Laptop?
 

I am thinking about getting a laptop. I saw a nice one that is an HP. I heard from a friend though that HP are not very good. He once had one and it broke repeatedly. I believe that the link below should direct you to the ad that came out in my town. I am thinking about getting one of them at the top of page 17. Please respond in a timely manner. Afterall, the ad is only good through the 26th of January. Thanks in advance.

http://circuitcity.shoplocal.com/cir...uitCity-080120

Re: Laptop?
 

I understand you are a CAD guy. I think you would definitely need a video card if you want to CAD on it.

I would definitely recommend a dell vostro, I have one and it has worked beautifully so far. There are some really good deals for them.

just my 2 cents, Vivek

Re: Laptop?
 

You'll need to be more specific, since there are several HP Laptops in that flyer.

I didn't have very good luck with my HP laptops. One of them I damaged the PCMCIA slot after about a year(probably my fault), and the other had some type of power supply issue, after 2.5 years, where it drew so much current that is melted the end of the power cord that connected to the computer. I solved the problem on that one by removing the battery(other batteries did the same thing), and soldering the poser wire directly to the motherboard.

I've had very good luck with Gateway PCs. Me and my brother both have Gateway Convertable tablets, and we have a refurbished Gateway desktop. They have all been good.

EDIT
I don't know what you're doing, but I've found that RAM is more of a limitation than the graphics hardware. Don't get me wrong, a good graphics card is important, but even with 2gb I find myself running out of ram long before I stress my middle of the line, for a laptop graphics hardware(ATI Mobility Radeon x1400 w/64mb deticated).

/EDIT

Re: Laptop?
 

vivek, You are right. I definitely want a CAD capable laptop. Also, I pulled up the Dell Vostro through google and it came up with several. Could you send me a link to which one in particular you would suggest?

Re: Laptop?
 

also, with dell, you can choose xp or vista, hp is all vista as I understand?

-vivek

EDIT: http://www.dell.com/content/products...=04&l=en&s=bsd

Re: Laptop?
 

I got Vista with mine.
It's like getting moldy fruitcake for Christmas.

Re: Laptop?
 

yes, if you really like how it looks, there is an instructable on instructables.com about how to make xp look like vista.

-vivek

Re: Laptop?
 

I have an Dell Inspiron 6400 (now replaced by the Vostro series) that can run CAD quite nicely.
Specs:
2.0Ghz Core 2
2 gigs DDR2-667
7200 rpm HDD
Nvidia Geforce go 7300

For me, it was a choice between either a Dell or an HP because they were the most reasonably priced laptops with discreet graphics. From my experience now, I would definitely recommend getting a Dell.

Re: Laptop?
 

Ok, here's the deal with HP and Vista. HP is awful, breaks down repeatedly, and customer support is lacking at best. Vista is THE largest waste of disk space ever invented, only making HP's crappy hardware into an IED. It crashes often, has more security holes than an antivirus program written by a 10yr old, and provides so few features that can be debated as trivial. Most people who own Vista have been known to "upgrade" to XP, taking second place to pulling their skin off. To avoid either one at any possible cost would be the Understatement Of The Year.

Dude, you're getting a Dell!

BTW, I agree that RAM is more limiting than the graphics, though it is still a major factor.

Re: Laptop?
 

Yeah, I "upgraded" from Vista Ultimate to XP a couple of days after getting it...

Re: Laptop?
 

I haven't had any problems with my HP.
I'm quite happy with it in fact.
My wife who runs a classroom full of Dells will tell you how much she "loves" Dells.

Re: Laptop?
 

We just bought 2 Dell Vostros 1500 for CAD.

Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, 2.2GGz 800Mhz FSB, L2 Cache
2 GB Ram
256 NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
XP PRO

Runs both Inventor and Solid Works great.

Re: Laptop?
 

There are rare cases where somebody is satisfied with an HP, which is fine. I was just stating what I've seen from most everyone I know (and don't know).

I'm the [extended] family's techie, and for some dumb reason, they only buy HP's. Maybe it's because my aunt works at Sam's Club and everyone shops at Wal-Mart, which I'm also against. Anyway, the ones they buy are always high maintenance.

Re: Laptop?
 

As for quality, get a toshiba. As for price, get an HP. I have had a toshiba for two years and never had any problems (except for windows problems). My friend on the other hand has an HP that he bought at the same time and has had nothing but trouble with it. He was lucky because when he bought it, he got the three year service plan with it which has come in really usfull in the past 5 times that it has been in the shop. Everytime his computer is finally given back to him, it stops working within a matter of weeks. I personally don't think that HP is actually fixing it either other than taking his computer, putting it on a shelf for a month, and then sending it back. It is really inconvienient as it always takes a month plus to be fixed and then it just breaks down again.

Re: Laptop?
 

My advice would be to not buy a dell, dell is the company for people who don't know much about computers =\. I'd look at computer sites too, like newegg or something, they usually have some nice deals. If you can customize your own to what you need, you can definitely save some money if you know you won't need a lot of hard drive space or something like that.

Also think how badly you actually need a laptop, the longer you wait, the more prices go down and specs go up. The sale stuff like "OH NOES BUY QUICK ITS CHEAP BUT NOT FOR LONG" is just a trap, especially with something that evolves as much as technology. I personally would really like to get a new laptop now, but I know I'm going to need it for college and I don't exactly "need" (although it would be usefull =\ ) it now, so I'm waiting till after graduation to get a new one.

Not to be paranoid or hijack the thread, but wal-mart has been known to cut prices by selling lesser/cheaper/inferior/"wal-mart" versions of certain products. They normally have the same or a similar serial number, but if you ask the company producing it, they will tell you that something was changed so that wal-mart could sell it cheaper. /tinfoil hat (although seriously you can google some articles on it or call some of their suppliers =P)