Help choosing a laptop

Umaro

So, I'm heading off to college next month. My family has promised to purchase me a shiny new laptop computer. However, they're only able to spend $500-600 or so on one. I just want something that will allow me to do my homework and access basic internet shit (forums, email, messangers, etc.) I don't care if it takes it half an hour to load a YouTube video, just that it performs basic functions at a speed that will not drive me to suicide.

Also, I know absolutely nothing of computer brands, costs, etc. but I know I won't be getting anything great. Suggestions?

Wezoin

I personally have an HP, it's been great. I hear alot of good things about Dell lately (used to hear terrible things about them though.) The EEE pc might also be an option for you, as it's in your price range, and capable of doing everything you described, but also highly portable (if the small screen doesn't bother you.)

Another good place to look is Notebook Review.com, their forum has a specific "recommend me a notebook" section, with very specific questions and they make alot of great recommendations.

Quid

My acer's been very good to me over the last few years. The only issue I have with it is the crappy (even for a laptop) sound and the obscene amount of heat it generates. But both of those problems are solved fairly easy.

Dman

If your budget is tight sometimes you can get a good sale and/or factory refurbished computer. I know newegg and tigerdirect have some good prices for parts, not sure what they are like with regard to laptops. I've never had any trouble with factory refurbished desktops but I haven't gotten a factory refurbished laptop.

I've never owned an apple but someone around these forums keeps harping that they some sweet deal for students involving a free printer and isomething when you buy a laptop.

RUNN1NGMAN

For what you need it to do, almost every manufacturer offers baseline models in your price range. Dell may be a good choice for you--their baseline Inspirion model is $499. For $100 more they give you a little more juice--that's the one you'd probably want, as the $499 model is really gimped.

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspnnb_1525?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

Improvolone

I would look into the "netbook" line. For instance, the Asus EEE.
Cheap, tiny, some have great battery, and all at the cost of some performance.

RUNN1NGMAN

Improvolone wrote: »

I would look into the "netbook" line. For instance, the Asus EEE.
Cheap, tiny, some have great battery, and all at the cost of some performance.

For college? Really? When it's four in the morning and you have three more pages to write for your Russian Lit term paper, do you really want to be typing on that little toy computer?

brandotheninjamaster

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115476 this one looks pretty good.

Improvolone

RUNN1NGMAN wrote: »

Improvolone wrote: »

I would look into the "netbook" line. For instance, the Asus EEE.
Cheap, tiny, some have great battery, and all at the cost of some performance.

For college? Really? When it's four in the morning and you have three more pages to write for your Russian Lit term paper, do you really want to be typing on that little toy computer?

For college? Really? When you will probably be able to use a computer the most, do you really want to be able to bring it everywhere?

brandotheninjamaster

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2030260032%204021&bop=And&Order=PRICE

OP, the above is a list of all laptops for $500-$700. Take a look at what you can get.

Cyvros

RUNN1NGMAN wrote: »

For what you need it to do, almost every manufacturer offers baseline models in your price range. Dell may be a good choice for you--their baseline Inspirion model is $499. For $100 more they give you a little more juice--that's the one you'd probably want, as the $499 model is really gimped.

http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/inspnnb_1525?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

I'd second this. I got an Inspiron 1501 early last year (before they were phased out) and it's been working well. It was relatively cheap, had good specs and Vista actually works fine on it (probably due to the hardware working well with the OS, quite by accident).

EDIT: I don't know about the new baseline Inspiron, but the 1501 isn't too heavy. You may want to look into getting a 9-cell rather than a 6-cell battery if you'll be using it away from a power socket fairly often, but this would add some weight and cost. The 6-cell generally lasts 3/3.5 hours, the 9-cell about 5 hours.

Eat_Fire

I won't recommend a particular model for you, but instead give a few pointers:

Don't get anything bigger than a 15in screen if you plan on taking this thing to class. Unless your on a football scholarship carrying a giant notebook isn't fun. (this shouldnt be too big of a deal with your price range)

Make sure you cough up some money for a decent case for your laptop. Portability means this thing is gonna take every pothole, run, and set of stairs you do. Most retail stores can get you a bag that fits snug on your laptop and provides good padding to keep it from being damaged. This way you can also get a backpack that has a slot specificly for your laptop or you can opt for a seperate bag for books.

I cannot in good conscience recommend Acer or Dell laptops as their support is poor for more than 50% of their customers. Long delays, bad repairs, and outsourced tech support.

If you are going off to a university most of them have a purchase plan for Microsoft Office, so if you prefer this to the freeware OpenOffice. You can pick it up on cheap from the university.

Rook

Opps, I meant to say that except for the outsourcing (which means you have some odd e-mails) I've been fairly impressed with Dell's support. There's some very nice touches, like having a diagnostic suite as part of the boot loader that's very full featured. And the engineer they sent out to fix my problem (faulty ram stick) came with everything on the offchance that he'd need to replace the mainboard/HDD etc.

Also, Inspiron's are big and bulky, I wouldn't get one for college, the XPS is nice and sleek, and the new studio's look very cool and fix my couple of minor niggles about the XPS design. As for laptop bag, don't get one of the single shoulder strap ones.

Improvolone wrote: »

RUNN1NGMAN wrote: »

Improvolone wrote: »

I would look into the "netbook" line. For instance, the Asus EEE.
Cheap, tiny, some have great battery, and all at the cost of some performance.

For college? Really? When it's four in the morning and you have three more pages to write for your Russian Lit term paper, do you really want to be typing on that little toy computer?

For college? Really? When you will probably be able to use a computer the most, do you really want to be able to bring it everywhere?

Don't forget that it's got a couple of USB slots, so you could easily plug in a keyboard, mouse and even external monitor at home. If gaming is not an issue, then I think it's a pretty sensible suggestion. I'd probably look more to something like the MSI Wind or the HP Mininote. But they're all usable.

Cyvros

Eat_Fire wrote: »

I cannot in good conscience recommend Acer or Dell laptops as their support is poor for more than 50% of their customers. Long delays, bad repairs, and outsourced tech support.

I can't speak for others' experiences, but I've had a good run with Dell support. I've contacted them three times - first two were minor issues within the first year and got resolved within a couple of days, and the third was a screwed-up HDD last month that got replaced within two days.

I suppose it depends on what kind of warranty you're willing to pay for and what problems (if any) you have, but that's just my two cents (the Australian dollar is close to equal with the US, so I can round it to two).

Djeet

Before buying a notebook with a 10 inch diagonal screen or smaller, you should really type on one for 10+ minutes. And type like you're taking notes or writing a paper (not like you're surfing the net). Hey if you can type on it then it might be a great fit for you; I get irritated with little shit, like the shift keys being too small.

Personally I need a keyboard deck with a 12"+ diagonal in order to touch type for extended periods of time. Also having a dvd drive or burner is quite handy, like if your friend wants to lend you a CD-ROM or DVD.

The "netbook" style PC is a nice supplement if you already have a full-fledged notebook (or desktop), but if it's your only machine I think it's lacking. You could certainly get a USB keyboard and mouse, but that compromises the portability, footprint and cost savings you might realize from a netbook.

I don't have any particular brand suggestions, but it should be noted that surveyed poor customer service experiences between most major notebook players are within a percentage point or 2 of one another. To get under 6 bills, try to find a notebook with an AMD Turion X2 chip.