Need laptop.

[Hunter]

Okay, finally got £560 in bank, anyone got any recommendations for a laptop?

(Yes, I need a laptop although I ain't a big fan of them).

I want it to have Windows 7 Home Premium. And to have at least 3GB of memory, and at least 512MB graphics card. oh, and a stylish case.

I have been thinking about this one:
http://www.play.com/PC/PCs/-/654/861/-/12103323/Hewlett-Packard-Pavilion-DV6-2020SA-AMD-Turion-II-Dual-Core-Mobile-M500-2-2GHz-3GB-320GB-DVD-SM-15-6-Windows-7-Home-Premium-64Bit/Product.html?searchtype=genre#

[Futzy]

Any HP pavilion DV>6 would do just fine. I wouldn't recommend anything else, but someone else might.
HP's always last the longest from my personal experience.

[CrAsHOvErRide]

I'm also considering buying a laptop and also looked at HPs yesterday which seem decent.

IBM has higher quality thought but not the things you might want. :P

[Anton]

I bought an asus friday of last week, and received it two days ago. I really enjoy it.

I do, however, agree with the above posts; especially if you are a student. 10% off on hp laptops if you buy it from them directly. I customized a Dv6 quad with a core i7 720qm, bluray, 4GB DDR3 Ram, Nvidia GeForce 230m, and a 320 GB (7200 RPM) hdd all for around 1100. If you go with a well spec'd DV6 you can come out around 600 USD.

[Advancebo]

3GB? what the fuck?

[Hunter]

3GB? what the fuck?

Quit shit posting and state your point... fucking hell. Stop pissing me of with ALL your posts.. :/

[Hunter]

This one is cheaper and better:

http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF06b/321957-321957-3329744-64354-64354-4041735-4116072.html

[Advancebo]

Quit shit posting and state your point... fucking hell. Stop pissing me of with ALL your posts.. :/

Its not my shit posting, dumass.

And I think what he was trying to say was that 3gb of ram for that price, duh.

[Hunter]

He? Errrm... that was you.. Lol.

And there is other stuff in the laptop as well as memory you know :/ So it isnt 3GB for THAT price... And 3GB is a good standard for the specs of the laptop...

Don't make out you know something when you don't...

[Advancebo]

He? Errrm... that was you.. Lol.

And there is other stuff in the laptop as well as memory you know :/ So it isnt 3GB for THAT price... And 3GB is a good standard for the specs of the laptop...

Don't make out you know something when you don't...

You obviously dont know :downs:

[legionaire45]

dærp. (http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/alienware-m11x?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn)

sometimes I wish I had three uterii instead of just none??

Also, IBM spun it's laptop division off centuries ago, so if you want a Touchpad Thinkpad you'll be looking for a Lenovo (http://www.lenovo.com/planetwide/select/selector.html), not an IBM.

[Advancebo]

That was me Masters you dumbass silly goose. You know? That guy who you always go to asking for advice?

Generally you hear about computers have 256, 512, 1 gig, 2 gigs, or 4 gigs of ram. This is the first time I've heard of a computer being shipped with 3 gigs. From what I know, RAM is supposed to be paired with a second stick.

[Hunter]

Seeming as Advancebo's account was being used for the post, Masterz, I generally thought that he/you was saying that the price is way too much for the amount of memory... Not that it was weird because of the amount it is being shipped in....

What ever...

[legionaire45]

Trying to set things straight here for a moment...

A laptop can have 3 Gigs of ram. Basically, they put a 2GB stick and a 1GB stick of ram in. Individual sicks of ram are usually powers of two, although I think even that isn't the case sometimes since I vaguely remember someone selling 384MB sticks of Ram a while back. But other than that, Ram doesn't have to be sized in powers of two.

If you can afford it, going for an extra gig (2 x 2GB) would be ideal.

Another thing I would recommend - if you can, go for a 7200 RPM HDD. My current 5400 RPM drive is the slowest thing in my compy :P

I'd stick with the Alienware since oddly enough, it's a good deal. Decently fast Core 2 Duo, a dedicated graphics card and a nice-sized display for about $800.

[Atty]

Get a Mac.

[Hunter]

I HATE Mac's. Please do not recommend me getting one, because if I did get one I would just torch it.

