looking for a laptop!

[Con]

Since I'll be studying at UVic :eng101:, I think it would be hugely helpful to have a laptop with me to do work while on campus but I don't know what to look for when buying laptops.


has to have wireless capability, but I think this is standard on most laptops anyway
large screen preferable
large keyboard would be nice; I need to be able to type quickly and I'm used to a PC keyboard
some good hardware so I can watch HD movies and do a little gaming
needs speakers
a ton of ports for all sorts of peripherals
under $1000

I don't care about webcams or any crap like that, but what do you guys think about tablet pc's? I'll probably take notes on paper for convenience, but it might be useful for drawing. I do already have a tablet, but that's just one more thing to bring along...not to mention I have to fuck around with bluetooth before it'll work.

:allears:

[Cojafoji]

your uni probably has a partnership with at least one major computer vendor. ask what it is, and if they offer discounts.

if they don't, why not try dell (shut up people). the one under my desk has been running like a champ for the better part of five years.

any of the inspiron line should do nicely. they're cheap, and if you buy the extended warranty of two years, you should be 90% in the clear.

[Sel]

I've never seen a speakerless laptop, so you shouldn't have any issues there, wireless is also included on every single one anyway, as far as hardware, you have to remember that you're sacrificing battery life for performance, and you probably won't be able to find many high end cards at reasonable prices either.

[Futzy]

HP HDX 16 (http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=Performance+and+entertainment&series_name=HDX16t_series)
HP HDX 18 (http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=Performance+and+entertainment&series_name=HDX18t_series)

You will find nothing better for the price.
Battery last about 3 hours for me on the 18 inch one.
blu-ray and everything comes standard.
I can play crysis at a decent framerate.

[Horns]

Get a Dell. I've had mine for almost two years, and even though i've had a few problems with it, they have done a great job taking care of it and standing by their work.

[jcap]

You should avoid anything HP, hth~

HP just loads you PC up with shit so bad that you need to format it to work properly...but after you do that you spend the next two days searching for drivers and seeing what bloat you do not have to reinstall to get it working. Also, I've seen three HP laptops which had their wireless randomly stop working all within the past 6 months. The special hardware they use in their laptops is also a bitch, since only HP supports the stuff and there are no universal drivers for it, making you feel suicidal.

I'd say look into the Dell Studio 17 series. You can customize them really well. http://www.dell.com/us/en/business/notebooks/laptop_studio_17/pd.aspx?refid=laptop_studio_17&s=bsd&cs=04&~ck=mn (http://www.dell.com/us/en/business/notebooks/laptop_studio_17/pd.aspx?refid=laptop_studio_17&s=bsd&cs=04&%7Eck=mn)

The deciding point could be the graphics card. I'm no expert on mobile graphics, so I think InnerGoat should comment on that. The HP looks stronger in that area, though.

[Xetsuei]

You should avoid anything HP, hth~

As an owner of 3 HP laptops, I can definitely agree with this. Every one of them broke right after the warranty is up.

And as for the laptop; $874.99 ASUS F50 Series 16" (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220559), install Windows 7 on it.

[Cojafoji]

asus laptops should be avoided. no offense. I've bought two for various customers at their request, and they've both had multiple hardware failures. thank god i pushed the three year warranties. the peripheral software hogs the FUCK out of system resources. also, their qq leaves LOTS to be desired. that and the last one i bought had an uninsulated dvdrom, so ever time it spun up, it was loud as FUCK.

[Xetsuei]

asus laptops should be avoided. no offense. I've bought two for various customers at their request, and they've both had multiple hardware failures. thank god i pushed the three year warranties. the peripheral software hogs the FUCK out of system resources. also, their qq leaves LOTS to be desired. that and the last one i bought had an uninsulated dvdrom, so ever time it spun up, it was loud as FUCK.

I've never heard ANY of those complaints, not a single one. And ASUS is the second most reliable/durable/well built laptop manufacturer in the world behind Lenovo (IBM), it's even ahead of Apple. Look at the reviews of the damn thing, it even has 5 stars.

Maybe you're thinking of ACER not ASUS?

[Amit]

If you guys want to avoid all problems, just get a Toshiba and reformat it for Windows 7. They don't load you up with crap, they don't break easily, even after warranty, and there are good specs for the price of one.

[=sw=warlord]

I've never heard ANY of those complaints, not a single one. And ASUS is the second most reliable/durable/well built laptop manufacturer in the world behind Lenovo (IBM), it's even ahead of Apple. Look at the reviews of the damn thing, it even has 5 stars.

