I'm About to Impulse Buy a Laptop. Thoughts? Feelings? Input?

[Inactive Cargo]

1. BUY ANY DUAL CORE LAPTOP WITH 2GB RAM
2. REFORMAT AND REMOVE ANY OEM SOFTWARE THAT SLOWS IT DOWN
3. INSTALL WINDOWS 7
4. DON'T INSTALL A/V
5. FASTEST. LAPTOP. EVER.

EDIT: If you get a laptop with an SSD you will not regret it

EDIT2: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834157036

Cons - 5400 RPM HDD
Weird screen resolution

[Morpheind]

EDIT: Uh, this is Crack Monk. I forgot I was on Adri's computer.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pav...&skuId=9556296

Good? IT LOOKS PRETTY.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dell+-+I...=1218120536004

It's a Dell, BUT IT'S ALSO PURPLE

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba+...&skuId=9549054

I don't remember the upside of this one, but, uh, have a link!

IC, I'm glad you weighed in, due to being the resident expert on technology. We're gonna go into a store tomorrow with some freaking information, and your shit will be on the list.

[Diablo]

I got Page Not Found for each of them. Looking at the URLs though, HP Pavilions are good. And so are Toshibas.

[Morpheind]

Sorry the links don't work, damn. I'll post a few details of each instead. They all start to look the same to me after a few hours of research. It pains us to say so, but we're probably gonna forgo the pretty ones in favor of functionality. Also we decided that it really needs to have an integrated webcam, just for you guys.

$599.99 HP G71-340US 17.3" Widescreen Notebook Computer With Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T6600
memory 4 GB
hard drive capacity 320 GB
optical drive DVD±RW/DVD-RAM/DVD±R Double Layer
operating system Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
processor speed 2.2 GHz
video graphics Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD with up to 1759MB shared memory

$629.99 Toshiba - Laptop with Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor - Black Onyx
Processor Intel® Core™2 Duo
Processor Speed 2.2GHz
System Memory (RAM) 4GB
Computer Hard Drive Size 500GB
Optical Drive Double-layer DVD±RW/CD-RW
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
GraphicsIntel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
Screen Size (Measured Diagonally) 16"

$549.99 Dell - Inspiron Laptop with Intel® Pentium® Processor - Passion Purple
Processor Intel® Pentium®
Processor Speed 2.16GHz
Screen Size (Measured Diagonally) 15.6"
System Memory (RAM)4GB
Computer Hard Drive Size320GB
Optical DriveDVD±RW/CD-RW
Graphics Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
Operating SystemWindows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

$729.99 HP - Pavilion Laptop with AMD Turion™ II Ultra Dual-Core Mobile Processor
ProcessorAMD Turion™ II
Processor Speed 2.4GHz
Screen Size (Measured Diagonally) 17.3"
System Memory (RAM)4GB
Computer Hard Drive Size 500GB
Optical Drive Double-layer DVD±RW/Blu-ray Disc/CD-RW
Graphics ATI Radeon HD 4200
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

[great]

Unless you need the money for something else, why not go with the pavilion?

[Inactive Cargo]

Stay away from the laptop's with Intel GMA's and AMD Turion's (if you can avoid it). Most of the hard drives will be 5400 RPM, don't go below 5400 RPM (you will regret it).

Perfect scenario:

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo, 2+ GHz (There will be a few out there that are 1.8GHz, try to go above 2GHz)
Hard Drive - 250GB+ 7200 RPM (128GB SSD would be perfect, but not in your price range)
Video - AMD or nVidia. Discrete is better, beware of integrated AMD or nVidia cards. They'll still be better than Intel but if you buy a laptop with 2GB of RAM and allocate 1GB to the nVidia to play Crysis, you've got 1GB for the system. Most discrete will have 512MB dedicated and you can add 512MB from RAM to boost it to 1GB. Intel GMA's aren't bad, but it's better for a dedicated card to process video operations. Especially with Vista onwards, where desktop composition is offloaded to the GPU. If you go with a weak CPU, then it can offload the decoding of HD video to a discrete GPU.
Screen - Make sure it's not a netbook, unless you don't plan on using it for typing, I think 13.6" is about as small as you want to go. Make sure the resolution is right for the monitor. 1080 on a 13" monitor is unreadable.
RAM - 2GB+, ideally 3GB or 4GB. 2GB is more than enough for most office stuff, but chances are you're going to have some software running in the background (MSN, Steam, iTunes, uTorrent, Firefox/IE/Chrome).

