Finally replacing my laptop

Overclockers was recommended to me as the best computer forum, so I thought I'd try here to get some help in replacing my laptop. I've had a Toshiba laptop for the last 4 and a half years, and it finally gave up and died.

I don't have a restrictive budget for this computer purchase, but I want it to be reasonable. I will not be using the computer for gaming, and while a netbook would suffice for many of my needs, I'd prefer to have an optical drive and some other features that may be absent from netbooks.

I mostly use the computer for checking emails, chatting, forums, skype, and watching videos (mostly dvd rips from bittorrent, and some streaming). Nothing particularly demanding. Still seeing as the other computer lasted me for so long, I want to make sure that any replacement laptop I purchase will do the same. I was not particularly pleased with Toshiba, I just made the best of my purchase.

To keep in mind: I am currently living in South Korea. I browsed the vendor section of the forums and I'll probably have to order from www.tigerdirect.com or www.performance-pcs.com - but of course if you know of other options for a good deal I'm all ears.

things i'm looking for in my next computer:
-solid/reliable brand (i liked my friend's hp, but i want your input)
-high battery life (my toshiba never lasted more than an hour when new)
-light weight
-not a huge monstrosity
-output to a projector screen (VGA i think - i am teaching in south korea)
-the more ram the merrier
-built-in webcam
-windows 7
-dvd drive/burner (would be open to blu-ray if its worth it)
-other features that make it stand out?

I'm looking for a good deal on a basic laptop, but at the same time I am looking for a good brand and for something that won't have aged terribly only 2 years from now.

Any input is appreciated and maybe some of the members here can help me figure out more specifically what I am looking for in a laptop.

If you can give me even a very basic idea of a budget i can help. Everyone will have a differnt view of not overboard

I take it you'll be moving this laptop around with you a lot, to lessons ect? So wieght and size would be quite important.

okay well, considering how most netbooks would meet my needs, I think I could get a sufficient laptop for maybe around $600? now if there was a laptop that was more expensive than that but better in the long run, i would definitely consider it.

the toshiba laptop ran very hot and had overheating problems, so i'd of course like to avoid that this time around. i'll also probably leave my laptop running less, using hibernation mode more, etc.

Here's an option you may want to consider given your uses, it has the most powerful netbook graphics processor available among other nifty features.

HP Mini 311

Starting Price - $399.99
Brand - HP
Screen - 11.6" diagonal HD LED BrightView Widescreen Display (1366 x 768)
Graphics Card - NVIDIA ION LE - Can output at 1080p to an external monitor or projector
Battery Life - 6 cell Li-Ion battery - Approx 6hr - Optional additional 6 cell Li-Ion Battery available
Weight - 3.22lbs
Dimensions - 11.4 in (L) x 8.03 in (W) x 0.78-1.20 in (H)
Outputs - 3 USB Ports, RJ-45, VGA, HDMI
Hard Drive - 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Ram - 1Gb DDR3 - May be upgradeable to 3Gb have yet to confirm
Webcam - HP Mini Webcam
Networking - Wireless-G Card or Wireless-N Card or Wireless-G Card with Bluetooth or Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth
Windows 7 - Free upgrade direct from HP
Optical Drive - Optional External LightScribe Super Multi 8X DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer or Optional External Lightscribe Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD+/-R/RW Double Layer
Additional Features - 5 in 1 Digital Media Slot, Optional Mobile Broadband

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/s...dexp/hhoslp/psg/notebooks/Mini/mini311_series

-solid/reliable brand (i liked my friend's hp, but i want your input)

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You don't want a solid brand but a solid notebook. Companies, HP included, make trash laptops and well built ones. Actually they don't really make them, but buy from ODMs in Asia. Generally you want a business laptop if you want something well built. With the consumer ones you are more likely to encounter the trash ones.

-high battery life (my toshiba never lasted more than an hour when new)

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Either look at netbooks or the new Intel CULV CPUs. SU7300 and SU9400 especially. Those are the dual cores. 1.3-1.4GHz and notebooks can last up to 8h (manufacturer specs, take with a grain of salt). Another option are Apple notebooks. Pricy tho.

