HELP! Suggestions for buying a Laptop/Notebook

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Masi_23

Masi_23

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I'm not too computer savy... and recently my Gateway Notebook went out on me (Crap computer!). Anyway, i only have a small budget... from $500-$600 (or $700 possibly). Any suggestions?

It's mainly for school, but i have a large library of HD movies and Music in my old Hardrive. Also, it would be nice if it has a video card so i can do a little gaming on the side to keep me entertained and to cool off from all the studying.

I did a little search and i found this:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002P8M8HS/?tag=gtplanet-20

what do you think?
Recommendations?
Suggestions?

Thanks in Advance!
 
I would buy the Asus over the Toshiba because they are built very well and come with a 2 year warranty. You just have to register(free) to get the 1 year accidental warranty though.

The Asus looks like it would easily meet your needs but of course the glossy surface of the laptop will get fingerprints and scratches but that's normal for a glossy surface.

I would go for it but it's better if you get a laptop from the 1K range as they are much more powerful. Only if you have the time to save up the money of course.
 
Thanks for the replys doodes.

I was really leaning on Toshiba simply because of the 500GB Hardrive (I don't have a desktop!) But Asus seems to be more powerful, but i think Toshiba has a better processor? Anyway, thanks again, but any other worth considering?

I saw this one:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002ONCDJM/?tag=gtplanet-20

thoughts?

p.s.s. just wondering, if in case i had 1k, what would you recommend?

:gtplanet:

Robin.
I would recommend Lenovo's Essential range, you cant beat their ThinkPad lineage and rock solid reliability. The G550 seems to fit the area your looking for and they start from $539. I've included the link which shows all the models in the range and what they offer. :)

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=C2790FAB90184EB8A8E910C521C2274B

Robin.
Click to expand...

Lenovo G550 - Grey - 29586TU/Lenovo G550 - 2958HHU

Can those play Modern Warfare 2 smoothly? How is it compared to the Asus above?
 
The intel graphics won't do you any good when you compare it to the 2 leading giants in the graphic card market, ATI and Nvidia. The Lenovo is mostly meant for office use and the intel graphics does not really help it in the video game department.

You don't have to worry about a big hard drive in your laptop because you can easily buy a 1TB external for around $100.
p.s.s. just wondering, if in case i had 1k, what would you recommend?
Click to expand...
I would recommend this laptop, the ASUS G51Vx-X3A. The laptop comes with a high-end GTX 260M and the laptop is made of some nice materials. If you were to take a look at the palmrest on the laptop you would see that it's rubber or leather(it's to tell from pictures) rather than the glossy plastic on most mainstream laptops. It's a gaming laptop so it will drain the battery during gaming and will be heavy.

The HP you posted has an older model of processor made by AMD and not as powerful as the Turion model. My recommendation is just get a laptop that you know has more than what you will need in the future.
 
ok, thanks so much!

im not really that computer savy, so i really don't know anything at all in terms of graphics/video cards... i just like play like most peeps :D

I actually never even heard of Asus until last year... it seems like they are gaining good rep.
I saw this list of Nvidia powered laptops: http://www.nvidia.com/object/wtb_notebooks.html

Notable on this list:
Asus G50VT, M51Sn, and U3Sg (thoughts?)

Out of my range but worth considering... maybe in the future.
 
Yeah before Asus invented the netbook market in 2007, they were known very well for their motherboards. My parents 5 year old compaq computer motherboard was made by Asus and the computer still runs even though there was no maintenance done for the first 4 years. Right now Asus is steadily getting more popular in the laptop market because they are improving on the laptops.
 
Masi_23
Lenovo G550 - Grey - 29586TU/Lenovo G550 - 2958HHU

Can those play Modern Warfare 2 smoothly? How is it compared to the Asus above?
Click to expand...

It will play, kinda smoothly but on low-ish settings, heres a vid someone uploaded playing MW2 on an INTEL 4500M at different settings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mqLXRPCrlE

If you want anything from Lenovo with a Nvidia graphics card its starts at around $700, thats for a GeForce G210M 512MB on the Lenovo G450 - 2949CGU model.

The Asus is pretty much the same level as the Lenovo's just with a mobile Ati GPU rather than an Intel one but I sure someone can advise you more specifically about graphics. I would choose Lenovo because of the quality and reliability.

Robin.
 
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I also agree with opendriver's second recommendation. It also comes with a hdmi port to use with a HDTV(and not to mention audio also goes through the HDMI). You should check this video of Dirt 2, Modern Warfare 2, and Crysis: Warhead of a similar laptop with the GeForce GT 220M graphics card.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtsEYgbj-X4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb_MMk_kRDI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNz-HIh3BYs&feature=channel

The only problem will be that it is in a smaller resolution but it will work better in the battery life department. I personally use a Asus laptop myself and it works real fine. Well it does because it's has a 2ghz quad and has a GT 240M. It was priced at 1.3K and was worth every penny. What really was a deal-breaker for me was that my laptop came with esata and hdmi. This is the newegg page even though they are low on stock(none in newegg's warehouses).

