Buying a laptop...Suggestions?

[GoudaBrew]

My girlfriend and I are buying a new laptop for each other for Christmas. We've narrowed it down to Dell and HP, and leaning towards Dell. Dell seems like a better deal and comes with a warranty (and a work discount!).

 

I know very little about computers. I'm unsure what size processor to get, how much memory I need, and how much hard drive space I'll need. We won't be doing anything that taxing, so I don't think we'll need a super computer or anything. The most taxing activities we'll use it for are downloading music, watching movies, and watching the Brewers on MLB.TV.

 

Processor: Is an Intel® Pentium Dual Core T3200 (2.0GHz/667Mhz FSB/1MB cache) sufficient or am I better off going bigger like an Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5800 (2.00GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)?

 

Memory: I'm leaning towards at least 2 or 3 GB, but have been told that 1 GB is plenty. Thoughts?

 

Hardrive: 160 MB seems like more than enough and many come with 250 MB

 

The last thing we are going back-and-forth on is screen size. This is probably the most important decision to make as it influences price pretty dramatically. Initially we were thinking of going with a 17 inch display. Brewer games would be much nicer on a 17 than a 15.4, but I'm not sure I want a HUGE lap top either. We won't be taking it places all that often; just when we are gone for a weekend or I'm traveling for work (2-4 nights a month in the summer). Would we regret going with a 15.4 inch, or is a 17 inch more cumbersome and chunky?

 

Any help would be great!

[bball123h]

Don't use your work discount. 99.9% of the time, there are better deals out there.

 

Check dealnews.com for good laptop bargains (it is one of the first sections of the page. In terms of quality, Dell and HP are pretty close in my eyes, at least in terms of reliability, so just go with the best price.

[ttsather]

While I am no expert, it's my opinion that if you're ordering a build-up from Dell, your money is best spent on extra RAM over a bigger HD or even (depending) a faster processor.

[bball123h]

If you have a phillips screwdriver, you can upgrade the RAM yourself and save about 50-60% off of dell prices. Newegg even has a memory search feature where you can search by your laptop model, if you are a novice and want to be positive you are buying the right type of memory.

 

As far as the install, remove the 1 screw from the bottom of your laptop, open the door, and place the memory in the slot (it can only go in 1 way, so you can't mess it up). Only possible error: be sure to unplug your laptop and remove the battery (no parts required, usually just a sliding lever).

[Godspeed]

If you get 1GB of memory, the factory will install two 512 MB modules as a cost saving measure. If you want to upgrade the memory yourself, that's fine and dandy but on the Dell laptops I'm familiar with, the second memory socket is located underneath the keyboard. It's a bit more complex than just using a screwdriver, but not overly so.

 

That might be something you'd want to keep in mind when determining the memory installed from the factory if you're not too hardware savvy. But even then, it's fairly doable for a novice.

[1992casey]

I was looking at Windows laptops in some of the stores recently, and very few of them had under 3 GB of RAM. With the Vista slowness that occurred when it first came out, my impression would be that larger RAM amounts would be a response to that slowness.

 

I can't be certain about this, but I've also read that if a computer has 4 MB of RAM, Vista is unable to address all of it. It'd be using more like 3 point something. All this tells me that 3 GB would be an appropriate amount to have unless the extra 1 GB doesn't seem to add to the cost.

 

As far as toys, I'd make sure you have a trackpad that scrolls. It's surprising how many don't.

[Godspeed]

32-bit Vista only recognizes a little over 3 of the 4 GB. 64-bit Vista will see the whole enchilada.

[bjkrautk]

Vista itself seems to eat up about 1-2 GB of memory on the Dell I bought in November; I couldn't in good conscience recommend 1GB of RAM to anyone unless they were running XP (and even then, I'd recommend upgrading).

 

I can easily recommend the Dell Studio 15 laptop. Whatever laptop you look for, you should try to find one with an HDMI output, as the Brewers will most likely look better on an HDTV than on your 15" or 17" laptop screen. I also recommend trying to find the best graphics chip in your price constraints (as, unlike RAM, they are nearly impossible to upgrade on a laptop).

