Quality lap tops for good price

[Mayer]

I'm wanting to give my girlfriend an early Christmas present of a new lap top for her school but I admittedly know little about computers.

I don't want to spend a LOT but I'm looking for the best one I can get for a reasonable price (maybe in the $600-800 range?). I looked around a little at bestbuy and futureshop but didn't really know what I was looking for.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[FlameOn]

What type of work is she going to do it? $600-800 will get you a very good non-gaming laptop already. Low end ones normally got for something like $400. Like this one
http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/category...faae37dfcden01

[alltherage]

Originally Posted by Mayer

I'm wanting to give my girlfriend an early Christmas present of a new lap top for her school but I admittedly know little about computers.

I don't want to spend a LOT but I'm looking for the best one I can get for a reasonable price (maybe in the $600-800 range?). I looked around a little at bestbuy and futureshop but didn't really know what I was looking for.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

What are her needs?

Word processing? Internet? Photoshop? Video editing? Gaming? Digital Photography?

In the $600 range you can easily find a machine more than capable for most "average users".

Does she intend to carry it around a lot or will it stay home? Screen size will likely depend on that.

I have always had great luck with HP. What I would recommend is try to make sure you leave some room in your budget for some of the things she'll need to make it work for her. For example, if she needs MS Office for school, a machine without it might not do. You can buy a student edition for roughly $170 and be good to go.

She might also need a mouse and carrying bag.

If you buy an extended warranty they will probably throw some stuff in, but in my experience the manufacturers are easy to deal with.

This HP would be a beast for most non-gaming uses. Hell, even for gaming as long as she doesnt need the graphics cranked it could probably get decent performance.

[Mayer]

It's mainly for MS office (word, spreadsheets, powerpoint etc) and then the basic stuff like internet. She won't be doing any gaming or anything like that. I guess the only other thing would be that we use Skype a lot since we are in different cities for the next year.

[FlameOn]

If that's the case, first laptop linked should be sufficient... Just don't get her anything like a netbook and you're fine.

[alltherage]

Originally Posted by Mayer

It's mainly for MS office (word, spreadsheets, powerpoint etc) and then the basic stuff like internet. She won't be doing any gaming or anything like that. I guess the only other thing would be that we use Skype a lot since we are in different cities for the next year.

For that... I would really say $600 should be your ceiling. Laptops are just so inexpensive these days. Hell, my 3 year old HP does everything I want it to.

120GB HD
AMD Turion Dual Core Processor
2.5GB Ram

Everything out there now blows it away.

[FlameOn]

Here is another one that is decent... This has gone on sale for $449... Processor is a bit better on this than the first one I posted
http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...1301aa1bd5en02

[REDVAN]

I like this one...

[Komskies]

The only thing I can say about this is to go light. Nobody wants to haul around a heavy ass laptop every day.

[Cain]

I'm not an apple fanboy, but I do think that they make really good quality laptops.

Seems like some of the newer macbooks are also cheaper! Might want to check them out.

[Frank MetaMusil]

This is probably one of the best deals out there right now, IMO

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...b095ffa61cen02

Compaq 15.6" Laptop featuring AMD Athlon II Dual-Core Processor P340 (CQ56-148CA)

$399

[TSXCman]

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/wm-ac...-398-a-962071/

HOTTEST - AS5741-5302 $398 (a label with $598 was next to it)
15.6
i3-350m
4gb DDR3
500 hdd
HDMI
4 USB
bgn
win 7 64
088448317936

[TSXCman]

Originally Posted by Frank MetaMusil

This is probably one of the best deals out there right now, IMO

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...b095ffa61cen02

Compaq 15.6" Laptop featuring AMD Athlon II Dual-Core Processor P340 (CQ56-148CA)

$399

WARM to HOT - AS7551-2575 $398 (was $598)
amd p320
17.3
4gb DDR3
500hdd
HDMI
bgn
1.3mp cam
win 7 64

[secol]

Originally Posted by Komskies

The only thing I can say about this is to go light. Nobody wants to haul around a heavy ass laptop every day.

+1.....also since you only need basics consider things like the battery life and even size (fits in her bag, not too small so keyboard/screen is hard to use, not too big so it's heavy/clunky, etc)

[old-fart]

Different cities for a year huh? You'll want one with a bulit in webcam so you can uh.... Video chat and stuff....

[Pacem]

I just bought a laptop and priced them out absolutely everywhere. I was surprised but Walmart had the cheapest prices. They don't have a big selection of laptops but they were cheap.

I picked up a decent one. HP DV5-2040ca. Smaller screen, light weight able to play the games I want it to. 500GB HDD, 4GB RAM.

http://www.walmart.ca/Electronics/Co...nt-Notebook-PC

It was $200 cheaper at Walmart then anywhere else.

Staples was the other place that seemed to have good deals as well. They carried alot of Acer laptops where you can get your best bang for your buck.

[Phaneuf3]

If you want quality and reliability, stay away from anything HP and Compaq (same company). Their stuff is garbage and has the highest failure rate. Source: http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/S...ility_1109.pdf (Check page 6)

They also have some of the absolute worst customer service. Especially when it comes to warranty work. Source: me.

[Regular_John]

Honestly shell out the cash for a Macbook Pro, yes they cost 3-4 times as much, but they last for years. Mine just passed the 4 year mark and I'm just thinking about replacing it now, but it still works.

Seems most friends/family who buy cheap PC laptops (cheap one's specifically) end up replacing it after 2 years anyways. So to me I'd rather pay a more up front and keep it for a few years than go through a series of cheapy laptops.

Refurbished Macbook Pro for $899

Or if she can live without a CD rom drive, a Macbook Air (uber light) for the same price.

[Canada 02]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

I like this one...

Samsung makes great notebooks; I've had two and loved both. Great display, great form factor, decent battery life

[Diemenz]

Originally Posted by jaydorn

Honestly shell out the cash for a Macbook Pro, yes they cost 3-4 times as much, but they last for years. Mine just passed the 4 year mark and I'm just thinking about replacing it now, but it still works.

Seems most friends/family who buy cheap PC laptops (cheap one's specifically) end up replacing it after 2 years anyways. So to me I'd rather pay a more up front and keep it for a few years than go through a series of cheapy laptops.

Refurbished Macbook Pro for $899

Or if she can live without a CD rom drive, a Macbook Air (uber light) for the same price.

I think all major brands have ups and downs (minus HP's terrible laptop failure rate) and I agree with you about price as saying the words apple and reasonably priced should never be in the same sentence.

99 out of 100 times you can find a dell/sony/asus/acer/ibm laptop with superior spec's for at least $200 less. Does apple make well made laptops? Yes, but so do the other manufacturers as well.

Since the poster said "for a good price" i really think we should leave apple out of the equation. Especially if they are a PC family and will be require to purchase all new programs for the Mac.

*FYI - I am not coming down on apple overpricing their laptops (I own a Alienware which is also overpriced)