That's the thing about good computers; always get more than what you need even though you know you are only gonna use it for occasional gaming. I really do enjoy the extra performance that I get from my laptop.
 
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Thanks for the new links!

the 2nd one by opendriver looks interesting, but im a little under budget. But its not that out of reach with just $100 more. And it seems like the resolution is a little lower? Would you notice the difference that it would really bother you in a way? 1600 x 900 against 1366 x 768?
What's the difference? And why is it more expensive?

$649 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220640 (btw, this has HDMI too)

$749 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834220637
 
The second laptop has a 7200RPM HDD, the GPU is much more powerful and has 1GB of memory dedicated to the GPU. The Intel CPU is also slightly more powerful than the ati and saves more battery because the chip size is smaller. There is not much of a difference in the resolution for regular use and you can easily hook the laptop up to an external monitor if need to be.
 
The Toshiba with the Core 2 Duo T6600 (2.4GHz) and GT230M would be the best for gaming out of those listed so far that're at least close to his range.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834114719

As for a hypothetical $1000 laptop, the GTX260M suggestion would be great, but i offer another suggestion - an Asus with a Core i7 720QM (1.6GHz~2.8GHz) with a new HD5730. The graphics card is slightly worse than the GTX260M but it's DirectX 11 and the processor is better.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220696

There's also another Asus that offers a nice compromise between the two - a Core 2 Duo P8700 (2.53GHz) and HD4650 for $850 (plus a $100 mail-in rebate).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220667

Seems that Asus has practivally every base covered...
 
Keep'em coming!! So many to choose from!

Toshiba looks good too but i really like Asus' standard warranties... What to do, what to do...
 
Oh yeah I forgot to put this out. The Asus laptops are usually lighter than your standard laptop. I'd stick with the warranties because you never know when hardware will fail but I don't see that happening with my laptop.
 
It's a good computer but it would drain the battery easily.

EDIT: I also have to add that the laptops posted on Cnet are a bit dated because most of the laptops that have editor reviews have Vista.
 
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nick09
I also agree with opendriver's second recommendation. It also comes with a hdmi port to use with a HDTV(and not to mention audio also goes through the HDMI). You should check this video of Dirt 2, Modern Warfare 2, and Crysis: Warhead of a similar laptop with the GeForce GT 220M graphics card.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtsEYgbj-X4&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb_MMk_kRDI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNz-HIh3BYs&feature=channel

The only problem will be that it is in a smaller resolution but it will work better in the battery life department. I personally use a Asus laptop myself and it works real fine. Well it does because it's has a 2ghz quad and has a GT 240M. It was priced at 1.3K and was worth every penny. What really was a deal-breaker for me was that my laptop came with esata and hdmi. This is the newegg page even though they are low on stock(none in newegg's warehouses).

That's the thing about good computers; always get more than what you need even though you know you are only gonna use it for occasional gaming. I really do enjoy the extra performance that I get from my laptop.
Click to expand...

Seems like the Asus is not available until April... ill be buying within the week. I think ill go with the first one (Toshiba). Final.
 
Are there any laptops with the GeForce GTX 260m? I've seen a couple but its both with Vista :(
 
Well there are laptops on newegg that have a GTX 260M gpu but they are all 1K and higher in price. I have found this Asus laptop that's still for sale with a 220M. It's a nice compromise to still have the great warranty though. Not to mention it has a 1600x900 resolution; which means it will be easy on the eyes.
 
Ok thanks... post #6 is actually 1k with 260m (The one you recommended). If i can wait a coupe of months maybe i can afford that. I've been doing a little research about mobile graphics card and i think i can somewhat tell which is which and what is what. The 220m you can play with most current games but all on very low settings, the 260m, you can play high and expect over 30fps...
 
Well if you somehow have the time to garner up 1.3K this Asus laptop is also a nice buy. I also found out that this Asus laptop is a replacement for the one I have. Though it is not released yet.

Another good website to check is xoticpc.com. They customize computers.

Who knows it might be a good idea to wait a while. Because it seems like some good laptops are gonna be released.
 
lol... it just keeps going up does it? :D When is that one going to be released?
 
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Well according to amazon they have received the product information on the 26th so I'm just guessing within a week the laptop will be available for regular orders. I can't find any information about the laptop and I have checked the Asus book. I'm just guessing it might be two weeks before it's on newegg.

EDIT: Well I've tested the 1366x768 resolution on my laptop and although the resolution seems small; it would be fine for a 14-16" monitor.
 
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Is there an i7 and 260m combo? I suspect it'll be over 1.5k...

Edit: i think i just found my laptop :)

Asus G51J-A1

Just need to endure a month or 2.
 
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Yes there is. This is the only laptop with that combo on newegg. I think it's better to go with a 240M since it would be cheaper but if you can afford it then that's fine.
 
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Testing Campus speeds...

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