What are some really good laptops?

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Lexie

I am looking for a new laptop. So far, I am looking at a Dell and HP. I have been researching, and it seems to me that Dell has better reviews.

I am looking for..

-Something that is portable and possibly thin
-Has very good battery life
-and one that is fast with internet, and computer itself

Right now I am looking at a Dell Inspiron 15 and a HP Mini.

any opinions??
help..

thanks.

Answer
Mini computers, also known as netbooks, often have 10" screens and run a slower CPU (usually ATOM based). They are great for people on the go, but not as your main computer. If someone liked to surf the net on a bigger device than a smartphone (Blackberry, iPhone, etc.) as well has have more computer functionality than an iPad... then the HP Mini would be a good choice.

I would, however, recommend against it.

Sony, IBM, Toshiba, and Acer all offer better machines than Dell. HP and Dell's quality are suspect and Gateway is right there with them.

If I were you, I'd check "deal" websites like slickdeals.net and fatwallet.com and do searches on "notebook" and see if anything good has popped up on their pages. They find sweet deals and you just have to click the link and purchase goods from places like Best Buy, Office Depot, Fry's, etc. They only point you to where the deals are.

Apple Macbook is not a bad option (as someone mentioned). However, you better have the money to do this. If you go to school you can get a $100 discount. The last 2 years around memorial day weekend, apple offered a promotion where you could also get a free iPod touch 8GB with the purchase of a mac.

Use shop discover (if you have a discover card, or use your debit/credit cards website if Best Buy is listed as a company they deal with) and it will get you 5% cash rewards as well.

You also get a free printer in the deal! A standard Macbook would set you back $899 with the education discount. Macbook Pro 13" would cost you $1099. Selling that iPod touch for $150 could further extend you dollar if you want that mac badly enough.

However, if you aren't a mac fan (I'm not) you go with a PC. I probably wouldn't recommend any laptop PC without an i5 processor (CPU). Yes, there are AMD fans around and I like those processors as well...but the Intel i5 screams and is worth the cost. Your computer will pwn with an i5 over most other CPUs.

Make sure the computer has 4GB of RAM (DDR3 would be best).

The hard drive can be 250GB or greater. The fact is, you can purchase a 640GB hard drive for $60 on sale and $80 or so at regular price these days and it is a quick swap. Do not overpay for a hard drive "upgrade" that will cost you significantly more.

Blu-ray drive is nice if you have an HDMI-out port on your notebook computer and an HDTV at home. If you don't want blu-ray, no big deal. Do not pay extra for it.

One of the most important things in your computer will be the onboard video card. "Integrated graphics" is OK for most online things, but a dedicated video card from ATi (Radeon) or GeForce (NVIDIA) will help your computer actually play some modern games quite well. If you plan on playing WoW or other graphics intensive games, you need to ensure your laptop has decent onboard video. This will cost you big as you move up the ladder of quality on these items.

You can get a budget computer for $400-$450 that will be low end. If you get a great deal on a mid-grade computer, it could be anywhere from $500-650. A laptop of $800 should have decent onboard video capabilities. Anything more and you better have great stats on those machines.

I'd personally stay away from Dell's lower end machines. They are terrible. I know someone who bought one for way too much money and it had a 4-cell (!!!) battery that barely lasted a month. The RAM was cut to bare minimum standards for Windows XP. It was a solid built machine, but it sucked on the inside!

Here are some recent "deals":

MSI A6200-038US 15.6" Notebook: Intel Core i3-330M, 4GB DDR3, 320GB HDD, Win 7 Home Premium $450 after $50 MIR + S&H($8) @ Frys (EXPIRED)

Toshiba Satellite L555-S7008 Notebook PC - Intel Core i5-430M 2.26GHz, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, DVDRW, 17.3" - $571.99 (With -$78 "Bing cashback rewards!)

http://www.circuitcity.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=6142909&sku=T78-17311&srkey=l555-s7008

This is a 17" model with an i5 CPU. This is a great machine for the price. And you register a bing "cashback" account, click on "circuit city" (Yes, they are alive after someone else purchased the old circuit city website and name) and you'll get a percentage cashback. NICE!

Good luck. You'll find a great deal and a nice laptop if you do your research. This place is a great start!



Thanks for your question. I have decided to make a website dedicated to giving people advice on what kind of computers are available and what they should buy for themselves. No domain name set yet, but I should be up an running in a week. Good luck!

Which Company Should I go with Dell or HP?

Raji's her

I'm planning on purchasing a new Desk top PC and I want your opinion on which company I should go with and why? Thanks ; )

Answer
Don't make a decision based solely on the company. List out what you want the system to do. Traditionally, there is no better media-oriented machine on the market than a Mac. Nobody can beat it, but the price is consistently much higher than 2nd tier systems by Dell, HP, Sony, Toshiba, and others.

I have always had good experiences with Dell. I find their product to be priced very competitively, and the systems have never given me trouble that wasn't easily handled by customer service. I had a bad hard drive in a laptop, and they replaced it quickly without a whole lot of fuss. However, getting through to someone on their customer service line took FOREVER. Unfortunately, this is the case for most computer manufacturers, so I don't think the company name makes a huge difference there.

Two good resources are www.pcmag.com and www.cnet.com. Both offer comprehensive reviews of the systems available on the market, and will even stratify by user-base so you can restrict the systems to those in your desired usability preference. You don't want a bunch of $7000 high end gaming system reviews if what you're really looking for is a $700 to $1000 dollar system for school/office work at home.

A great option that has really solidified in recent years is the laptop segment. At a very competitive price, most laptops are nearly as powerful as competitive desktop models, but come packaged with wi-fi functionality, and they are portable. This is huge if you're a student. My laptop was a critical factor in grad school ... I wrote my entire master's thesis on it. Very good investment.

Good luck!!

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