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Help with Laptop Purchase

Blogs > zulu_nation8
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1 2 Next All
zulu_nation8
Profile Blog Joined May 2005
China26351 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-04-08 01:44:28
April 07 2010 01:01 GMT
#1
Hi I'm looking to get a laptop within the price range of $500 to $800. Main requirements are reliability, good cooling, quiet fan, fast processor speed for running a lot of applications or playing CPU demanding games (football manager). Don't really care about graphic card, as long as it can handle games from a year ago. Being able to run SC2 would be a plus. Reliability is the most important though. Thanks

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=0&t=1959346

(Y550P) http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/special-offers.workflow:ShowPromo?LandingPage=/All/US/Landing_pages/Promos/IdeaPad/weekly-sale

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?afsrc=1&EdpNo=5250511&CatId=4948&SRCCODE=LINKSHARE&cm_mmc_o=-ddCjC1bELltzywCjC-d2CjCdwwp&AffiliateID=lw9MynSeamY-cWR91GhEli3mgb0sCYcnpw

http://www.buy.com/prod/Asus-G50Vt-X5-15-4-Laptop-Intel-Core-2-Duo-P7450-2-13GHz-4GB-320GB-HDD/q/loc/101/sellerid/13770897/211201507.html

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1958998

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220701

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152156

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152157

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152159

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152158

*
FragKrag
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
United States11556 Posts
April 07 2010 01:14 GMT
#2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146719
$800. It has a decent processor, and Lenovos are generally reliable. It is definitely SC2 capable, but it comes at a premium price!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220711
$729. Stronger processor, and ASUS has good customer support, and a good reputation. It probably isn't SC2 capable. It comes with a better warranty than the Lenovo
*TL CJ Entusman #40* "like scissors does anything to paper except MAKE IT MORE NUMEROUS" -paper
Grobyc
Profile Blog Joined June 2008
Canada18410 Posts
April 07 2010 01:33 GMT
#3
Man FragKrag is on that shit like zatic is on tdot
If you watch Godzilla backwards it's about a benevolent lizard who helps rebuild a city and then moonwalks into the ocean.
Ares[Effort] *
Profile Blog Joined February 2009
DEMACIA6550 Posts
April 07 2010 03:08 GMT
#4
Haha i love people that know a lot about computers, I do love you fragkrag! imo i would go for the lenovo just because you can run sc2, also get a cooler so it doesn't overheat.

perhaps http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834991042&cm_re=laptop_cooler-_-34-991-042-_-Product
Moderatorgold coin
Roffles *
Profile Blog Joined April 2007
Pitcairn19291 Posts
April 07 2010 03:11 GMT
#5
Just make sure your video card doesn't burn out. =D
God Bless
meeple
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
Canada10211 Posts
April 07 2010 03:14 GMT
#6
Jesus FragKrag... you're just waiting to pounce on these threads... awesome
zulu_nation8
Profile Blog Joined May 2005
China26351 Posts
April 08 2010 01:50 GMT
#7
bump I made a list of the ones I'm looking at right now along with the Lenovo Frag recommended. I'm looking for the best processor/video card combo I can get for $500-$700 basically.
FragKrag
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
United States11556 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-04-08 02:11:54
April 08 2010 02:11 GMT
#8
If you want to run SC2 comfortably, both of the Slickdeals laptops are out. They simply aren't very powerful at all. The Dell Vostro will however, run SC2 better than the other slickdeals laptop.

The refurbished ASUS from TigerDirect is very odd. It has a powerful video card, but the weaker processor leaves a bit to be desired. You will probably get decent performance (high?) out of that laptop in SC2. The warranty is also disappointing.

The ASUS from buy.com sports a more powerful processor than the TigerDirect ASUS, but the GPU is a bit weaker. However, I consider it a better overall computer than the TD ASUS. High should not be a problem imo. The warranty of only 90 days is a pretty big downside though.

The first ASUS from newegg sports an even weaker GPU, but the CPU seems to be fine. It won't run SC2 past medium/low. The 1 year damage warranty is pretty good, but a longer warranty would have been a bit more comforting. Overall, this laptop seems like a good buy though it isn't very powerful at all.

The second newegg (the MSI) is a terrible laptop for gaming. Avoid it if you want to touch SC2 because it will not run SC2 at all. I doubt it will run much because it seems like a glorified netbook.

The third newegg (the 2nd MSI) seems like a weaker version of the first newegg, so whatever.

The fourth newegg (the 3rd MSI) is a ripoff, as is the fifth newegg (the 4th MSI).

IMO, if you have more money to spend, go for the Lenovo. If you don't want to spend that money the ASUS from buy.com is a great value, (if you aren't concerned about the warranty), and if you are concerned about the warranty and don't want to spend as much, the ASUS from Newegg seems like a solid bet. If SC2 is not a priority at all, I like the Dell Vostro from slickdeals (though it doesn't say anything about the warranty, Dell laptops usually come with a 1 year don't they?)
*TL CJ Entusman #40* "like scissors does anything to paper except MAKE IT MORE NUMEROUS" -paper
Kwanroller
Profile Joined April 2010
Afghanistan459 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-04-08 02:21:41
April 08 2010 02:20 GMT
#9
On April 07 2010 10:14 FragKrag wrote:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146719
$800. It has a decent processor, and Lenovos are generally reliable. It is definitely SC2 capable, but it comes at a premium price!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220711
$729. Stronger processor, and ASUS has good customer support, and a good reputation. It probably isn't SC2 capable. It comes with a better warranty than the Lenovo


Lenovo =/= Thinkpad. Lenovo laptops, like the Ideapads, have build quality issues like poor fitting and a decent amount of keyboard flex. Its a nice laptop but don't get disappointed when the build quality is only average. Also Lenovo laptops in general have really all round awful screens so if you need a good screen for gaming don't get a Lenovo.

