Advice on buying a laptop

[CelineRox]

Hi! I want to buy a laptop and I was just hoping for some advice on what I should be looking for, what makes are best etc. My computer I have at the moment is huge and old and I haven't got a clue what to look for!

I've been looking at this model and looks quite good, does anyone have this or know about this, is it good?!

HP PAVILLION DV2530EA

Or does anyone have any recomendations?

Any help is appreciated!

[Céline's Blues]

Very good, buy it.

[stevethefan]

Most of the major brands are fine and you can't really go wrong with most of them. Personally I like the Sony VAIO series of laptops but the HP is probably also good.

 

The only advice I'd give is if you can don't buy the cheapest laptop. There are some really good deals on laptops now and you do not need to spend a fortune on one but the reason I say don't buy the cheapest is that Windows Vista, which is the operating system that is now standard on most PC's and laptops takes up a HUGE amount of memory and other resources. If you buy the cheapest laptop it will not have a lot of memory and disk space and it will have a slower processor which means it may run slower.

 

Good luck!

[babymonkey]

Personally I think you can't go wrong with HP. I find it best to avoid the Vaio laptops (I find them over priced and under powered and feel you are paying more for the cool brand). Also, I would avoid Vista. It is far too clunky for the majority of laptops, ram and processor heavy and isn't the step forward that it was supposed to be. Maybe in the coming months once all the bugs have been ironed out it will be worth it, but I went straight back to xp after trying it.

 

Basically, I advise the same as i do with anything in life. Buy the best that you can afford. It rarely is bad advice.

 

This is the spec of the one I bought. A HP HDX

 

Processor Intel® Core 2 Extreme Processor X7900 (2.8GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB)

Display 20.1" WUXGA High-Definition HP Ultra Brightview Widescreen Display(1920x1200) - "True HD" 1080p res

Memory 4GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)

Graphics Card 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 2600 XT

Personalization HP Imprint Finish (Dragon) + Fingerprint Reader + Webcam + Microphone

Networking Intel® PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection and Bluetooth

Hard Drive 320GB 5400RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive (160GB x 2)

Primary CD/DVD Drive FREE Upgrade to HD DVD ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer!!

TV & Entertainment Experience Integrated HP HDTV Hybrid TV Tuner and 4 Altec Lansing speakers +the HP Triple Bass Reflex subwoofer

 

Thats a fairly high end machine. I needed something good though to replace my desktop at home which was a custom build.

[Bellamy]

Most people won't need a crazy spec laptop like yours. And it must be expensive too.

[babymonkey]

It was quite. But still, I do reckon that HP is a good way to go. They have models to suit all price ranges and when properly specced (ie without vista) are more than enough for 90% of peoples needs!

 

For a laptop I recommend minimum 1gb ram, 1.8-2.2ghz processor (enough for most people, get more if you want to do any sort of serious gaming). Personally I quite like the HP dv9500t series. Not too expensive (bout 1000 dollars or so) and well specced for the average user

Edited December 3, 2007 at 03:03 AM by babymonkey

[stevethefan]

Get an "Alienware" PC or laptop. The desktops look cool. But they aren't cheap.

[babymonkey]

Thats very true. My one at home started life as an alienware. It looked damn cool!

[Love,]

Get an Apple MacBook and you'll be happy!

[Krys]

Apple Macbooks are too pricey for me lol. im looking to get a laptop soon. perhaps this weekend

[CelineRox]

Thanks everyone for your advice, in terms of performance and speed which would be best, an Apple MacBook or a 'normal' laptop?! The MAIN thing I will be using it for is the internet

[Bellamy]

Mac is always more expensive with same spec.

[stevethefan]

I happen to also like Mac's and the Macbook but they are kind of pricey, plus most software that you buy is made for Windows based machines so there are far less applications made for Macs. But since you said you will mostly just be surfing the internet that would not be a problem, plus, now there is a way you can run both the Mac OS system and Windows on a Mac, but you have to pay extra for that.

 

I know someone mentioned HP. I personally would not buy one from that company because I had a bad experience with one I set up for a friend a few years ago. It was a desktop and it had to be replaced the day I set it up. Now all computer companies will have a few lemons that get through their system, so HP's are probably fine overall, but i also don't like the fact that at least in the US, every store I seem to go in has HP as there dominant brand. It's like you have no other choice for a PC now.

 

As I said before you will probably be fine buying most anything so don't worry too much about it.

[babymonkey]

If I went by all the computers I have had issues with in the past, the only one I'd buy would be an old Irish company called celtic computers. The only one that never gave me any trouble. As you say, all companies have their lemons. As for it being the dominant brand? Well it goes through cycles, much like everything else and then the one with the highest quality product at the lowest price (or the best brand managers and marketeers) wins out and becomes dominant!

[Filine]

I have an Acer Aspire Gemstone 5920 and I LOOOOVE it

[stevethefan]

I have a IBM Thinkpad T30 that's a few years old and is probably the ugliest laptop out there, BUT I love the thing because it probably has one of the best keyboards out there and it's built like a tank. The downside is that it's heavy, but I mainly use it at home anyways. The other thing is most large companies use them because they have such a good reputation, in fact that's how I got mine it was from a company that was getting rid of their leased computers.

