Laptop Advice

[TheMatrix31]

Hey guys,

Gonna be in the market for a laptop pretty damn soon. My current HP is slowly but surely biting the dust in 3 years. Overheats, typing and performance lag, sketchy media performance, Blu-Ray player has suddenly stop reading discs, physically breaking, etc. Absolutely horrible experience. Laptop now has a 17 inch screen and while it's nice, I feel like it's contributing to the overheating. Also has a substandard T5800 processor with a 512mb graphics card.

I don't know much about specifics regarding computers. I do know that performance is number one, two, and three. I want something snappy as hell and that will not lag if I have multiple tabs/windows open, streaming multiple games, Tweetdeck, etc. Was thinking a dedicated graphics card would again be the way to go, so long as it doesn't overheat that much. I would assume processor and ram are the most important factor in accomplishing my main needs.

Build quality is also important. I can't afford to have **** breaking down on me. I move my computer around quite a bit and need it to withstand some abuse.

What do you guys suggest? My budget will probably be around 900 bucks or so. Would like to get something that would allow me to also use money towards a Squaretrade warranty just in case.

I came across this one, seems pretty darn solid for what I want and at a very reasonable price.

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-TimelineX.../dp/B005J2JE4C

Are Acer laptops good? I'm kinda weary about them and Asus. I know I don't want an HP again. What should I look for processor-wise? Any tips or anything? It's a big investment and I don't want to screw it up lol.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[snepp]

Re: Laptop Advice

Weren't you going to open that thing up and take care of the overheating problem on the processor?

Remove dust from heatsink fins, replace thermal paste, good as <s>new</s> semi-new!

[TheMatrix31]

Re: Laptop Advice

Weren't you going to open that thing up and take care of the overheating problem on the processor?

Remove dust from heatsink fins, replace thermal paste, good as <s>new</s> semi-new!

Nah, it's a crap computer even besides the heat. Just a bad experience overall. Figure I'd switch it out while I could.

The Acer I posted seems to have some decent reviews around the web, but one thing that worries me is the fact that the battery is built-in and not replacable. How long does that thing last?

[cjonesfan921]

Re: Laptop Advice

Are you going to be doing any gaming?

I've been in the market and have done some SERIOUS research.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: Laptop Advice

Not really anything top-level. Might try out NBA2k or install some older games though. I want that flexibility and even if not, I want that ability to translate into better media performance otherwise. Not sure if they're even connected, lol.

[cjonesfan921]

Re: Laptop Advice

Most important thing is memory, other than graphics. (for games) You need lots of memory. I would say look for 6-8 GBs of memory. HD space is not as necessary. i5 or i7 is great. The graphics card on that Acer is OK. Any graphics card you look for, go here...

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-...M.42264.0.html

That's a graphics card, however, as you can tell, on the side are all of them.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: Laptop Advice

Hm.

Main thing I'm worried about regarding this Acer is the "built-in" battery. I can get stats on the battery life, but I can't get any real info on how long the battery lasts overall, since its not replaceable or whatever.

I don't want the thing to die on me in a year or two then be SOL.

[cjonesfan921]

Re: Laptop Advice

Hm.

Main thing I'm worried about regarding this Acer is the "built-in" battery. I can get stats on the battery life, but I can't get any real info on how long the battery lasts overall, since its not replaceable or whatever.

I don't want the thing to die on me in a year or two then be SOL.

I agree. My thing with Acer and Asus, they have awesome specs, but I just don't like the look. I guess I am big on design as well.

[Money99]

Re: Laptop Advice

TheMatrix, maybe not in your price range but I can't say enough about Mac's.
I know I sound like I drink the koolaid and I'm a zealot, but these machines are rock solid.

As an IT professional and someone who works with nothing but PC's, laptops and owned PC's for years, once I made the switch, I'll never look back.

My Macbook Pro is 8 years old and I've never had an issue. Not once.
I had PC's where I considered myself lucky if I didn't have to reburn the OS or upgrade the RAM, or deal with some kind of nonsense over a 12-month span.

