Laptop advice needed

HammerHeadHank · 09-27-11, 11:21 AM

Hi, I never owned a laptop,and just recently started college ,so I need a laptop I'm looking at a 15" screen,need to put win7x64 op. on it office 2010.able to surf the net. wireless and a DVD drive,USB ports Can you purchase a laptop without a operating system ? Since I can get the college deal @ $30.00 for win 7 pro. Basically I'm looking for the best bang for the buck!!! I have a $400-500 budget.are refurbs trustworthy ? What are comparable to the Intel I series Core ? Thank You, HammerHeadHank

ajrettke · 09-27-11, 12:38 PM

You can buy laptops without the OS but those are usually clevo or some other type which will tend to be higher in price and more gaming oriented and typically not battery friendly. AMD doesn't really stack up well against intel in the mobile arena. Unless your talking AMD's new fusion chips which are more netbook/low end you should stick with Intel.

I'd avoid refurbs...you're not going to get much more in the lower end pricepoint.

The big thing you should look for is higher resolution than 1366x768....especially being in school you want tons of realestate. A quick look through newegg is making it very hard to find anything with better than that resolution and under 17"

I think you need to head to slickdeals or fatwallet and look for deals. If you're willing to by used www.notebookreview.com forums have some pretty good deals....but your buying something used with no warranty....difficult to say but this may be the best option unless you can increase your budget!

johan851 · 09-27-11, 03:03 PM

If you really want to go refurbished, the only good option in that area is Lenovo. They all come with an operating system, though. Look at the T-series, which includes the new T-520 and the older T-500 and T-510.

http://outlet.lenovo.com/laptops/thinkpad/t-series.html

If you want to catch a deal you'll have to check often - they come and go very quickly.

HammerHeadHank · 09-28-11, 09:44 PM

Thanks eveyone, I need to give this some more thought.

HammerHeadHank · 09-29-11, 02:32 PM

Anyone now anything about the Acer brand ? are they durable ? I'm looking for the best bang for the buck. Thanks

johan851 · 09-29-11, 02:33 PM

Wouldn't describe them as durable, no. They're pretty low-end.

HammerHeadHank · 09-29-11, 03:03 PM

Anyone know about this one it has conference capabilities which I don't need but has an aluminum shell. under $500 now. Thanks
Dell Vostro 3550 Intel Core i3-2310M 2.1GHz Sandy Bridge 15.6in Laptop

johan851 · 09-29-11, 04:15 PM

The Vostro seem to be fairly popular. You could look around at http://forum.notebookreview.com/ if you want a lot of user opinions.

ajrettke · 09-30-11, 10:21 AM

It's not terrible. but the screen resolution will likely be poor.

JR23 · 09-30-11, 11:23 AM

Just on the acer note my friend in Uni has a 13" Acer Aspire timeline i think a 3810T? Considering the cost it works out pretty good at about half of my MBP13 it looks good but the backlighting in the screen is dying in the acer already. He already sent one back with another fault too. Not the best quality right there although good bang for buck with switchable graphics etc. It can actually play games lol.

09-27-11, 11:21 AM	Thread Starter #1
HammerHeadHank Registered Join Date: May 2004 Location: Ohio	Laptop advice needed Hi, I never owned a laptop,and just recently started college ,so I need a laptop I'm looking at a 15" screen,need to put win7x64 op. on it office 2010.able to surf the net. wireless and a DVD drive,USB ports Can you purchase a laptop without a operating system ? Since I can get the college deal @ $30.00 for win 7 pro. Basically I'm looking for the best bang for the buck!!! I have a $400-500 budget.are refurbs trustworthy ? What are comparable to the Intel I series Core ? Thank You, HammerHeadHank
	QUOTE Thanks

09-27-11, 12:38 PM	#2
ajrettke Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Colorado Springs	You can buy laptops without the OS but those are usually clevo or some other type which will tend to be higher in price and more gaming oriented and typically not battery friendly. AMD doesn't really stack up well against intel in the mobile arena. Unless your talking AMD's new fusion chips which are more netbook/low end you should stick with Intel. I'd avoid refurbs...you're not going to get much more in the lower end pricepoint. The big thing you should look for is higher resolution than 1366x768....especially being in school you want tons of realestate. A quick look through newegg is making it very hard to find anything with better than that resolution and under 17" I think you need to head to slickdeals or fatwallet and look for deals. If you're willing to by used www.notebookreview.com forums have some pretty good deals....but your buying something used with no warranty....difficult to say but this may be the best option unless you can increase your budget! __________________ Q6600@390x9 (3.5 and 1.400v) WC'd MSI P35 Neo2-FR 2x2 gb of DDR2 800 2 x Vertex 2 SSD's RAID 0 Sennheiser HDR-120's 2405FPW+2x2001FP "Computer games don’t affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we’d all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitve electonic dance music..." - Kristian Wilson, Nintendo Inc, 1989 "Is it worth overclocking? That's like asking if sex is enjoyable!" -cw823
	QUOTE Thanks

