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Looking for a non-gaming lappy

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/\\/3|2o

Member
Joined
Nov 23, 2002
Location
SA, TX
Okay I have never been into the laptop business and I really dont know much about them and used to stay away from them as much as possible. Now that I am going to school though, I am in the market for a good laptop that does not have to have any video performance at all (it will keep me from gaming and help me focus on my school work :) ).

What im looking for is something with: A nice processor (at least 1m cache, decent fsb), 1gb of ram, 80gb HD or better, crappy video card (integrated).

Ill be honest, I haven't been all up to date with the latest technology and thats what I need help with. I want something that is quick and will allow me to run multiple programs at once. I need something that will be stable and wont die a year into me using it (im a college student and cant afford to spend $$ on repairs). The only catch is that I only have $800-$1000 to spend so it can't be the top of the line stuff. I have been looking around all over the place for the right rig because I know its important to find the right laptop because I will be stuck with it for a couple years. Right now I'm looking into Acer, Asus, and IBM laptops but ANY suggestions will be much appreciated.

So here are my questions:

What manufacturer will give me a stable system that wont "break-down"?
What kind of processor should I look for that will give me snappy response (AMD or Intel)?
Should I wait a little while longer to get some extra money?
Would it be cheaper to get something with 512 ram and upgrade it?

Thank you guys for always being there with your personal experiences and the expert help you always provide!
 
/\\/3|2o said:
So here are my questions:

1 - What manufacturer will give me a stable system that wont "break-down"?
2 - What kind of processor should I look for that will give me snappy response (AMD or Intel)?
3 - Should I wait a little while longer to get some extra money?
4 - Would it be cheaper to get something with 512 ram and upgrade it?

As part of my employment as a Geek Squad bench tech I work on a few laptops every day, so needless to say I see it all.

Here's my answers from my experience:

1 - All manufacturers will claim they're dependable. Why wouldn't they? Brands to avoid (repeat visitors/regular issues) are gateway and Emachines. Seen some very strange stuff when these go bad. I personally own a 8 month old Toshiba (mid-lineup model, in your price range), if that says anything about who I recommend. ;) Surprisingly, with regards to units sold and percentage serviced, the HP and compaq laptops are rather reliable. Typically with laptops the most common issue are dead or dying hard drives. I always keep a ghost image of my laptop's drive on a backup drive. I also have a full 3 year accidental damage plan on the laptop. They're so easy to drop, etc that not having one is taking chances. If I had money to pee away I'd go with a Sony Vaio for overall quality and performance. Like you, I'm bound to my budget.

Dell is keeping us in business. I don't recommend them based on the number of machines we service, and we don't even sell them! They can be a good bargain, but it's too good to be true.

2 - Either or. Frankly, if you're not gaming anything on the market today is sufficient for surfing and dvd burning. I have a lowly Celeron M (1.5ghz) in mine and I couldn't see a need for anything more.

3 - You should be able to get a decent laptop for $700-800, then add a service plan/insurance for $300 more (trust me, you'll want it - warranties and regular service plans don't cover that keg party accident or cracked LCD because someone sits on it).

4 - I used 512MB for most of the last 8 months. Have never had more than 512MB in any laptop until a few weeks back I exercised my employee discount and added another 512MB just because I could... not because I really needed it.

Best advice is to go down to a retail store and check them out. Obviously look for a DVD burner and widescreen support (IMO watching dvds will be more enjoyable). Find a display that fits your eyes and has a good viewing angle.

Most come with 40 plus GB drives (80 is about standard).

Be sure you like the touchpad. Some models have horrible touchpads and I actually use mine, so that would drive me nuts if I didn't like the feel (some Vaios, for instance, feel 'sticky').

Ask about battery life. I didn't and I only get 2 hours tops, with most efficient settings. Had I given this more thought, I'd probably have gone with another model.

Appearences doesn't mean squat. Buy what is functionally sound.

Speaking of sound, none of them are all that great so don't expect much in the way of quality.
 
edit> damn while I was writing a long reply,pinky wrote a longer one :( and posted it before mine :rolleyes:

Well, before Skou sees this thread I'll say. Just get yourself a P3 laptop and you'll be very happy. I'm very, very serious when I say this but right now I'm using a P3 700mhz Evo N400c, and the only two things it won't do are game, and play a 1280x720 res avi. Now it may also be slow for encoding video or rendering gfx but those aren't on your list of requirements.

