Buying a Laptop

[mKoz26]

As many of you know, I'm heading off for college in August. Because of this, I'm in the market for a new laptop to use at school.

I'm not too needy as far as specs go. I'm not planning on intensive gaming or anything of that nature. I might buy Civilization V, but that's a bit old now and shouldn't be hard to run. I don't need to make music or anything fancy. I'm a Political Science major so I'm pretty much using this to take notes, type papers, and browse the internet. No graphics or programming. Windows 7 is probably a must-have but that seems pretty standard on most laptops today.

I'm also not looking to spend too much money since I don't need any special abilities out of this computer. Approximate price range is around $400 to $600.

With all of that in mind, does anyone have any suggestions? Brands that I should or shouldn't look at? I did a little browsing on Newegg and found some laptops in the right price range, but I'd like a few opinions on them just to be sure.

Something like this seems nice and is highly rated by users.

Anything that you feel would help my search is much appreciated.

EDIT: The more I think about it, the more I consider getting a laptop with a dedicated graphics card for some light gaming. This intrigues me. I don't think the first one that I linked would be able to handle the late-game clutter of Civilization games. Can anyone explain to me how dedicated graphics cards work in laptops? Are they upgradeable? Are they worth getting when a laptop doesn't have much processing power to begin with?

I'm pretty ignorant on the entire subject, haha.

[mKoz26]

Re: Buying a Laptop

*Shameless bump*

Any thoughts, opinions, whatever, are appreciated.

[Herky]

Re: Buying a Laptop

Toshiba's are pretty good laptops.

[nc0ffey]

I too would like some info on some good laptops for "light" gaming and music...and some work. I will be looking to buy one in the next 2 months or so. I'd be comfortable spending $600-$800...maybe more.

[DocHolliday]

Save your money, get a MacBook Pro with boot camp.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cjonesfan921]

Re: Buying a Laptop

Around 400-600 you can get a solid i-3 with 4-6gb ram..not sure about being able to run games though.

Instead of going for a MBP though, save for an XPS or the higher end HP models. You get a better machine and a better bang for your buck.

[mgoblue]

Re: Buying a Laptop

http://gizmodo.com/5916005/theres-never-been-a-worse-time-to-buy-a-laptop

I'd try and hold off a bit. The new Intel processor (Ivy Bridge I think) is coming out soon too, so all the Ultrabooks will be even better with the new processor.

It may not be possible to hold off (and if you're not getting a top of the line it may not matter), but wanted to post this article I read this morning.

[mKoz26]

Re: Buying a Laptop

Thanks for the responses.

I'm probably going to wait until the end of the summer to buy, so the Ivy Bridge thing is interesting. I'm willing to spend more than the $600 that I previously listed, but only if I can convince myself that the device is worth it.

[nc0ffey]

I also want hdmi input/output and cdrw drive.

[nc0ffey]

http://gizmodo.com/5916005/theres-ne...o-buy-a-laptop

I'd try and hold off a bit. The new Intel processor (Ivy Bridge I think) is coming out soon too, so all the Ultrabooks will be even better with the new processor.

It may not be possible to hold off (and if you're not getting a top of the line it may not matter), but wanted to post this article I read this morning.

Interesting, looks like I will wait til these new ones hit the market...which will also up my budget

[ODogg]

Re: Buying a Laptop

Can anyone explain to me how dedicated graphics cards work in laptops? Are they upgradeable? Are they worth getting when a laptop doesn't have much processing power to begin with?

I'm pretty ignorant on the entire subject, haha.

Dedicated graphics cards are just that on a laptop, a specific card built into the motherboard that is specifically designed to handle nothing but graphics. Because they are built into the motherboard on laptops they are not upgradeable.

I believe they are most certainly worth getting, even on low end machines, as even the low end Nvidia cards usually add very little to the price of the machine, are almost always a massive upgrade from a non-dedicated card and will allow you to place most newer games albeit sometimes on the lower tier graphics settings depending upon the type of game.

I'd highly recommend Dell XPS line, if you can find one in your budget. I've had a lot of good luck with Dell laptops and have purchased 3 of them over the years. The times I've had issues with them Dell has done a sterling job of getting them back up and running quickly.

My most recent purchase however was an ASUS and it's ran great since day one so I'd recommend them as well, however I cannot vouch for their service as an occasion to use their service department has, thankfully, not yet arrived for me..

[cjonesfan921]

Re: Buying a Laptop

Dedicated graphics cards are just that on a laptop, a specific card built into the motherboard that is specifically designed to handle nothing but graphics. Because they are built into the motherboard on laptops they are not upgradeable.

I believe they are most certainly worth getting, even on low end machines, as even the low end Nvidia cards usually add very little to the price of the machine, are almost always a massive upgrade from a non-dedicated card and will allow you to place most newer games albeit sometimes on the lower tier graphics settings depending upon the type of game.

I'd highly recommend Dell XPS line, if you can find one in your budget. I've had a lot of good luck with Dell laptops and have purchased 3 of them over the years. The times I've had issues with them Dell has done a sterling job of getting them back up and running quickly.

My most recent purchase however was an ASUS and it's ran great since day one so I'd recommend them as well, however I cannot vouch for their service as an occasion to use their service department has, thankfully, not yet arrived for me..

XPS is top notch and nice design. HP Dv6t-7000 and Dv7t-7000 are solid.

I wouldn't go with Sony or Samsung. Priced insanely higher. Also, you can find great coupons for Dell and HP.

You can build a top of the line HP for around $900 after their deals. This is with a above average graphics card, BR Drive, CDRW..etc etc.

[Guffers]

Re: Buying a Laptop

XPS is top notch and nice design. HP Dv6t-7000 and Dv7t-7000 are solid.

I wouldn't go with Sony or Samsung. Priced insanely higher. Also, you can find great coupons for Dell and HP.

You can build a top of the line HP for around $900 after their deals. This is with a above average graphics card, BR Drive, CDRW..etc etc.

I highly recommend Dell XPS laptops as well. I bought an XPS 17 in September last year and its been a fantastic purchase. In terms of gaming you just have to realise that laptop gaming is not desktop gaming and that laptop cards are not going to run things like Battlefield 3 at 1080p on Ultra. That being said my Nvidia GT555m has been a great little card capable of playing pretty much everything I've thrown at it at 1600x900 with a few compromises here and there.

eg. I bought Mass Effect 3 over the weekend and was quite chuffed to find that it ran totally maxed out at 40-60fps. Newer laptop cards will do even better.

Also whilst XPS machines are great, they are heavy and are classified as desktop replacements. I use mine at home most of the time but if you are traveling a lot it might be an issue.

PS. You should probably stay away from Alienware laptops unless price is no issue. The newer models look to be insanely powerful but the cost is immense.

[DocHolliday]

Re: Buying a Laptop

After todays WWDC, go rob a bank and get the $2700 MacBook Pro Retina.

Want.

[Scott]

Re: Buying a Laptop

After todays WWDC, go rob a bank and get the $2700 MacBook Pro Retina.

Want.

16 GB of RAM & 3.7 GHz...yum.