Maybe you're thinking of ACER not ASUS?
IT's a shame their custom service is absolute crap though xet.
I sent a motherboard to them august 2008 and they lost the thing, infact they were still looking for it febuary this year.
Also if you want a cheap laptop.
Im not sure if you have these shops there but look in aldi.
http://tech.uk.msn.com/features/article.aspx?cp-documentid=149149450
specs:
16-inch TFT widescreen@1,366 x 768
Intel Core 2 Duo T6500
4GB's DDR2.
320GB's HDD
Nvidia GeForce GT220M
So that should do for a low priced system.

[Xetsuei]

If you guys want to avoid all problems, just get a Toshiba and reformat it for Windows 7.

:suicide:


IT's a shame their custom service is absolute crap though xet.
I sent a motherboard to them august 2008 and they lost the thing, infact they were still looking for it febuary this year.

One bad experience, it's bound to happen. But good lord people, look at the damn reviews before going off on stupidity. ASUS is a superb brand, with great reliability and build quality in their laptops (second behind Lenovo, in front of Apple).

But yeah thanks for finding a notebook with the same specs from some completely random brand.

Out of all the notebooks I've ordered from ASUS, not one has had a single problem on it's own yet (one person dropped theirs, but it was under the 1 year accidental damage policy and we had no trouble with customer support).

[Amit]

I think we've got an ASUS fanboy here. Hell, I'd take the ASUS over anything else. Fuck tech support, who uses that besides novice users? All you need is warranty and the skills to not fuck your computer up.

[=sw=warlord]

I think we've got an ASUS fanboy here. Hell, I'd take the ASUS over anything else. Fuck tech support, who uses that besides novice users? All you need is warranty and the skills to not fuck your computer up.
And how much fucking use do you think the warranty is if the customer service are absolute shit.
Seriously i sent my motherboard in via warranty and it got lost in russia.
I finaly got a free replacement after twisting their amr for 2 months and 6 weeks later the replacement decided to commit total suicide with the northbridge killing itself.
Which, asus said they would not sort out and said i was on my own.
Fuck asus laptops atleast with a desktop you can replace parts.
Also the laptop i linked to, note laptop not notebook but laptop is cheap as hell and has good specs for the price which was why i linked to it.

[Cojafoji]

:suicide:



One bad experience, it's bound to happen. But good lord people, look at the damn reviews before going off on stupidity. ASUS is a superb brand, with great reliability and build quality in their laptops (second behind Lenovo, in front of Apple).

But yeah thanks for finding a notebook with the same specs from some completely random brand.

Out of all the notebooks I've ordered from ASUS, not one has had a single problem on it's own yet (one person dropped theirs, but it was under the 1 year accidental damage policy and we had no trouble with customer support).
If you look back at some of the G1 series laptops of 2007, you'll see that they were loaded with bugs and problems.

[legionaire45]

Dell Studio 17" is good. Very light, feels a bit plasticity but it's solid.

HP hardware is ok, you might want to get rid of all the junkware installed on it first.

Lenovo laptops are neigh industractable and they have good keyboards. They are a bit expensive though.

[Xetsuei]

If you look back at some of the G1 series laptops of 2007, you'll see that they were loaded with bugs and problems.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/162091/asus_takes_top_spot_in_reliability_report.html
There is one more, but at the moment I cannot find it.

Continue to bask in ignorance, it only makes you look more stupid.

[Amit]

Oh look at that, Toshiba is higher than those other bastards. I'd expect Apple and Lenovo numbers to be higher. Can't really comment on ASUS though.

[Atty]

Just buy a Mac.

[=sw=warlord]

Just buy a Mac.
and put vista on it.:iamafag:

[Xetsuei]

and put vista on it.:iamafag:

:frogout2:

[Atty]

No, put 7 on it if anything but you won't need to becuase OS X is good enough on it's own. Only reason for windows is gaming or something to that affect.

[Pyong Kawaguchi]

He did say he wanted to do some gaming though...

[Xetsuei]

No, put 7 on it if anything but you won't need to becuase OS X is good enough on it's own. Only reason for windows is gaming or something to that affect.

There's still no way you're going to find an Apple notebook with Con's requirements for under CAD $1000.

And I'm still going with my first choice: $874.99 ASUS F50 Series 16" (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220559) (and install Win 7 on it).

[Atty]

I've never understood why people put an arbitrary maximum price on something they want.

If you want something, find what you want, and then see how much it costs. If I want a car, I look for the features I want, and then see where my price range is. Once I know my features I shop around for those and find something that has what I want for the price I'm willing to pay.

