Help Ziggy pick out a new laptop

[ziggy]

In my house I have a 2 year old desktop that I'm very satisfied with. It's good to go.

My 7 year old IBM thinkpad laptop piece of crap... Not so much.

I think in the next couple of months I'm going to retire this piece of crap and get something new.

A few things that I want on the new one are a large screen 17" if possible. A keyboard large enough where my fingers don't get cramped up, and I want it to be fast!

Since I haven't laptop shopped in quite a while, what are some of the other features or specs that I definitely need to have on this new machine.

[SWedd523]

If you recall, I posted a similar thread with the same predicament. My "Want List" was pretty much exactly the same as yours considering I had an old Dell Inspiron on Windows XP. After all of my research, I have been extremely happy with my final decision:


Asus G72 with Windows 7 Premium



Intel Core 2 Quad Processor (clocks at 2..0 GHz, lower than the dual version for whatever reason)
17.3'' Wide Screen Display (fucking beautiful, might I add)
6MB RAM
640GB Hard Drive (at 7200 rpm)
Altec Lansing Speakers (extremely loud, I never go more than a couple of clicks above minimum)
Backlit pebble (like a Macbook) keyboard with dedicated numpad
Webcam (main usage is for facial recognition log in) and mic



All in all, this is a beautifully crafted, extremely fast, massive laptop. It's so huge it doesn't even fit in my bookbag :facepalm:

[SWedd523]

New lappy on the left, old on the right:

https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=8645fcca72&view=att&th=125cc0eb8971cd97&attid=0.1&disp=inline&zw

[teej]

My mom, bro and I all have HP Pavillions, which are similar to Swedd's in features but are high-performance and can handle a whole lot of stuff at the same time.

Same Altec Lansing speakers
intel Pentium dual core processor
3 usb ports
mine is a 19" screen
love the keyboard

Make Windows 7 a must. It should come standard, but make sure.

[SWedd523]

I guess I must add that mine is designed for gamers as the logo on the front says "Republic of Gamers" and if you google it, you'll see all the WaW kids rave about it. Downloads songs from limewire in ~1 sec and it never gets hot. 4 USB ports in little hideaway sections on the sides.

$1300 price tag

[teej]

mine was $900

but that Limewire thing is impressive swedd.

[ziggy]

I guess I must add that mine is designed for gamers as the logo on the front says "Republic of Gamers" and if you google it, you'll see all the WaW kids rave about it. Downloads songs from limewire in ~1 sec and it never gets hot. 4 USB ports in little hideaway sections on the sides.

$1300 price tag

Wow, that's fast :o
I started browsing at Best Buy some this afternoon just to get my feet wet, and I believe that I saw a 500gig Asus with 4 gig of ram. If I don't plan on doing any gaming on this machine, should I still bump it up to 6 gig?

Also, what other brands did you guys like? I saw a Toshiba that was very nice.

[SWedd523]

mine was $900

but that Limewire thing is impressive swedd.

It blew my mind the first time I saw it. I was playing Modern Warfare 2 online, had 5 tabs of Internet up, iTunes, and limewire... Pulled up some old White Stripes songs and clicked 5 of them, doe before I could close out the tabs.

[dnbman]

Ziggy, if you can, I'd wait. The new generation of tablets are supposed to be game changers. If you can use your desktop for now, I'd wait and see if one of these guys doesn't become the new standard.

[ziggy]

Ziggy, if you can, I'd wait. The new generation of tablets are supposed to be game changers. If you can use your desktop for now, I'd wait and see if one of these guys doesn't become the new standard.

When should we see the first release of those tablets? I've seen bits and pieces on that Apple tablet that is supposed to be nice, but I haven't heard anything on a release date.

[SWedd523]

When should we see the first release of those tablets? I've seen bits and pieces on that Apple tablet that is supposed to be nice, but I haven't heard anything on a release date.
Supposed to be unveiled at a later date between the end of the month and March.

The Apple Slate (tablet) is basically a huge iPhone. Most tablets are going to be along those lines. None really appeal to me to be honest. You'd be better off getting a full sized lappy and a smaller netbook for portability

[dnbman]

Supposed to be unveiled at a later date between the end of the month and March.

The Apple Slate (tablet) is basically a huge iPhone. Most tablets are going to be along those lines. None really appeal to me to be honest. You'd be better off getting a full sized lappy and a smaller netbook for portability

I don't know. There seems to be an arms race going on behind the scenes, which is why Apple has been quiet about details.

Let's put it this way: if the tablet essentially is a much faster iPhone, wouldn't that be an ideal thing to have for browsing and mobile computing if he's got a desktop for more complicated work? What is he going to be doing most of the time on the device?

I'd just be hesitant to buy a new laptop knowing these things are coming out. They may not be worth it, and he can go ahead and buy a laptop or a netbook then.

[SWedd523]

It's supposed to share the same processor as the 4th gen iPhone. It's kept under wraps because that's how Apple is. Nobody has any clue about anything going on with the 4th iPhone, likewise with the Slate.

