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Old 08-22-2011, 02:13 PM
MotorMaker MotorMaker is offline
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Default Laptop Dilemma

Can't decide which laptop to buy. I'm looking to spend in the $450-$550 range. Not too concerned about AMD vs Intel. AMD will be cheaper but not by much. I'm not a gamer but I will be downloading lots of movies and shows. Video, sound and screen quality will be important to me. 15.6" or bigger would be great. SO....Dell, Toshiba or Sony? Any thoughts?
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Old 08-22-2011, 06:39 PM
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quietdad quietdad is offline
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Doesn't really matter anymore. Figure out the money you want to spend, then look for RAM amount, hard drive size then battery life.
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Old 08-22-2011, 07:43 PM
440roadrunner 440roadrunner is offline
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Originally Posted by quietdad View Post
Doesn't really matter anymore. Figure out the money you want to spend, then look for RAM amount, hard drive size then battery life.
Doesn't, huh? Ever tried to look for Acer support? Isn't any. None on the web, and none by phone. Oh yeah, You can CALL them, that doesn't mean they will give you any legitimate support

IBM, now Lenovo, "used to" (maybe still does) have some of the very best online support imaginable. They were legendary for putting up downloads for older systems


I'm sure some of the rest have changed.

PLEASE FOLLOW THIS ADVICE no matter what system you get. MAKE SURE the system you buy has CDs/ DVDs available from the factory, and I do NOT mean "burn them yourself" to provide you with factory re-install media. You may have to pay 40-60 bucks extra, but GET them, and don't wait. You can NOT order these AFTER the warantee is expired for any system I'm aware of.

Ya, I know, you think your had drive can't fail? M.......kay
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Old 08-22-2011, 11:16 PM
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Originally Posted by 440roadrunner View Post
PLEASE FOLLOW THIS ADVICE no matter what system you get. MAKE SURE the system you buy has CDs/ DVDs available from the factory, and I do NOT mean "burn them yourself" to provide you with factory re-install media.
Totally agree here. I forget that I'm VERY computer literate and usually build them and install software myself. As much as ACER doesn't have support, and IBM is way above average, if the brand doesn't have an authorized dealer nearby, you might as well not have support. A laptop that doesn't boot can't get to the internet.

It's all a trade off tho. IBM does have great support but the laptop is much more expensive than the equivalent of some other brands. I'm not a fan of Dell in that their recovery CD's just wipe out the Hard Drive and make it like you just bought it. However I just got my son a Dell Laptop with a dual processor Intel 2.8 ghz with a 17inch screen, 4 gb RAM and a 300GB HD for $350 from their outlet store online. (www.Dell.com/outlet) where they sell refurbs.

If support is really an issue, you can always buy at BestBuy and get the store warrenty.
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Old 09-05-2011, 09:52 PM
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ASUS is still at the top. The Dell XPS Alienware is another great choice. Stay away from Acer and HP/Compaq.

The BestBuy store warranty only gets you the Dufus squad. It doesn't get you any real support. Even then, the Dufus squad only covers the hardware. It has nothing to do with the OS or brand specific drivers.

I bought my three ASUS laptops from Amazon a little over a year ago. I have zero complaints with them. The Intel i series processors are great. My laptops are running the i5-430M, 4G RAM, 500G hard drive, nVidia GeForce GT 325M video with 1G video RAM, and the 16" LED monitor. The video has an HDMI out to stream video to your HDMI television.
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Old 12-19-2011, 12:42 PM
440roadrunner 440roadrunner is offline
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ASUS is still at the top..
I just bought an Asus with an i5 processor, and could not be more disappointed.

First, unlike (at least the older 2 core Thinkpad) Thinkpads, some of the fn/ keys are software controlled rather than hardware/ bios/ firmware controlled. This means that whatever operating system you have installed must have the drivers for keys that control stuff like wifi on/off

I bought this for Linux, and , well, there is stuff that doesn't work.

But the BIG BIG problem is support.

One of the very first things I did was throw away 50 bucks on the factory restore disks, then bought a spare hard drive so I can experiment without dickin' up the original drive.

GUESS WHAT?? The so called "restore" disks, "ain't." They act as if they are for the wrong machine, they have to "get on the internet" and install extra drivers, because DISK NO2 COULD NOT FIND the right drivers WHICH ARE ACTUALLY ON THE DISK The damn thing got into an "infinite" restart loop trying to find drivers.

Bear in mind this is using FACTORY "restore" disks, made for this machine.

To finish off this rant, I don't see that the alleged "quality" of the general build is any better than the 3 year old junk Acer I had, which I paid 1/2 as much for.

The connectors, in my mind, are not very well thought out. For daily use, with a mouse, you end up with the left edge "being careful" of the power cable, and I like an external mouse, so you have to have the mouse on the RIGHT side, meaning you have crap coming out both sides.

The user manual is non-existent and I STILL have not figured out what the "running man" special key is supposed to be for

I ain't impressed

LAST. Before I bought this, I called HP alleged "support" to see what the story was on restore disks. I might just as well have talked to a room full of 5 year olds. Endless call transfers to people who spoke progressively less of any sort of intelligence, and really, no real intelligence at all.

At least when I previously bought the Acer, I already KNEW there would be no support. At least their (cheaper) restore disks worked!!!
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