A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Banter Hall Ask Mr. Gremelin thinking of buying a laptop

well my parents are thinking of getting me one. I'm going to university next september (sept 2009) and I'm going to need one then. It seems that they're so cheap now some even as low as $499. I was wondering if anyone can suggest the most economical laptop (I know someone that can build computers but not so sure about laptops). Is there anything that I have to look out for when choosing a laptop? Any general advice? Thanks guys!

Kenny ~ Maxi and I will be learning about laptops this year because in our state all 7th graders receive one through the schools.

Here on the forum, I know Diane/Angelblossom just got a really cool one. You might want to ask her.

From what I understand so far, laptops can be sort of customized, or good for specific uses having different features. So I THINK it depends somewhat on what you want to do with it!

Merme

I love my laptop. It's a Vostro 1500, which I think is just for businesses generally. Thank you Bill.

Anyway, there are certain things that I'd keep in mind....important to me is a good battery. My old laptop, which I had to send back to Dell--it was sparking, only had a 2 hour battery life. The one they sent me back had a 6 hour battery life, and sometimes that's really important.

James will come thru I'm sure with lots of good info.

I really want a gaming laptop SO bad. I messed around on Dell yesterday and built one up that was the best of everything and it was $6,000. Hey, a girl can dream right?

You'd love a laptop. I will never ever own a desktop again, and I can't recommended having one enough. To not be tied to a desk anymore is the best thing ever. And it's just as good as my desktop really.

So exciting that you might get one.

Kenny, check with the university first if you know what you are going to take.

We were going to buy DD a laptop earlier in the year and are so glad we waited. DD's college sent us a paper with what her laptop 'had to have' to go along with her courses. Saved us alot of expense. The previous one she wanted didn't have half of what she really needed.

truer words have not been spoken. working at a college (as i type this from home, on my laptop, thanks bill ) i have learned that what your course of study is (called a major in the US) is so important. if you are going to be in a field that required a lot of graphics (not just photos, but artwork) then you will probably be looking at a MacBook. if you are looking at anything business, you will want a PC based book, like my dell. PLEASE wait (get your parents to wait) until you get more info from the university.

In all honesty, don't go with a gateway or emachines; go with either an HP/Compaq or a Dell; my Dell has lasted me 8 years...

Don't get the extended warrenty, it's worthless and just soaks up space.

What you'll want to do is make sure you buy the fastest processor you can afford. You can upgrade the memory and hard disk in any laptop; but the processor you cannot really get to at all.

Sooo, biggest screen you're comfortable with, fastest processor you can afford are the only two things i recommend when buying a laptop.

I would also advise against a mac; I know, I 'm sorry, but you're a student, and you'll likely end up having to take a coarse which requires you to be running some sort of windows operating system for specific programs,a nd I doubt you'll be wanting to run windows in a mac ;)...

Weird, I customized a dual core machine the one night with a gig of ram and it was bairly 2k... curious what all you said you wanted on the customization lol...

Remember, never buy the extra ram, it's always overpriced!

Also, the video card is connected to the motherboard, so you can't upgrade it either once you get it...

I always recommend at least 128mb graphics card if you plan to do hardcore gaming (like diablo, or somethin that will use it)

Wow, I don't think warranties on laptops are too worthless. My Dell crapped out on me and was not charging and sparking in the back. Jiffy had to send hers back, and Cindy sent hers back. So thank GOD Bill got us all warranties!

I wish I could show you what I did with the customization of that computer--but see I went thru and added warranties, and support, and games, and all kinds of stuff. I just went thru and added all the best stuff to the gaming laptop I think.