Likely combinations -

Upper Limit For Price

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.16GHz
Hard Drive - 250GB 7200 RPM
Video - 512MB Radeon 4200 HD
RAM - 4GB

Will most likely come with Windows 7 Home Premium x64 (due to 4GB)

Lower Limit For Price

CPU - AMD Turion II, 1.9GHz
Hard Drive - 160GB 5400 RPM
Video - Integrated Intel GMA 4500 HD
RAM - 2GB

Will most likely come with Windows 7 HP x64, but look out for the x86 version.

GO WITH WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM x64*
CONSIDER x64 A FEATURE

*Only don't go with it if you have legacy hardware, but most hardware in the past few years have excellent x64 drivers for the Windows 6.x kernel (ie you can use Vista x64 drivers in most cases). Also if you have your heart set on a laptop with a x86 version, don't worry about it. Get the laptop you want.

Intel, nVidia, AMD etc etc all have excellent Windows 7 x64 support.

[baklava]

Keep this chart in mind before you buy a laptop:

Spoiler: show

I'm really a fan of Lenovo laptops. They'll last you forever; you can bash them against a wall and they'll still work.
Don't try it though.

Look through these: http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/c...011B825513BCED

[LiquidFire]

Random pick that I would consider:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220637
It's the most I will pay. I will probably settle for 500-700.

any advice on this pick? Also, does anyone have experience with Asus laptops? and should I shoot for DDR3?

[baklava]

Survey from a random pool of people on /g/:

Spoiler: show

BUILD QUALITY

Spoiler: show

MOST: Lenovo, at 9.21
LEAST: HP, at 6.7222....

ALL
Lenovo 9.214285714
Asus 8.411764706
Apple 8.363636364
Sony 8.2
Dell 7.863636364
Acer 7.352941176
Samsung 6.833333333
Toshiba 6.727272727
HP 6.722222222

APPEARANCE

Spoiler: show

HIGHEST: Apple, at 9.5454....
LOWEST: Acer, at 7.29

ALL
Apple 9.545454545
Lenovo 8.785714286
Sony 8.6
Asus 8.076923077
HP 7.666666667
Toshiba 7.454545455
Samsung 7.333333333
Dell 7.318181818
Acer 7.294117647

DURABILITY

Spoiler: show

HIGHEST: Lenovo, at 9.5
LOWEST: HP, at 6.111....

ALL:
Lenovo 9.5
Sony 8.8
Apple 8.090909091
Asus 8.071428571
Dell 7.476190476
Acer 7.235294118
Toshiba 7.181818182
Samsung 7
HP 6.111111111

SCREEN QUALITY

Spoiler: show

HIGHEST: Apple, at 8.27272727273
LOWEST: Samsung, at 7.0

ALL:
Apple 8.272727273
Sony 8.2
Lenovo 8.071428571
Acer 8.058823529
Toshiba 7.818181818
Asus 7.461538462
Dell 7.409090909
HP 7.222222222
Samsung 7

KEYBOARD QUALITY

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HIGHEST: Lenovo
LOWEST: Asus

ALL:
Lenovo 8.928571429
Samsung 8.833333333
Sony 8.4
Apple 8.272727273
Toshiba 7.545454545
Dell 7.363636364
Acer 7.058823529
HP 7
Asus 6.857142857

Mouse Quality

Spoiler: show

HIGHEST: Apple
LOWEST: Asus

ALL:
Apple 8.090909091
Lenovo 8
Sony 7.8
Samsung 7.666666667
Toshiba 7
HP 6.764705882
Acer 6.647058824
Dell 6.636363636
Asus 6.5

BATTERY LIFE

Spoiler: show

HIGHEST: Samsung
LOWEST: HP

ALL:
Samsung 8.166666667
Apple 7
Lenovo 6.928571429
Asus 6.461538462
Dell 5.047619048
Toshiba 5
Sony 4.6
Acer 4.529411765
HP 4.166666667

