Buying a Laptop!
 

I want to get a laptop and would like to get some help from the CD community on what I should buy.

Here's my situation!

I am a college student looking to spend around $700 to $900 dollars. I would like to have this laptop to last for a good 5 to 7 years.

Any recommendations?

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

What do you want to be able to do with your laptop?

Here are a few posts that discuss specs and prices for different computers, though they're all at least few months old now:

laptop
New Cybersoinics Computer
computer shopping Is this a good computer?

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

There is one very important detail to consider when purchasing a computer:

What will the primary use be?

If you are buying a computer for word processing and using the Internet, you have a different set of needs than someone buying a laptop for programming a robot, who has a different set of needs than someone buying a laptop to frag everyone in Doom 3. Will this be your primary computer, or complimenting a desktop?

Also, 5 to 7 years is a very optimistic lifespan to have for a laptop. If you want to avoid having to drop a ton of money every 3-4 years on a laptop, consider buying a cheap one now, and a cheap one in 3 years. The laptop you buy 3 years from now will be light years ahead of anything you can get now, and you can give the old laptop to a family member who doesn't need any extra power.

There's a lot of things to consider when purchasing a computer.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

The computer would be mainly use for word processing and using the Internet.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

Given those parameters, I'd look at a refurbished MacBook. (Look on the lower-right part of Apple's online store--the refurbished section is a little hard to find.) Apple's refurbished gear is good as new, from my experiences; I've bought two items as such (one Mac mini, one 5G iPod), and you'd never know they weren't brand new once you hide the box.

There's a base-model MacBook for $899. If you've got a little extra money to spend, I'd look at buying more RAM to upgrade with (you can do fine with 512, but getting at least a gig is nice).

Treat it right, and it'll certainly reach the five-year mark.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

well, today was the day to buy a laptop... best buy and circuit city had them on sale for $250 and $300 respectively.

I would recommend (if at all possible) you wait to get the laptop until vista comes out (i don't think you could buy a mac for $700-900). If not, when making the purchase, see if they'll upgrade you to vista for free, or cheaply.

If you're at college (and you probably know this), don't buy any software from the computer stores until you check out what your college sells. Chances are you can get the software for free, or heavily discounted.

Upgrading a laptop imho is a pain. Don't buy the cheaper one with hopes to install another/different disk drive, or hard drive.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

That's it?

Presidian Personal Internet Communicator.

I may actually pick one of these up for myself in the future for the very same purposes.

That's pretty much all you can do with a 10gb hard drive nowadays anyways.

But. then again, did you mean computer, or laptop?

I bought my Dell Inspiron 8100 Laptop on ebay as well for $650 about 4 years ago and have had reletively no problems with it (except replacing the keyboard that i broke) and buying some extra batteries, and a CD/RW drive.
It was used, but I took a chance and it has proven to be a good one.

If you have time to shop around, ebay is a good bet.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

Dells Warehouse has some pretty good deals they have everything from brand new laptops sent back to them that are refurbished / used once and sent back / dents and dings. Basically if people do not want their dells they send it back to dell so that it can be reselled after all appropriate repairs are made.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

I'm looking for a laptop for school work and also Internet. What laptops you think I should at! I am willing to spend up to $980 but thats it.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

If you want to go with Mac (Highly recommended if you want it to last a while), go for the newest refurbished MacBook that you can find. (P.S. the link is in the lower left, not the lower right).

If you want to go with a PC (won't last too long) I would suggest a Toshiba as they will last a bit longer than most.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

Just to help everyone out here is the link to the Referbished Apple Products section.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

This statement is disingenuous at best. Macs do not last longer because they're Macs. If all he wants to do is word processing, any computer will last for years, PC or not. It's not like the system requirements for Firefox, IE, MS Office, etc are going to be increasing enough in the next 5 years to make a difference. Some manufacturers do have better build quality than others, but you get what you pay for, and as long as you aren't abusing it, the odds of having your laptop survive past it's usable lifespan are pretty good.

You like Macs. That's great. But just because you don't like PC's doesn't mean that they're going to fall apart 6 months after you buy one.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

He said we wanted something cheaper than $980 and Apple doesn't currently have a refurbished laptop for less than that price... Well, you could buy one on ebay (that's where I got my powerbook) but it's probably too much of a hassle judging by what you want to do Freddy.

I'd suggest just getting a cheap Dell laptop (as much as it hurts me as a Mac user).

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

Thank you!

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

However, it is a fact that Macs retain value longer. Look around eBay at old Powerbooks and G5 towers and compare their selling prices to PCs of comparable age/original price. For some reason, people are willing to pay more money for old Mac products than PCs. It probably has to do with the fact that I can cobble together a PIII PC with parts I find lying around a dump with little challenge, while Macs are not reproducible in the same way.

If build quality is what you are after, Thinkpads are pretty much the standard for business-class-ruggedness on the PC laptop side. If you look on eBay, you will notice that old Thinkpads still fetch a fair amount of coin, and this is because they are built well and do not break easily.

