Nemesis Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 hey guys, im looking for a cheaper 15" laptop as a christmas gift for my girlfriend. it doesnt have to be fancy, just something to browse the web, check e-mail, do homework on (word assignments and mid-terms, not photo and video editing), and listen to music. it would be nice if she could do most of it without freezing.Im thinking AMD and I dont know much about them, so thats why im asking. my price range is 400-500 max incl. taxes ect... i would probably buy from futureshop or best buy due to availability and selection. there is also http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/samsung-samsung-15-6-laptop-featuring-intel-core-i3-370m-processor-rv511-a01ca-silver-rv511-a01ca/10182801.aspx?lang=en-CA&pcname=&sku=10182801&path=4c6d4e9f6700f0ccdeb0ed11dd2b4e69en02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyo Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Get her a tablet, girls love toys. No dirty thinking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted November 8, 2011 Author Share Posted November 8, 2011 she wants an ipad but her usb ports on her laptop fried. i opened it up and the circuit blew up. Seriously, black residue all over it and it smelled like burning. a tablet would be good but she still needs something to plug it in to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ishmoo21 Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 if you could afford it I would say this http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/toshiba-toshiba-15-6-laptop-featuring-amd-a6-3400m-processor-l775d-02s-blue-l755d-02s/10181326.aspx?path=b9f437e6416e02442c1ebf886c467a70en02 but if not I would say just look for a laptop with an AMD E-350 processor and then get one based on how much hard drive space you need. They range from about 300-500 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadioActive Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 I would suggest a Netbook, Intel Atom ir VIA Nano based netbooks are somewhat cheap or if you can afford it go with ishmoo21 suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwop Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Trust: 91.5 %As much as I hate Dell, I am a big fan of my Dell Latitude D630. I believe I saw some refurbished ones on Ebay recently for about $200 US.Core 2 Duo (Intel, not AMD) running at 2.2Ghz, 2gb RAM and a bit smallish hard drive at 80gb. Wifi, Bluetooth, fingerprint reader for security, and more. It's well made and pretty robust, which the Latitude line seems to be of higher quality compared to the Inspirons. Throw in an SSD to replace the 80gb HD, and that laptop will scream! I boot to desktop in Windows 7 in about 20 seconds from post, with everything loaded.Runtime is pretty good as well, especially with an SSD in there. You can also pull the optical drive and insert a specially fit battery in the slot vacated by the optical drive.Do not buy a netbook. Those things are junk.While it is a model that is a few years old, and those specs might not be super impressive, trust me, this baby is fast. They must be using a good chipset in this model. Trust: 91.5 % Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadioActive Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Do not buy a netbook. Those things are junk.That statement is incorrect at best. NetBooks are quite efficient in doing what they were designed to do, the problem is people tend to compare them to NoteBooks which is pointless. Perhaps you should compare the NetBook to a tablet since their usage is similar.NetBooks are perfect if you just wanna browse the internet (main usage), perhaps use some basic applications, including listening to music and watching some movies.The point is, a NoteBook will almost always out-performs any NetBook but the question is what do you need it for? If you don't intend to use it for business, modern gaming, or any intensive applications then a NetBook will do just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pr1xsel Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Laptop you picked is quite cheap and good. Based on average benchmarks results then amd e350 is about 2-5 times slower.If want something that draws 2-4 times less power and isn't slow then try to get with amd e450 and 4gb ram.It isn't easy to get something almost same good or better than the good one you picked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bwop Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 Do not buy a netbook. Those things are junk.That statement is incorrect at best. NetBooks are quite efficient in doing what they were designed to do, the problem is people tend to compare them to NoteBooks which is pointless. Perhaps you should compare the NetBook to a tablet since their usage is similar.NetBooks are perfect if you just wanna browse the internet (main usage), perhaps use some basic applications, including listening to music and watching some movies.The point is, a NoteBook will almost always out-performs any NetBook but the question is what do you need it for? If you don't intend to use it for business, modern gaming, or any intensive applications then a NetBook will do just fine.You misunderstood what I meant. While yeah, they underperform compared to a full sized notebook, when I say they are junk I am referring to their build quality and how durable they are. I repair computers for a living, so believe me when I say that I've observed that netbooks are fragile and are made to fail before their time. Yes, notebook computers are often made to fail as well (HP for instance), but netbooks are one sneeze away from failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadioActive Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 You misunderstood what I meant. While yeah, they underperform compared to a full sized notebook, when I say they are junk I am referring to their build quality and how durable they are. I repair computers for a living, so believe me when I say that I've observed that netbooks are fragile and are made to fail before their time. Yes, notebook computers are often made to fail as well (HP for instance), but netbooks are one sneeze away from failure.Well, I can't really comment on build quality since it differs from brand to brand or even from model to model. But it's true that most portables (Net/NoteBooks) are quite cheaply build, especially HP and DELL.Personally, I prefer Sony products, but anything you get will need care in handling it, since you're not buying a Husky after all ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beer Posted November 8, 2011 Share Posted November 8, 2011 hey guys, im looking for a cheaper 15" laptop as a christmas gift for my girlfriend. it doesnt have to be fancy, just something to browse the web, check e-mail, do homework on (word assignments and mid-terms, not photo and video editing), and listen to music. it would be nice if she could do most of it without freezing.Im thinking AMD and I dont know much about them, so thats why im asking. my price range is 400-500 max incl. taxes ect... i would probably buy from futureshop or best buy due to availability and selection. there is alsohttp://www.bestbuy.c...d11dd2b4e69en02The specs for that Samsung notebook seems pretty good, and I think it will serve your GF well for what she need it for.Other thoughts for your budget PC:It seems like she will need to do a bit of typing so probably Tablet is probably not ideal (unless you spend more to get a keyboard dock)If I remember correctly Intel i3 mobile is more powerful and runs cooler than its AMD counterparts. The extra processing power can be beneficial for HD content playback. I see the notebook has both VGA & HDMI; She can definitely hook this up to LCDTV and watch videos.If you have Best Buy close-by definitely go check it out in person first. I was going to buy an ASUS notebook some time ago, but when I saw it in person the build quality was awful (squeaking notebook keyboards, weird vent/port locations, uncomfortably warm to the touch at idle, etc).Upgrade that notebook's 5400rpm hdd to an SSD it will make the unit feel many times snappier and over. Buy a small basic SSD (at least 64GB) and she can use the 5400rpm 640GB hdd in her notebook as an external backup.My top 4 SSD recommendations are: Intel 320/510 series, Crucial M4 series, Kingston V+100 series, or Samsung 470/830 series. Out of the above Intel has the lowest failure rates among all SSDs, and Crucial usually has the best performance/price ratio.I recommend a clean install of Windows 7 when you get the notebook. A lot of notebook companies factory installs a lot of crap/bloat/ad-ware, and some apps leave crap behind even after you uninstall them causing BSODs and other system errors. I have actually never bought Samsung notebooks before, but you can evaluate to see if there are crapwares.Sorry about the lengthy thoughts, but hope it will help you make your decision! :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted November 9, 2011 Author Share Posted November 9, 2011 thanks all for your help, im stopping at best buy tomorrow and having a look, i will probably wait until december when all the sales start. I hate being cheap especially towards loved ones. and ESPECIALLY when she paid for an all inclusive mexico trip for both of us.update: i got http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/samsung-samsung-13-3-laptop-featuring-intel-core-i3-380m-q330-black-q330/10162544.aspx?path=f70ab5958ed01d14a0f923e015e7d464en02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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