-light weight

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Again, Intel CULV CPUs. They're in all the new lightweight laptops ~2kg

-not a huge monstrosity

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Need more information. 15,6"? 14"? 13"? even less?

-output to a projector screen (VGA i think - i am teaching in south korea)

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decide beforehand if you want VGA (15 pol Sub-D), DVI or DisplayPort depending on the projectors you want to use. DVI is fairly easy to use an adapter to make it standard vga. Dunno about DisplayPort

-the more ram the merrier

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netbooks are bad for this.

-dvd drive/burner (would be open to blu-ray if its worth it)

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Unless you want to go with external ones, this eliminates practically all netbooks and some other choices too (like the Lenovo X line).

I suggest you look at Intel based SU7300 and SU9400 based notebooks. By now all major manufacturers have announced models with them

it has the most powerful netbook graphics processor available

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Not with a LE chipset...

pharoer said:

Not with a LE chipset...

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What netbook has a more powerful graphics chip then? As far as I have read, this chipset for netbooks just came out last month and the reviews says it stops the competition.

Nemesis Undying said:

What netbook has a more powerful graphics chip then? As far as I have read, this chipset for netbooks just came out last month and the reviews says it stops the competition.

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There are two different chipsets named "ION": ION and ION LE. The LE version is slower and has no DirectX10 support.

pharoer said:

There are two different chipsets named "ION": ION and ION LE. The LE version is slower and has no DirectX10 support.

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Well what specific netbook has the non LE version of Ion?
According to this, it's no slower than the ION, it just doesn't support DX10. Given what he's going to use it for I don't see not having DX10 as being any kind of hinderance, he's not going to be gaming on it.

“ION LE is SKU of the ION GPU that is identical to “ION, except it only supports DX9. This product is designed specifically for Windows XP on Netbooks and Nettops and we are going to offer LE SKU just for OEM market. “

http://www.fudzilla.com/content/view/14908/1/

Oh, I thought I had replied to the most recent posts here.

I like the HP Mini 311, especially since looking at it reminded me I can just buy an external optical drive. So I'll certainly have more flexibility in selecting a computer.

The HP Mini 311 only has 1GB of RAM, would that be enough if I upgraded to Windows 7? Also, I didn't see anything about upgrading to Windows 7 through HP.

Also, there were options for Wireless-N and Wireless-G, any important differences I should be aware of?

N is faster and has better range, but G is fast enough for everyday use no problem.

molotovwars said:

Oh, I thought I had replied to the most recent posts here.

I like the HP Mini 311, especially since looking at it reminded me I can just buy an external optical drive. So I'll certainly have more flexibility in selecting a computer.

The HP Mini 311 only has 1GB of RAM, would that be enough if I upgraded to Windows 7? Also, I didn't see anything about upgrading to Windows 7 through HP.

Also, there were options for Wireless-N and Wireless-G, any important differences I should be aware of?

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The ram might be upgradable like the other HP mini's, it has only one DIMM for ram but you might be able to get a 3gig ram module for it, it's still very new, the 311 that is, and information about this aspect is scarce, thought the thing with the ram in this one, is that it is DDR3 instead of what I've seen in most other netbooks only DDR2.

Wireless N has signifigantly more range and bandwidth than Wireless G given you have or are willing to get a Wireless N router.

About the upgrading to Windows 7 through HP I found that when I was googling info about the HP Mini 311, it's pretty late right now but tomorrow I'll see if I can find where I saw that for you.

I just went and googled it really fast to see what I could find and this is what I came up with.

HP® Official Store — Buy Mini Laptop & tablet PCs with free Windows 7 upgrade direct from HP.
http://www.google.com/search?q=HP+M...-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1

I see it in the description of the link to the official HP store when I googled "HP Mini 311 Windows 7 Upgrade" so it must state it somewhere on the site after click the link, I'm just not sure where lol.