I agree!!!!!! I was on a mission to find the right one for my personal needs,, Multi media,, I wanted a light Under 5 Lbs,, and a 14 "screen, But with the good deal I got I went to a 15.5" screen and a heavier model,, unfortunately it has Vista but I'm getting used to it now,,

Kenny take the time to get on line go to several sites and build your own staying within your budget,, Don't just get a lap top because they're 499$ and/or look at the stats of the ones you know you can afford and compare,, I was determined to get a Dell,, But the stats and #'s were above and beyond at HP for all the right reasons for my personal multimedia use,, Take your time and analyze your sole purpose of use for the next 3+years. Then,, start looking at ads,, once you understand what your needs are and some extra bonus wants,, look for special instore sales,, ( Not advertised in papers,, BUT are advertised on net sites,or walk in the store and ask about any instore sales not advertised,, those are usually really good deals,, ) +plus down load coupons,, The only other main advice is to take your time,, don't buy now in haste and regret later,, I researched for several weeks before I got mine,, ,, When the right components are there for your personal use,, then your getting the right one for you!, :wink:





BTW I too bought the 3 year warranty,, glad I did,, When flying into Washington the guy sitting next to me, bent over to get something he had dropped and his elbow knock my lap top off and it landed in the aisle 1 1/2 seats in front of me scared me to death I just knew it was a gone'er,, But it's fine,, but the warranty would have covered it completely for sure!!

I think it was CNN which did a report that 90% of people don't even use an extended warranty... Myself, I used the base 1 year warranty once, and that was because I spilled V8 on the keyboard (so I was sick :shrug:)... I guess if you're planning to do anything dangerous and you can afford $400 for a 4 year warrenty, you could go for it lol

@Angel, 'eh heaver machines are usually better and cheaper as they don't have to worry about the lightest items possible... As for vista, you can roll back; it's hunting down the xp drivers that's a pain...

Brands though, HP/Compaq (same company, so I classify them together) or Dell; don't go Sony Vaio, they're beautiful machines, but they're the most expensive thing you'll ever touch...

I know, most people never need a warranty----isn't that weird how all 3 of us did? It was great though because as soon as I mentioned sparks in the back the dell guy got all worried and said that they'd replace it instead of repairing it. I was all for that since I was getting an upgrade.

uhhh, that's what they reccommended for DD's course and what we just bought ....should I be afraid of what's to come

Lol, a Vaio is just an overpriced machine, they likely have a partnership with sony for their staff machines, thus what they recommend...

You'd be fine with ANY brand of laptop; however, based on results I've had with machines, I'd only go HP/Compaq or Dell (as the price is well in line for a quality machine)

I absolutely love my MacBook. It may be more pricey than a PC but I wouldn't get anything but an Apple from now on. Its just worth it.

Funny thing is, hardware wise they're about the same thing now; only mac's now (osX) run on debian (a unix distribution)

Nice advice to know........
Now if I can convince me why I need one??????

Well dodge to listen to my kids, i would say the convienience (too many letter in that word huh??) factor is why a laptop. you are not stuck to one room in one house with a laptop..........

****says the girl with a desktop sitting here in her spare bedroom.****

i'd love to have the money to buy a new computer; you know, one that works and isnt' falling apart lol...

I am just thinking outloud........Mine is going on 4. Best one yet, even if it isnt a good brand....
Hubby and I share this one, he plays cards on here Free cell.

And his Lazer wireless mouse died.......Guess I am off to hunt another one.
He needs the comfort of wireless and bulk cause of Arthur in his hands.

He doesnt do anthing else on here..

Too slow he says.

I do a lot of coding; my laptop is way dated, I bought it in 2000 lol... It's a 1.7ghz dell, 15" screen, 1gb ram, 40gb hd...

I've used all the disk space and it's horribly slow for what i use it for lol...

I use a wireless trackball mouse; it took some getting used to, but i can't see myself using anything else now ;)...

I plan to eventually build a desktop that would allow me to do video editing; it'd be nice cas then I can do video tutorials and actually have support for the programs I want to use lol...

Though, unfortunately, with this judegement against me it's hard to save anything without the creditcard company taking their share...

If you're interested in the specs, you can find the computer i want to build on my wishlist in my signature (should be towards the bottom of the page).