Anyway, found this one which is pretty damn good for its price:



System features


Genuine Windows (R) 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
AMD M870
AMD Turion™ II Dual-Core Mobile Processor M520 2.3 GHz, Level 2 cache 1 MB

Memory

4 GB DDR2 (2 x 2048 MB)

Supports up to 8 GB DDR2 memory


Storage

320 GB SATA Hard Disk Drive 7200 rpm
SATA optical drive: LightScribe SuperMulti DVD±RW with Double Layer Support

Graphics

39.6 cm (15.6") Diagonal High-Definition LED HP BrightView Display (1366 x 768)
ATI Radeon™ HD 4200 Graphics, up to 2046 MB total available graphics memory

Expansion features

4 USB 2.0 (4th shared with eSATA port), 1 HDMI connector, 1 eSATA + USB connector, 1 VGA port, 1 RJ45 ethernet connector, expansion port, 2 headphones-out, 1 mic-in, 1 FireWire® IEEE 1394 port, consumer IR
1 ExpressCard/54 Slot (also supports ExpressCard/34), 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro or xD Picture cards
HP Mobile Remote Control

Media devices

HP Pavilion Webcam with Integrated Digital Microphone; VGA

Communications

Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
802.11 b/g/n

Power

6-cell Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery
ENERGY STAR® qualified


Link, here. (http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF06b/321957-321957-3329744-64354-64354-4041735-4116072.html) I really like this one, because it has good spec's and it looks stylish, which is what I want :)

And I can't afford an Alianware laptop, other wise I would get one because they look sick. :p

[legionaire45]

And I can't afford an Alianware laptop, other wise I would get one because they look sick. :p
The one I linked you is only £512 or $799 USD

Then again, looking at the Alienware's default config reveals that it's a bit anemic...

In order to make the two laptops a little bit better matched up, it requires upgrading the CPU, Ram and HDD which raises the cost to $1044USD or £669.09GBP. A bit more expensive, but you get a way better graphics card and better build quality.

Nevermind, looks like they fuck you over because you're British. Default config is £749 (http://www1.euro.dell.com/uk/en/home/Laptops/alienware-m11x/pd.aspx?refid=alienware-m11x&s=dhs&cs=ukdhs1)....ouch

[Futzy]

When your DV6 arrives, make sure you look in the box for the media remote. The only reason I have mine is because my dad saved the box when I threw it out and found the remote in there.

[jcap]

HP laptops are fucking shit, just to warn you.

They look pretty and perform like any other laptop...for a year...or until you try to upgrade it...

HP doesn't release updated drivers. In recent history, if you have a laptop that ran XP, you won't be able to get Vista or W7 installed without major headaches. Sound, wireless, and their quicklaunch touchpad drivers are a bitch. Additionally, I've seen 5 HP laptops that all had the wireless break (one just 2 days ago too) on it. Wireless card disappears from the device manager, Windows can't find it, switch doesn't work, installing/uninstalling drivers doesn't help. I also can't stand their annoying touchpad buttons. Battery life also blows on the majority of the laptops I've worked with unless you get the huge battery that awkwardly sticks out the bottom that's off-center.

I have a long history of hatred towards HP computers too. I ordered a computer from them a few years ago and Windows wouldn't boot - it was missing files. Tried using the recovery partition, and that yielded the same results. It also shipped with improper drivers. When Windows finally completed setup, it would only boot into safe mode. After uninstalling all drivers, I was finally able to get into Windows...well, for about 5 minutes. lsass would keep crashing and Windows wouldn't stop BSODing, if the NT shutdown wasn't initiated before then from the lsass crash. They refused to repair it. They were willing to send a new one, but they were going to charge us $200 to do so and it would have taken up to 3 weeks. Eventually, after 3 hours, a ton of escalations, and a call with the BBB, they offered to take it back and refund the full amount of the computer plus shipping and tax. I will never give them a cent again.

You also don't get any recovery media with HP products. Dell always provides Windows and driver discs in addition to a recovery partition on your hard drive. With HP, you only get a recovery partition, and when you use it, you get all the HP bloat shit that you had hoped to get rid of in the first place.

With all that said, they have great printers!

[Futzy]

The only thing I have ever downloaded from HP is a bios update for when W7 came out. You don't want any of HP's shitty software or drivers. What I did when my grandma ordered an HP was format the drive and reinstall W7 with none of HP's drivers. The touch controls work without drivers and everything else installed on its own through windows update.

[Amit]

I loathe buying laptops because the manufacturers get lazy and don't update the drivers. It isn't unusual to not be able to update to newer drivers because the manufacturer locked your computer down to their "personalized" drivers which are usually old and outdated driver sets.

[Hunter]

Is there any laptops anyone would recommend then?

[Inferno]

I recommend a desktop.