You can't just say I want a laptop with X, X, and X but under $1,000 and have it magically exist, you say I want a laptop with these features and then people point out those laptops, then from there you figure out what you'll have to pay for different brands and models. If you have to, wait. I think people who buy something that's not exactly what they want when they can easily have it as ridiculous as someone not in college paying rent.

[Xetsuei]

You can't just say I want a laptop with X, X, and X but under $1,000 and have it magically exist

Sure he can, and it does exist, it's in my previous post. Maybe he doesn't want to wait for it? Maybe he doesn't want to spend more than $1000 on it?

[TheGhost]

Get Lenovo, Dell, or Apple. Your price point kind of rules out Apple though.

[Con]

Your price point kind of rules out Apple though.
you're funny :allears:

[TheGhost]

:laptophunters:

[hry]

Easy: 1000 dlls? get it HERE (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcat17080&type=page&qp=crootcategoryid%23%23-1%23%23-1%7E%7Eq70726f63657373696e6774696d653a3e313930302d 30312d3031%7E%7Ecabcat0500000%23%230%23%2311a%7E%7 Ecabcat0502000%23%230%23%23o%7E%7Enf518%7C%7C24393 030202d202431313939&list=y&nrp=15&sc=abComputerSP&ks=960&usc=abcat0500000&sp=%2Bbrand+skuid&list=y&iht=n&st=processingtime%3A%3E1900-01-01).

[Xetsuei]

Easy: 1000 dlls? get it HERE (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcat17080&type=page&qp=crootcategoryid%23%23-1%23%23-1%7E%7Eq70726f63657373696e6774696d653a3e313930302d 30312d3031%7E%7Ecabcat0500000%23%230%23%2311a%7E%7 Ecabcat0502000%23%230%23%23o%7E%7Enf518%7C%7C24393 030202d202431313939&list=y&nrp=15&sc=abComputerSP&ks=960&usc=abcat0500000&sp=%2Bbrand+skuid&list=y&iht=n&st=processingtime%3A%3E1900-01-01).

Are you serious

Is he serious

:ohdear:

[hry]

No.

(only 14 laptops lulz)

[leorimolo]

HP's fucking suck. I had my dv5t sent to repair twice already for the screen. Also my battery died exactly when my warranty ended (fucking coincidence?, I think not). Avoid HP. Dells are incredible laptops as far as durability, I have an inspiron 6400 still going after 4 years.

[Futzy]

I do believe that everyone here has had a different experience.

I myself would never buy anything besides an HP. If you're having problems, you're not buying at an acceptable quality.
My mom has owned an HP pavilion since 2002 or so and it's still running strong. But when she bought it was a top of the line model, selling at over $2000.
I now own an HP HDX which I bought for $1,500 and have never had a single problem for the nine months that I've owned it. I have no idea where you have heard that HP's come loaded with bloatware. I got mine, disabled the HP update, and have had no issues. The only thing installed by HP that runs is the media smart drivers for the touch media buttons (which are amazing.) The keyboard on this thing is the best I've ever used, and I've used a great many of different desktops and laptops when I've been requested to fix stuff by friends, teachers, family, etc. Blu-ray and a 1080p screen were also standard and costed nothing extra.

It all depends on whatever you are willing to spend and what you have been told by those around you.

[Donut]

iv never had a problem with an hp.... well the screen on my old one broke but thats probably because i took it EVERYWHERE and it was 6 years old
E: and by broke i mean the hinges couldnt really hold it up so it would fall over. the screen itself was displaying everything correctly

[Futzy]

iv never had a problem with an hp.... well the screen on my old one broke but thats probably because i took it EVERYWHERE and it was 6 years old
E: and by broke i mean the hinges couldnt really hold it up so it would fall over. the screen itself was displaying everything correctly
I don't know about other models, but mine has a single super sturdy hinge running the whole length of the laptop.

[Xetsuei]

What the fuck, read the damn thread. I already posted this, AVOID HP.

I've had 3 HP laptops of my own, all own which have broken of different problems, all JUST after the warranty had ran out. GG HP.

[Con]

If there's this much of an argument over HP's, then I don't think it's a good choice. I'll look into these Dell Studio laptops; they look promising.

[Atty]

Apple. Get an Apple. Then put a Pacman sticker on it that's eating the Apple.


also, put windows 7 on it. I'm doing that tonight so i can play Steam in class :3

[Warsaw]

n, put a worm coming out of the Apple logo for sweet, sweet irony.

Dell Studio laptops are pretty good, actually. Though, if you end up spending more than $1000 on it, I would say go with the Studio XPS line or go Apple; they are about equal for price/performance.