If you had to pick a laptop for under 1k ...

[Canadian 2.5RS]

If you had to pick a laptop for under 1k (on sale or not) what would it be and why?

Basically I'm thinking of getting a laptop for general use (like watching movies and doing work but not any real gaming) and I have no clue what I am getting into. I would like to spend less than $1000 (or $1000 w/ a warrenty, i like the mem express warrenty).

What would you choose? Please provide a link if you have one.

Thanks in advance for any opinions.

[googe]

http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...INGFS10070992#

[HyperZell]

http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...ctID=5755&SID=

But honestly, I would recommend saving up for a bit because in this sort of market, you get what you pay for. Sure, you might save a few hundred bucks right now with a cheaper model, but you might just have to replace it all that quicker in the future. Everything in that model I linked is just about outdated already. I would urge you to spend a little more and get this one:

http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...ctID=5755&SID=

The price difference won't really matter a year from now, but the features sure as heck will.

[Canadian 2.5RS]

Originally posted by HyperZell
http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...=5755&SID=

But honestly, I would recommend saving up for a bit because in this sort of market, you get what you pay for. Sure, you might save a few hundred bucks right now with a cheaper model, but you might just have to replace it all that quicker in the future. Everything in that model I linked is just about outdated already. I would urge you to spend a little more and get this one:

http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...=5755&SID=

The price difference won't really matter a year from now, but the features sure as heck will.

Forgive me if i am missing something but aren't the links the same?

[Canadian 2.5RS]

I found this little FAQ and i thought it would help make my decision/

General Questions

1) What is your budget? <$1000 preferrably with ext warranty

2) What size notebook would you prefer? c. Mainstream

a. Ultraportable; 12" screen or less
b. Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
c. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
d. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen




3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook? mostly watching movies and doing the typical MS office stuff, maybe a few games but nothing requiring a great video card.

4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk? on the go man!

5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games? games like the sims and that sort no 1st person shooters or WOW or anything like that.

6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like? just something reliable.

7) How many hours of battery life do you need? the more the merrier.

8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person? nope dont mind at all.

9) What country are you buying this in? canada

Screen Specifics

10) Would you prefer standard or widescreen? widescreen if possible but not required

11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer? any of the widescreens, the bigger the better.

Standard
a. XGA -1024x768 - Large and easy to read text + graphics icons, but you fit less stuff on the screen.
b. SXGA - 1400x1050 - Compromise resolution between XGA and UXGA.
c. UXGA - 1600x1200 - Very small text and graphics icons, you can fit lots of stuff on the screen.

Widescreen
d. WXGA or WXGA+ - 1280x768/800 or 1440x900; Wider viewing version of XGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
e. WSXGA+ - 1680x1050; Wider viewing version of SXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
f. WUXGA - 1920x1200; Wider viewing version of UXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.


12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen? i dont know and i guess i dont care much.

Build Quality and Design

13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you? sure, i want it to look fairly good.

14) How long do you want this laptop to last? a few years but im willing to upgrade components

Notebook Components

15) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 120GB? 80-100.

16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD-ROM, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-RW drive? I would like a DVD-RW drive.



I hope that helps.


Thanks again.

[googe]

the one i pasted matches all of that criteria and is a great price.

i disagree with spending more. unless you use it for gaming, requirements never really change. for basic use, theres no reason it would be outdated.

the HP laptops also have a good form factor. most of the memory express ones are kinda bulky, especially those acer ones. HP is portable without being too tiny. great general purpose laptop without spending much. walk in to best buy and take a look at the different brands and their form factors, and if you like the HP then go and take advantage of that online only deal

that mem-x one only has 512 ram vs 1gb and its a 1.6 vs a 1.8ghz. crappy onboard video instead of an ati radeon too. hp one is a way better deal

(usually its not a good idea to buy computer stuff from chain stores like FS/BB, but laptops are a different story since you have to buy from an OEM anyway)

[beecue]

hey i have a question .. is amd turion the same as centrino as in it takes up less baterry and does not get hot?

[googe]

^yes. theyre the AMD equivalent.

[Canadian 2.5RS]

Originally posted by googe
the one i pasted matches all of that criteria and is a great price.

i disagree with spending more. unless you use it for gaming, requirements never really change. for basic use, theres no reason it would be outdated.

the HP laptops also have a good form factor. most of the memory express ones are kinda bulky, especially those acer ones. HP is portable without being too tiny. great general purpose laptop without spending much. walk in to best buy and take a look at the different brands and their form factors, and if you like the HP then go and take advantage of that online only deal

that mem-x one only has 512 ram vs 1gb and its a 1.6 vs a 1.8ghz. crappy onboard video instead of an ati radeon too. hp one is a way better deal

(usually its not a good idea to buy computer stuff from chain stores like FS/BB, but laptops are a different story since you have to buy from an OEM anyway)

how do these ones stack up against the one you linked?
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...29&catid=20354
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...08&catid=20354
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...85&catid=20354
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...04&catid=20354 (although i think it is cheaper at mem express)

[dragonone]

1gb ram is quite important, as well as ur dvd burner
as for the onboard video, the x1300 is better than onboard but how gd is it? it certainly isn't enuf for today's games at all

i have an inspiron 6400, on special: dual core, 1gb ram, dvd burner, ati x1300 for i think.... 1099+tax (free shipping)
many have doubts about dell here but i've bought nearly 5k worth of stuff from them and they all seem to be fine
(meaning i've never had to deal with support or warranty)

[Payner]

Averatec 3700 series I have this one and works like a charm 2-3 hour batterry life perfect quality speakers and it only weighs 4 pounds

[HyperZell]

Originally posted by Canadian 2.5RS



Forgive me if i am missing something but aren't the links the same?