 

IBM no longer makes the Thinkpads but you can still buy a similar one since a company called Lenovo took over the "Thinkpad" name. The newer ones look a little better, and I think they are lighter.

[kathyc25]

oooh my favorite topic

 

I had a similar topic a while back and I ended up getting a higher end HP.

If you`re mainly just going to use it for the internet, I wouldn`t get a machine with all the bells and whistles on it. It dosn`t have to be crazy expensive either. Try going to the HP website and you can build your own laptop with the specs you want. That`s what I did and I LOVE mine It was pricey, but that`s because I put a huge amount of disc space on it and it has 3 gigs of RAM too. But I did that because I do digital graphics, music production and The Sims 2 . All of which require a lot of room.

[Célinefull]

I just bought a macbook and wasn't dissapointed, with leopard now you can also get dual boot and have windows on the computer the same as mac which works for my purposes...plus it's pretty!

[Krys]

i just got a brand spanking new HP tablet pc super cool! im on it right now

[kathy4]

i am thinking about getting one in the future. what brand do you recommend?

[Krys]

got a budget? or no budget at all?

[angel_christ]

HP is a powerful one and worth the price in my opinion. It depends on what kind of job you'd like you use it with. I'd recommend the Mac series if you want to work with computer graphics because the monitor's display color is more accurate. Whereas you can use HP if you want to use typical program and Microsoft programs. Oh, and another thing is.... if you value appearance more than money... use Mac! It's flashy!

 

[Belle Céline]

my cousin who has worked with computers his whole life and he tests some software sometimes for the companys picked out a Toshiba Satellite L505 laptop for me for christmas. He said never buy Acer, Dell or Gateway they have tons of problems and aren't good brands to buy. He recommened anything but those three brands. Edited March 4, 2010 at 03:58 AM by Belle Céline

[dj4celine]

How come I didn't see when Em posted this topic?

 

 

 

Belle Celine, I'm gonna strongly disagree with what you said. I've been using a Dell (for almost two years now), got my friend an Acer and we are quite happy with them. Never had any major issues with them except for the DVD drive which was replaced by Dell the very next day. Your cousin may definitely know more about computers (or particularly softwares) but him saying not to trust a particular brand is very naive of him, considering he's a computer expert. It's like saying a car from a particular company, let's say a Porsche would never break down but a Ford will cause you troubles which is totally not the case. Maybe he had a serious problem with them but that doesn't mean the brand is outright bad. For example, the workstations by Dell and IBM are far superior than the HP ones.

 

Computers are machines and every machine can break down. Also, brands don't play a major part because the internal units are manufactured by different companies. It's only the assembly of the pc that is done by the brand. Just to be on the safe side, always get the warranty (extended one, if possible) and relax. Totally depends on what you get and how you get it. It may break down the very first day but the very same computer may last you very long as well

Edited March 4, 2010 at 06:55 AM by dj4celine

[Belle Céline]

Okay, well I was just repeating what he told my friend when she asked for advice on what kind of laptop to buy. She's had endless problems with her gateway that her mom bought for over 1000 dollars, none of which they ever have solutions for other than telling her to buy a new motherboard when it turns out to be a battery problem or a virus that my cousin fixed for free. Edited March 4, 2010 at 04:36 PM by Belle Céline

[Allie]

Kinda funny, I was just talking about laptops with a friend. She has a Dell and said she's had so many problems with it, the hard drive died and she got a new one for it and that one was corrupted and she ended up losing a bunch of stuff. I have a Toshiba Satellite L350-s5911 and with the way I treat computers (I had to reformat my desktop computer every few months because it would get SO messed up because I was careless), this one has lasted me a while. I've had it since December of 2008 and I have yet to have any major problems. I trust this hard drive more than I trust an external (my external ended up crapping out about 8 months ago and I lost everything but a few pictures and music) and I highly recommend any Toshiba laptop. My mom also refuses to buy anything but Toshiba and she has two Toshiba laptops that have yet to give her any problems.

[Belle Céline]

Kinda funny, I was just talking about laptops with a friend. She has a Dell and said she's had so many problems with it, the hard drive died and she got a new one for it and that one was corrupted and she ended up losing a bunch of stuff. I have a Toshiba Satellite L350-s5911 and with the way I treat computers (I had to reformat my desktop computer every few months because it would get SO messed up because I was careless), this one has lasted me a while. I've had it since December of 2008 and I have yet to have any major problems. I trust this hard drive more than I trust an external (my external ended up crapping out about 8 months ago and I lost everything but a few pictures and music) and I highly recommend any Toshiba laptop. My mom also refuses to buy anything but Toshiba and she has two Toshiba laptops that have yet to give her any problems.

my cousin said his sister has the exact same laptop as me and has had it for awhile, much longer than I have and she hasn't had a single problem. Mine hasn't had any problems since I got it in December other than a stuck key after I spilled some pop on a couple of the keys at the top Gateway's only solution for the multitude of problems my friends had with hers is that she needs a new motherboard every single time and its never really the case. It's usually just something that can be fixed by any computer shop.

[celinerific]

Two words. Macbook Pro.

[celinefanonline]

i would prefer Acer

[Celinechick]

I have a toshiba laptop. I love it! Get a laptop that you love, you might have it for awhile.