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Standard "New Laptop for the GF" Thread
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...laser cats?Registered User regular
...laser cats?Registered User regular
I almost know there is one of these every month or so, but with the search function broken and not finding too much to go on 5 pages back, here's another.
GF's 7 year old Inspiron 6000 finally died tonight. She needs the standard web browsing/email/word processing amount of power.
She's happy with getting another Dell, but I'm thinking a Thinkpad or Toshiba might be other options. I just want to avoid grabbing the first cheap laptop that looks like it would fit her needs and end up with sub-par parts or just low end specs that aren't going to be enough.
I know practically nothing when it comes to laptop (or desktop, for that matter) hardware, but I'm thinking:
Screen: 15"
RAM: 4 GB, at least
HDD: doesn't matter, just something reliable
Processor: I'm thinking i5 level, but that's just me picking the middle. Would i3 (or equivalent) be more than enough?
Video/Sound: Onboard
Any suggestions?
GF's 7 year old Inspiron 6000 finally died tonight. She needs the standard web browsing/email/word processing amount of power.
She's happy with getting another Dell, but I'm thinking a Thinkpad or Toshiba might be other options. I just want to avoid grabbing the first cheap laptop that looks like it would fit her needs and end up with sub-par parts or just low end specs that aren't going to be enough.
I know practically nothing when it comes to laptop (or desktop, for that matter) hardware, but I'm thinking:
Screen: 15"
RAM: 4 GB, at least
HDD: doesn't matter, just something reliable
Processor: I'm thinking i5 level, but that's just me picking the middle. Would i3 (or equivalent) be more than enough?
Video/Sound: Onboard
Any suggestions?
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I have a Macbook Pro (Core 2 Duo) and truthfully they're a bit overkill for someone who doesn't want to play Starcraft 2 and Civ V.
http://promotions.newegg.com/NEemail/May-0-2011/Recertified19/index-landing.html?nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL051911&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL051911-_-EMC-051911-Index-_-E0-_-PromoWord
But given what she will be doing on the laptop, I would say anything will work for her. Find a price range you guys are comfortable with and go to your local big box stores and see what specs she likes then go build one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230021&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL051911&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL051911-_-EMC-051911-Index-_-LaptopsNotebooks-_-34230021-L02A
That one looks pretty dang good, except for the slooooow HDD
Thing is, I feel she'd almost be lost on a Mac, but I'll run it by her for sure given all the positive responses for it.
I guess the only other thing I can ask is related to the i3/i5/i7 type stuff: Would an i3 be more than enough for her? I have a strong feeling she'll want to get another Dell seeing how long the first one lasted her, so I just want to cover all my bases and make sure an i3 isn't a bad purchase to make. I've heard and read a bunch about the i7 being a little too costly for it's power, lots of people saying i5, but very little regarding the i3.
Thanks for the responses.
i3 is fine. For what she does she'd probably be fine with a Core 2 Duo (which the current Airs have, though the next generation should have iXs)
At least let (/make) her poke around on a Mac at an Apple store. If she's not coming into it with any prejudices she should be able to pick up the OS really quickly. Again, especially for what she uses it for.
Again, I'd at least look into the Chromebooks (link: http://www.google.com/chromebook/#chromebooks).
Re: Netbooks - I know she doesn't need a big screen, but it's what she's used too and what she's requested for the new one, so netbooks are out. She's used them before, so at least here I know she's at least tried them out and doesn't like the feel of them.
Re: Chromebooks - I checked them out the first time, and while they look great and would most likely be perfect, I doubt she'll go for the 12" screen. I'll definitely be putting it in the lineup for her to pick from though.
Re: Processors - Thanks for the feedback, and good to know I can go low end for it and it will be enough.
Hopefully all of this will help her realize that when Dell offers to fix her 6+ year old laptop for $500 all-in (but only if you agree now, no talking to anyone first), it's really is just a rip off.
Thanks again all.
I got my then GF (now wife) a netbook because she wanted something she could take with her everywhere. Well, after figuring out that portability isn't nearly as important as performance (and our 3 year old turning her ASUS netbook keyboard into a half-full scrabble board), shes been looking around. Her netbook has been acting funny, so shes been using my 17" HP Pav, which she loves but thinks it's a little too big.
Her gaming consists of mostly Facebook applications, but she does a LOT of photo editing, sorting, storing, processing, and the like. I've recently got her hooked on Photoshop. She also has a pretty big music collection.
I know nothing about laptop graphics chips, but I'm fairly certain that any modern embedded proc will handle Farmville just as well as my 8800M. Should I go for the i5 or i7 chip since she's so heavy into visual media? I mean, she's doing video editing, picture editing, and all kinds of stuff.
I have heard good things about the coming x1. Their T series is as good as always. However a lot of the Thinkpad Edges tend to have cheap screens. Their netbook is apparantly well built.
As far as the OP is concerned...
I am also in the market for a laptop and have been looking for one in the sub $1000 range.
The best ones I found are the following
Asus Silver 14" U41JF-A1 Review
14" HD LED Display; 3 USB 2.0 Ports; 4-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro); HDMI and VGA Port; 802.11 b/g/n; Bluetooth 2.0
Intel Core i3-380M Processor 2.53GHz; 4GB of DDR3 1333MHz RAM (2x2GB, 2 slots)
NV 425M 1G DDR3 + Intel GMA HD (Optimus Technology) (this is a good card); 500GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
Windows 7 Home Premium Operating System (64 bit)
2 Year Standard Warranty and 1 Year Accidental Damage Warranty
$808 on Amazon. The battery life is also insane for the specs (about 8 hours under normal conditions) PC Mag gave it 4 1/2 stars and their Editor's Choice.
