Looking for a new laptop...

[Knightmare]

My budget is a little tight right now, so these are the top contenders:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006550%2050001186%2040000032&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&CompareItemList=32|34-215-260^34-215-260-TS%2C34-158-285^34-158-285-TS%2C34-158-579^34-158-579-TS

So what do you think? I have a desktop; however, it's out of my reach right now and I can't get it until June. My current laptop is threatening to die at any moment, so I need something to last me until then...well I hope it lasts longer than June but I won't be using it much after that. So does anyone have any thoughts whatsoever about my choices? I'm also open for suggestions if you have something that is just as good for the same price.

[Fluffy]

My budget is a little tight right now, so these are the top contenders:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006550%2050001186%2040000032&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&CompareItemList=32|34-215-260^34-215-260-TS%2C34-158-285^34-158-285-TS%2C34-158-579^34-158-579-TS

So what do you think? I have a desktop; however, it's out of my reach right now and I can't get it until June. My current laptop is threatening to die at any moment, so I need something to last me until then...well I hope it lasts longer than June but I won't be using it much after that. So does anyone have any thoughts whatsoever about my choices? I'm also open for suggestions if you have something that

is just as good for the same price.

Found some cheap ones here - http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/ :)

[majithia23]

Either of the three is a thumbs down from me buddy ...

I will never recommend any HP or Acer machine to anyone .

Ok , Acer still might be under and after some due consideration , but HP is absolutely a big no ( HP is a total failure in laptops , add to it the fact that the Pavilion series is the king of failures )... :nono:

Go for a budget Toshiba build ... ;)

[Knightmare]

I hate Toshiba! I had their HDD crash on me within 3 weeks of buying the thing. My HP has been going strong for 5 years. I don't know what you're talking about HP being bad.

[bwop]

HP sucks. Do not buy anything from Horrible Products.

Acer is better, but not great. Toshiba? Their hard drives are pretty unreliable.

I'd go with a Lenovo. You can get some really nice used ones for pretty cheap.

[NOP-X4]

HP sucks. Do not buy anything from Horrible Products.

+1 :yes:

[c0vert]

Sony has a trade-in old laptops (double their actual value) for a gift card (gift card amount will be dependent on the value of the laptops). If you want to calculate what sort of value you'd be getting, take a look and this link: http://store.sony.co...1&cmsId=tradeup.

Don't use the link above to trade in. Instead, just go to a Sony store, and give them what you have. That way, you won't have to ship it nor wait 3 weeks. Plus you'll walk out with a gift card on the spot.

What's nice is that the laptops are stackable (you can trade in as many laptops as you want and their value will be attributed to one card): I went to a Sony store last week with 2 old computers and walked out with a $520 gift card. Both laptops were Core 2 Duo's, so they traded in fairly well. I later took that $520 and purchased a new customized Sony Vaio 15'5 for $489 + tax. Without a $125 off coupon and the gift card, it would have been ~$1200 plus tax!

Here's what I was able to get:

Product: US-SVS151190X-LBOM

Component: 12GB (4GB fixed onboard + 8GB removable) DDR3-1333MHz

Component: CD/DVD player / burner

Component: Internal lithium polymer battery (4400mAh)

Component: Kaspersky® Internet Security (30-day trial)

Component: White

Component: 500GB (5400rpm) hard drive

Component: 3rd gen Intel® Core™ i7-3612QM quad-core processor (2.10GHz / 3.10GHz with Turbo Boost)

Component: NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 640M LE (2GB) hybrid graphics with Intel® Wireless Display technology

Component: No engraving

Component: Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Component: Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter

Component: No Fresh Start

Component: 15.5" LED backlit Full HD IPS display (1920 x 1080)

Shittiest thing on the list is the HDD, which I plan on replacing with a SSD. They offered a 128GB (64x2) SSD for a ridiculous $200! I said, "Helllll naaaww. I'll just buy and install my own 128gb for ~$70."

[Knightmare]

Sony has a trade-in old laptops (double their actual value) for a gift card (gift card amount will be dependent on the value of the laptops). If you want to calculate what sort of value you'd be getting, take a look and this link: http://store.sony.co...1&cmsId=tradeup.

Don't use the link above to trade in. Instead, just go to a Sony store, and give them what you have. That way, you won't have to ship it nor wait 3 weeks. Plus you'll walk out with a gift card on the spot.

What's nice is that the laptops are stackable (you can trade in as many laptops as you want and their value will be attributed to one card): I went to a Sony store last week with 2 old computers and walked out with a $520 gift card. Both laptops were Core 2 Duo's, so they traded in fairly well. I later took that $520 and purchased a new customized Sony Vaio 15'5 for $489 + tax. Without a $125 off coupon and the gift card, it would have been ~$1200 plus tax!