So what makes DDR3 stand out from DDR2.

I was disappointed to find that HP does not seem to handle international orders. I am very interested in the HP Mini 311, but I would have to pay for shipping once to my address in the US and then again to have it shipped to South Korea?

www.tigerdirect.com has many netbooks, but not the HP Mini 311 - maybe because the netbook is still new? Is there a comparable netbook on tigerdirect or another site that ships international?

Lastly in regards to the Wireless-N or Wireless-G, if I were going to be using the netbook in a public place like a starbucks or a mcdonalds, they would probably have wireless-g right? Would that mean I would be unable to connect if I had wireless-N? I won't be buying a router of my own, so whichever connects in the most places would be the most beneficial for me.

DDR3 is much faster than DDR2. Also, the reason other retailers don't have the netbook yet is because it's brand new as of last month, not to mention you'll only get to customize it, or any other netbook, by having it custom built by the manufacturer until there are so many of them around that the retailers are saturated with all the diffrent options.

As for the wireless N, it's the new standard whereas G, B, and A are the older wireless standards. Wireless N is backwards compatable with B and G, also sometimes A depending on the card, just like G is backwards compatable with B so if you get the Wireless N version you'll have no issues connecting to older networks, but any network that is using wireless N you'll be able to connect to at a much higher bandwidth and from further away.

Nemesis Undying, thank you for all your help. I think I will customize the laptop and have it shipped to my address in the USA and then shipped from there to Korea. I will double check on the Windows 7 Upgrades and may just wait until October 22nd to place the order or around that time anyways.

I'll weigh my options, but I think I will be very satisfied with the HP Mini 311. Thank you!

You are welcome. Glad that I could help you. It would definately be best to call customer support or possibly sales to ask about the Win7 upgrade, and quote what it says on google for their official site if they give you any grief. I would have called last night to find out but it was past service hours and didn't remember tonight till too late. Otherwise I think it's the best thing since sliced bread for a websurfer/movie watcher, esp with the size diffrence between it and a full sized laptop. I was planning to get one for my wife to drag her off her desktop when she seals herself up in our bedroom playing around on myspace and out into the front room, but she says there's no need for a 4th computer in the house so meh, I don't get to have one lol.

Nemesis Undying said:

You are welcome. Glad that I could help you. It would definately be best to call customer support or possibly sales to ask about the Win7 upgrade, and quote what it says on google for their official site if they give you any grief. I would have called last night to find out but it was past service hours and didn't remember tonight till too late. Otherwise I think it's the best thing since sliced bread for a websurfer/movie watcher, esp with the size diffrence between it and a full sized laptop. I was planning to get one for my wife to drag her off her desktop when she seals herself up in our bedroom playing around on myspace and out into the front room, but she says there's no need for a 4th computer in the house so meh, I don't get to have one lol.

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http://www.hp.com/united-states/consumer/windows7-upgrade/eligmodels.html

I don't see the HP Mini 311 on the list, but I am going to call today to see about shipping to Korea since I notice they have a page in Korean, so I will also ask about Windows 7 and what my options would be.

[EDIT]: So I called and not much luck about shipping it to Korea. If I knew someone on the military base I could ship it that way, but I don't and it would have to be someone reliable.

Concerning Windows 7, the free upgrade is only available with computers that would ordinarily come with Vista, but if I purchase Windows 7 I am told it will run fine on the computer.

You can get an oem copy of Win7 on newegg pretty cheaply.

kind of funny i just got my mini 311 in the mail today

for upgradeable memory, i was a bit astonished, i cracked open the back and there was one open module spot but i couldn't for the life of me find the original, so it appears the original cant be replaced but i can stick a 2gig in and get the 3 total.

That's quite awesome, you need some help finding one to go in there? If so I can look around. I'm glad to know my assumptions were right about being able to upgrade the memory, though I wouldn't have expected there to be a completely free slot. I thought there was supposed to be a 1 gig dimm in there that you'd have to replace.