So I'd lean toward a IBM T23, X something, or one of the Evo N400c or N600c. Not sure of your size requirements but these are all built very well and non are heavy (5-5.5 for the T23 and N600c, and 3-3.5lbs for the X2* and N400c)

Now if you MUST have something newer. Then a first or second Gen centrino is good. You can get an IBM T40 all day long for $600-700 on ebay and maybe cheaper. There are plenty of other choices but too many to list.

Going with the above choices for Pentium3s will only cost you $350-$400, and add a bigger hard drive, sell the old one, and you have a rockin lappy for like $400-$450.

More requirements always help to narrow choices.
 
violineb said:
edit> damn while I was writing a long reply,pinky wrote a longer one :( and posted it before mine :rolleyes:

Well, before Skou sees this thread I'll say. Just get yourself a P3 laptop and you'll be very happy. I'm very, very serious when I say this but right now I'm using a P3 700mhz Evo N400c, and the only two things it won't do are game, and play a 1280x720 res avi. Now it may also be slow for encoding video or rendering gfx but those aren't on your list of requirements.

So I'd lean toward a IBM T23, X something, or one of the Evo N400c or N600c. Not sure of your size requirements but these are all built very well and non are heavy (5-5.5 for the T23 and N600c, and 3-3.5lbs for the X2* and N400c)

Now if you MUST have something newer. Then a first or second Gen centrino is good. You can get an IBM T40 all day long for $600-700 on ebay and maybe cheaper. There are plenty of other choices but too many to list.

Going with the above choices for Pentium3s will only cost you $350-$400, and add a bigger hard drive, sell the old one, and you have a rockin lappy for like $400-$450.

More requirements always help to narrow choices.

Couldn't have said it any better!!

I've had, in addition to all of the T20 through 23 IBMs, a Dell 5100, and I currently have a Sony GRX 560. THe Dell and Sony are both P4 rigs, but I'd rather have my P3 T23. It's a smaller, more compact rig, and I think they look better. (I traded my best friend for this Sony, lost a T23 with all kinds of goodies.)

Windows installs are a real PITA, with these newer rigs, since you HAVE to use the supplied install discs, or you can't find the right drivers. With my IBM stuff, I have been just using my 2000 disc, and then installing drivers.

steve
 
Vio, if you had a Thinkpad T20-22 series, you can upgrade to a 1.0 GHz, just by changing the CPU. The 23 will run a 1.2. It'll also run 1 GB of memory, the 20-22s were limited to 512 MB.

steve
 
ONLY problem I have with recommending older/used laptops is the life expectancy of hardware. Eventually, ALL hardware dies. It's just a matter of time. By pure odds, a 4 year old laptop has a better chance of something major dying tomorrow than a 4 day old one.

If I could get the older laptop for $50 and get a year out of it, great! But the prices being quoted here for rather old, USED laptops is $400 - that's 2/3 of the way towards a new one with much higher performance specifications and features. Oh, and at least the new one has a 1 year warranty. You're completely SOL once the old one dies (SOL in the sense that YOU will have to sink more money into the old beast to get it working instead of the manufacturer footing the bill).

I miss the ole P3 laptops, they can still do just about anything I would need from a laptop - but they're not a practical sale at their current market prices when decent new laptops are selling for $700.
 
Wow thanks for all the help guys!

I found an offer that I just couldnt pass up. It was an Acer Aspire 5000 series with an AMD Turion 64 ML-34 1mb cache, "1600fsb",1.8ghz / 1 gb ram / 100 gb HD / integrated wireless card / integrated video all for $750 at circuit city. I really diddnt think to bother with and of the department stores but i guess I got really lucky. I think it's a great deal. What do you guys think?

Also, are there any cool laptop progs out there that are a must have? I cant seem to get MBM to work with this baby and I'd like to monitor the temps for a while.

Thanks again for all the help guys! Ill keep you posted on what I think about this particular laptop.
 
Of course I think you did very well ;).

Can't help with the temp monitoring though. Haven't ever felt the need, and part of me is a little scared to see just how hot these things really run. :p
 
Google "mobmeter" and see if it works. (Leave the " off.) It's the first thing, I usually use the "I'm feelin' lucky.

steve
 
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