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OJK
Stranger
Registered: 06/08/03
Posts: 10,629
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Buying a laptop, $750-$1000, advice?
#7286575 - 08/12/07 04:57 AM (16 years, 7 months ago) |
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Hey,
I'm moving to Canada next year from the UK, so I'm going to buy a laptop to replace my current box because I can't take it with me.
I'm looking for something under a thousand bucks.
Things it needs to have:
* At least a gig of memory * Decent dual-core processor (I've had Intel's Core 2 Duo recommended to me highly, thoughts?) * Standard laptop fare - DVD drive, wireless, wired ethernet, PCMCIA slots (or whatever the current standard PC Card is)
Things I'd like it to have:
* >100gb primary drive * Dedicated graphics card
I realise that trying to find a sub-$1000 notebook with a dedicated graphics card might be a bit of a tall order, but I'm really wary of integrated stuff. Thoughts on this? I'd like it to be able to play games, but not necesserily bleeding-edge games - C&C Tiberium Wars/Half-Life 2 kind of stuff. Is it worth shelling out the extra bucks for a low-end graphics card in a laptop at this price point?
OS doesn't matter, I'm going to wipe whatever comes with it and dual booot XP Pro/some *nix flavour
Thanks for any advice!
Oh, and I was looking at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834210003 as something that might possibly fill my needs - thoughts?
Also, perhaps http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834280004 - athlon, but it looks pretty good
Edit: prices are in US dollars, I'll be buying it from either an American or Canadian website, probably American because the US dollar is so weak right now :P
Edited by Odiumjunkie (08/12/07 05:16 AM)
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Legoulash
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Re: Buying a laptop, $750-$1000, advice? [Re: OJK]
#7287984 - 08/12/07 03:29 PM (16 years, 7 months ago) |
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Where in canada you moving man??
You seem to have a preaty good grasp on what your looking for, all I could sudjest is Ebay as I have had great luck with killer deals.. But it takes alittle more work and you dont always get everything you need.
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automan
blasted chipmunk
Registered: 09/18/03
Posts: 8,272
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Re: Buying a laptop, $750-$1000, advice? [Re: OJK]
#7288022 - 08/12/07 03:41 PM (16 years, 7 months ago) |
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OJ, most all the manufacturers use the same parts. if i were to get a laptop, i would go with the best warranty. maybe one of the ubuntu dell machines?
-------------------- No, no, you're not thinking, you're just being logical. ~ Niels Bohr
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RuNE
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Re: Buying a laptop, $750-$1000, advice? [Re: OJK]
#7290726 - 08/13/07 11:36 AM (16 years, 7 months ago) |
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Memory I wouldnt worry too much about, since you can upgrade notebook memory as easy as a regular PC. Takes 5 mins.
If you cannot find anything with decent dedicated graphics, i suggest saving up instead of going cheap. I DO recommend the geforce GO series. Anything above mid range (x600,x800) will be good. My gf bought a Toshiba M40 with a nvidia 6600 GO card a few years back, and we play WoW on it with high settings and all. Works great. Avoid the ATI 1600 series if possible. Shitty card. If you can get one with a 7600, those are amazing cards.
I'd rather have a PC that is well rounded than one with a super fast CPU, and crap all around. Things like ram/HD space, you can always upgrade these later.
-------------------- ~Happy sailing~
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supra
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Re: Buying a laptop, $750-$1000, advice? [Re: OJK]
#7292548 - 08/13/07 10:34 PM (16 years, 7 months ago) |
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i am going to add a question in here if you dont mind odium, as i am in the market for a lappy at this time also.
Do you guys recommend HP or Toshiba? I am buying from OfficeMax and that is what I have to chose from...
peace
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RuNE
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Re: Buying a laptop, $750-$1000, advice? [Re: supra]
#7299114 - 08/15/07 09:30 PM (16 years, 7 months ago) |
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Off the bat, i'd say Toshiba. They're always #1 with laptops. However, HP has been picking up the slack recently with laptops, and both companies, like all, can have their shitty models here and there.
Best advice would be to go out with an idea of what you want, find the best match, write down model number, and look up some user feedback/reviews on the net.
-------------------- ~Happy sailing~
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MycoThrill
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Re: Buying a laptop, $750-$1000, advice? [Re: supra]
#7299144 - 08/15/07 09:37 PM (16 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
supra said: i am going to add a question in here if you dont mind odium, as i am in the market for a lappy at this time also.
Do you guys recommend HP or Toshiba? I am buying from OfficeMax and that is what I have to chose from...
peace
OHOHOH!! Toshiba's rock. That's what I use, and that's always what I recommend. They're great, reliable and have the best customer support in my opinion.They usually come with at least 120GB HDD, 1GB of RAM and a Intel dual-core.
-------------------- "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page." ---St. Augustine
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OJK
Stranger
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Re: Buying a laptop, $750-$1000, advice? [Re: MycoThrill]
#7316937 - 08/21/07 08:10 AM (16 years, 6 months ago) |
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OK, thanks for the advice so far guys.
I think I'm pretty set on this one - http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/130740
It's a Toshiba Satellite A200, 1gb ram, 120gb HD, intel dual core T2080, 15.4" widescreen
It doesn't have the dedicated graphics memory I was hoping for, but it does have two outputs (VGA and S-Video) which I think is pretty cool, means I can hook up two monitors when I'm at home
Another plus is that I can get 1 year total cover against accidental damage + theft for only $80 on top, which seems pretty good value to me, as I'll be travelling next year
does anyone see anything really wrong with it?
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Great Scott
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Re: Buying a laptop, $750-$1000, advice? [Re: OJK]
#7323465 - 08/22/07 09:11 PM (16 years, 6 months ago) |
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I'm in the market for a laptop too. Almost settled on the Toshiba A215 S4757 I've been doing a lot of research and talking to a lot of tech nerds and Toshiba (w/ core duo, 1 GB + memory, and all the rest) seems to be the ticket.
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Edited by Great Scott (08/22/07 09:12 PM)
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MycoThrill
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Re: Buying a laptop, $750-$1000, advice? [Re: Great Scott]
#7323480 - 08/22/07 09:15 PM (16 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
PeyoteZen said: I'm in the market for a laptop too. Almost settled on the Toshiba A215 S4757 I've been doing a lot of research and talking to a lot of tech nerds and Toshiba (w/ core duo, 1 GB + memory, and all the rest) seems to be the ticket.
lol...we love Toshibas. I work on computers for a living and yes, Toshiba is by far the BEST!!!
-------------------- "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page." ---St. Augustine
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maggotz
Registered: 06/24/06
Posts: 7,539
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Re: Buying a laptop, $750-$1000, advice? [Re: Great Scott]
#7324624 - 08/23/07 06:49 AM (16 years, 6 months ago) |
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toshiba laptops are awesome but a lot of the matshita dvd burners they come with have been defective. mine was. but other than that i love it.
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Nashbar
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Re: Buying a laptop, $750-$1000, advice? [Re: maggotz]
#7326076 - 08/23/07 02:46 PM (16 years, 6 months ago) |
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ibm is the way to go if you have the $$$, even if you don't have the money, ibm is worth every penny
dell is crap, from experience and my job
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