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How's this for a starter laptop?

TrueHereticXTrueHereticX We are the future Charles, not them. They no longer matter.Sydney, AustraliaRegistered User regular
edited July 2008 in Help / Advice Forum
I've been saving for a laptop, and this week i should have enough to buy this little beauty

HERO1-JB-AU-73-20080708-NAV-HP-JB-A.jpg

What I want to know, from a knowledgable person, is for Photography, Movies and the like, is this a good laptop or should I save for a better one?

Also, I will be getting an external Hard Drive (probably a 500gb) in the near future

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Posts

  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu PIGEON Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    That seems a little expensive to me, although a dedicated 256MB graphics card doesn't sound too bad and perhaps the Turion 64 is faster than I think it is. For comparison shopping with other Turion 64 X2 laptops check out this link.

    TychoCelchuuu on
  • Prot3usProt3us Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    What are you going to do with this laptop?

    Prot3us on
  • TrueHereticXTrueHereticX We are the future Charles, not them. They no longer matter. Sydney, AustraliaRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Photomanipulation, Video editing (only basic stuff at first), ipod stuff and surfing the web mostly

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  • saggiosaggio Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Apple makes the best laptops. Unless you specifically need Windows (or Linux, for that matter) for something specific, go with Apple and get all the benefits of OS X and the sweet construction.

    saggio on
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  • ImprovoloneImprovolone Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    How much is your budget?
    If you can afford it, build your own PC and buy an Asus EEE or something similar for your laptop.

    Improvolone on
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  • TrueHereticXTrueHereticX We are the future Charles, not them. They no longer matter. Sydney, AustraliaRegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Budget is $1200

    Don't really want a desktop, since the family already has one and I usually go on long train trips on the weekends

    Also, going on a week long trip up to the Gold Coast with my mates this christmas and I'm the deisgnated Tech Guy

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  • ImprovoloneImprovolone Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Thus wanting the laptop to be able to do those things.
    Check.

    Improvolone on
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  • KrisKris Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    saggio wrote: »
    Apple makes the best laptops. Unless you specifically need Windows (or Linux, for that matter) for something specific, go with Apple and get all the benefits of OS X and the sweet construction.

    Even if he needed Windows for something specific, you can run Windows on an Apple now anyways.

    However, with a budget of $1200, he'd only be able to snag the low-end Macbook, and with its integrated graphics, I don't think it would meet his video editing needs.

    Kris on
  • TasteticleTasteticle Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    go to dell.com and build your own laptop. They have a good amount of options for this stuff and don't overprice their shit.

    Tasteticle on

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  • WezoinWezoin Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Yeah, it seems overpriced to me. For that (even in Canada, land of the overpriced laptop, at least compared to the US) I could get an HP with an Intel Core 2 Duo, a decent mobile nvidia chip (the "256MB Dedicated Graphics Card!" part of the ad makes it sound like it might be one of the lesser known videocard brands), and 3 - 4gb of ram for about $1000 CAD

    Wezoin on
  • ToefooToefoo Los Angeles, CARegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Thats like $300 less than mine (and its even a HP as well), except mine has:

    Pentium Dual Core 1.7ghz processor
    3gb DDR2 RAM
    17" Widescreen (1440x900)
    GeForce 8600M GS DX10 card with 512mb dedicated memory (1300mb shared)
    And to top it off, a Blu-ray Drive

    I snagged it from Best Buy, and while I hate buying computers from there (I used to work there and saw how they unloaded them "with care") it was a steal. It was like $1299 I think, and the model is HP Pavilion dv9000.

    I think you're on the right track with HP, as they make some pretty decent laptops, but I agree with the other posters that the one in the OP seems a bit overpriced.

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  • Synthetic OrangeSynthetic Orange Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    That's not a JB hifi ad is it? I'd usually suggest a Dell if you want more specs for your hardware, but comparing this to a similarly priced Inspiron, the only difference is that the dell offers 250gb HD space and deliver to your door.

    Also, Australian prices, har har.

    Synthetic Orange on
  • ToefooToefoo Los Angeles, CARegistered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Doh, didn't notice the Australia part. After re-reading though, I think you're better off saving for a while longer and getting a Macbook. If photography/multimedia is your bag, then Apple laptops are the mecca of laptops.

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  • Synthetic OrangeSynthetic Orange Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Rargh, I work with image and video all the time and seriously, stick with whichever system you're going to be working with and have heavily invested in, Mac or Windows. I've not seen Macs do anything that PCs cant and vice versa.

    Except come with two mouse buttons.

    Synthetic Orange on
  • WezoinWezoin Registered User regular
    edited July 2008
    Yeah, sorry, didn't see the Australia part. It doesn't seem like a terrible deal, just not a very good one (by US/Canada pricing standards) so it'd probably fairly good for Australia's pricing.

    Wezoin on
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