VALUE FOR MONEY:

Spoiler: show

HIGHEST: Samsung
LOWEST: HP

ALL:
Samsung 8.833333333
Lenovo 8.714285714
Asus 7.583333333
Acer 7.5625
Dell 7.476190476
Toshiba 7.454545455
Apple 7.181818182
Sony 6.8
HP 6.166666667

HEAT DISSIPATION

Spoiler: show

HIGHEST: Samsung
LOWEST: HP

ALL:
Samsung 9.333333333
Lenovo 7.5
Acer 7.466666667
Toshiba 6.909090909
Asus 6.571428571
Dell 6.090909091
Apple 5.636363636
Sony 5
HP 3.611111111

RELIABILITY

Spoiler: show

HIGHEST: Lenovo
LOWEST: HP

ALL:
Lenovo 9.142857143
Sony 9
Samsung 8.4
Acer 8.125
Asus 8
Apple 7.818181818
Dell 7.571428571
Toshiba 7.545454545
HP 6.764705882

Pool:
Acer: 17
Apple: 10 (multiple trolls removed)
Asus: 14
Dell: 21
HP: 18
Lenovo: 13
Samsung: 5
Sony: 5
Toshiba: 11

EXTRAPOLATION BASED ON THE DATA:
Acer: Owners were typically midrange in most aspects. They did appreciate the value, but overall...meh.
Apple: Top ranked in some areas, Apple owners typically required repair, but were very happy with their machines.

Asus: Another OEM floating around the middle.
Dell: Owners were not enthusiastic about the support, but were optimistic about repair time. In most areas, they are around the middle.
HP: The unhappiest owners in the entire group. Every HP owner was extremely negative in at least one aspect.

Lenovo: Near the top in several areas. Owners are very enthusiastic to recommend, and the "actual" repair rate is the lowest in the pool. Of note is that all but one Lenovo owner surveyed about a ThinkPad, so IdeaPad satisfaction is hard to quantify.
Samsung: Relatively few responses, but users are happy. May be too early to tell.
Sony: Few responses. Owners are mostly apathetic about their purchase.
Toshiba: Second worst in the pool. Owners are typically unhappy.

COMMENTS FROM ACER OWNERS:

Spoiler: show

>It\'s not really Acer\'s fault, but Intel write some pritty shit drivers. The integrated graphics aparently supports OpenGL, but...Intel have yet to include OpenGL support in their drivers >.>
>shitty power pin/connector
>120gb hdd died after 2 years maybe i used it for download 24hour everyday. now using wd500gb. quite good actually. ati 1100xpress. can play DoTA and CoD2 at pretty low settings
>derp
>Built in mouse sucked bluetooth driver failed keyboard layout is horrible big ass screen god why i bough this laptop
>video files play slow and intel GMA 500 driver is unfinished from intel
>Better than a shitty netbook.

COMMENTS FROM APPLE OWNERS:

Spoiler: show

>It\'s awesome.
>implying surveys on /g/ guarantee 100% accuracy
>Battery died after 6 months, they gave me a new one for free. Keyboard button fell off after 3 years , they gave me a new one for free.
>Had to get it repaired for the same problem (static noise from speakers) 4 times. It still is not fixed. Funny thing is, the problem is non-existent when I boot Windows on it. Only happens with OS X 10.5/10.6

COMMENTS FROM ASUS OWNERS:

Spoiler: show

>Great laptop, but I\'ve got monitor problems that I believe are due to faulty hardware. Customer service wouldn\'t even listen to me if I hadn\'t re-installed Windows. :\\
>Busted SSD after ~6 months, quickly repaired by Asus.
>I bought it from a small business who was selling computers and laptops with preinstalled Linux (Ubuntu). This was around early 2007. I ordered it in March, it arrived a month later (because I\'m in England and they were in the US) They shut down their business almost the exact day that I received the laptop. Apparently they closed down since Dell had just announced that they would sell laptops with ubuntu, and they wouldn\'t be able to compete.
>Sometimes it\'s hard as fuck to find the correct wifi drivers on some linux distros.
>shipped GNU/Linux distro blows
>Its fucking awesome i tells ya