Lenovo's Thinkpad line are the reliable bricks that everyone knows about. But those laptops aren't for gaming and cost a fortune.
FragKrag
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
United States11556 Posts
April 08 2010 02:22 GMT
#10
Yeah, I realize that, but the Ideapads are still generally reliable (at least moreso than most of the other companies out there).
*TL CJ Entusman #40* "like scissors does anything to paper except MAKE IT MORE NUMEROUS" -paper
Kwanroller
Profile Joined April 2010
Afghanistan459 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-04-08 02:42:15
April 08 2010 02:32 GMT
#11
On April 08 2010 11:22 FragKrag wrote:
Yeah, I realize that, but the Ideapads are still generally reliable (at least moreso than most of the other companies out there).


I have an Lenovo IdeaPad Y550 and the build quality is only as good, and sometimes worse, than Dell's and Asus' similar priced consumer models. With the awful screen and resolution they have, I can't really suggest Lenovo and I'd probably say that the Dell Studio 15 series would be a better buy.

I've only other multimedia laptop that I have had first hand experience with in the Dell Studio 15 and its definitely pretty robust though it does have suffer from keyboard flexing.
triangle
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
United States3803 Posts
April 08 2010 03:07 GMT
#12
And I have a thinkpad and it's a reliable brick :p
Also known as waterfall / w4terfall
zulu_nation8
Profile Blog Joined May 2005
China26351 Posts
April 08 2010 03:16 GMT
#13
I'll be playing games on a monitor so the screen isn't a big deal. I have a super old T-42 something thinkpad and yea it's pretty reliable. I wouldn't mind getting another thinkpad but I can't find any that come with decent graphic cards. Where should I look?
zulu_nation8
Profile Blog Joined May 2005
China26351 Posts
April 08 2010 03:29 GMT
#14
I looked through the Dell website and found this

http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/notebooks/inspiron-1564/pd.aspx?refid=inspiron-1564&s=dhs&cs=19&~oid=us~en~29~inspiron-1564-anav_2~~

good/bad?
Kwanroller
Profile Joined April 2010
Afghanistan459 Posts
April 08 2010 03:35 GMT
#15
On April 08 2010 12:16 zulu_nation8 wrote:
I'll be playing games on a monitor so the screen isn't a big deal. I have a super old T-42 something thinkpad and yea it's pretty reliable. I wouldn't mind getting another thinkpad but I can't find any that come with decent graphic cards. Where should I look?


That's the problem: Thinkpads aren't cheap. If you're looking for a Thinkpad with at least a 512mb graphics card, you're looking at $1500USD minimum not including any e-coupons Lenovo always seems to be offering.

Thinkpad supremacy though. I still have my ThinkPad 600X and this thing is still chugging along despite falling off the desk a stupid amount of times.
zulu_nation8
Profile Blog Joined May 2005
China26351 Posts
April 08 2010 03:38 GMT
#16
Ah ok then nevermind, so which lines would you suggest as reliable? Dell/Asus and what else?
Kwanroller
Profile Joined April 2010
Afghanistan459 Posts
April 08 2010 03:53 GMT
#17
For your price range and what you want I can only think of those brands. All other brands fail your criteria such as Samsung's R### laptop line being made out of paper and HP's entire laptop line having a long history of being either noisy or hot.

If you were willing to pay $200 more, I'd suggest looking at Gateway or Sager.
arb
Profile Blog Joined April 2008
Noobville17921 Posts
April 08 2010 03:56 GMT
#18
best advice for buying a laptop.

get a desktop
Artillery spawned from the forges of Hell
FragKrag
Profile Blog Joined September 2007
United States11556 Posts
April 08 2010 04:03 GMT
#19
On April 08 2010 12:53 Kwanroller wrote:
For your price range and what you want I can only think of those brands. All other brands fail your criteria such as Samsung's R### laptop line being made out of paper and HP's entire laptop line having a long history of being either noisy or hot.

If you were willing to pay $200 more, I'd suggest looking at Gateway or Sager.


Pay $200 extra for a Gateway? Gateway is a budget brand just like Acer (and is also part of Acer)

Why would you ever consider buying a gateway for more money?
*TL CJ Entusman #40* "like scissors does anything to paper except MAKE IT MORE NUMEROUS" -paper
Kwanroller
Profile Joined April 2010
Afghanistan459 Posts
Last Edited: 2010-04-08 05:25:15
April 08 2010 05:22 GMT
#20
On April 08 2010 13:03 FragKrag wrote:
Show nested quote +
On April 08 2010 12:53 Kwanroller wrote:
For your price range and what you want I can only think of those brands. All other brands fail your criteria such as Samsung's R### laptop line being made out of paper and HP's entire laptop line having a long history of being either noisy or hot.

If you were willing to pay $200 more, I'd suggest looking at Gateway or Sager.


Pay $200 extra for a Gateway? Gateway is a budget brand just like Acer (and is also part of Acer)

Why would you ever consider buying a gateway for more money?


Because he's looking for what is a cheap desktop replacement? Budget brand aside, the build quality of Gateway (and Acer) laptops are generally pretty good and the specs are generally aren't bad for the price. I would never get one since I don't understand the purpose of desktop replacements but from what I understand the (cheap) brands to go are Asus, Gateway, and Sager.

I overestimated the price a bit and found that he can get a good Gateway laptop for $800. Something like this: http://www.gateway.com/systems/product/529668644.php/
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