With my Mac, the performance is always top notch and I never have to worry about virus's and all that garbage.
I can turn it on and in less than 12 seconds I'm sending emails. That's on an 8-year-old laptop that's never had an upgrade in anything but the OS.
I've yet to meet a PC that can do that.
In fact, my work system is 2 years old has double the hardware resources and I can literally count off 7 minutes before I can do anything from startup.

I bought my Macbook used for $700. I've seen some for even cheaper. It's been more than worth the price. We've had it for 5 years now and not one headache.

[mattsb84]

Re: Laptop Advice

TheMatrix, maybe not in your price range but I can't say enough about Mac's.
I know I sound like I drink the koolaid and I'm a zealot, but these machines are rock solid.

As an IT professional and someone who works with nothing but PC's, laptops and owned PC's for years, once I made the switch, I'll never look back.

My Macbook Pro is 8 years old and I've never had an issue. Not once.
I had PC's where I considered myself lucky if I didn't have to reburn the OS or upgrade the RAM, or deal with some kind of nonsense over a 12-month span.

With my Mac, the performance is always top notch and I never have to worry about virus's and all that garbage.
I can turn it on and in less than 12 seconds I'm sending emails. That's on an 8-year-old laptop that's never had an upgrade in anything but the OS.
I've yet to meet a PC that can do that.
In fact, my work system is 2 years old has double the hardware resources and I can literally count off 7 minutes before I can do anything from startup.

I bought my Macbook used for $700. I've seen some for even cheaper. It's been more than worth the price. We've had it for 5 years now and not one headache.

He wants the ability to play games though which rules out a MAC OS. You could duel boot, but now you're paying another $100 or so for the Win OS. The hardware may be nice, but I doubt MAC offers anything in his budget (new), let alone room for a warranty. I also wouldn't buy used hardware, especially several years old, regardless of vendor. It's great it worked out for you, but when buying used, you never know what you're going to get.

For the OP - Take a look at what Newegg.com is currently offering. They have a wide selection of laptops and offer warranties. You're bound to find something there that comes close to your specs. Reader reviews there tend to be useful as well.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: Laptop Advice

Well I'm not big on games but I wouldnt mind loading up stuff like NBA2k or FIFA maybe.

If I got a Mac, I would definitely load Windows on it...but that would kinda defeat the purpose I guess. We have a Mac desktop and laptop in the house and to this day I can't get down with the OS.

But hardware-wise, it's good stuff.

[cjonesfan921]

Re: Laptop Advice

Well I'm not big on games but I wouldnt mind loading up stuff like NBA2k or FIFA maybe.

If I got a Mac, I would definitely load Windows on it...but that would kinda defeat the purpose I guess. We have a Mac desktop and laptop in the house and to this day I can't get down with the OS.

But hardware-wise, it's good stuff.

Macs are extremely overpriced, you can get a high end Dell, HP or Toshiba for much less.

My suggestion if you don't mind going to $ ~1,100, would be to build your own Dell XPS 15/17. Search for coupons. I didn't pull the trigger but I managed to build a XPS 17 and after coupons get it down to $1,150. That's with i7, 8GB Ram, a good middle of the pack graphics card, and a Blu Ray player/writer. Those coupons expired the end of this month, so still some time.

[TheMatrix31]

Re: Laptop Advice

Nah I can't stretch it to around 1100. Otherwise I'd definitely go with the XPS. Seems like the best possible.

[LetThatBoyCook]

Re: Laptop Advice

Macs are extremely overpriced, you can get a high end Dell, HP or Toshiba for much less.

My suggestion if you don't mind going to $ ~1,100, would be to build your own Dell XPS 15/17. Search for coupons. I didn't pull the trigger but I managed to build a XPS 17 and after coupons get it down to $1,150. That's with i7, 8GB Ram, a good middle of the pack graphics card, and a Blu Ray player/writer. Those coupons expired the end of this month, so still some time.

How reliable is the XPS 15/17? What's your opinion on the Alienware M14x?

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-M14x/pd.aspx

I'd like to do some gaming on my next laptop.

[VDusen04]

Re: Laptop Advice

Are Dell's acceptable laptops? Because that's what I'm considering, for I have a teacher discount for Dell's. One normally in the $500-$700 range? For normal computing, no gaming? Videos and whatnot?