COMMENTS FROM DELL OWNERS:

Spoiler: show

>I have no real preference. I just got whatever was the best value. $520+Shipping/Tax(Damn CA) is damn good for a laptop with a HD 3650.
>I\'ve upgraded the RAM from 2x512MB to 2x1GB in order to step up from XP.
>Originally came with XP Home, has XP Pro now.
>My rig is pretty cache, but the hard drive died and keys broke.
>Shipped with an HDD that died, was shipped a replacement within a week of the discovery.
>Decent older-mid range laptop. Boots extremely fast, 10-15 seconds.
>I know it\'s a Dell, but it\'s fast and besides the heat it kicks out, there\'s nothing wrong with it.
>It is great!
>I may have fucked up my screen putting the laptop back together.

COMMENTS FROM HP OWNERS:

Spoiler: show

>Complete crap laptop. The cable from the LCD to the motherboard started snapping from regular use. Tech support was useless because I was 2 weeks out of warranty and they wanted $400USD to fix it. Ended up repairing it myself after a lengthy period of time with a soldering iron and about 6 broken wires that are about 1mm in diameter. Wouldn\'t recommend any HP laptop to anyone. First and last HP laptop I will buy in my life.
>Jesus shit fuck never purchase a fucking tablet.
>It can play games.
>It\'s pretty goddamn awesome. My only complaint is the damn HP logo on the top of the lid is so bright that I have to turn the laptop off at night, and I don\'t usually do that.
Laptop fell victim to the Nvidia bug, HP support was useless, would not allow an out of warranty repair despite the fact that the laptop has the faulty components as detailed in the class action lawsuit
>This model is great, however, HP\'s quality has dropped since 2006.
>HP is shit. I was young and didn\'t know anything at all about computers.

COMMENTS FROM LENOVO OWNERS:

Spoiler: show

>I\'ve dropped it a few times (on concrete floors) with no adverse effects, love the computer. My family members have also owned ThinkPads and have all loved them.
>Awesome lappy
>Seagate drive failed. Bad: Air intakes are on the bottom, blocking them when it\'s on your lap. Trackpoint moves by itself after removing finger. Weird anti-reflective coat blurs screen. Hinges squeek. Good: Very solid. Good warranty. VERY high res. 1400x1050 Pretty snappy (cuo2duo)
>My model was the y550 with enhanced discrete graphics, GT 240.
>This things been through the war and back, has all stock hardware a single core CPU and yet this bitch can still carry it's weight.Windows 7, XP Pro, *NIX. Whatever you through at this n***er it can handle.Not just that but when I'm walking home from work and some jolly black fellow tries to rob me I can bash his skull in with it and then go online and write about it.

COMMENTS FROM SAMSUNG OWNERS:

Spoiler: show

>The default install has the usual crapware, like a branded IE with thousands of toolbars
>Well, there were two repairs on this laptop. First was a keyboard that i fucked up by accident. Second was a strange screen behaviour. But anyway, i love this laptop. I consider it good value for what i\'ve spent.
>Hardly any support for GNU/Linux although it is possible to get it running with few problems.
>Very quiet, usable for light gaming (HD3470)

COMMENTS FROM SONY OWNERS

Spoiler: show

>I wish I had a Mac, they are kinda gay but at least they look pretty and are good for photos
>My computer is like 7+ years old. It still runs and plays all my 720p animu. When it was new I would have given it higher ranks, but now really it\'s just a heap of junk that refuses to break down

COMMENTS FROM TOSHIBA OWNERS:

Spoiler: show

>The laptop itself has never needed to be repaired in any way that I could not fix it myself, however, the power cord fucked up, and had to be replaced.
>none
>i like my laptop
>If I needed to repair my laptop, I\'d do it my god damn self.
>Decent quality laptop, but it has an uncomfortable keyboard. Generally good laptop, even though it\'s a bit bulky.
>OEM software is sub-par, drivers are complete garbage. GNU/Linux is much more usable solution. Would be nice if GNU/Linux was an option for pre-install, or at least H/W was Linux certified.
>I shouldn\'t have cheaped out on a laptop, wasn\'t worth it. The charger port broke, the charger itself broke, the HDD failed, 1 out of 3 USB ports broke. Absolute shit quality, do not buy ever.

tl;dr get lenovo.

