Buying a laptop

Cynic Jester

I'm moving to Ireland soon, and I plan on leaving my aging desktop behind, mainly because of previous attempts to fly with it have met with less than stellar success. I'm not sure how long I'll be in Ireland, but chances are it won't be for longer than a year or two, meaning I'd have to drag whatever computer I get back with me.

Enter a laptop. Now, I will be bringing a monitor, keyboard and mouse along, meaning screen size and such are not all that important.

While I consider myself pretty well acquainted with the computer world, laptops are something I've never delved into, so I have no idea what's what. This is where you come in.

I'm pretty sure I want at least an i5, right? Or should I look into AMDs offerings as well?

And the geforce 3xx/radeon 5xxx cards should be good for gaming, no?

Also, is it possible to get a lightweight and small laptop with gaming specs? When I game on it, it will be hooked up to a monitor, so screensize is a non-issue for me, but most of the gaming oriented laptops I've seen look are all pushing the 17" mark.

chasm

Spotted this yesterday and almost regret getting my UL80: http://www.amazon.com/Asus-G60JX-RBBX05-Notebook-Manufacturer-Refurbished/dp/B003WUXMVY/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I1GLDO6AL8UISD&colid=2ENZ7HHPY3TFP

0blique

What are you planning on playing on your laptop?

Cynic Jester

I play tons of games, so everything from Civ 4 to the latest shooter. Gaming ADD basically.

kleinfehn

Just going to throw my hat in there and say avoid HP. I had horrible customer service on a laptop defect and they are basically telling me to buzz off. My advice is to also look for one that isn't totally brand new so people will find any heating issues there might be with laptops or other problems.

Shadowfire

As always in these threads, I'll be recommending ASUS here. You didn't mention a price range, but it doesn't matter. This gem is running $1299 right now, and has a $100 mail-in rebate. I've owned a variant of this laptop for about 5 months now, paid around $200 more, and still think it's absolutely worth it. The thing is amazingly fast, runs just about everything I've thrown at it at max settings (except Crysis, but whatever), and looks nice. It's still big, but it's not a 17" brick. Also, ASUS has damn good service, and a stock 2 year warranty (the first year covers accidental damage).



Edit: XoticPC is the company I bought from, and while you may find it cheaper elsewhere, they're a licensed ASUS dealer. If you want to do things like change the thermal paste, you can have them do that without voiding your warranty. Also, their service is excellent. I can't describe how patient they were with me when I was freaking out being computerless in the middle of the semester (my old laptop died the day after I ordered my new one).

Mai-Kero

Asus is probably the best manufacturer to go with. They make more of their own parts than any other company. Also, Best Buy covers their plans internationally with local repair shops, so you won't need to ship anything out if something goes wrong if you get it from them. Prices may be a bit higher, but it's usually worth it.

Rivulent

What size are you looking for? I have a 17" gaming laptop I'm about to put out to pasture. Looking back, I should have never gotten a 17" laptop... too big. 15.6"-16.0" is where it's at. I'd look into the Asus G53, but that's a few months away.

Ledneh

I just bought this here Lenovo Y460 on the basis that it was 400 off--paid 800 for 1200 worth of machine. Do I done good?

KnifeySpoony

I suppose I'll post in this thread rather than making another one. I am a looking for a new laptop as well. I am a transfer student to a new university but unfortunately will be commuting to campus. I will have a few hours between classes, therefore I need a laptop I can take over there to do work, watch stuff.

1. My budget is ~$600-700
2. It should have an HDMI port as I want to watch stuff on my TV at home.
3. I have a gaming PC at home, so I won't need anything in that regard.
4. Portability is a focus, so I wanted something between 13-14''

I was looking at this Asus UL30vt-x1k as well as this Acer Aspire TimelineX.

As for the OP I've heard great things about the UL80 posted though I'm not sure how you feel about refurbished products.

mightyjongyo

Knifey - if you don't need a dvd drive a netbook in general is always good for portability, and even if you do, you can get an external dvd drive for ~$30. Netbooks are around $300-$500 so it falls within your budget too. If you poke around newegg you can find one with good reviews easily enough.

KnifeySpoony

mightyjongyo wrote: »

Knifey - if you don't need a dvd drive a netbook in general is always good for portability, and even if you do, you can get an external dvd drive for ~$30. Netbooks are around $300-$500 so it falls within your budget too. If you poke around newegg you can find one with good reviews easily enough.

Are netbooks capable enough to handle playing on a 37'' (or so) TV via HDMI?

Those laptops I linked don't have drives, so that isn't an issue.

chasm

I've got this: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i3+Processor+/+14%22+Display+/+4GB+Memory+/+500GB+Hard+Drive+-+Black/9964891.p?id=1218206200334&skuId=9964891 and aside from Optimus being a good idea in theory but sucking shit through a straw in reality, it's a damned fine computer. Even has an optical drive.

KnifeySpoony

What do you guys think of this laptop?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung+-+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i3+Processor+-+Red/Black/9748289.p?id=1218166153790&skuId=9748289

quippley

I'm a Mac fan, but I know those can get expensive. For a good, inexpensive laptop, I'd recommend Toshiba