 

 

Once you do get locked in to a particular computer model / configuration, keep an eye on the company's website for price changes / "deals." Dell, in particular, loves to bundle together different feature sets and then drop $20-100 off the price as a means of hooking customers.

[1992casey]

32-bit Vista only recognizes a little over 3 of the 4 GB. 64-bit Vista will see the whole enchilada.

 

Thanks for jogging my memory. Maybe you can jog it again. What's the downside of 64-bit Vista? Would there be a reason to favor 32-bit?

[Godspeed]

32-bit Vista only recognizes a little over 3 of the 4 GB. 64-bit Vista will see the whole enchilada.

 

Thanks for jogging my memory. Maybe you can jog it again. What's the downside of 64-bit Vista? Would there be a reason to favor 32-bit?

I didn't recall myself, so here's a refresher for the both of us: http://www.tech-recipes.c...2_bit_version_x64_vs_x86/

[Patrick425]

I'm really not all that tech savvy and I know that Gateway is not one of your final two considerations. However, I saw this on Yahoo the other day regarding Best and Worst technology of 2008:

 

http://tech.yahoo.com/blo...cwDOLZabNvoEXUvdzhtgazJV4

 

The Best

Gateway MC7803u laptop - It has modest specs and average-to-good performance, but $1,000 flat gets you a gorgeous, 16-inch screen and a distinctive, classy chassis, complete with leather trim. It's altogether an excellent value and has all the features that virtually every user needs in a portable.

[Godspeed]

I bought a Gateway Laptop against my better judgment in the fall of 2004 that literally fell apart after 2 years of use. It's still functional as a computer, but I will never buy Gateway again. Their quality has fallen dramatically since the mid-90s.

[zurch1818]

Ive got the 64 bit version of vista and I have only one complaint -- Cisco has not released a 64 bit version of their VPN. Overall, the biggest downside to the 64 bit is that it will take a while for all companies to release compatible versions of software. However, I haven't seen any other programs with compatibility problems.

 

I do love my 6 gigs of ram though. My computer opens any program instantaneously and it takes virtually no time to shut down and start back up again.

[GoudaBrew]

Thanks everyone. I think I'll definitely go the 3 GB route. Dell has had pretty good deals for the last couple of weeks, but its hard to determine which is best and which one fits our needs. It's something we'll use A LOT so I don't want to penny pinch nor do I want to break the bank. I think our ceiling is $800, which should get us everything we want

[bork]

I've had quite a few Dell laptops through work and have had pretty good luck with them. I currently have a D820 with a 15.4" screen. It's a widescreen, so it's nice for watching movies. But I wish it had an S-video output like the D800 did. It's a pretty big laptop, so I couldn't imagine what a 17" would be like.

 

I would definitely go with RAM over processor. I've got 2 GB. While it's pretty good running XP, it would be nice to have more.

 

The biggest complaint is that the batteries stink. They're great new, but after about a year, they only hold a charge for less than an hour. So plan on either using the power cord a lot, or get a spare battery.

 

Harddrive space really depends on if you're going to store a lot of pics, videos and mp3s. Those really eat up space quickly.

[strawbossisevil]

Based on my personal experience, Dell and HPs are probably the worst two routes one could take on a laptop.

 

I had a Dell, and it went down hill in a hurry and actually fell apart after about two years. The craftsmanship of it was just that bad. I also had to replace the battery charger, not once, not twice, but three times in two years. That is not good.

 

HPs are notorious for having very poor batteries and running hot.

 

If I were you, I would go with Sony Vaio. That is what I currently have, and it is so much better than the HPs and Dells in construction and stability. The battery has been great too as Vaios seem to be much more energy efficient.

[sheetswannabe]

Dont get an HP. Dell and Mac are the way to go

[mtrebs]

If you are only going to use the laptops for internet use and light applications (like word processing) you should be able to get a laptop for around $400 + tax. If that's all you are really using it for you should be fine with 2GB of RAM.

[DSFastball55]

A couple things...

