buying a laptop

[Halfaxe]

does anyone have any suggestions on what to get? im looking for a computer that will run fast, and comes preinstalled with vista. at least 2 gigs of ram, and 100 gigs of harddrive. please and thank you

[binsenkind]

vista and fast ? never seen that so far )
i still recommend thinkpads, even if they aren´t made by ibm anymore.
i disadvice so buy acer and never buy the cheapest one. oh, and those new mirror-like display are THE HELL if u wanna use ur notebook outside )

have fun )

[themadhobo]

The best laptops on the market are Toshiba, Mac, and Sony. As of yet I havent heard of those breaking down particularly often. If you just want gaming Id say go for a Toshiba because they cost about half as much as mac, but if you plan to do programming get a Mac. Im not fond of Sony myself, but I know theyre pretty good.

[dorion]

I would recommend a Mac also, I use one myself most of the time. The lowest end Macbook with upgraded 1 GB Ram.

I would not recommend a Laptop with Vista! The is no need for a Laptop with Vista. Why? Because Vista is mostly a sell for DX10 Gaming and HD Video like HD-DVD and Blueray, which requires a proper Drive and eats bettery life. And now since you do not have Vista now you do not need 2 GB RAM, or a fast processor. You have now saved yourself a ton of money. Get a Laptop running XP with maybe 1 GB Ram, and an average processor.

Remember laptops are not desktop replacements, they are meant to allow you to continue a somewhat normal life on the road. That is why Gaming Laptops and Desktop Replacements are an ABSOLUTE joke! Do you want to play Doom 3 for 30 minutes, or surf the internet and write document for 4 hours? For Doom 3 choose a Desktop Replacement, for the latter choose an actual laptop.

If you want to game get a desktop.

[Ploog]

I hate iMacs x.x I hate the setup, I hate a lot about it, too much to explain. I have always used Windows, and I always will. Everytime I go to an iMac, I just walk away after 5 mins, because I cannot handle it x.x They always say hard to switch to something new.

Anyways, I think that Vista is coming standard to a lot of things, but I am sure you can ask for something else. 2 gigs of ram is expensive, and really isn't needed x.x unless you are a hard core gamer.(In which case, I'd suggest just going with Alienware)

Sony's are real nice, and I like Compaq and HP's too. For what you are looking for(2 gigs ram, and 100 gigs hard drive, not that expensive anyways) is about $1500+ You will probably come out with a 2.7gigahertz processer for a laptop, and maybe a 14-17" screen. The disk space is real nice to have about 100, but I think a lot comes with 120 standard anyways.

Basically: Get an iMac if you are used to the setup(I haven't heard anything bad about them performance wise anyways, it isjust mainly preference) otherwise Sony is nice for work, and decent to play moderate games, and Compaq and HP's are nice overall. I do not suggest to get a Dell-IMO they have their free 24 hour/7day a week phone support, because you WILL need it, because you pay for what you get. Alienware is reserved for a hard-core gamer.

[Lordz]

Im not the computer know it all in any way shape or form...But i've always had a dell and never had a problem with it or had to call their help line.But then again i don't do much on my computer but pirate music and look at like 10 sites...And play like 4 games...The simpler the better when it comes to me.

[Logwad]

Macs are good if you just don't want to ever mess with anything computer or game related. I can honestly say that for some people, macs are great, terrific things. For me personally however, they are insulting.

Personally, I prefer windows 2000. Doesn't use too many resources, plays nearly all old games, and most new ones, and is in my experience solid. If I want fancy smancy alpha blending, I can simply use litestep, or just boot to linux. Vista is too "new" for me to suggest using, wait a few months is my advice, so everyone can make everything compatible. Everyone should keep in mind that you don't have to use Aero as the interface.



The kind of computer you should be getting really depends on
1. what you will use it for now
2. how long you plan to use it and,
3. what you want to be able to use it for eventually.

If you answer those questions, we could provide intelligent answers. Rather than just our own fanboy opinions.

