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Laptop Shopping Posted By: Jeff94z28 On: 01-03-2008 @ 15:25:52 Reply | Edit Hey guys, looking to purchase a cheap laptop for when I go to my g/fs house and things. I'm looking for a computer for under $600 and want it to be able to work quicly, but mainly just basic use. Such as, typing papers, music, AIM, surfing, and the occasional flasy game. I'm not looking to do photoshop, or any music editing or the like. I decided I like the 14.1 Inch laptops because they are small and easy to travel with. But other than that I need some help. Everyone says Vista needs tons of RAM, am I looking at 1 gig, or should I go 2 for that. Regardless, I will probably "downgrade" to XP. As far as processor speed what am I looking at for my type of use. I figured dual core, but is 1.4 going to be slow, and should I go for the 1.6+. The only problem if I go for the 1.6+ is that I havent been able to find any with 2 gigs of RAM, but again I dont know if thats necessary. As far as hard drive, I probably dont need anything large, as I have my desktop for that. So anything 80 and larger I think would suffice. Currently I've been thinking Acers have what best fits my needs and price range but Im looking for all oppinions. The exact model I was looking at was the Entransa 4260 or something like that. It was on sale for 550 but I missed it. Thanks for any help and guideance. --  Posted By: REDBIRD95 On: 10-29-2007 @ 15:32:36 Reply | Top | Edit I have an Acer TravelMate 290 laptop with 1.3Ghz processor. It's been a reliable, great little computer. Never had any issues with it 
Don't buy a dell, I don't care what anyone says, they suck and are way over-rated. -- 1995 Bright Red Firebird 3.4Litre A4, 3.23 gears, MagnaFlow Catback, K&N FIPK, Edelbrock Control Arms, Optima YellowTop, Bilstein Shocks, ROH 17" ZT aluminum rims, BF Goodrich G-Force T/A ZR KDWS(245/45/17) 
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/432499 Posted By: jumper297 On: 10-29-2007 @ 15:52:49 Reply | Top | Edit  We say the same thing about Acer, we're not allowed to purchase them for work anymore because of the problems with them.
I use Dell's exclusively at work and in the military because, simply put, nothing else would hold up. Even the Toughbooks failed at a higher rate. They are a bit pricey for your range though. The new M1330 is a great computer but they start at $1200. My D620 for work has been a great laptop... tough as nails. Hasn't let me down despite the constant misuse and abuse. Sony makes a decent laptop but they are WAY overpriced for what you get. I would look at something from HP or Toshiba. I've got an HP ZD8000 that has worked well for around 3 years now. I know there are some horror stories about the HP laptops though, seems to be a roll of the dice on quality with them. -- 95 Formula 1 of 7,448 
"Life is too short to drive a slow car." Posted By: RS31 On: 10-29-2007 @ 18:19:38 Reply | Top | Edit news flash: both companies buy same components for manufacturing. in reality there probably isnt a good or bad. dells have a bad rep because there are so many of them. maybe only 1% fail... but that's probably 100,000 units vs. HP might have a 5% fail rate equaling 30,000 units. it's all relative. there isnt anything wrong with dell or acer. personally those are my 2 favorites with acer on top. i used to work at a computer store and acers were the best. we never had any in for warrenty (other than spyware and junk, but that's the users fault) dual core anything will be plenty fast. you arnt going to be playing games so anything else will be just fine. 2 gigs isnt needed, but its nice to have. i would get 2 gigs if it were me. intel proc. are probably going to be faster than the AMD's in the market right now. and yes, sonys are nice, but overpriced -- 
DD - 1998 GTP 3.4" pulley - ZZP PCM - Fender Intake - TB spacer - 3" downpipe - !ubend - high flow cat Waiting to install colder plugs and 180* t-stat Posted By: Jeff94z28 On: 10-29-2007 @ 19:12:10 Reply | Top | Edit That definetly helps narrow it down a bit then. There are a few dual core acers with 1 gig memory for around 550. -- Posted By: Jeff94z28 On: 10-29-2007 @ 19:44:50 Reply | Top | Edit Adding one to the list. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2030260032%20103980222%204021&bop=And&CompareItemList=N82E16834115392%2CN82E16834115395%2CN82E16834115384%2CN82E16834115401%2CN82E16834115383 I hope thats direct. If not I'm looking at Acer TravelMate TM2480-2196, Acer Aspire AS5050-5954, Acer Aspire AS5570-2067, Acer Aspire AS4710-2013. Do those look like good deals? Which one would you go for? -- [ Edited on 10/29/2007 @ 20:48:35 ] Posted By: hotrodbob38 On: 10-29-2007 @ 20:31:02 Reply | Top | Edit toshiba/....im on it now.. over 4 years old.. on it 3+ hours a day online..never crashed.. best laptop for the price..' battery pretty much dead, so im gonna let my son plug it in and use it in his room..my next will be another toshiba Bob Posted By: jumper297 On: 10-29-2007 @ 20:50:49 Reply | Top | Edit News Flash: Of course there are differences from brand to brand. Anyone who's ever been around any type of electronics manufacturing can tell you that. Everything from the purchase of the lower test "identical" components to lower QA standards at final assembly to lax ESD practices. Even something as small as a cheaper voltage regulator on the board will have a ripple effect on overall system reliability. Are they mostly the same general components? Yes. Are some brands overall more reliable? Of course. Honestly... for what you're doing with it I would shop strictly by price and not brand. You're not going to beat on it enough to have a failure that wouldn't have happened anyway. -- 95 Formula 1 of 7,448