It's not just a fanboy thing. PCs can last a long time too, but don't discount a Mac's long term value.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

If you want it to last for more than a few years, look for a laptop with a sturdy case. If this is your first purchase of a laptop, try and avoid the online scene, because other than functionality you're going to have to like the way the product works. Go to stores, test out a similar model to what your looking for and make sure you like the feel of it because you're going to be using it for so long. Then purchase it online if thats how you wish to pursue it.

I currently have 2 dell laptops one I got in my freshman year of school, it needed repairs after the first year. It still works today (me being a senior now) but when I switch from my newer version to the older on, it takes me a while to get used to the layout of the keyboard.

In the end

• Look for a sturdy case.
• A product that will produce what you are looking for it to produce.
• One that will have some upgradeable hardwaree
• A warranty that covers many FRU's (Field Replaceable Units)
• Make sure you get an extended warranty if you want it to last 5 years
• make sure you're comfortable with the layout
• And just a good rule of thumb, make the hardware fit the software, not the other way around.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

As was mentioned before... Thinkpads are very durable, and If you are looking for a machine that can do any word processing/spreadsheet action while still being able to play a mean game of Fable, I'd look for something like this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Thinkpad-T42-1-7GHz-Notebook-WiFi-Wty-A-WOW_W0QQitemZ320049731010QQihZ011QQcategoryZ140083 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-ThinkPad-T30-2-0GHz-512MB-Model-2366-86U-DVD_W0QQitemZ200047865498QQihZ010QQcategoryZ140083 QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

they both fall well under your price limit.



EDIT: Also, if youa re looking for something that doesn't end within the next hour, Check this out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Thinkpad-T30-Laptop-P4-1-6Ghz-512MB-30GB-DVD-WinXP_W0QQitemZ230056074789QQihZ013QQcategoryZ1400 83QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

I call BS. I've worked around Macs now for 6 years doing help desk or selling work, and I can tell you for a fact that Macs are made better. Not invincible, not perfect, but better. My sister's iBook G3 that was used in the Henrico Country iBook pilot program from 5 years ago is running great without a hitch (only problem is the speakers are going out). And we're talking a high stress environment, not your typical laptop situation. At UD I'm working with our Mac labs and currently see iMac G4s that are 4 years old working great, along with old TiPB, who's only main problem is they need a replacement battery. Yet on the flip side I'm seeing PCs that are falling appart after one year of use that many students thought would be a good investment. There's a trend on campus for students to eBay their current laptops and get MacBooks, I've pesonally met a few who have done that.

The price of Macs are falling, the OS is secure, and they are well engineered machines (my Macbook has no external moving parts, not even a latch, to fail.) The Mac isn't for everyone, but to simply dismiss it because people here are saying they're good machines and well built is the same as us discrediting ThinkPads.

NOW....

For Mac, get a MacBook refurb, it won't have a DVD burner, but it does include a built in iSight camera and other cool features.

For Windows (as both Mac and Windows are PCs, but I digress), get an HP or ThinkPad. I've heard nothing but good things about both.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

This comment as well as many before should be in the Mac/PC thread. Freddy asked for help buying a laptop... not for a useless arguement that is supposed to be confined to another thread.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

I agree with you on this Cody. Thank you.
Jane

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

yeah, no starting flames.

I've heard some bad things about HP's customer service, along with their laptops from several people... their advice would be not to touch them, or if you do, then get the extended warranty.

Question:
Why a laptop and not a desktop? do you want to move with it, and save desk space? You can customize a desktop alot easier, and much cheaper than a laptop....

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

I want to be able to move around with. I was thinking desktop but when I am on the road or at school, I want to get my assignment done with.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

Try going to www.Overstock.com they have some pretty good deals. And Like many said before if you take care of it it will take care of you.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

Toshiba, Dell, Sony, IBM or Apple all make good computers with good service. Apple has the best service desk of the five, followed by Dell, Sony, IBM and Toshiba. DO NOT BUY EMACHINES!

Word to the wise: "open box" items are not the same as refurbished. If you want something that has a higher chance of working great the first time, don't get an open box PC.

They were both discontinued laptops that were really not worth buying unless you just needed a cheap temporary computer.

Wrong. All Windows computers purchased since mid-October from major retailers can get free upgrades to Vista, since M$ is finally giving out free coupons for something.

I have to agree. Student software discounts are much better than any price offered at a retail store. I've seen several thousand dollar software items for just a hundred.

On a note of warranties, do not buy the warranty you find at the store (on a related note, I work for Circuit City where it is my job to sell warranties and software installations). You might get a cheaper or more effective one from the manufacturer of the computer. On the other hand, some store warranty call centers aren't located in India, so it might be a little easier to talk to the people you call up. Do not expect the basic warranty you get to cover every problem with the computer. I recommend (from personal experience) getting an accidental protection plan soon after unless the parts for it are relatively easy to replace and are cheaper than the plan itself (replacement LCD screens for laptops can be up to $300-400 each, which should be about the same as several years accidental coverage).