[SnaFuBAR]

What do you NEED a laptop for anyways? If it's to keep modeling halo shit, save your money. Seriously, if that's what you're buying it for, you're wasting money.

We could help you choose a laptop if we know the purpose.

[ICEE]

What do you NEED a laptop for anyways? If it's to keep modeling halo shit, save your money. Seriously, if that's what you're buying it for, you're wasting money.

Why is that? Is there no laptop capable of running 3d tools? I've been looking at some laptops with higher specs than my desktop, which runs max 2010 just fine.

[Hunter]

Nah, its because everyone HATES me modelling things I like the design of. And because I model these things I am being held back from learning more.

The purpose of the laptop is for univercity, modelling, essay's. But mainly modelling. And I want a laptop because I want to be able to move it around with me, as I will be traveling to uni. I can buy a desktop once I have more money, which will probably be an Alianware one, the one with the fans on top which lift up.

I will proably get that when I have a job.

[Bhamid]

I recommend a Dell for the reasons people have posted - word of warning, don't get a Sony Vaio, they have the worst cooling system since Jesus and mine clunked out on me because the HD connectors ended up melting >.<.

[Futzy]

I recommend a Dell for the reasons people have posted - word of warning, don't get a Sony Vaio, they have the worst cooling system since Jesus and mine clunked out on me because the HD connectors ended up melting >.<.I don't know if all HP's have it, but my HDX has watercooling.

[SnaFuBAR]

Get a fucking dictionary first :s
Oh and remember, once you're in "univercity", copying something is called plagiarism.

[Atty]

Get a Mac. Univercities love them and they have spell check. They also type well, back lit keyboard, so when you're shoved into a dark hole for being a ruh-tard you can still see to type your essay, that you'll inevitably get an F on, but that isn't the Mac's fault.


~This message brought to you by a Mac fag.

[SnaFuBAR]

i think you mean speel checking?

[Atty]

You wouldn't have said that if you had a Mac.

[EX12693]

Or Firefox. Or Chrome.

[Con]

They also type well, back lit keyboard, so when you're shoved into a dark hole for being a ruh-tard you can still see to type your essay.
I find my screen does a great job of illuminating the keyboard all on its own!

e: I have a gateway and I found it was a steal, so look into them.

[Atty]

I find my screen does a great job of illuminating the keyboard all on its own!Preposterous!

[Amit]

Preposterous!

Precisely what I was thinking. If the screen was bright enough to provide light for the keyboard in the dark, wouldn't the screen cause eye strain due to the brightness being set so high?

[Con]

Eye strain my ass, you're all babbies.

[Amit]

Siriusly, man? You're eyes must be awesome.

[legionaire45]

While I'd recommend an Alienware laptop, I wouldn't recommend buying one of their desktops. Yes, they have pretty lights and fans and crack cocaine stuffed into the drive bays, but they're excessively overpriced and aren't all that great of a value when you can build something that outperforms it for cheaper.

If you must have the excessive fans/lighting for univecity or whatever, you can buy the cases alone, although I don't think they have the current models for sale just yet. Still, save your money and build it yourself.

If you insist on going for a laptop, 3ds doesn't require all that much. Get yourself something cheap that has a dedicated graphics. Seriously, I can run Max 2010 decently fast on my lappy's integrated graphics/low power mode (entire system using less than 65 watts) and still have turbosmoothed models with 2 or 3 iterations. That's without any of the fancy crap that reduces the number of triangles in the scene or whatever.

Things you will want to consider: get the best screen you possibly can and the highest capacity battery you can. I never thought that having 3 hours of battery life would be a drag....seriously, it's a pain.

[Atty]

Precisely what I was thinking. If the screen was bright enough to provide light for the keyboard in the dark, wouldn't the screen cause eye strain due to the brightness being set so high?You are an idiot. Even with my backlit keyboard turned off and the screen brightness set on its lowest possible setting I can still see my keys perfectly.

I'm just being a troll, don't try and side with me.

Sincerely, Angry Angry Atticus.

[legionaire45]

You are an idiot. Even with my backlit keyboard turned off and the screen brightness set on its lowest possible setting I can still see my keys perfectly.

I'm just being a troll, don't try and side with me.

Sincerely, Angry Angry Atticus.
Maybe if he had some faggoty light up color changing keyboard...
:dickstroke:

[Amit]

You are an idiot. Even with my backlit keyboard turned off and the screen brightness set on its lowest possible setting I can still see my keys perfectly.

I'm just being a troll, don't try and side with me.