"Life is too short to drive a slow car." Posted By: Jeff94z28 On: 10-29-2007 @ 21:00:02 Reply | Top | Edit Well I guess Ill ask some really basic questions, and looking for basic answers. Are processors what makes the computer run quickly? RAM the amount of programs that can be run? And Intel, or AMD, or indifferent? -- Posted By: Fury_786 On: 10-29-2007 @ 21:13:53 Reply | Top | Edit I really like my dell D600, got it on eBay as a reman unit for $465 shipped. works great, and does everything i need it to. -- 
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Posted By: RS31 On: 10-29-2007 @ 21:29:11 Reply | Top | Edit ram + proc = speed... to put it in simple terms. dont cheap out on either and you should be fine. if you cheap out on one, might as well cheap out on the other. and like i said, i believe intel has better products for the price right now. toshiba's were not so bad either. not too many in for service --
DD - 1998 GTP 3.4" pulley - ZZP PCM - Fender Intake - TB spacer - 3" downpipe - !ubend - high flow cat Waiting to install colder plugs and 180* t-stat Posted By: Jeff94z28 On: 10-29-2007 @ 21:40:33 Reply | Top | Edit If this was your money which would you go with. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2030260032+103980222+4021&StoreType=7&CompareItemList=N82E16834115395%2cN82E16834115384%2cN82E16834115383&bop=And -- Posted By: stevethepirate On: 10-30-2007 @ 00:02:26 Reply | Top | Edit ive grown up with laptops... we all needed our own starting in 6th grade, so i think its safe to say ive heard what computers are generally worth getting. from when i was in 6th-8th grade, i had 6 friends with compaqs that broke their motherboards somehow. i went through at least 5 HP's, my sister went through just as many. i would NEVER buy another HP. toshiba... NO dell- not as many people i know have had bad experiences, but no one has actually said they LOVE them. dont know if i know anyone with a mac that doesnt like it. -- 
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2048599 Posted By: ncllb33 On: 10-30-2007 @ 02:01:52 Reply | Top | Edit Compaq and HP are the same company I believe. Just get a Dell, you can get a nice Inspiron for ~@650. I dont care what anyone says, Ive had a Compaq, HP, and Toshiba, and they were all crap compared to my current Dell, Compaq being the absolute worst. The customer service isnt the best for Dell, but its far better than HP/Compaq and Toshiba. My monitor went out and it was replaced no questions asked with my warranty. The only thing Id get over a Dell is a Mac, a lot of people dont like them or the OS, I get that, but the quality of the product is far superior. Ive never owned one, but being a design student Ive been in contact with many macs and theyre just flat out great. Too expensive for your budget though. Its ashame cause a new Macbook would be perfect for what you need it for. --  Posted By: Jeff94z28 On: 10-30-2007 @ 11:25:37 Reply | Top | Edit The reason I keep listing Acers is because they are whats in my price range for the most part. In general though anything 1.6ghz or better combined with 1gig of ram or more should be plenty fast for what I'm doing though correct. Even if I was to leave Vista on it? -- Posted By: jumper297 On: 10-30-2007 @ 12:15:18 Reply | Top | Edit For what you're doing it should be enough. Vista is top heavy because of all the eye-candy but 1 gig will boot and run it fine with most applications. You won't be gaming on it as fast as you could but it doesn't look like you care about that anyway. -- 95 Formula 1 of 7,448
"Life is too short to drive a slow car." Posted By: RS31 On: 10-30-2007 @ 12:25:35 Reply | Top | Edit dont game on a laptop... period. 1 gig + 1.6GHz core 2 will be fine. macs are superior in the quality department... but the software just plain sucks. --
DD - 1998 GTP 3.4" pulley - ZZP PCM - Fender Intake - TB spacer - 3" downpipe - !ubend - high flow cat Waiting to install colder plugs and 180* t-stat Posted By: RS31 On: 10-30-2007 @ 12:26:29 Reply | Top | Edit and yes mac's are expensive. just go dell 1.6 core 2 with 1 gig ram and vista. for daily use that is more than enough --
DD - 1998 GTP 3.4" pulley - ZZP PCM - Fender Intake - TB spacer - 3" downpipe - !ubend - high flow cat Waiting to install colder plugs and 180* t-stat Posted By: Jeff94z28 On: 10-31-2007 @ 15:53:19 Reply | Top | Edit Well I ended up with an Acer Extensa 4620z from Best Buy. It was a little more than I wanted to spend but what the hell. Its got an Intel 1.4ghz dual core processor, 2 gig ram, 160 gig hard drive. Seem to like it so far. Unfortunatly it has Vista but what can I do, other than buy XP and lose my warranty. Hopefully I dont run into any compatability issues with Vista. I probably will end up putting some games on it. Nothing crazy, just some Nintendo, SNES, and Sega games. And possibly Command and Conquer Generals. But thats all I've got. --
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