Computer recommendations?
I looked around a few other threads and found some other people asking what kind of computer they should get. But nothing specifically helped me because quite honestly, I know more about how software works than what hardware is better.
I am looking for a laptop somewhere around 800-2,500. I just don't have any idea what I am looking for, alienware laptops seem cumbersome. (But powerful) And the other brand I was looking was was the Sony Vaios. I was just curious as to weather there was a better brand of computer or specifics I should be looking for. Thanks. (I am looking for a laptop if some people didn't catch that.)
In my opinion, in repairing laptops for many years now, The best buy and most reliable is the HP dv series with the AMD Turion ultra dual core. If you go to Hp site you can customize what you want and basically build your own. Stay away from, Acer, Dell. Get a stack of those every week.
EDIT: Spelling.
I've been enjoying my Toshiba Satellite A215 for almost a year now. It's been a good computer, and I got it at the low end of your scale, about $800 US currency. At my workplace, we use HPs almost exclusively; however, our one HP tablet is a piece of crap. I'd get something else for a tablet. I think Fujitsus make decent tablets if that's your thing. My one complaint is a poor battery life, but then I can run games like Half-Life 2 on it even with my video memory being shared, and performance always takes a huge toll on battery life. That's one major distinction - dedicated video memory is better then shared if you want to game with it.:ninja:
moshbat wrote: Not worth the money it would cost for the incredibly overpriced dell…
Ah, true… We could just use a brick instead… Or maybe we could give him a condom to play with and he'd suffocate hims3lf…. we wouldn't get in trouble.. 'Cause he would've killed hims3lf… :D
He'd look like this..
GOOGLE is freakin' awesome! :D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
<OT>I hate you… so much.</OT>
I agree with Spy on the size considerations, although they also make laptops with 13" and 14" screens (and possibly smaller). Note, I am not going to get into a discussion of eeePCs or Cloudbooks or anything like that… those are well beneath the range of $800.
Also, korg is completely right about the Turion 64-bit dual cores… they're awesome. Having seen a number of laptops myself, I'd obviously say no to Acer, Gateway, and Emachines (which are all, subsequently, owned by Acer as of about a year ago). Sony VAIO laptops have traditionally had hardware issues out the ass, so I can't really recommend those, either. Compaq laptops tend to have overheating issues and, considering that they use the same proprietary parts that the Acer family of laptops uses, I'd have to pass on Compaqs as well. No experience with Alienware laptops, so no idea on those; personal opinion, though, is that they're overpriced for laptops.
That pretty much leaves HP, IBM, Toshiba, and Dell. IMO, these are all very solid choices, but few people consider IBM laptops (of which the Thinkpad is probably the most resilient laptop I've ever seen). I swear by HP laptops; they are my favorite hands-down for their reliability, power, and design. Toshiba and Dell laptops are often grouped with the other low-end manufacturers (Compaq and the Acer family) because they use a lot of the same parts. As far as Toshiba is concerned, they are surprising in how reliable they are. Dell laptops are a coin-flip; you'll either end up with one that will refuse to die, or you'll get the "bad apple" and curse Dell.
For that matter, you could get the "bad apple" with any manufacturer… so, make sure to thoroughly test a new laptop and exercise the warranty with the laptop. Also, if they offer an extended warranty, spend the extra money… even if you only exercise it once for the RMA of a low-cost part in the laptop, it will pretty much pay for itself.
Acer laptops are the lousiest, trust me. I always see last years' models being resold at second hand stores and advertised at colleges after using it for a year (or even less)
And I happen to own a Dell Inspiron 640m for almost two years and I had no troubles so far, just like Zephyr_Pure said about getting the good laptop from Dell.
Which is pretty good compared to most of the Acer users that always have issues with their laptops in most ways people can imagine.
spyware wrote: 800 to 2,500 what? Dollars? You should narrow your search a bit
Also; can you fix my quote in your sig? Replace "year" with "years". Thanks.
Well, I can narrow it down some. I will be using it for college eventually when I graduate high school. I don't travel allot, the most it would really travel is when I spent the night at a friends house.
I would like it to be wide screen though. I am looking for something geared more into the area of performance. Because I have always been into computers and have been doing allot more of this.. "hacking" type of things. Eventually I plan to learn some kind of programming language and replace windows with linux. (And don't worry I am looking over the recommended laptops that have already been posted here.)
Oh yea and I edited my sig spyware.