09-27-11, 03:03 PM	#3
johan851 Insatiably Malcontent Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Seattle, WA	If you really want to go refurbished, the only good option in that area is Lenovo. They all come with an operating system, though. Look at the T-series, which includes the new T-520 and the older T-500 and T-510. http://outlet.lenovo.com/laptops/thinkpad/t-series.html If you want to catch a deal you'll have to check often - they come and go very quickly. __________________ ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 \| 2500K @ 4.6GHz \| 2x4GB Samsung DDR3 \| GTX460 768mb 120GB Crucial M4 \| 2x 2TB Samsung F4 \| Seasonic S12 600w AV-710 --> y2 DAC --> Custom M^3 --> Custom LM3875 ChipAmp --> Modula MTs Dual Dell 2007WFP \| Watercooled
	QUOTE Thanks

09-28-11, 09:44 PM	Thread Starter #4
HammerHeadHank Registered Join Date: May 2004 Location: Ohio	Thanks eveyone, I need to give this some more thought.
	QUOTE Thanks

09-29-11, 02:32 PM	Thread Starter #5
HammerHeadHank Registered Join Date: May 2004 Location: Ohio	Anyone now anything about the Acer brand ? are they durable ? I'm looking for the best bang for the buck. Thanks
	QUOTE Thanks

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09-29-11, 02:33 PM	#6
johan851 Insatiably Malcontent Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Seattle, WA	Wouldn't describe them as durable, no. They're pretty low-end. __________________ ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 \| 2500K @ 4.6GHz \| 2x4GB Samsung DDR3 \| GTX460 768mb 120GB Crucial M4 \| 2x 2TB Samsung F4 \| Seasonic S12 600w AV-710 --> y2 DAC --> Custom M^3 --> Custom LM3875 ChipAmp --> Modula MTs Dual Dell 2007WFP \| Watercooled
	QUOTE Thanks

09-29-11, 03:03 PM	Thread Starter #7
HammerHeadHank Registered Join Date: May 2004 Location: Ohio	Anyone know about this one it has conference capabilities which I don't need but has an aluminum shell. under $500 now. Thanks Dell Vostro 3550 Intel Core i3-2310M 2.1GHz Sandy Bridge 15.6in Laptop
	QUOTE Thanks

09-29-11, 04:15 PM	#8
johan851 Insatiably Malcontent Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Seattle, WA	The Vostro seem to be fairly popular. You could look around at http://forum.notebookreview.com/ if you want a lot of user opinions. __________________ ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 \| 2500K @ 4.6GHz \| 2x4GB Samsung DDR3 \| GTX460 768mb 120GB Crucial M4 \| 2x 2TB Samsung F4 \| Seasonic S12 600w AV-710 --> y2 DAC --> Custom M^3 --> Custom LM3875 ChipAmp --> Modula MTs Dual Dell 2007WFP \| Watercooled
	QUOTE Thanks

09-30-11, 10:21 AM	#9
ajrettke Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Colorado Springs	It's not terrible. but the screen resolution will likely be poor. __________________ Q6600@390x9 (3.5 and 1.400v) WC'd MSI P35 Neo2-FR 2x2 gb of DDR2 800 2 x Vertex 2 SSD's RAID 0 Sennheiser HDR-120's 2405FPW+2x2001FP "Computer games don’t affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we’d all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitve electonic dance music..." - Kristian Wilson, Nintendo Inc, 1989 "Is it worth overclocking? That's like asking if sex is enjoyable!" -cw823
	QUOTE Thanks

09-30-11, 11:23 AM	#10
JR23 Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Oxford, England	Just on the acer note my friend in Uni has a 13" Acer Aspire timeline i think a 3810T? Considering the cost it works out pretty good at about half of my MBP13 it looks good but the backlighting in the screen is dying in the acer already. He already sent one back with another fault too. Not the best quality right there although good bang for buck with switchable graphics etc. It can actually play games lol. __________________ MB: Asus ROG Maximus V Formula Z77 CPU: i7 2600k - Corsair H100i RAM: Corsair Dominator Platinum 2133MHz 4x4GB GPU: Candidate for this position accepted, awaiting fitting - EVGA Superclock GTX780 x2 SLI SSD: Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB PSU: Corsair AX860 Platinum CASE: Corsair 550D - (2xSP120, 2xAF120, 2xAF140 Fans)
	QUOTE Thanks

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