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Solve : In the market for a new laptop... suggestions?? |
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Answer» I'm planning on springing on a new laptop, but I don't really know what's good. We use HP laptops at work, and a friend of mine has a Vaio, but other than that I haven't had much experience. I know it has to be in the $500-$600 range, and I'd like a 15 inch screen at least. Also, all my home desktop pcs have always had AMD processors, so I'm a little partial to it having that as well. Any suggestions, opinions?First of all, having a preference toward AMD is the worst possible criteria for a Laptop. Unless you work for AMD. Any suggestions, opinions? Not really! It all depends on personal preferance! My advice is..........shop around!Depends really what you wanna do with the laptop.More than likely just the basics. Internet, photo editing and storage, movies, etc. I'm not big on gaming on a laptop, so I'm not concerned with a super graphics card, etc.JoshM, Has given you very good guidance as to the priority of your decision making process. To get you started here is a link to a reputable review of current computers that can get you started. http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/ Take your time and go beyond my linked page and ultimately you will be in an informed STATE to make a good choice. truenorth Quote from: Geek-9pm on January 04, 2011, 02:15:17 PM Vaio is a mixed bag. Try it before you buy it. This goes for brand of laptop, really. Myself, I've had good runs with Toshiba laptop's; a 440CDX has lasted me 15 years or so (It's outdated now but still works great). I also have a 2-year old Toshiba Satellite that is my "secondary" machine (primary being my desktop). Of course, every single brand has a lot of sites essentially devoted to highlighting the bad; many people have one or two bad experiences with a brand, such as dell, toshiba, or HP, and then decide to go on a crusade against them, as if 2 failures (both of which were usually covered by the warranty) out of several hundred million is worth their time to start such a crusade. Basically, it's not a matter of whose sticker or labelling is on the machine; what you need is something that works- the brand is never an indicator of this. -laptop or netbook? laptops today are really only mildly toned-down desktop machines; they are still powerful beasts. HOWEVER, with that power and portability comes price; while prices have dropped sharply since my thinkpad 755CDV cost 8 thousand dollars, they still usually hover around 600-700 dollars for good entry-level models. If you only need to relatively basic tasks such as E-mail, word processing, text editing, spreadsheets, etc, you might want to consider a netbook. These are a lot cheaper, and due to their small size, also more portable. -the hardware itself: Many people can make recommendations based on video cards, processors, display size, networking, and other stuff; but considering the keyboard and mouse pointer solutions the laptop uses seems to be almost an afterthought. If you are buying a laptop (or netbook), you probably plan to use it for a while; this goes for desktops as well, but since a laptop keyboard is permanently attached to the machine replacing it is both pricier and a lot more difficult. -Keyboard: Basically, you want a keyboard that you can use- this should go without saying- most laptop keyboards will need a little adjustment, but watch out for freaky weird layouts where they put stuff like the windows key or application key in some semi-random location (on my 440CDX, for EXAMPLE, the windows key is in the top-right corner). If you are able to test the keyboard on a "demo" machine in a retail store, does it feel too squishy? too soft? Does it have enough key travel for your taste? Do you get the tactile feedback you need? laptops on the large (and keyboards in general these days) use a "rubber-dome" switch, but even though most laptop keyboards incorporate this method they do so differently, which can lead to keyboards that can feel too mushy or not have enough travel. The pointing device is another important consideration; these days this is largely facilitated with a touchpad- again, being able to try it yourself beats imagining yourself using it any day. If you are able to try it, perform a few common operations; drags, drops, clicks, start a few applications; maybe drag text around; get a "feel" for it, and then evaluate wether you like that "feel". bear in mind that many touchpads have a number of options that you can use to disable behaviour you don't like or change how it works; many touchpads by default make the extreme side(s) perform "scrolling" actions; my preference is to disable this, I was able to do so in my laptop's mouse pointer options. Not all touchpads provide all the features through software, but most do. Don't forget to test them "together" the touchpad ideally is in a good place so that typing normally doesn't cause you to click or move the mouse by accident. This can be extremely frustrating at times. One of the upsides of a netbook is it's small size; this is also one of it's downsides; because the form factor is so much smaller, the keyboard is relatively miniscule. If you intend to do anything but light word processing and editing, the keyboard might feel cramped; also, because of the lessened real-estate netbook manufacturers are notorious for pulling the old "move KEYS to semi-random locations". They try to move keys that they don't think most people use; the application key and windows key are two examples. Sound: depending on what you think you might use the laptop for, the speaker placement could be something to consider. many laptops place the speakers in the back, near where the screen hinges to the base. If you intend to possibly listen to music using this, you might prefer a laptop that has speakers on the front panel, as many do; this would allow you to close the lid. This is of course something that for most people isn't even considered; but the prevalence of digitized music is something that makes this something to consider