I’m getting a laptop soon. I will be using it for work (excel, powerpoint, outlook, etc.), music recording, and general purpose. I’m computer competent, but no computer guru and it’s been a long time since I bought a computer. I want at least 2 GB of memory and a 320 GB hard drive and would prefer a 15” screen. Everything else is secondary. What brands have you had the best luck with? Should I even consider an apple since I’d be paying twice as much for the same speed/capacity? Does vista really suck so bad that I should be looking into ways of getting around it?

6/17/2008 1:18:33 PM

did the search feature break again?

6/17/2008 1:23:17 PM

when has the search feature every worked?

6/17/2008 5:30:38 PM

If the upgrade cost to a 320gb HD is over 100 bucks, then I'd suggest just getting a smaller 7200 rpm drive and getting a seagate free-agent external drive. That way you get the extra space and have something you can do backups to. Since the HDD is the most likely part (aside from possibly the battery) to fail in a laptop, you'll probably want an external drive anyways. Plus it'll make moving your shit when the laptop's past it's prime slightly simpler.

Also, don't bother with more than 2gb of ram installed unless it's an apple computer or has a 64 bit version of windows installed on it. Not only is it cheaper to buy a 4gb kit later than to upgrade to 4gb at time of purchase (using apple, dell, or lenovo's prices) but xp and vista 32 bit versions will not recognize and use past a little over 3 gb. It's not really going to hurt you to go with 4 gb now, but it's a waste of money regardless of whether or not your system can use the extra ram anyways.

[Edited on June 17, 2008 at 11:27 PM. Reason : Actually, turns out Vista 32 bit will RECOGNIZE more than 3 GB of RAM, it just won't use it.]

6/17/2008 11:23:14 PM

newegg has some sweet deal on some ASUS lappies, get in on some of that...you might not get a 320gb but you can get 250gb pretty commonly

6/18/2008 8:59:51 AM

I agree with Charybdisjim pretty much completely. I bought a new Lenovo around Christmas and did a lot of similar things. It was too expensive and not worth the cost from nearly any company I looked at to upgrade the internal laptop harddrive much. It was MUCH cheaper to get the internal drive at like 120GB @ 7200RPM and then just get an external seagate hard drive. And it also gives me the flexibility to easily transfer files to other peoples' computers or to my desktop.

I also only ordered 1GB of memory and then bought a single 2GB stick to get up to 3GB. This was also much cheaper than upgrading to 3GB through the actual order. If you get 2GB standard with the order, get it in 1 slot if that is an option so that you can add more to the 2nd slot. Otherwise if there are 2 slots and you order 2GB and they put it in as 2x1GB you have to not use one of the sticks you paid for in order to bump up to 3GB.

I ordered mine with XP Pro and it flies and my specs are nothing special (2.0 GHz dual core, 3GB RAM). I have used 3 Lenovos/IBMs and loved all of them. Ive never had a major problem and they are tanks.

6/18/2008 9:33:11 AM

http://www.apple.com

I was using 15 inch laptops all the time.....then I got a macbook.
I love it the 13" screen.

Lenovo would be my other choice...

6/18/2008 10:28:00 AM

a Lenovo with the exact same specifications as the Asus currently on sale on newegg costs $400 more with a worse video card

the only advantage lenovo has currently is the option to get a better screen resolution but on a 15" you're probably not using it as a movie screen from afar

6/18/2008 10:47:54 AM

Quote :

"but on a 15" you're probably not using it as a movie screen from afar "

My 15.4" is 1920 by 1200 and it works very well for close photo-editing and watching movies. I love all the screen real estate.

6/18/2008 10:54:44 AM

^^ im not sure what you are looking at.

The asus i see "on sale" for $1200 has:

Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
CPU Type: Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 2.4G
Memory Size: 4GB DDR2
Hard Disk: 250GB 5400RPM
Baterry: 6 cell LI
GPU/VPU: NVIDIA GeForce 9500M GS

I can build a Lenovo for $1050

Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
CPU Type: Intel Core 2 Duo T8300 2.4G
Memory Size: 2GB DDR2 (1 DIMM)
Hard Disk: 100GB 7200RPM or 160GB 5400RPM
Baterry: 9 cell LI
GPU/VPU: Intel GMA X3100 GM965

Im not sure where you are seeing it being $400 more. Plus, you can pop a 1GB stick in the open slot for nothing and be fine, and if you want the extra hard drive space you can by a 160GB and have just as much or more space as the other and your OS harddrive is 7200 not 5400 which I think is definitely worth it. Sure the video card isnt as good but if you are going to be "general" purpose and recording music, there is no point in getting a better video card. And the 9 cell vs the 6 cell is a plus id rather have over a non utilized better video card.

ASUS' comparable $1099 laptop has a slower hard drive as well, smaller battery, slower processor.

Maybe im just not seeing the sales youre talking about on newegg, though I just looked at the ASUS deals.

6/18/2008 11:15:50 AM

Quote :

"a Lenovo with the exact same specifications as the Asus currently on sale"

you have to actually customize the lenovo to match it...

and the Asus I was referring to was:
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium
CPU Type: Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 2.5G
Screen: 15.4" WXGA
Memory Size: 4GB DDR2
Hard Disk: 250GB
Optical Drive: DVD Super Multi
Graphics Card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650
Video Memory: 1024MB

for $1299

6/18/2008 2:00:29 PM

wasnt that hard I think I clicked all of 3 radio buttons haha.

That ^ computer is even worse for him in my opinion. He is not going to utilize that kind of video card. Paying more for 512 or 1024 is just a waste of money. Is it a better deal overall if youre utilizing the entire thing? slightly. Given his requirements. Not really. Even picking up an external hard drive and extra RAM he would have a faster hard drive and a longer battery. 3GB vs 4GB of RAM shouldnt make a huge difference for what he is doing either. So youre looking at (for his use) a nearly identical performing computer with a longer battery and slightly cheaper (say $100 after having to buy the other stuff).

6/18/2008 3:02:18 PM