[LiquidFire]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834146609

hmm? I think this looks better than the previous one I posted.

edit: really, though, I won't be getting any of these laptops until June or July. I bet I could get a similar laptop with a non-intergated card and 4gb ddr3 for about the same price once the back-to-school specials couple with the natural price degradation of hardware.

[IncitingRiots]

Seriously guys, I'm about to do this shit. My computer is killing my soul, and I'm freaking tired of it, and Adrienne just convinced me that now is the BEST TIME EVER to impulse buy a computer. So it's happening.

I'm putting like, an $800 limit on this, just to be reasonable. I don't need it for gaming. I just want to be able to watch movies, listen to music, and run a fucking browser without it killing my soul like this one does. Oh God, I hate this computer.

I'm a Windows bitch right now, and now is not the time to change it. I don't want a Mac and I'm not going to run Ubuntu just so you nerds will jizz a little harder whenever I post pictures. Maybe one day, but not today. So, yeah, there's that factor.

Morpheind's input: "Oh God, I just ate ramen too fast because I was excited about laptops. I'm not gonna regret THAT later. "

Anyway, you guys have a couple hours to sway my decision towards whatever nerdy direction you want. Also, if you help me out with this, I promise to give you something special! I PROMISE THIS TIME, FOR REAL. If you're coming to my party I'll give it to you here, but otherwise I'll mail something.

Thanks guys. I love you all.

<33333

- Jess

P.S. Morpheind's input, PART 2: "Yes, thanks, that's my input summed up into 2 sentences. Bitchface."

Don't do it man an/or woman. Nothing about this sounds like a good idea. I suggest a Margaritaville Frozen Drink Maker.

[baklava]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834146609

hmm? I think this looks better than the previous one I posted.

edit: really, though, I won't be getting any of these laptops until June or July. I bet I could get a similar laptop with a non-intergated card and 4gb ddr3 for about the same price once the back-to-school specials couple with the natural price degradation of hardware.

Wait until then to choose one. Hardware will be better and prices will be cheaper.

[sharknice]

I'm waiting for the Windows 7 version of the Eee PC T91 to come out because it has multitouch, the XP version is only single touch. But that's a netbook so I'll gtfo.

[Crack Monk]

Survey from a random pool of people on /g/:

[spoiler]wall of statistics

So I got an HP.

Sue me.

Also hi, I'm posting from my new laptop. I'm bringing sexy back.

[Doku]

Picturessss








Of the laptop too >.>

[Diablo]

So I got an HP.

Sue me.

Also hi, I'm posting from my new laptop. I'm bringing sexy back.

I had an HP Pavilion laptop a bunch of years ago and it gave me no worries, except the closing latch kind of gave way so it wouldn't latch closed very securely.

random nostalgia

Holy crap, it's been a while since I had that laptop. I've had this one since Aug '07, then I had my desktop for at least 2 years as well, but probably more like 3 or 4. Man.

[LiquidFire]

So I guess the intel nehalem is about to come (or already came out) out (not sure how to frame "about to"), and it's going to change a lot with laptops.

just thought I would add that.

on a completely random note: I just drank a Coke... Hope I can fall asleep in the next 15 minutes.

[Crack Monk]

It's so pretty, guys. I'd make sweet, sweet love to it.

Spoiler: show

That's the one. See the pretty little circles on it and stuff? PRETTY CIRCLES.

[Inactive Cargo]

It's so pretty, guys. I'd make sweet, sweet love to it.

Spoiler: show

That's the one. See the pretty little circles on it and stuff? PRETTY CIRCLES.

[baklava]

It's so pretty, guys. I'd make sweet, sweet love to it.

Spoiler: show

That's the one. See the pretty little circles on it and stuff? PRETTY CIRCLES.

Jess, I am disappoint.

Nah, just kidding, It looks like a pretty good model. Enjoy it thoroughly.