Laptop assistance

[Grandmaster_Skweeb]

yeahhhhh, books. Last quarter three books cost me about $840. Save money and get a notebook. if you need to use a cd then usb cd/dvd drives are on the cheap. My laptop is about eight pounds, roughly, and I regret not gettin a notebook when I made the decision.

Luggin around a brick with books takes a toll after a while.

[Nikose Tyris]

If you were to take Skweeb's advice, look at this:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...735&CatId=4965

maintains some of the spec desires. Downside: Acer. Means the case is probably made of paper, and you may want to invest in a well-padded case for it.

edit: Textbooks
http://www.cafescribe.com/home/
http://consumerist.com/2011/01/find-...ks-online.html

[Jagos]

To be fair, this is what I currently have

Link

Is Asus a good brand as well?

[Nikose Tyris]

Eh. You'd be better off to build a gaming rig, and could accomplish that within that $600 price range fairly easily. It'd be a lite-gaming rig, but you could upgrade it over time.

And honestly? use Best Buy / Walmart to look at what a computer is like in the "flesh". [Never buy from these locations, they are for looking] then order the one that fits you best online. Hardware wise, you're doing okay with Acer. [although it may be loaded with crapware; HP used to be [still is?] guilty of the same].

I'm sitting on a Gateway NV5400 and it doesn't play games whatsoever [minecraft chugs] but it accomplishes all my school needs.

[rpgdemon]

I've got an Asus, and it's been reliable to me. Had it for about a year or so now.

[Jagos]

Yeah, that's why I'm buying a second laptop. For TF2, I lagged ever since I got this one. I don't think it's the wifi, but perhaps it is. Still, it would be better just to upgrade for a new one. I heard the Acers were kinda garbage though as compared to Toshiba or Asus (not bad for the $600 price tag with 6gb ram that I saw in Best Buy)

For the Acer, it's really scarey that they have it so much cheaper than the HP and it's almost as good. It kind of knocked the Samsung out of the running. I might just pick that one up simply because that sounds like the best gaming PC for the price. And believe me, ever last piece of software would be scrubbed off the laptop as soon as I get it, so I can use new stuff. Although, I just noticed that the Acer is a refurb...

-E- Both are refurbs. NM...

[Nikose Tyris]

Refurbs from reliable places [I find Tigerdirect reliable] are usually perfectly fine. I've yet to have an issue with anything from Tigerdirect, and their refurb warranty... well they stand behind their product.

But always comparison shop anyway. You might find better at Newegg, or maybe give your soul to your new corporate overlords and buy at BB.

[Jagos]

I've worked at Fry's Electronics. BB is 1 cal compared to that place.

[akaSM]

If you want to spend some extra money, the Dell Site seems to have good stuff (the prices and specs from the site are better than stuff I can find locally, from Dell and others). The XPS 15 looks like a nice laptop, and you can choose stuff others may not offer (like a back lit keyboard, a higher resolution screen, etc).

However, I've seen that in order to get a really nice price there, you should start with the most expensive variation of a model. Also, the XPS 15 doesn't have a VGA connector, you'll have to use either HDMI or Display Port.

I remember reading about this page somewhere but I haven't seen or used that brand so, I cannot recommend it or anything.

[synkr0nized]

Originally Posted by akaSM

Huh, you can actually run games with Intel stuff now?

The Sandy Bridge architecture significantly boosts integrated graphics, making it not so terrible like we're all used to for low-end laptops. A dedicated card is still going to be a better bet, of course.