recommend a laptop

[Buzzard]

So buzzards wife has decided she needs a laptop/notebook, or whatever the hell they're called these days. She'd like it to watch movies, and/or surfing late at night in bed. She thought it might actually be better and cheaper than buying a bedroom tv. Plus it'd be useful for internet on holidays. This is basically all it'd be used for. Can someone steer us in a direction so we dont get sucked into buying something more than we need. Example...how much memory, video card, etc. Where would be the best place to buy? Yes, it's been a while since I've computer shopped.

I see refurbished ones advertised pretty cheap a lot. Would that be something we should look into? Thanks for help!

[wooohooo]

Any size requirements? Laptops are tiny nowaways... or they can be fairly large.

You'd probably want at least 2 gigs of ram. The rest is really up to you since you're not doing anything too graphic intensive.

You're probably looking at <$700. Try to buy online, you can get special deals like EPP, or discounts.

[Buzzard]

Yeah...i dunno, i guess i wouldn't really want to spend much more than $500, so as big and as much as possible for around that price. Whats EPP?

[Buzzard]

Originally Posted by wooohooo

Any size requirements? Laptops are tiny nowaways... or they can be fairly large.

You'd probably want at least 2 gigs of ram. The rest is really up to you since you're not doing anything too graphic intensive.

You're probably looking at <$700. Try to buy online, you can get special deals like EPP, or discounts.

Is 2 gigs about the min ram needed to watch movies smoothly?

[Rathji]

2 gigs is the minimum for you to run Vista and be happy with it. The model I suggest below has 3 gigs.

Order an entry level personal laptop online, from whichever vendor you feel is better. In reality they are all pretty much the same, unless you want a Mac which is overkill in this situation I think.

I like Dell. They may get a bad name for some stuff, but in reality you are buying a laptop and the parts are pretty much all made by the same people. Sometimes Dell tech support can be a pain since they are based in India, but when it comes down to it, they quite often will send out a fresh HDD or random part than try and figure out why it won't work when you update your drivers.

The only company I would stay away from when buying a laptop is Sony. Unless you are sure you have compared the specs with the available models from Dell or HP, you are probably going to get ripped off.

This Inspiron 15 is probably the best bang for your buck right now, with 250gig HDD and 3 gigs of RAM for $599. If I was buying a new computer right now it would be a toss up between this and a netbook, but since you probably want the DVD player for movies a netbook is not for you.

[OBCT]

I like Rathji's suggestion for your situation.

Also, just as an aside (if you find a good deal), I've had good experiences with HP laptops in the past. Good bang for the buck I'd think.

But, as Rathji mentioned, they're all pretty similar. So unless you can find cheaper+better than the Inspiron 15, I'd go with it. And yeah, the chance of finding a new Sony or Toshiba laptop cheaper+better than that Dell is astronomical I'd say.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by OBCT

I like Rathji's suggestion for your situation.

Also, just as an aside (if you find a good deal), I've had good experiences with HP laptops in the past. Good bang for the buck I'd think.

But, as Rathji mentioned, they're all pretty similar. So unless you can find cheaper+better than the Inspiron 15, I'd go with it. And yeah, the chance of finding a new Sony or Toshiba laptop cheaper+better than that Dell is astronomical I'd say.

I agree about both HP and Toshiba. I had meant to mention HP in my post as another alternative.

edit: it would appear I did mention HP.

[wooohooo]

Originally Posted by Buzzard

Yeah...i dunno, i guess i wouldn't really want to spend much more than $500, so as big and as much as possible for around that price. Whats EPP?

Employee Pricing - they have great sales all the time. Especially from Lenovo, Dell...

I've had a few friends own HP, I've owned one as well. It always seems to be breaking down. Pretty major problems that seem to be reoccurring in a few of my friends. Graphic cards been over-heating, computer over heating (fan not working), faulty wireless cards, keys falling off. Huge problems, I'd probably stay away from them.

My roomate has an HP, she's sent it in over 4 times. First time the computer over-heated, second time the monitor had huge lines and streaks running across.

I've also had an HP, got an over-heating issue, sent it in, took over a month that they just sent me another laptop. Problem, the keyboard was in french so it was a huge pain and on top of that, huge over-heating issues (reoccurring theme?) so I sent it in, and eventually sold it. Poor soul that bought it off me.

Although you get lots of bang for the buck with them, I think they're poorly constructed.

Stay with Dell, Lenovo (love mine), Toshiba...

[Buzzard]

Good info guys....thx.

So bottom line, that Dell will be as good a deal as I'll likely find for our use? Also..is it possible to get an external blu-ray drive for something like that? We're starting to get a bit of a collection of blu-rays, so just curious.

[MRCboicgy]

I've had three HP's over the last 8 years and not a single hardware problem ever. I highly recommend them.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Buzzard

Good info guys....thx.

So bottom line, that Dell will be as good a deal as I'll likely find for our use? Also..is it possible to get an external blu-ray drive for something like that? We're starting to get a bit of a collection of blu-rays, so just curious.

Adding an internal blu-ray player to that laptop I posted costs $150 bucks. An external blu-ray burner costs about $500 right now, I have not seen any externals that are not burners, but I certainly have not looked very hard since I want to be able to burn more than anything else.

[Buzzard]

It's a $150 upgrade for the BD drive, but then you also have to upgrade the graphics card for $100. I think wifey will have to stick to dvd's.

[BuzzardsWife]

Thanks for all the help. Buzzard just ordered me the New Inspiron 15, it came to just around 650 dollars. Only thing is it says it takes 3 weeks to get here?? I've lived without one this long, but once you've paid for something you kind of want it NOW!