Sorry, this is the second one I meant to link:

http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...ctID=7266&SID=

And about the basic requirement thing: there are plenty of reasons why things would change, especially if you're thinking long term. New file formats, technology, platforms, even operating systems...you can never tell, and I've seen many machines become painfully outdated just because of a driver switch or something. Just ask anyone who wants to use software that only works on XP, but their PC can only run 98.

[AJL]

right now at Staples you can get a A100-le4 for $899 ($200 instant rebate).
Best value computer ive seen. Check it out.

[kaput]

.

[googe]

Originally posted by Canadian 2.5RS



how do these ones stack up against the one you linked?
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...mp;catid=20354
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...mp;catid=20354
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...mp;catid=20354
http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/prodde...mp;catid=20354 (although i think it is cheaper at mem express)

none of those are quite as good. most of those have 512mb of ram. not a huge difference other than that. except the compaq, which looks the same but has 20gb less hard drive.

Originally posted by HyperZell


Sorry, this is the second one I meant to link:

http://www.memoryexpress.com/index.p...=7266&amp;SID=

And about the basic requirement thing: there are plenty of reasons why things would change, especially if you're thinking long term. New file formats, technology, platforms, even operating systems...you can never tell, and I've seen many machines become painfully outdated just because of a driver switch or something. Just ask anyone who wants to use software that only works on XP, but their PC can only run 98.

hmm, you make no sense. file formats havent changed in a decade. "technology" is pretty ambiguous. platforms and operating systems are the same thing. no reason to be concerned about those, just stay with XP. its not going to run the next windows (vista) because it has really demanding requirements, but theres no reason to worry about running that for many years. people still run win 2k even. haha windows 98 is like 9 years old now so yeah laptops bought 6-10 years ago obviously suck now. if you need to future proof for THAT long then sure youll have to spend more but most people would just buy a new one by then anyway.

i dont think he is buying to play games, thats pretty hopeless. even the most expensive (and bulky) of laptops suck at games. if its watching movies, web browsing, email, office, etc, the stuff hes looking at is just fine.

Originally posted by AJL
right now at Staples you can get a A100-le4 for $899 ($200 instant rebate).
Best value computer ive seen. Check it out.

this is still slower than the HP one best buy has on sale and has only half as much ram

[googe]

Originally posted by AJL
right now at Staples you can get a A100-le4 for $899 ($200 instant rebate).
Best value computer ive seen. Check it out.

this is still slower than the HP one best buy has on sale and has only half as much ram

[Khyron]

Originally posted by googe


this is still slower than the HP one best buy has on sale and has only half as much ram

It has a 4200 rpm drive which is unbearably slow. Even 5200 is brutal, but they don't put 7200s in the cheaper units.

Upgrade the battery - can always buy another 512 of ram , but unless you're playing games or doing heavy photoshop it's more than enough. Can buy a stick for around 60 bucks at MemX so don't add it via Dell.


Inspiron 1300 - 829$

Intel® Pentium® M Processor 745A (1.80GHz/2MB Cache/400MHz FSB) KP18ABC [222-2010] 1

Operating System :
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition WHXP [420-4830][420-4928][463-2282][412-0689][412-0799][420-4766] 11

Operating System Re-Installation CD:
PC Restore recovery system by Symantec PCR [464-5503] 135

LCD Panel:
14.1in WXGA Display 14WXGA [320-4498] 2

Memory:
512MB DDR2 SDRAM 1 Dimm 512MB1P [465-4552] 3

Hard Drive:
40GB 5400rpm Hard Drive 40GB [341-2808] 8

Combo/DVD+RW Drives:
8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability 8XDVDRW [313-3793][420-5111] 16

Video Card:
Integrated Intel® Media Accelerator 900 Graphics INTVID2 [320-4778] 6

Primary Battery:
6-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (56 WHr) 6BAT [312-0359] 27

Integrated Modem and NIC:
Internal 56K Modem and Integrated Network Card 56MPC [313-3794] 14

Wireless Networking Cards:
Intel® PRO 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11 b/g, 54Mbps) TM2200 [430-1703] 19

Hardware Support Services:
1 Yr Return to Depot Service with 1 Yr Tech Support S11RR [983-2207][950-9057][950-9910][960-2780] 29

[dragonone]

exactly khyron, i always thought the dells were a decent deal
i bought the insipron during a deal with free upgrade to 1gb ram
so maybe watch out for that sale

[HyperZell]

Originally posted by googe


hmm, you make no sense. file formats havent changed in a decade. &quot;technology&quot; is pretty ambiguous. platforms and operating systems are the same thing. no reason to be concerned about those, just stay with XP. its not going to run the next windows (vista) because it has really demanding requirements, but theres no reason to worry about running that for many years. people still run win 2k even. haha windows 98 is like 9 years old now so yeah laptops bought 6-10 years ago obviously suck now. if you need to future proof for THAT long then sure youll have to spend more but most people would just buy a new one by then anyway.

i dont think he is buying to play games, thats pretty hopeless. even the most expensive (and bulky) of laptops suck at games. if its watching movies, web browsing, email, office, etc, the stuff hes looking at is just fine.

I'm talking about things like HD video, and platform support for software later on down the line. MP3 wasn't around like it was 10 years ago, and things like DVD burning and HD DVD are here and/or on the rise. It's better IMO to have a more solid foundation in your PC to go with the times, rather than be outdated in them. 3 years can change a lot, and things are only getting more turbulent - PCI Express, DD2 RAM - even Wifi! You never know, right?

[James]

I just bought the Acer that hyperzell posted from Memory express a few months ago, pretty basic laptop, has everything i needed, and the price was right