Laptop Recommendations:

[Brock Samson]

I'm looking for a puter to take on the road. and would like to hear/read you guyz recommendations..

Thanks,..
oh,.. I have an $ 800.oo budget...

 

[deputycrawford]

Brock, I am also looking for one. I think I'm going for a 12 inch screen, a dual core processor, at least 1 gig of RAM, and a wireless LAN connection for the truck stop, and other public internet connections. Oh; a hard drive of around 80 GIG should do me just fine.
     The smaller screen should do better setting on a seat. Also, Windows makes and map system called something like "Streets and Trips". It is about $40 for the program. If you add a USB port GPS antenna, the program will add the "you are here" little car on the screen and actually track your position for you. I think its too cool. The mapping covers anything you can imagine. I can't find one with everything I want in a 12' screen version so I'm thinking of having one built. I just hope I can also get it in the $800 range.
     Good luck with the search and let me know if you find something first. I will follow your lead if you do.

[Old Moparz]

Brock, I'll let you have my daughter's first one for free, she's not using it anymore. 

[Brock Samson]

  i'm "Retired", not "Retarded"..  thanks anyhoo..   

[bakerhillpins]

With that being a loaded question and all..

Biggest thing to consider is what are you going to use it for? -Work, play, gaming, word processing, coding, photos, .. the list is endless but it helps define your must have components and the ones you can trade out for price.

Personally -
There are LOTS of good deals out there right now.
I am a code monkey and as such I will never buy a laptop with smaller than a 15.4" screen.
Most come with DVD/RW drives and HDs with at least 60GB. My office PC has more crap on it than I care to admit and I am only using 30GB. (Only a few FPS games)

I am in the market too but currently lack the funds. What am I looking at -
I absolutely hate Dell. They have gone to crap. My work laptop is a dell and I hate the user controls and the unit as a whole. It works but the touch pad is crap and the built in stuff sucks. Dial out is crap (have to use this at home cuz I live in the boonies. Don't even get a cell signal where I am, Barely get my fire pages) and the wireless leaves something to be desired. The battery life is good though.

Oddly enough. I like Gateway. They were crap when they held the market in the middle 90s but now that they have to work to stay alive I have seen a big improvment.
Gateway NX570X -   http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529664155.php
2GB Ram, dual core P. 80GB Hd. DVD.... for $700

IMHO - NEVER buy extended service plans. Not worth their price.
Oh, and lots of companies sell via store fronts, like Best Buy. What I am saying is you can get a better PC for less from the big boxes. Very true with Gateway (who sells via BestBuy). Best buy will discount the PCs just to move them out the door when they start to "age" a bit. Not old or junk but not the latest.

PC companies are just like any other business. Everyone has their favorites. Go with who treats you well and gives you the features you want at the price that moves you.

I will confuse you more if you like.

Bryan

[Crazy440]

Any comments on the Apple laptops?
Crazy

[bakerhillpins]

I can't make any comments on Apple computers as I haven't used one (extensively) for 10s of years now.

I personally don't like their interface. I used them back in college days and I guess I just never liked the way they "felt". Yea, Its a windowed GUI (Graphical User Interface) just like MSWindows... But I guess I have been assimilated by Bill. Maybe they are differen now but I don't have any plans to switch. Last time I even looked at them the prices were much higher. I venture a guess that this is because there is only one MFG in the mac market.

My wife worked in Higher Education for quite a few years and she likes macs. I bought her a PC though and she hasn't used a mac in years.

I'm sure they are fine. Some folks swear by them. They are not any worse or better than a PC, you simply inherit a different set of problems. 

Sorry I am not much help there.

[70charger_boy]

HP Pavilion.  They might have some in your budget.  Had mine for 3 years and it works great.

[Silver R/T]

I see good deals on laptops in local stores all the time. You should be able to pick up a nice one for $800 with 15.4" screen 120GB hard drive DVD-ROM, 1055 memory, etc.

[Mike DC]

 
I got a $1300 HP last year after doing a medium amount of research.  I didn't have very high demands for it in terms of computing/storage capabilities, just the basics. 
I mostly wanted a reliable brand of hardware with an overpowered processor for my needs. 

The hardware works great so far, but not Windows Vista.  I ended up wiping Vista off the computer entirely and just having a friend install a bootleg copy of XP onto it.  It runs a hell of a lot better this way.  (Partly because of the issues with Vista itself, and partly just avoiding all the crappy extra programs that come tacked onto any new storebought OS.)

Either way, You'd be wise to pay extra for a full-boogie warranty on the hardware itself. 
 

[Forza]

Brock check out http://www.ibuypower.com . Should be able to find a good deal there.

I avoid Dell and Gateway like the plague. Dell has an incredibly horrid tech support but the systems are somewhat decent and payment options are reasonably. They tend to put cheap off-chute brand hardware in they're systems. Gateway adds way too much extra crap with any system. They limit what you can customize and try throwing unneeded stuff in with it. I've done business with IbuyPower alot and have yet to be disappointed. Good prices and high customization.

[TeeWJay426]

Just bought my daughter a new HP for college...  it was $899 at Circuit City; has 2GB RAM with a 200GB hard drive, nice screen (14 inch, I think?); I would think you could get a new HP that meets your needs for 800 or less by shopping a little bit.