for most people. indicator lights: Of course, nobody really thinks about the various indicator lights that laptops have. Worse still, even with a "demo" model, you usually need the manual to interpret many of the meanings; some lights might blink, others might change color, etc. What might be relevant is their placement; some laptops place these "inside" the clamshell design, so you need to literally open the laptop to see the lights. Others do the same but have a facility with which you can see the indicator lights when the machine is closed; still others mount them on the front, others still mount them on the front but then cover them up when you close the lid! This is more something to consider as a third or fourth level "tie-breaker" when you can't decide between to otherwise identical machines, I certainly wouldn't pass up an otherwise decent laptop simply because I thought the indicator lights were badly placed! hardware: of course, as I noted earlier, the actual hardware being employed needs to be considered. With Windows Vista and 7, which is distributed with most new laptops, aim for at the very least 2GB of RAM. 4GB or more, if you can find it in your price range. bear in mind however that you could probably get a 2GB laptop and then further on down the road upgrade it to 4GB, and sometimes even to 8GB for some models, so this isn't necessarily a one-time consideration. Most specification sheets won't list the maximum memory of a machine, only the installed memory, though. So you might want to do some research on that. The processor brand is unimportant; a dual-core is usually sufficient for most purposes with Vista/7; with 4GB or more you might be able to get sufficient responsiveness with a single core. Newer, faster machines are more expensive, of course, so consider wether the extra speed is something you really need, or wether it is just something you really want, and weigh it accordingly. Video functionality is generally only important for gaming applications or for Autocad or 3d-animation work; for these purposes laptops and netbooks are simply terrible. Their integrated chipsets are toned down even i nthe case of ATI and nvidia solutions, and even then only the higher-end models even feature a dedicated GPU; most machines use a Intel chipset. This works great for windows 7 and vista's Aero, but can occasionally cause jerky gameplay even in semi-modern games. So if you plan on playing the OCCASIONAL game with the machine, keep this in mind. Networking is another point of interest; most laptops now feature Wireless connectivity, but the question is which kind should you get. If you have a wireless-N router, you might want to consider a laptop that has Wireless-N built in. But remember that there are usually add-on cards for things like that you could get as an upgrade, too. ideally, you should get a laptop with a ethernet connector as well; this can help if your wireless driver isn't working or you cannot use the wireless for whatever reason, additionally if you have a router, the configuration pages might bark on you sometimes if you try to fidget about with the router settings via a wireless connection. Speaking of wired connections, if you need to speed, don't forget to consider laptops with 1000mbps LAN connections built-in. These often cost a few extra pennies so should only be considered if you really need it. Hard disk size: TBH hard disk size is usually pretty irrelevant; even the most value-priced models have relatively huge hard drives. But again- this could be the tie-breaker, and isn't something to disregard completely. It depends on how many applications you plan to use, the data you will be working with, etc. to highlight something I feel is important: if at all possible, try the machine for yourself. Even if you don't plan to buy a machine from a retail store you should consider trying the various models they have on display, see what you like, and what you don't like about the various configurations, so you no what to look for and what not to look for. If a few models catch your eye, google them and find reviews, and see what people who bought it before you think about it. Wow, I just read over that again, reads like I copy-pasted from a book or article, but I swear I didn't! Quote from: roccenstein on January 04, 2011, 03:02:22 PM So AMD and laptops don't mix? I've always thought AMD processors were better than comparable Intel ones. Is that not the case? (I don't work for AMD, btw, lol)The processor is irrelevant - as is the brand (as long as you stick with a name you know). Just find one you like and buy it.One other thing I would like, that I know will be next to impossible to find, is a laptop with no OS, just a formatted HD That way I can install my own (XP Pro) and avoid all the preinstalled garbage that comes from the factory that you never need. I'm not anti-Windows 7, I've just never used it, and being that it is new to me, it scares me a little, lol.Whether or not an OS installed has nothing to do with anything. If you want to format it and install your own OS when you get it that's up to you. It's essentially the same process either way.Just make sure that the computer manufacturer provides XP drivers on their website. Or even better - just use W7. It's an OS, that's all. It's nothing more than an interface between you, the system, and your applications. It's not a big deal and in fact, I think you'll like it.If I get one with W7 installed (which is almost certain), I'll definitely use it. It's just the old stick in the mud in me that's used to good old comfortable XP.I very recently graduated to Win 7 (on a laptop) from a great deal of time on XP versions and i must say so far i am very impressed. So i urge you to put your fears behind you and go for Win 7. However re WIn 7 i was somewhat disappointed to find that on my 1st day of use i had 48 updates wanting to be installed and on the 2nd day 77 additional. I owe a lot of thanks to Mr. Gates and Microsoft for my enthusiasm toward computer technology but my goodness can they not put out a more "finished" product? truenorth |
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