Vista is not the problem when it comes to using 4GB of RAM. All 32-bit operating systems can only actually use 4 GB of total memory, and that includes your video memory and a few other things. So you'll never be able to actually use 4 GB of RAM, so this includes Vista, XP, Linux, Mac, whatever. There are tweaks out there to make them appear to recognize more than that, but they cannot actually use more than around 3.5GB. A 64 bit machine can handle I believe 32 GB of RAM. The downside to using a 64 bit machine is basically software compatibility, although a lot of those incompatibilities have been resolved through updates and whatnot. However, there are still some issues. I bought a top-of-the-line Dell XPS recently and installed Vista 64bit, and had a few minor problems so I switched back to 32-bit for now.

 

If you are going with a Vista machine, 2GB RAM would be absolute minimum in my opinion. The more the better though.

 

As for laptops, Gateway was bought out by MPC awhile back, and has now filed for bankruptcy. They are unable to get a lot of their replacement parts now, so I would not buy Gateway at this time. I work on computer hardware for a living, and although you will hear stories about Dell being lower quality, I think it's bull. I think Dell is as good as anyone, and their customer service is far superior to any other company I've dealt with. It is my opinion that Sony Vaio's are junk, the ones I've worked with are not durable at all and their support is horrible. And all laptop batteries are the same, they will either be great or suck depending on how you use them. The biggest thing to remember is not to overcharge your battery. A lot of people leave their charger plugged in all (or most of) the time, and that is why the battery doesn't last as long as it should.

[1992casey]

So you'll never be able to actually use 4 GB of RAM, so this includes Vista, XP, Linux, Mac, whatever.

 

I'm not sure how it works, but you can buy 32 GB of RAM with a new Mac Pro. Would that be because those computers have two 4-core processors?

 

When Apple releases Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6) in 2009, RAM limits will theoretically be in the terabytes.

[JimH5]

Not sure if you plan on flying with it, or carrying it around, but with a bigger display comes more bulk and weight.

 

I just ordered a new ultraportable Lenovo with an 11.1 inch display. I just grew tired of lugging my big older Dell machine around.

 

I do like Dell, and think they're customer service is top notch. But truthfully, I've had the Dell for 3 1/2 years, and am on my 2nd battery, and only 512 of the 1 GB memory is actually working now. If I were to keep it, I'd be in for another battery and memory upgrade, and then I'd still be stuck with an older machine.

[1992casey]

Screen size is something that's important, but how it's important is different for everybody. Unfortunately, you have to compromise portability to get larger screen, and you have to compromise real estate to improve portability.

 

Notebooks generally offer the option of using full sized monitor at home, though. Some will also provide the option of allowing users to display different items on each monitor. Hooking up a full-sized monitor at home is a way to get the best of both worlds.

[strawbossisevil]

I understand that you feel differently Slobberknocker. But almost everyone I know who got a Dell within the past two or so years has had problems with theirs. Now, my problem was one of the more extreme, the screen part actually fell off of the keyboard. The screws fell out of that, after two years. I always took good care of it, but it was just cheaply made. The keyboard also suffered as numerous times the keys actually fell out when I was typing on them. Finally, the Dell charger broke three times in two years. This happened to a number of my friends as well. It was ridiculous.

 

Sony on the other hand, is much much more sturdy. The screen is attached much better. The keyboard is much better as well. Like I said, Sonys are also more energy efficient, which means better battery time.

 

I am no expert, but I do know that those of my friends who bought Dells have had a number of problems. And the few of those who bought Sonys have not. Sonys tend to be a bit more expensive, but I honestly believe its worth the investment, because you won't have to be buying a new computer in two years.

[DHonks]

I am hoping for a nice BestBuy giftcard at Christmas that I can put towards a netbook. I really don't like traveling with my work MacBook (actually, I generally don't like the Macs like I thought I would. I want small and portable, so when I'm on the couch (like now) it isn't a heavy and hot brick.

[jason21nl]

when I sold computers I saw a lot more Dells and HPs come in to be serviced more than any other brand. From time to time there is a nice ASUS notebook that goes on sale for $649 at Best Buy. It has everything, 4gb ram, 250 hard drive, dedicated graphics, HDMI

 

http://www.bestbuy.com/si...duct&id=1218012522418