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I want to buy a laptop...
DustyBottoms
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I have money and have decided that I want to spend it on getting a laptop to use for school and other stuff. Would be much more convenient for me to have a portable computer for doing word processing and maybe internet access while on campus (I commute) but also nice for not being confined to my room to be on the computer. Here are my questions.
1) Is Vista a problem? My sister is dead-set against it but won't give me any concrete reasoning or explain why it affects me - it seems that many of the issues seem to be compatibility issues when upgrading from XP. This wouldn't affect me with a new computer. I could get XP Professional on the laptop if I buy from Lenovo and she says Dell too, but we have had terrible history with their customer service.
2) Currently I'm stuck between a Thinkpad R61e and an HP Pavillion dv6500t. The Thinkpad comes with XP Professional, 2gHz dual core processor, 1 GB RAM, integrated graphics, 80gb HDD, 15.4" screen, etc. I have access to the IBM shareholder discount and could get it for about $900 after tax. The Pavillion comes with Vista Home Premium, 2gHz dual core processor, 2 GB RAM, GeForce 8400M vid card, and the 15.4" screen. I have a coupon for $200 off $1000 or more Pavillion laptops, bringing the price of that one down to about $870 or so after tax. I guess this question is an offshoot of the last question, but also, is an integrated graphics card less desirable than a dedicated one? I can't lower the specs of the Pavillion to save money, because otherwise, it's under $1000 and I can't use the coupon.
Any recommendations on deals/pre-built laptops or particular brands to look at? Any advice that can be offered would be great.
1) Is Vista a problem? My sister is dead-set against it but won't give me any concrete reasoning or explain why it affects me - it seems that many of the issues seem to be compatibility issues when upgrading from XP. This wouldn't affect me with a new computer. I could get XP Professional on the laptop if I buy from Lenovo and she says Dell too, but we have had terrible history with their customer service.
2) Currently I'm stuck between a Thinkpad R61e and an HP Pavillion dv6500t. The Thinkpad comes with XP Professional, 2gHz dual core processor, 1 GB RAM, integrated graphics, 80gb HDD, 15.4" screen, etc. I have access to the IBM shareholder discount and could get it for about $900 after tax. The Pavillion comes with Vista Home Premium, 2gHz dual core processor, 2 GB RAM, GeForce 8400M vid card, and the 15.4" screen. I have a coupon for $200 off $1000 or more Pavillion laptops, bringing the price of that one down to about $870 or so after tax. I guess this question is an offshoot of the last question, but also, is an integrated graphics card less desirable than a dedicated one? I can't lower the specs of the Pavillion to save money, because otherwise, it's under $1000 and I can't use the coupon.
Any recommendations on deals/pre-built laptops or particular brands to look at? Any advice that can be offered would be great.
DustyBottoms on
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2) The Pavillion seems to be the better deal, at least in terms of raw performance. If you're doing any kind of gaming on the machine, the dedicated video will perform much better than the integrated graphics (though still sub-desktop performance by a long shot). As for build quality, I'm not really too familiar with HP and IBM, though I've heard good things about IBM.