Laptops?

The Mighty Gerbil

The Mighty Gerbil

Tribe of Judah TF 2 Chapter Leader & CGA Admin
Staff member
I am looking to get a laptop for my Mother's Birthday. She'll be playing videos, web surfing and using a bible program on it but nothing much more strenuous like games. It will have to connect to our wireless internet and if we get a new TV someday (like in the FAR future) I'd think it would be nice to be able to connect them. My price range is 400 to 600 dollars. Currently looking at this model http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...MC-IGNEFL033109-_-Notebooks-_-LE2C-_-34114605 (which has a promo sale for 599.99 until the 6th). I definitely like having as big a screen as possible but I can't see her needing 360 gigs of space or 4 gigs of memory ever :/. This model only has a vga port too and It may require some type of converter (IDK) depending on any TV I'd get in the future. I also don't know how good Toshiba is. Thoughts?
 
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I have had a lot of good experiences with Toshibas. I recommend them as laptops to the average non-gamer user. Some people who type a lot do not like the keyboard squishiness compared to a Dell keyboard but otherwise they seem to be well built and last.

I would recommend reinstalling fresh windows or spending a lot of time removing the toshiba crap, however. They ship with all this crazy software that is confusing and resource intensive. Weird wireless config 3d tools and shortcut bars that popup...annoying. I would remove all that stuff before handing it off to someone.

There are some great deals on outlet.dell.com right now. You can get this for $415

Inspiron 15 (1545)
Intel Pentium Dual Core T3400 (2.16GHz/667Mhz FSB/1MB cache)
Windows Vista Home Premium
3 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz (2 DIMMs)
160 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
Integrated Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD
Web Camera
65W AC Adapter
6 Cell Primary Battery
Microsoft Works 9.0
8X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability
Dell 1397 802.11B/G Wireless Mini Card
Midnight BlueLaptop
15.6 WXGA Laptop Screen Display with TrueLife
 
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Dell Outlet FTW!!!

Toshiba seems to have a decent track record...even though everyone I know who has ever had one had over-heating issues...
 
Hmmmm that looks like a possibility. I'll have to ask Tek about what his opinion of Dell is after his recent experience though. Believe it or not the main reason the Dell is attractive to me is because the Toshiba looked like it would attract fingerprints and I can get the Dell in Blue (My Mom would not like fingerprints on it at all). Whatever I get I figure I will have to configure it for her.

Edit: Ah that is a factory refurbished site. While I'd get myself something that may have a scratch or dent I really think it would bug my Mom.
 
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Dell is just as bad as every other company out there...companies that make factory build computers are almost always FTL... If only we could built our own laptops... :D
 
Because of the system loadouts/pricing on the refurbished models was all over the place I got curious how much a new Dell would cost... they charge you 40 dollars more for a different color than black -_-. Leaning back toward the Toshiba now, sorry guys.

XionTawa said:
Dell is just as bad as every other company out there...companies that make factory build computers are almost always FTL... If only we could built our own laptops... :D
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Well we could I just don't think duct taping my computer tower/keyboard/monitor together and putting it in my lap would be very comfortable :p.
 
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ewoksrule said:
I have had a lot of good experiences with Toshibas.
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I would avoid Toshibas like the plague. They are still fighting lawsuits because of their crappy Satellites they put out a few years ago. My fiancee had one. It worked for about a month before it crashed. There's in adequate ventilation, and basically everything fried.
 
tjguitarz said:
I would avoid Toshibas like the plague. They are still fighting lawsuits because of their crappy Satellites they put out a few years ago. My fiancee had one. It worked for about a month before it crashed. There's in adequate ventilation, and basically everything fried.
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EEEk that's the second overheating comment O.O.
 
I have always had great experiences with our Acer laptops we have (mom uses an Acer Aspire 9300 desktop-replacement and I have a 10" screen AcerOne netbook).

I personally would never buy a Dell due to the way they engineer their laptops. A friend of mine regularly fixes laptops out of his house for other friends. By fix I mean taking defective parts out like HDD, RAM, displays, and even replacing defective parts of the motherboards... one of them was the power connector located in the motherboard of a Dell Inspiron).

My moms Acer is over 2 years old now and is still running strong on the same charger too.
 
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Personally, I like my HP. I have seen some good sales at B&M stores. When I was shopping around, I was also looking at Lenovos. They are supposed to have some of the best support out there (so I've read). You could probably find a good deal on a Lenovo, too since the video card doesn't really matter.
 
tjguitarz said:
I would avoid Toshibas like the plague. They are still fighting lawsuits because of their crappy Satellites they put out a few years ago. My fiancee had one. It worked for about a month before it crashed. There's in adequate ventilation, and basically everything fried.
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I've had no issues with my satellite that's less than two years old.
 