[71charger_fan]

I have a Gateway that I bought a year ago. It's been an excellent machine. Do what I did, find a salesperson that knows the products in the store, tell him or her what you want to do with the computer and they should recommend a good fit. My salesman at the BestBuy in Columbia, MD recommended a model that wasn't even in the store. He called around and found one at a store about ten miles away and offered to have it shipped to his store. I said no, thanked him, and went to the other store, model number in hand, and bought it. I bought the previous year's model at a closeout price. 15.4" screen is too large to use on an airplane in economy though. At least with my large middle-aged belly.

[bakerhillpins]

15.4" screen is too large to use on an airplane in economy though. At least with my large middle-aged belly.

It would probably be foolish to buy a labtop just so it can be used in economy airline seating. I don't know anyone who can use a labtop in economy class anymore. Even with my elbows jammed into the back of the seat my plams still end up where my fingers should be.

I watched a move but had it sitting like a 'V' in my lap in order to watch it.

The only place I have been able to use a laptop on a plane is when I sat in an exit row. More room. Never sat in first class but it seems like it would work there too.

[Brock Samson]

what's worse is on a plane you'd be there for hours tryin to watch your laptop's screen and still be on the runway... 

thanks for the recommendations,.. i need something i can take on the road and since i have a dell PC at home,.. i was thinking about video and music making abilities, like a portable mini studio so i can meld vids and music of my own making togeather...
and watch girl fights on you tube.. 

[Neal_J]

Skippy:

An $800 budget won't buy you much if you don't already have software.  That said, I've had good luck buying used stuff on Craig's List.  The key is to get something that's in good shape, that you can test, and that has all the accessories (CD drive, cables, etc.) AND software CDs.  As for any PC, the bigger HDD and RAM, the better (yes, size does matter, as you've doubtlessly been told before).

Example:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/sys/388374810.html

Peace,

Neal

[69-DodgeCharger]

i'm "Retired", not "Retarded"..  thanks anyhoo..   

lol nice

[Lowprofile]

I have had my Toshiba Satellite for 4 1/2 years now. It travels very well. No problems at all! That little laptop has over 400,000 miles on it! 

Just my      Good luck Bro!

[71charger_fan]

After my laptop suddenly turned into a piece of crap, I remembered this thread and thought I'd re-comment. The "Geek Squad" has had my laptop for weeks trying to figure out what's wrong with it. This is it's third trip to the Geek Squad and I'm not happy. The service guy at a Best Buy in Florida even laughed at the prospect of buying a Gateway, even though his store sells them by the hundreds. I won't buy another one.

[69bronzeT5]

Dave, I have an ACER Aspire 5100. Its a great laptop. Havent had any probs with it. I have all my guitar pics and all my music videos and all my guitar recording and tabbing programs and it still runs great!

[Dans 68]

Any comments on the Apple laptops?
Crazy

Yes, I have had one for the past few years (and in the interest of full disclosure I have had a Mac ever since they were first called that, and earlier, but that is for another thread). I would get one of the dual processor intel Macbooks (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nnmm=browse&mco=7B72365E&node=home/shop_mac/family/macbook). They run about $1,100 but can do everything better than the "IBM" side machines. They even run Windows better that the "other" Windows machines! Wireless networking, easy set-up, intuitive software (if you don't run windows, that is  )  I currently have three iMacs in the house and a Macbook (yes, Jobs has his hooks deep into me). I will buy no other machine. Go to an Apple Store, Brock, and check out what they can do for you (and find someone who works at Apple to get their 15% discount...I did   ) or get on Craigslist and find a barely used one and save a lot of money. You will not be sorry.   

Dan

[jlb1pi]

The hardware works great so far, but not Windows Vista.  I ended up wiping Vista off the computer entirely and just having a friend install a bootleg copy of XP onto it.  It runs a hell of a lot better this way.  (Partly because of the issues with Vista itself, and partly just avoiding all the crappy extra programs that come tacked onto any new storebought OS.)

I missed this thread back when it was fresh, but seeing that it got revived, I gotta agree with you Mike...with regards to Window Vista.

I had an HP Presario V2000 series (they were called Compaq back then) for 3 years, with XP for an O/S, and never had any problems with it. I then made the mistake of my life and
gave it to my bride, and bought myself this HP Pavilion dv6000, preloaded with Vista....what a mistake!

Now that I know it's not just me, I am going to wipe Vista off of here and install XP on it.  I don't have the cojones to use a bootleg, Mike,  but I AM[/b] going to wipe the O/S off of my old Presario, load IT[/b] up with a legit Windows 2000 Professional program I have, then load this one up with the XP disk that came with the Presario...that way Microsoft is happy (one program per computer) and I am happy.

They have both been great computers, I paid less than 800 dollars for each at Office Depot on sale (3 years apart, of course),
and I've had no problems whatsoever with them, so I can't badmouth HP at all.

But just in case my point was missed, Windows Vista has a lot, and I mean A LOT of issues that need resolved....

Microsoft should have waited awhile before releasing it, and maybe in a few years I'll buy the Vista O/S program disk, and it will work fine without literally 10 or 12
Updates and Patches per month being sent to me for it !!

~Jer~

[TheGhost]

NOT Compaq.

[2Gunz]

I highly recommend the Inspiron line of laptops.

Tell me more about what you NEED to do so I can find you a great match.

[2Gunz]

Inspiron is dell BTW.


And I also dont recommend Vista at all.

My brother is an IT professional and he was given a copy of Vista Ultimate from work for his personal use.

It has been sitting on the shelf unopened for a year.

That says alot.