The Sony Vaio E-Series seems to offer bang for the buck. You can order one with upgraded graphics (ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5650 GPU) which is great for that price range (about $800 w/o tax). The battery life is also decent (5 hours or so) but not as good as the Asus I mentioned. The 5650 is a better GPU however.
This Samsung is also pretty good bang for your buck as well. Review
When looking at Laptops keep in mind that Dell, Sony, Samsung, Asus, Apple, and Toshiba usually do a good job. I would personally stay away from Acer and HP. If you or your GF is a student she may also be eligible for discounts. Laptop manufacturers (other than Asus it seems) offer student discounts usually ranging from $100-200 off. Apple was offering a free touch with mac purchase awhile back. Dell right now is offering a free Xbox 360 4g with select laptops. If you have a AAA membership you may also be eligible for discounts from them.
Steam 3DS: 1160-9885-2554
Also, the free Xbox promotion should be popping up with other brands here shortly. Basically it's buy any Win7 computer that is $699+ and get a free Xbox. It's supposed to run through the whole summer as well.
I'll also add that I've had no issue with HP laptops, but I do agree that you should stay away from Acer.
As a college-bound student this time last year, I bought the HP dv6 (15.6") and ordered it with a ATI mobile 5730 GPU, a core i5, and the standard 6-cell battery for a mobile gaming laptop that could take notes and write me papers. It can definitely be used for everything you guys have wanted in addition to home video editing, but you can definitely go cheaper, smaller, lighter, and more battery efficient for something that surfs the web and works with Microsoft Office type junk.
A note on the battery life: without the ATI GPU on, it has about an hour and a half of note-taking usage off plug and then it dies. It dies within an hour if I do turn on the main GPU (and just takes goddamned notes). From what I can see around campus, the laptops with the greatest staying power don't have dedicated graphics and there is no real discerning winner of any brand or type barring netbooks with SSDs, which basically cheat here. [Additional note: I also quickly realized that it is also definitely heavier and larger than what I wanted after carrying it around everywhere with me for a year.]
So yeah, try to think about mobility as well. Is she gonna sit in one spot all the time? It's still annoying to always need to plug this (big) fucker in all the time, just FYI. I end up using my desktop for most papers because of that, kind of sad really.
I realize my Power Level is still small yet.
1.5 hours? That's pretty terrible. Was it like that straight out of the box? Dedicated graphics definitely do put a significant dent on battery life. But, if they're switchable with something integrated, that helps immensely. For the OP's (girlfriend's) needs, though, I wouldn't bother with dedicated graphics.
The way I see it, if you're buying a laptop for mobility, don't skimp on the mobility. Light weight, durability, strong battery life (I wouldn't tolerate anything less than 5 hours these days), and favorable dimensions should be big factors. Otherwise, you're basically overpaying for an inferior desktop, because you'll always be tethered to a wall socket, and you won't be very inclined to take it places. If you aren't buying a laptop for mobility, your money is likely better spent on a desktop.
*and yes it was like that out of the box, annoying as dick, if I do say so myself.
I realize my Power Level is still small yet.
Given the fact that it was necessarily going to be a compromise given my needs, it served me about as well as it possibly could have and got me back into serious PC gaming. But a relatively brief 1.5 years later I was no longer at school and therefore no longer required portability. What I was left with was a computer that was, from the beginning, far inferior to a desktop system put together for the same price, and which was now showing its age in terms of performance and gaming with pretty much no worthwhile options for upgrading. As laptops go its still a good performer outside of games and such (heck, it'll run most games made up until the past year or two pretty well), but it's relatively huge and heavy, runs very hot, and has negligible battery life. When I need a PC I can take with me there is virtually no reason not to just use the netbook I acquired along the way instead. Thus, the new desktop system I built this January.
In retrospect I would have been better off building a desktop system (if I had had the gumption at the time) and buying a netbook at the very beginning. The two together would have only cost as much or possibly less than what I paid for my supposed super-laptop, the desktop would quite possibly have had a longer useful lifespan as a main computer and gaming machine, and the netbook would have been sufficient for all of my mobile computing needs at school.
That said, I do think it's possible to get a decent "jack of all trades" in a laptop. Something both mobile and powerful. But, it won't exactly be something you'll find for 500 bucks at Best Buy. So, I guess I'd argue that if you aren't willing to pay the price for something like that, you're usually (not always) better off choosing from the "extremes". Either get a cheaper but properly mobile laptop (or netbook) with less power, or just get a desktop. Or, as you've suggested, maybe even both.
The only issue I have with them is the fact that the rubber bottom gets dirty REALLY easily, and it has all the downfalls of being made of plastic.
The airs are slick little machines, I'd definitely get one if browsing and such were all I were to use it for. Be warned though, since the hard drives are NAND flash, if she has some kind of failure, data recovery is all but impossible. Set her up with a good backup solution.
I'm waiting on the new Air's to see if I went to replace my current MBP with a newer one or an Air, but if I go with the Air I think I'll also be grabbing a time machine for just that issue.
Also, I grabbed an SSD and threw it into my MBP a while ago. Best decision ever.