However, the rumors are that it's basically a larger (not necessarily faster) version of the iphone, with somewhere around a 10'' screeen. I hardly believe that's going to be comfortable to two-hand type on with the majority of the screen's real estate going to viewing. There is also likely going to be a premium of at least $1000, which with that amount of money, you can get a damn good laptop.



(This is coming from someone who loves just about everything Apple, the owner of every version of the iPhone thus far and almost owner of a Macbook Pro had it not been overpriced and underpowered)

[dnbman]

It's supposed to share the same processor as the 4th gen iPhone. It's kept under wraps because that's how Apple is. Nobody has any clue about anything going on with the 4th iPhone, likewise with the Slate.

However, the rumors are that it's basically a larger (not necessarily faster) version of the iphone, with somewhere around a 10'' screeen. I hardly believe that's going to be comfortable to two-hand type on with the majority of the screen's real estate going to viewing. There is also likely going to be a premium of at least $1000, which with that amount of money, you can get a damn good laptop.



(This is coming from someone who loves just about everything Apple, the owner of every version of the iPhone thus far and almost owner of a Macbook Pro had it not been overpriced and underpowered)

You may be right. However, Apple isn't the only company producing a new tablet.

I'm waiting.

[SWedd523]

You may be right. However, Apple isn't the only company producing a new tablet.

I'm waiting.
Definitely true. I love the whole tablet idea, I think it's extremely sexy if done right. I'd just be wary of the first iteration and wouldn't get one unless it was at least 13" diagonal.

It would also have to be extremely durable, thats a biggggggg glass surface, and if it drops just right, you're screwed. It would need to stay away from children for sure


Though, if done right.... I could hop on board

[ziggy]

This laptop (http://www.amazon.com/Pavilion-DV7-3160US-17-3-Inch-Laptop-Black/dp/B0030Y312W/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=pc&qid=1264737786&sr=1-6) has caught my eye and is on my "potential buy" list.

What do you guys think of it?

[SWedd523]

I generally advise against AMD processor chips

[ziggy]

I generally advise against AMD processor chips

Are they not as fast? Or do they have a history of malfunctioning?

[teej]

Are they not as fast? Or do they have a history of malfunctioning?

Both.

Intel is the way to go.

[SWedd523]

Are they not as fast? Or do they have a history of malfunctioning?
You normally see them in lower end models, where the price is more important than system speed. Intel is where you wanna go--at least core duo.

[teej]

You normally see them in lower end models, where the price is more important than system speed. Intel is where you wanna go--at least core duo.

This.

I have a dual-core Pentium. Works like a charm.

[SWedd523]

This.

I have a dual-core Pentium. Works like a charm.
core 2 quad ;)

[dnbman]

Ziggy, I'd find a comparison chart between the AMD chip and the Intel chip. The people I know who use AMD swear by them and they're usually a good deal cheaper.

If this is a general use laptop (no heavy gaming or graphics editing), I wouldn't feel about at all about an AMD machine.

If you are thinking about gaming a lot, I might go ahead and buy a gaming specific rig (like Alienware) so you know the graphics card will be usable for a while. In the cheaper machines, the processor and ram aren't the issue; their integrated graphics card often can't handle the newest graphics-heavy games.

[ziggy]

On this machine I won't be doing any gaming. Mostly web development, surfing, OpenOffice (free ms-office clone).

Best Buy has just dropped the price on this machine from $820 to $699... It's getting tough to pass up.

[ziggy]

This is what I picked up (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Laptop+with+AMD+Turion%26%23153%3B+II+Ul tra+Dual-Core+Mobile+Processor+-+Espresso+Black/9700814.p?id=1218152462714&skuId=9700814) this weekend.

I'm $800 more broke than I was on Friday but I believe I got a decent deal. The Blu-Ray drive at that price point made a big difference.

I'm not that comfortable with Windows 7 yet, I was never on Vista. For years my flavor on windows machines had been XP.

[teej]

I think you'll like it.

I don't know about 7 but Vista worked fine as long as you didn't fuck with it too much. Basically, use someone else's pc if you need shady porn sites.

[ziggy]

Hey Teej,

what are some of the cool features on 7 that I am completely unaware of.

Right now I'm pretty lost on 7 honestly. I feel like there is stuff there that I'm not taking advantage of.

[SWedd523]

I LOVE 7. Though, I came from Windows XP so I had a larger jump than most other people :facepalm:


If you put the mouse in the lower right corner, it hides every open window (dunno if Vista had that)

If you right click you can click on gadgets and put different widgets on the homescreen (I currently have the weather and a Shutdown-Restart-Standby quick links) Again, don't know if Vista had it, but it's pretty cool.


A quick Google search gave me some others: http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=653






Let me know how that AMD chip treats ya

[teej]

Yeah swedd it has most of those, not as good but same stuff.

And Ziggy, IE works better, the inPrivate browsing is sweet for hiding stuff if you need to, new tabs are great, and the security stuff makes it unnecessary to buy "protection" :D

The menus and gadgets are really cool too.