Stay far away from dells, or anything that used nonstandard parts. They are cheaper when you first buy them, but as soon as you have problems (and you will, for any computer, mac, thinkpad or dell), you will wish you had looked around better, or paid an extra $100.

Also, since you are getting a laptop, make sure you also get a backup external hard drive. Laptops are meant to be moved around. Hardrives however do not ever like moving around. This is not to mention the laptop just getting stolen. Always backup anything you value on an external drive, and on CD/DVD's. Remember that CD/DVD's that you can write to are only safe for keeping data for a couple years. Also, if you are rolling in cash, look into flash hard drives. I saw one in action once, they are truly an experience to behold.

[Clubbz]

labtop? I wish I could afford one.....not a mac though....macs suck!......

[Jackolantir]

Flashdrives aren't that expencive... Flashdrives hold much, much more than CDs, and they are smaller, too. For CDs, you have to put them in a case or something; with flashdrives, you could just stick 'em in your pocket, or hang them around your neck. Like the CD has replaced the floppy for more space, the Flashdrive has replaced the CD in the amount of bytes it can hold...

But he's not asking about flashdrives, now is he?

[Logwad]

I'm talking about flash based hardrives. 30+ gb

They are expensive, but they are much, much faster than regular hardrives, and bumping them does not break them, and they use a lot less power. If you have the money, it is a good thing for a laptop.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solid_state_disk

[themadhobo]

I dont understand why anyone would like HP or Compaq... theyre inferior brand computers using generic parts slapped together. Its always hit or miss, those are generally computers built for people who dont know what theyre looking for(aka old people)
I still stand by saying Mac is the best by far. Theyre the most expensive, by double for good ones. On the mac you can run Unix Linux and osX so youve got all your bases covered there. Getting a high end one is the best you can get, especially if you do any programming.
Dells are good because theyre cheap and they have great customer service. If you break it, you just send it in, they fix it and send it back. Takes a week, tops.
Toshiba is still the best general use because its half the price of Macs, more powerful and sturdier than Dell, and doesnt use junk parts like HP and Compaq.

[Jackolantir]

Aaah, silly me. I feel so retarded. Thank you Logwad.

Themadhobo... A hp has a nice keyboard configuration.

[themadhobo]

keyboards are nothing if the internal components fall apart...

[Logwad]

Originally Posted by themadhobo

keyboards are nothing if the internal components fall apart...

But the internal components cannot be enjoyed if the keyboard sucks. I know Thinkpads have a good layout. And to my limited knowledge, the mac keyboards are also very similar to the regular mac keyboards.

Laptops are much trickier than regular computers when it comes to finding one that suits you. You sacrifice customization/upgrade-ability for portability.

[themadhobo]

You get used to a different keyboard layout in time, if your computer sucks then youre in trouble no matter what.

[Logwad]

Just because you can get used to something, does not mean you should have to.


And where did Halfaxe go?

[Narhalles]

LOL I have 5 games that I absolutely love that cannot be played on anyth but 95..... I have tried everything else lol.


as to laptops... well, nothing I can add to that that has not already been said. (except that if you wantto do hard core gamming it is better to have a 1gig video card than 3 gig's ram. trust me on that. though having both is nice. )

[crinox]

Originally Posted by themadhobo

Dells are good because theyre cheap and they have great customer service. If you break it, you just send it in, they fix it and send it back. Takes a week, tops.
Toshiba is still the best general use because its half the price of Macs, more powerful and sturdier than Dell, and doesnt use junk parts like HP and Compaq.

1) Dells are the most expensive laptops on the market (or close to it)
2) Dells customer service sucks (second-hand experience from my dad)
3) Toshibas are also incredibly expensive when you look for something past 512 ram
4) Do you work in an HP or Compaq manufacturing facility? or are you just advertising for Dell in your post? (maybe theyll give you a discount so a bad laptop will only be $999)

[peacemaster]

The only laptop I would ever buy is HP... (well already have HP) I had Asus and that one I would never buy again... got messed up too often. Also used vaio and I didn't really like that on either... Its HP or nothing for me