeat price matching.

Yup, hence the (or a comparable one). Even if you can't find that exact model online, you should be able to find a model with very similar components and very likely the same case / keyboard / screen / etc.

- Justin

[Z28 Heritage]

i have this same lap top or simular to it.. its the special edition one its white...anyways wanted to say i have had 1 problem with this computer since 2007 and i still use it DAILY. the problem i had was the keyboard got some stuff in it and it like the letter 'T' wouldnt work lol thats it.. it was under waruntee and it got fixed and sent back in like a day..

my gf on the other hand has had a dell prob for a year or so. and has had problems since day one... under waruntee has gone thru literally 3 and is on her fourth one... service sucks and has had nothing but a horrible experience..

anyways... i say go HP or even macbook if u got the money... stay away from dell IMHO..

edit: there is one more thing... i got into photography about 8 months ago and since ive been storing ALL of my photos from my canon 450D.. my hard drive is nearly full but im gonna get an external and transfer the music and photos... just get the most space u can get i guess..See everyone buys a HP because they look so good. But built like **** IMO. Now i have a Old P4 Gateway and this PC is still running strong with out a problem. I might go with the GateWay FX gaming Desktop and Laptop just because of this one.

[BigRocsFirebird]

yes i would go to a store see what i like and also check the online price. i'm going to try and go this week. i've been looking on the computer for now it helps to see things in person also

[FlyingDutchman]

Honestly when it comes to the 'hp/dell/mac/toshiba...etc are crap', it really depends on how you take care of it. treat it like ****, dont expect it to last. dont suffocate the laptop by putting it on pillows/clothes/beds etc youll toast the hardware. real simple things to maximize the life of the comp.

keep on top of antivirius and defrag once in a while as well as delete extraneous programs that waste processing power (especially programs that come on during boot up), your computer will continue to run like new. i have a hp dv5t (white one) its about 1.75years old now and its running just as good as the first day i got it. its took some abuse too (backpack, dropped a lap on it oops, etc) but i try to take care of it and it does return the favor.

really, like stated, go check the computers out and get a feel for em. see what kinda finish you like (gloss, semi-gloss, rough, etc), overall looks, screen size, user interface (easy shortcuts? laid out well?) these are all opinionated things you should consider. then you could either buy direct from best buy or w/e OR do what i did and go directly to the manufacture and price out a custom unit (that way you can choose more mem. cpu pwr. hdd space. etc) b/c you can get good deals on them.

just my $0.02

[BigRocsFirebird]

Honestly when it comes to the 'hp/dell/mac/toshiba...etc are crap', it really depends on how you take care of it. treat it like ****, dont expect it to last. dont suffocate the laptop by putting it on pillows/clothes/beds etc youll toast the hardware. real simple things to maximize the life of the comp.

keep on top of antivirius and defrag once in a while as well as delete extraneous programs that waste processing power (especially programs that come on during boot up), your computer will continue to run like new. i have a hp dv5t (white one) its about 1.75years old now and its running just as good as the first day i got it. its took some abuse too (backpack, dropped a lap on it oops, etc) but i try to take care of it and it does return the favor.

really, like stated, go check the computers out and get a feel for em. see what kinda finish you like (gloss, semi-gloss, rough, etc), overall looks, screen size, user interface (easy shortcuts? laid out well?) these are all opinionated things you should consider. then you could either buy direct from best buy or w/e OR do what i did and go directly to the manufacture and price out a custom unit (that way you can choose more mem. cpu pwr. hdd space. etc) b/c you can get good deals on them.

just my $0.02

yes i baby everything. i take good care of everything i own. i don't let anyone touch my phone ipod laptop or anything like that. with my cell phones i've never broke a phone besides over working them. all my phones burned out from texting to much. they said the 27,000 recived texts and 12,000 sent texts a month is what kills my phones.

[ryanfx]

yes i baby everything. i take good care of everything i own. i don't let anyone touch my phone ipod laptop or anything like that. with my cell phones i've never broke a phone besides over working them. all my phones burned out from texting to much. they said the 27,000 recived texts and 12,000 sent texts a month is what kills my phones.

All those received texts really give your phone a workout eh?

[WildBillyT]

yes i baby everything. i take good care of everything i own. i don't let anyone touch my phone ipod laptop or anything like that. with my cell phones i've never broke a phone besides over working them. all my phones burned out from texting to much. they said the 27,000 recived texts and 12,000 sent texts a month is what kills my phones.

So counting 8 hours a day for sleep, etc you text 25 times an hour?

[BonzoHansen]

So counting 8 hours a day for sleep, etc you text 25 times an hour?

:rofl:

[fmybody]

Honestly when it comes to the 'hp/dell/mac/toshiba...etc are crap', it really depends on how you take care of it. treat it like ****, dont expect it to last. dont suffocate the laptop by putting it on pillows/clothes/beds etc youll toast the hardware. real simple things to maximize the life of the comp.

keep on top of antivirius and defrag once in a while as well as delete extraneous programs that waste processing power (especially programs that come on during boot up), your computer will continue to run like new. i have a hp dv5t (white one) its about 1.75years old now and its running just as good as the first day i got it. its took some abuse too (backpack, dropped a lap on it oops, etc) but i try to take care of it and it does return the favor.

really, like stated, go check the computers out and get a feel for em. see what kinda finish you like (gloss, semi-gloss, rough, etc), overall looks, screen size, user interface (easy shortcuts? laid out well?) these are all opinionated things you should consider. then you could either buy direct from best buy or w/e OR do what i did and go directly to the manufacture and price out a custom unit (that way you can choose more mem. cpu pwr. hdd space. etc) b/c you can get good deals on them.

just my $0.02


i agree with this but my thing is... you also have to consider if you do have some kind of a problem... how the company is going to go about solving that problem... ive heard many stories of crappy service from dell, whether it be in person or over the phone in some cases ive even heard of supplying people with used/old parts and claming them to be new... just sayin

i have only had to service my HP once and like i said.. i got like crumbs in the keys and messed up a key.. we tried to trouble shoot it over the phone and then they sent me a box to send it to them and they replaced the whole keyboard no questions asked..

[BigRocsFirebird]

So counting 8 hours a day for sleep, etc you text 25 times an hour?

Yeah I try to keep my TPH around that, best for fuel economy:rofl:

[Z28 Heritage]

Honestly when it comes to the 'hp/dell/mac/toshiba...etc are crap', it really depends on how you take care of it. treat it like ****, dont expect it to last. dont suffocate the laptop by putting it on pillows/clothes/beds etc youll toast the hardware. real simple things to maximize the life of the comp.

keep on top of antivirius and defrag once in a while as well as delete extraneous programs that waste processing power (especially programs that come on during boot up), your computer will continue to run like new. i have a hp dv5t (white one) its about 1.75years old now and its running just as good as the first day i got it. its took some abuse too (backpack, dropped a lap on it oops, etc) but i try to take care of it and it does return the favor.

really, like stated, go check the computers out and get a feel for em. see what kinda finish you like (gloss, semi-gloss, rough, etc), overall looks, screen size, user interface (easy shortcuts? laid out well?) these are all opinionated things you should consider. then you could either buy direct from best buy or w/e OR do what i did and go directly to the manufacture and price out a custom unit (that way you can choose more mem. cpu pwr. hdd space. etc) b/c you can get good deals on them.

just my $0.02Yep i baby all my stuff i'm a nerd of course i do:rofl: But there was no reasoning for my HP to crap out like that.