Here's what I was able to get:

Product: US-SVS151190X-LBOM

Component: 12GB (4GB fixed onboard + 8GB removable) DDR3-1333MHz

Component: CD/DVD player / burner

Component: Internal lithium polymer battery (4400mAh)

Component: Kaspersky® Internet Security (30-day trial)

Component: White

Component: 500GB (5400rpm) hard drive

Component: 3rd gen Intel® Core™ i7-3612QM quad-core processor (2.10GHz / 3.10GHz with Turbo Boost)

Component: NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 640M LE (2GB) hybrid graphics with Intel® Wireless Display technology

Component: No engraving

Component: Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Component: Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter

Component: No Fresh Start

Component: 15.5" LED backlit Full HD IPS display (1920 x 1080)

Shittiest thing on the list is the HDD, which I plan on replacing with a SSD. They offered a 128GB (64x2) SSD for a ridiculous $200! I said, "Helllll naaaww. I'll just buy and install my own 128gb for ~$70."

WOW! Thanks for the info! I'll have to look into that. I've heard good and bad about SSDs. My friends that have them only use them to store their operating systems. But the Sony deal sounds pretty good. I mean, I don't think that my laptop is going to be worth more than $200, but you never know.

[nIGHT]

From the cheapest up to their envy 3d, HP surely fails in all of their products. In 2007-2009, their laptops with nvidia graphics card overheats and cause physical injuries. They paid some who were injured but still they didn't learn from that mistakes they made; Their laptops have cpu high temps. Now all you see in their customize-laptop page are radeon graphics cards. hehe!

Aside from that their built-in webcam, speaker and mic suck big time.

[Knightmare]

From the cheapest up to their envy 3d, HP surely fails in all of their products. In 2007-2009, their laptops with nvidia graphics card overheats and cause physical injuries. They paid some who were injured but still they didn't learn from that mistakes they made; Their laptops have cpu high temps. Now all you see in their customize-laptop page are radeon graphics cards. hehe!

Aside from that their built-in webcam, speaker and mic suck big time.

I agree with the webcam, speakers, and mic, but I have yet to see any issues occur with mine. I must have gotten really lucky. The only person that I've known to have troubles with an HP is my friend, but if you saw how he treated his laptop, you would understand why it was in bad shape.

[c0vert]

WOW! Thanks for the info! I'll have to look into that. I've heard good and bad about SSDs. My friends that have them only use them to store their operating systems. But the Sony deal sounds pretty good. I mean, I don't think that my laptop is going to be worth more than $200, but you never know.

I've owned a SSD in the past and they're pretty solid, provided that you go with a reliable company like Crucial or Samsung. I'd recommend a SSD over a HDD any day. If you've never experienced a SSD before, then you're in for a big surprise.

The biggest downfall of the SSD, of course, is the GB per euro. But they're already coming down in cost with news that the PC/laptop component manufacturing businesses are taking huge losses due to the mobile tablet market (thanks, Apple). Good news for the system builders in the short term, bad news in the long term: An unruly demise of desktop PCs. Expect to see huge mark downs come holidays and after new year (if in the U.S., you'll see a preview of the mark downs on Black Friday). And then... there was proof: http://slickdeals.ne...home-office/441

On a side note: I'd avoid integrated graphics (Intel HD Graphics 2000, 3000, 4000) like the plague. Old tech at a premium price.

[DKT27]

If I'm not incorrect, most of laptop related forum posts here on nsane, HP is the most problematic.

[Knightmare]

If I'm not incorrect, most of laptop related forum posts here on nsane, HP is the most problematic.

You could be right, but I think I'm the minority on this one.

[bwop]

The shop my friend and I own repair a lot of laptops.

HP laptops are clearly engineered, intentionally, to fail.

There is no doubt.

[Knightmare]

The shop my friend and I own repair a lot of laptops.

HP laptops are clearly engineered, intentionally, to fail.

There is no doubt.

Okay, so then what do you recommend?

[majithia23]

Okay, so then what do you recommend?

I ll say again ---

ASUS ( The Best ), Lenovo , VAIO , Toshiba ....

[nIGHT]

All the post by cOvert about trade-ins and gift card(or rather gift code from discount websites) can help a lot lowering the price of laptop. In addition to that, try to find if they offer promo discounts if you buy it during that period and if they offer another discount if you pay full in cash. Everything above (the discounts) are stackable so you are in for a big savings. My brother found out about this stackable discounts when he purchased his $2,200 lenovo laptop that cost him to pay $1,300 only.

I agree with majitha23 and bwop. If I were you consider that as a brotherly advice.

I'm trying to prevent posting walls of text and since I'm posting this using my cheap smartphone (I'm poor dude! Hehe!) I suggest looking at the topic What laptop to buy? Started by TWeety.Adb. The posts by Rocketman and cOvert are a great guide when buying laptop. pintas posted good links there which might be useful to you.