Sincerely, Angry Angry Atticus.

Are you fucking kidding me? I'm not siding with you just because you made a post that has no meaning. Not every laptop in the world uses amazing LED backlit displays. I for one cannot see the keyboard on Toshiba, HP, Acer, Sony, or ASUS laptops at the regular setting in the dark, so I think it's pretty safe to say many laptops out there maybe have the same problem. Or, rather I have difficulty seeing the keys in the dark, which slows down whatever it I happen to be doing at the time. If I do turn the brightness up, it'll just hurt my eyes after a certain amount of time. That is why USB powered lights are pretty useful.

[Atty]

Are you fucking kidding me? I'm not siding with you just because you made a post that has no meaning. Not every laptop in the world uses amazing LED backlit displays. I for one cannot see the keyboard on Toshiba, HP, Acer, Sony, or ASUS...Not our fault you use shitty manufacturers laptops or just outdated technology, or that you have shitty eyes.

:downs:

[Warsaw]

I actually find that the backlight on my desktop keyboard makes it harder to see the keys in the dark. The monitor glare is just fine, and I have it turned down pretty low.

[Hunter]

... stop being sarcastic bastards :)

UNIVERSITY....

And I want a decent laptop, not one that will just run okay.

[Hunter]

Just to summarise:



Mac = NO!
Shitty laptop = Nooo



As lame as you may think I am because I want a good laptop when I don't really need it to be as good as I want, I don't care Lol. (That did NOT make sense)
Im simply asking for ideas on a good laptop at the max price of £500.

[Amit]

Not our fault you use shitty manufacturers laptops or just outdated technology, or that you have shitty eyes.

:downs:

Probably the latter, but I know plenty of people who have great eye sight and still have difficulty. I've got an Acer Aspire One netbook. It has an LED display, but it's very hard to see the keys at the normal brightness setting.

Toshiba and ASUS don't make shitty laptops (depending on specifications). Just because I don't spend hundreds more on an overpriced laptop, that doesn't mean that all other brand laptops are shit.

[Futzy]

Your original choice meets your expectations and for the amount of money you have to spend, there isn't really a better choice for the specs you want. HP always has coupons for some amount off, just google for them.
I don't know if your using it or not, but the main hp site lets you customize each laptop with the specific stuff you want.

[EX12693]

HP computers come with all sorts of shit installed that you don't need and it shows the system down. Unless you are willing to uninstall all of those programs do NOT get an HP. I had an HP before I sold it to get this Toshiba I'm typing on right now. Mine is a relatively old model, a Satellite L305D... but it has served me well this past year.

[Llama Juice]

I have a mac, I graduated from college.

Look at how far you can go if you get a macbook.

[EX12693]

My cousin has a PC, he graduated from Grad School.

Look how far you can go when you have a PC.

[Warsaw]

My dad had a pencil and paper. He graduated twice and is making six figures.

Look how far you can go when you have a pencil and paper. :downs:

[Bhamid]

OP said he didn't want a mac - it had to have W7 Home Premium.

[Amit]

OP said he didn't want a mac - it had to have W7 Home Premium.

You can still put Windows on a Mac, provided you have to pay for it.

[Rook]

It would be nice to line up all mac users ans open fire with a fully automatic weapon, would you honestly suggest buying an overpriced laptop with meh specs just to install windows on it.

[EX12693]

PC: Better value for your money, more flexibility... yeah I'm just saying stuff we already know. Anyways I would recommend a Toshiba. Inexpensive and built well. (at least in my case)

[Amit]

PC: Better value for your money, more flexibility... yeah I'm just saying stuff we already know. Anyways I would recommend a Toshiba. Inexpensive and built well. (at least in my case)

I back this up with three sturdy and reliable Toshiba satellites in my household. Bought three: September 2006, 2007, and 2008. All run great, assuming you know how to find the highest components for the lowest price. I wouldn't buy the gaming laptops from Toshiba, though. Large and overpriced.

[jcap]

Also, just to prove that it wasn't just a coincidence that 5 HP/Compaq laptops I worked with all experienced the same problems...

MhTIVtUTD4A

Many of the threads I found say that although HP knows about the problem and they know exactly that the flaw is with the motherboard for repairs, they will not fix the defect if the laptop is out of warranty. I think there was a recall on the entire line of laptops, but I think that only had to do with the overheating.

tl;dr: HP is shit and their support is shit.

mAafYKfMdG0
"They told me it was a recurring problem with HP laptops. No warranty? It's gonna cost me $500." That's also what I've read.