If you were to compare Windows-based computers as a whole to Apple computers, Apple would win, simply due to several manufacturers making shoddy products. Many brands are better than others though. I've seen iBooks in schools go from good to terrible in a few months, slowing down to a grinding halt frequently, while their PCs have been problem-free. My school has about 60 Acer desktops. Only one has gone bad in the past three years. I saw more iBooks go bad in the same sized group at my last school. Its all based on personal experience and personal preference.

On the other hand, Apple computers can run Mac OS X, Windows XP (of course Vista too) and every flavor of Linux, which will allow for a lot more flexibility in the programs that you can use. You can't run Mac OS X legally on a standard Windows computer, since that requires reverse-engineering the software.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

I'm going to vote for the laptop that I have right now, an HP Pavilion 5000 series. I have had no problem with it whatsoever, and it does an excellent job following your requirements of word processing and Internet. It has a big screen, which tends to draw lots of battery power at full brightness, but it's easier to read web pages and other text. Checking the HP website I found the refurbished laptops for $900.
An added plus is that it has USB ports on both sides, which doesn't seem like a lot until you plug in other devices and its starts to get crowded on one side.

Haven't had the opportunity to deal with HP's customer service, so I don't have an opinion on that yet.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

Going back to the topic, found a nice series from HP...

Bam!

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

Well, If you want to buy a laptop now that lasts about 4-5 years, consider doing it NOW! ... The deals are here for Thanksgiving, and will be again for Christmas time at stores like, Best Buy and Circuit City ... Things you want to look for are The Express Upgrade to Windows Vista... (You should get AT LEAST Windows XP Media Center Edition now which = Windows Vista Home Premium Edition). You want a good processor, preferably an Intel Core 2 Duo or the AMD Counterpart, which i believe is the Turion64, and 1 - 2 GB of RAM, with at least 128 MB of Video RAM (for Vista). At the sale times you can get it for around $8-900 ... Here would be a good example of one that is good now, and is quite expandable (in the RAM department) ... Hope this helps!

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

Hey,

Woot is offering a Gateway M275 Tablet Convertible PC for $599.99.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

DO NOT BUY DELL.
When you do decide what to buy make sure you buy an extended warranty. When they make laptops they will have parts to make 2000 of them. Then a year down the road it breaks the parts will be hard to find. I bought a laptop fours ago took out a four year extended warranty it has been replaced three times parts were not available to fix it when it broke. When my son went to college last year a bought a new computer foe him and a four year warranty. When he came home for the summer a couple of keys were sticking. Also the wireless was in and out. I would put his computer next to mine his would drop signal and mine stay hooked up. Two weeks before school started I bought back to the school bookstore told them what was going on. They put in a new keyboard and put in a new wireless card NO CHARGE.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

Should I wait until Windows Vista comes out?

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

It might be nice to have Vista preinstalled, but most computers right now have free upgrades to Vista. So it's just a matter of convenience.

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

What beef do you have with Dell? Here I am, typing on my Dell Latitude D520. I noticed that when it came, the hard drive was saturated with Dell-branded spyware. After I wiped it and reinstalled from the XP disc, it works fine. That's my only grumble. And my one experience with Dell support was fine.

Were you speaking of Dell in the post I quoted? If they replaced the keyboard and wireless card for no charge, why bad-mouth them?

I just believe in backing opinions up. Like this:

I personally would stay away from eMachines--the desktop I got from them came preloaded with Windows ME, which we all know was one pile of software that should not even be called an OS. That's not the only reason, though. The machine was not meant to be user-servicable. To open the case, you have to break a warranty seal. Also, eMachines support declined my request for device drivers (which were not anywhere on their site--they were on the "Recovery CD") because I upgraded to WinXP which is an unsupported configuration. I don't think I need to say any more.

I like Dell, but I also like the feel of the Thinkpads, and if I hadn't gotten this Dell, I would've probably gotten a Thinkpad. Those things are beasts. We have a bunch at school that are something like 5 years old; they've been tossed around pretty nicely, and yet they still work great. In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have gotten this machine because my old Dell Inspiron cracked at the hinges--a big reason I got a new one. But I like it, and haven't had any problems (except a blue screen of death when I installed the National Instruments Labview stuff, but I hardly think it's Dell's fault). The battery still lasts 3.5 ish hours of internet time. I think it's alright.

JBot

Re: Buying a Laptop!
 

If you watch ADs on your local paper many new laptop will have free upgrades to vista when it comes out. I personally bought a new compaq Presario V6120US from circuit city about 1.5 weeks ago. I love it and have not had a problem. I paid $750 for the laptop plus another $150 for 2 year full coverage warranty all from Circuit City. I would say get something with a 2.8+GHZ 1GB memory and 80GB+ harddrive. Compare ads for a couple weeks from the paper and compare prices and specs. I waited about 2 weeks then just walked in and bought exactly what I wanted.

-Mike