[rockin_amigo14]

alright so my parents/brother are considering buying me a laptop as a late graduation present. they don't have much money, so i've been looking for cheap deals and need some suggestions.

here's what i've got:
Acer® Extensa EX4420-5239 14.1" Widescreen Notebook Computer With AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor TK-57 at Office Depot.

cheapest one i could find. looks good for the price, but i'm not sure about battery life.

Buy the Toshiba Satellite A215-S5849 15.4" Widescreen Laptop and other Laptop computers at circuitcity.com

my mom like toshiba as she's had one that's beaten to hell and still works well after 3/4 years. looks good but about $100 more than the other one.


open to other suggestions? what do you guys think?


**UPDATE**

After discussing things with my dad, we have new specs. Since this will be replacing my desktop, we're looking for a 17" with at least 2gb of ram, 1.8 dual-core processor, 160gb hard drive, and 128mb of dedicated graphics memory.

max price is $850

 

[nsx_23]

You can't go pass Asus for good value laptops.

Here's mine: Newegg.com - ASUS F9 Series F9Dc-A1 NoteBook AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-56(1.80GHz) 12.1" Wide XGA 1GB Memory DDR2 667 120GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 8400M G - Laptops / Notebooks

Got upgraded to 2GB Ram when I bought it (not in the US). Has been very good so far, but I'm not sure how much it will cost in the US.

 

[fourteen]

When I was searching for a budget laptop, I came up with an Acer as well. However, I spoke to a few computer experts and they pretty much told me to stay away from Acer. Their parts are allocated from cheaper sources, and apparently don't hold up very well.

 

[XXII]

Toshiba is a far superior brand to Acer

 

[J W]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsx_23 /img/forum/go_quote.gif You can't go pass Asus for good value laptops. Here's mine: Newegg.com - ASUS F9 Series F9Dc-A1 NoteBook AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-56(1.80GHz) 12.1" Wide XGA 1GB Memory DDR2 667 120GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce 8400M G - Laptops / Notebooks Got upgraded to 2GB Ram when I bought it (not in the US). Has been very good so far, but I'm not sure how much it will cost in the US.

Seconded.

My Asus W3v (from 2005) is still chugging along quite nicely (my parents use it now and they love it). It is definitely quality (better quality than my macbook).

Sure, Asus has moved in a different direction concerning its notebooks since 05, but from everything i've read, the quality is still top-notch (and the prices are - they've always been, really - low for what you're getting). Newegg is a great place to look if you're int he US. I believe Bestbuy sells certain models as well.

If you're really on a budget: this looks decent (stolen from slickdeals.net)

Dell Vostros also seem like good deals if you can come across a coupon.

 

[Repooc]

I can vouche for the Acer.

Bought my then girlfriend, now fiance one a while ago at best buy. Actually it was the day Vista was launched, now that I think about it. And it came pre-installed with Vista (not necessarily a good thing.. lol).. but over all it has been a solid laptop to date with no major issues.

Battery life is pretty good to, might I add.

(28 more posts to go)

 

[URZS]

i can vouch for acers being hit or miss.
i work at the tech center at school and i see a lot of acers with issues.

i would recompensed searching the dell outlet. there are some great deals there and all of them come with 3 year warranties.

dell.com/outlet
or
Dell Factory Outlet

make sure you hit filter search results and not the add to cart button which is the big green one

 

[URZS]

Quote:

Originally Posted by XXII /img/forum/go_quote.gif Toshiba is a far superior brand to Acer

yes but they come with lots of preinstalled junk which causes issues unless you plan on reformatting the instant you get the computer. but then again so do acers... just not as much

 

[serrin]

Would an Intel Atom based laptop be ok? There's a truckload out there, most retailing for ~$500 USD. Of course the screen sizes only goes up to 10" (eeePC 1000/1000H, MSI Wind) so that might be a limiting factor. Price-wise though, they blow the rest out of the water.
A basic list includes:
Asus EeePCs (1000, 1000H, 901, 701)
MSI Wind (U100, U90)
Acer Aspire One
HP onenote
Dell E
etc etc

They're all surprising similar, the main difference being that some use solid state discs while others use the old fashioned hard disc drive. Keyboard sizes and touch pads are all slightly different as well.

 

[rockin_amigo14]

well, if i get a laptop, it'd be my main computer, so small one would not be such a good idea...

i took a gander at the outlet store for inspiron's. came across a core 2 duo 2.16 ghz processor, 160gb hdd, 2gb ram, dvd/rw. no graphics card but not really expected....all for $529

 

[Mr_Junesequa]

barebone

 

[rockin_amigo14]

see the first page for an update!!!!

 

[Iron_Dreamer]

ATM Intel Mobile chips are vastly superior to their AMD counterparts. I've yet to try a Turion laptop that did not feel dog-slow. I set up the exact Acer mentioned in the first post, and was amazed how slow the CPU was. In single-core benchmarks, it was consistently 8-10% slower than my 3.5 year old, 1.86GHz Pentium-M machine. Get a Core 2 Duo if at all possible, otherwise it is a bit of a waste of money. For the $450 OD is currently asking, that Acer isn't a bad buy if budget is the overwhelming concern, as it is pretty good in all other areas.

Look at lenovo.com/cpp (passcode 704919), you can get a pretty nice T61 under your budget.

 

[rockin_amigo14]

^they look great, but unfortunately the screen size maxes out at 15.4". i really would like something with a 17" screen

 

[rockin_amigo14]

alright, here's what i've got:

Lenovo IdeaPad Y710 for $764.15

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5550 ( 1.83GHz 667MHz 2MB )
GenuineWindows Vista Home Premium12
17.0 WXGA+ TFT with integrated camera LCD Glossy 1440x900
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 256MB
2 GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz 8
250GB 54004
DVD Recordable (Dual Layer) 24X Max5
Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN10
6 Cell Lithium-Ion60

Dell Vostro 1700 for $739.00
•Intel Core 2 Duo T5870 (2.0GHz/800MHz FSB/2MB cache)
•Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic
•2 GB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz (2 DIMMs)
•320 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
•128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS
•8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability
•Dell 1395 802.11G Wireless Mini Card
•17 inch Wide Screen XGA+ Laptop Screen

Toshiba Satellite P305D for $649.99
•AMD Turion 64 X2 2.0GHz/3600 MHz FSB/1MB cache
•Windows Vista Home Premium
•2 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz
•200GB Hard Drive (5400 rpm)
•17” screen
•Integrated ATI Radeon X1250 video
•8X DVD +/- RW with Labelflash