I'm now looking at a g70t from hp due to a sale they are having http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/home.do . It's got the biggest monitor yet 17in for $600 and also has a hdmi port for TV connecting should I ever get rich. I know Ember has an Hp anyone else have exp with them?

Question: How much does memory matter when watching Hulu/Netflix streaming video sites? I mean does it allow you to have a bigger buffer or do they have imposed limits on the amount of data that will download at one time?
 
Ember said:
Personally, I like my HP. I have seen some good sales at B&M stores. When I was shopping around, I was also looking at Lenovos.
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<3 for fingerprint readers (even if they're not practical for most users)

I will very likely buy an HP for my next notebook as my experience with Dell customer serve has ranged from pretty good to nightmarishly difficult. Reading about Dell's new premium North America-based help desk support makes me want to punch Dell executives in the neck.

Unfortunately, I don't think HP has a North America-based help desk, either, but I don't know for sure.

Whatever laptop you get, don't skimp on the warranty. My 4-year uber-warranty with Dell has saved my rear on several occasions. If it weren't for that warranty, I'd be typing this on an old paperweight of a desktop computer instead of a shiny new Studio 1737.

When it comes to Dell, I really like the hardware when it works, but the process for getting it fixed (even with an uber-warranty) is frustrating enough to sometimes make reasonable people want to reach through the phone and throttle the person on the other end.
 
The Mighty Gerbil said:
I'm now looking at a g70t from hp due to a sale they are having http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/home.do . It's got the biggest monitor yet 17in for $600 and also has a hdmi port for TV connecting should I ever get rich.
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I would recommend checking with your mom before going for a 17-inch screen over a 15-inch screen. I know I love my 17-inch screen (aside from that bothersome brightness issue in Left 4 Dead), but Ember prefers the 15-inch screen on her notebook. What you gain in screen size, you may lose in portability and battery life (though my Studio 1737 has far better battery life than my Inspiron E1705 did). It's all a matter of preference.

The Mighty Gerbil said:
I know Ember has an Hp anyone else have exp with them?
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Ember's notebook is pretty shiny. Hers cost roughly half the cost of mine (granted, it was purchased in Feb. 2008 and mine was purchased in June 2006) and includes more RAM and all the essentials for modern web browsing and everyday use. (It can even play Portal and TF2 at a decent frame rate, too.)
 
Tek7 said:
Unfortunately, I don't think HP has a North America-based help desk, either, but I don't know for sure.
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Actually I talked to my Father about Hp's support for his printers and he said on a scale he would rate it as "Good, Ok, Bad, Worse, and then Hp." Come to think of it I remember some of his efforts in the past. As in Techs that don't speak English and techs that insist on going through their checklist of problems even though you've gone through the same checklist with the 2 techs before them etc.

Tek7 said:
I would recommend checking with your mom before going for a 17-inch screen over a 15-inch screen. I know I love my 17-inch screen (aside from that bothersome brightness issue in Left 4 Dead), but Ember prefers the 15-inch screen on her notebook. What you gain in screen size, you may lose in portability and battery life (though my Studio 1737 has far better battery life than my Inspiron E1705 did). It's all a matter of preference.
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I'm certain she will only be using it around the house in front of the television on a small table (to search for things online) and at the kitchen Table so I don't think portability will be a big issue. She'll probably just plug it directly in the wall so I don't expect battery life to be an issue either. I may not go for the 17in though as the HP is the only one I've found in my price range and size is only one of many factors. Just about all the other models I've looked at fall between 15 and 16 in. She has glaucoma and other issues so her vision is not good which is why I'd think the bigger screen would be easier for her. As of now I'm not sure what I'll get her but thanks to everyone for your input so far and you've definitely given me some things to look at.
 
The Mighty Gerbil said:
As in Techs that don't speak English and techs that insist on going through their checklist of problems even though you've gone through the same checklist with the 2 techs before them etc.
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I'm quite certain that this problem is not unique to HP.

It hasn't been an issue for me (yet) since I've had my laptop for 14 months and I've never had a reason to call support. *knock on wood*
 
The Mighty Gerbil said:
Actually I talked to my Father about Hp's support for his printers and he said on a scale he would rate it as "Good, Ok, Bad, Worse, and then Hp." Come to think of it I remember some of his efforts in the past. As in Techs that don't speak English and techs that insist on going through their checklist of problems even though you've gone through the same checklist with the 2 techs before them etc.
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You've just summed up 90% of my experiences with Dell tech support.
 
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