Help me pick a laptop!

[daturbosix]

1.65GHz AMD E-450 Dual Core CPU
4GB RAM (4GB x 1)
320GB 5400rpm Hard Drive
DVD/CD Burner
Integrated AMD Mobility Radeon HD 6310
15.5" LED Backlit Widescreen Display
Integrated Webcam and Microphone
802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit)
5.97 lb

I'm sorry, but that machine is a JOKE, that's why it's $400.

To top it off, notice how there are essentially no reviews anywhere for this laptop? This is a machine that Sony is selling specifically for the holidays as cheaply as possibly, $20 says in 6 months it will have piles of horrid reviews.

eh, so what...... if it lasts a year, it only cost you $60. thats good IMO

 

[Dasfinc]

eh, so what...... if it lasts a year, it only cost you $60. thats good IMO

Muskie already nailed the other point, it is not sufficient for the OP's needs.

 

[daturbosix]

oh. well idk. the i guess it can be upgraded to 8bg ram if that was the issue.

 

[Dasfinc]

oh. well idk. the i guess it can be upgraded to 8bg ram if that was the issue.

The issue is the CPU, I'm a huge AMD fan, but that is the absolute bottom of the barrel Walmart laptop from Sony basically.

 

[CrawlinTBSS]

so what kind of specs should i look for while im surfing stuff online

 

[CrawlinTBSS]

http://www.frys.com/product/6746915?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

i like this one.

has beats audio as well.

 

[Frank Dukes]

http://www.frys.com/product/6746915?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

i like this one.

has beats audio as well.

stay far far away. HP in general is junk IMHO and its a refurb to boot.

I just bought this laptop about two months ago and couldnt be happier.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LB4A5A/?tag=tcg21-20


Thats an Intel I3 with 4 gigs RAM and 500 GB HD. This is basically the minimum i would recommend buying as far as specs.

 

[muskie]

stay far far away. HP in general is junk IMHO and its a refurb to boot.

I just bought this laptop about two months ago and couldnt be happier.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LB4A5A/?tag=tcg21-20

That Fry's laptop would suit you well.

Every laptop has issues. HP price to power can't be beat, replacement parts are all over eBay and they have good support.

That Samsung is nice, but he could upgrade to an i5 or i7 for the same money somewhere else.

Another option is find something middle of the ground and get something like this to compliment the laptop sound.

http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=BV7eTqyHFO754QT2opHoBg&ved=0CE4Q8wIwAA

 

[Dasfinc]

http://www.frys.com/product/6746915?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

i like this one.

has beats audio as well.

Being a refurb, you might as well buy my dell for $300 less as it has very similar specs (Tax/shipping on the HP). Not trying to push a sale, I'd just buy a used laptop privately over a refurb for that kind of coin. The places that Refurb laptops are a joke, I nearly worked for one.

stay far far away. HP in general is junk IMHO and its a refurb to boot.

I just bought this laptop about two months ago and couldnt be happier.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004LB4A5A/?tag=tcg21-20

Those Samsungs have good specs for the money, but I've seen a HUGE number of them dead on arrival (Very hit and miss).

 

[Frank Dukes]

That Samsung is nice, but he could upgrade to an i5 or i7 for the same money somewhere else.

That much i agree with.. i paid 450 for it on sale at worstbuy. but it is a solid comparison for what to buy on the low end spectrum

 

[TonzKnock-G]

the thread where everything everyone mentions is junk..

 

[muskie]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Samsung...lack/3006315.p?id=1218370888306&skuId=3006315

Samsung are good.

Just understand everyone has had a laptop shit out on them and steer away from that brand. Personally computers are too easy to fix on your own, even for someone not technically trained in them, that its easier to just buy something that you feel comfortable using. Go try out laptops, play with the keyboards and touch pads there are major differences.

Warranty is nice, but never bought one on my last laptop and have had it 4 years. I saved almost 200 bucks by not doing that. Most parts are under that anyway if they need to be replaced. Something to consider

 

[CrawlinTBSS]

i have a shit old HP right now as my shop computer for alldata. i think brother has just replaced one part ever in it. its just missing the enter button and wireless card went out, so thats why im looking for something new and that will be personal. but no problems with the HP so far. and i watched movies every night on it and usually ended up running all night until morning, no problems.

 

[GTwolf]

Got too lazy to finish reading the whole thread, but it sounds like you want an HP laptop with beats audio hands down. Look for at least 4 gigs of ram and 64-bit windows 7, and something with a fair amount of storage for all your shit. Standard is at least 500 gigs these days, but the more the better. Most of the beats audio equipped HPs have at least a 640 gig hdd and 6 gigs of ram. No problems with HP here either, my personal favorite brand actually. The only brand I say to strongly veer away from is dell. In my experience, whenever it's a "what the fuck how does that even happen" problem, it's always a fucking dell. They used to be great, but they went way downhill very quickly. Like up until xp service pack 3 ish they were great. A long time ago sonys were worth paying the premium for the brand, but imo not anymore. HP and toshiba make better computers and samsung and sharp make better TVs. Here's a basic break down so you know what you're looking for when you're looking at specs.

Processor - Speed, multitasking. Sounds like a core i3 would be good for you. Dual core, but hyper-threading allows it to operate like a quad core.
RAM - Multitasking, speed. Look for at least 4 gigs which is pretty much standard now, 6 would be even better but isn't totally necessary.
Hard drive - Storage for all your music - in your price range you'll probably end up with a 640 gig which is plenty for most people.

By the way, that dell thing was not meant to shit on dasfincs computer, he knows his shit and has probably taken great care of his and fixed anything that might've needed fixing already.

 

[syP]

my 15.5 is large.

:naughty:

 

[muskie]

Dell's are tempermental, but when they work they work. I have only exclusively bought Dell but would totally agree their consumer line is crap. I buy from their small business line.

 

[Dasfinc]

By the way, that dell thing was not meant to shit on dasfincs computer, he knows his shit and has probably taken great care of his and fixed anything that might've needed fixing already.

Muskie hits on it perfectly:

Dell's are tempermental, but when they work they work. I have only exclusively bought Dell but would totally agree their consumer line is crap. I buy from their small business line.

I've had/seen very few dell LAPTOPS with mechanical failures, but there are some bizarre driver issues I've seen in the past. I like Dell laptops for this reason, because mechanical failures in a laptop are usually 50/50 (Half the time it's something that makes it not worth repairing). They also have a good history of lasting damn-near forever, I still see good old Lattitude D600-630's EVERYWHERE, used for everything (3-6 years old)

I STRONGLY prefer Toshiba and Asus when buying new, as I've seen very few of them have failures as well, and have shown to be very stable for the most part.

Acer/Emachine/Samsung seem to have a high initial failure rate (Dying within the first 30 days), and Sony's have the issues I had listed previously.

HP's are OK, I'm still a bit leary of them since nearly every laptop they EVER built between 2006 and 2009 have had motherboard failures....

 

[SleeperLS]

I really enjoy the Lenovo laptop I have with the i5 processor. works pretty nice. no problems at all. Lots of memory and it is fast. I paid around 700 for it.

 

[CrawlinTBSS]

Thank you all for the input. i think i know what i need to be looking for, or at least general specs. more storage the better, but i have external HD if needed.

 

[Dasfinc]

not saying, just saying ;-)

http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=CnPeTvC2JIPi0QGph6SmBw&ved=0CFIQ8wIwAA

 

[CrawlinTBSS]

i think im really leaning toward that HP i posted. seems like its got all that i need and i like that its got the beats audio already too.

 

[DanJ]

What is beats audio? I could be wrong, but to me it just seems like a marketing scheme.

 

[Turk]

Beats by dre dawg.

 

[CrawlinTBSS]

Its a bass/subwoofer enhancer. Makes the headphones/speaker play lower tones and still be audible because its able to register and play the lower hz tones.

 

[GTwolf]

I don't feel like quoting cuz I'm on my cell, but it's the new dells (vista era to present) that are crap. I agree the old ones, aside from the bizzare driver conflicts you mentioned, did last forever. If my old latitude CPI with a pentium 2 didn't get stolen itd probably still be working great and rocking xp like a boss right now, but that doesnt mean I'd even consider buying a brand new dell. Even when they work they just never seem to work the way they should. But everyone has their own experiences and to each their own I guess.As far as beats audio goes I thought it was just a marketing deal too when they first came out, but the sound cards, speakers, and headphones are actually pretty awesome.