Our 5+ year old HP laptops have now both kicked the bucket. spent 45ish bucks and now have one on life support but thanks to overheating and being a bit old i lost everything on my primary drive in the process, so we might be in the market for a new one. So anyone know of any good deals/brands that they recommend. I'm looking to pretty much get exactly what we had before with maybe just a bigger hard drive. I'm OK with/like HP, although it seems many, my dad included would never own another HP again AS for operating system they seem to all be windows 7 and i have it at work and like it, but it doesn't really matter since i don't see much of a difference except with visual cues between XP Vista and windows 7 A few on the necessities: 17 inches number pad 2GB Memory 2GHz processor 200GB HD (with possibly a second bay) DVD RW looking for <$700 here's a few I've found just on new egg, any thoughts on these??? Accer: 4GB Memory, 2 GHz processor, DVD RW, 500GB HD....$550 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...115991&cm_re=17_laptop-_-34-115-991-_-Product HP: 4GB Memory, 2 GHz processor, DVD RW, 500GB HD.....$600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...157421&cm_re=17_laptop-_-34-157-421-_-Product Toshiba: 4BG Memory, 2.4 GHz processor, DVD RW, 500GB HD....$650 http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Satel...ref=sr_1_9?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1301501861&sr=1-9
just recently I had the work buy me this: http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/900546/Lenovo-IdeaPad-Z560-0914-42U-Laptop/ Code: Extra-large 4GB memory lets you run your most demanding programs. 320GB hard drive holds thousands of songs, photos and documents. Wireless-N for high-performance, cable-free networking. Lets you access wireless networks to share files, surf the Web and exchange email. Can provide improved range and speed within a Wireless-N (802.11n) network, and is also compatible with 802.11b/g networks. Wired networking is supported, too. 15.6" diagonal LED-backlit display. LED backlighting permits a thinner and more energy-efficient screen. Plays and burns CDs and DVDs. Memory card reader for fast, easy photo transfers. Transfer your digital photos, music and other files from 5 types of memory cards. HDMI port lets you view videos and photos on your HDTV. (HDMI cable sold separately.) Built-in webcam and microphone let you keep in touch with others via video and voice messaging. Face recognition software for hassle-free logins. Securely access your computer and accounts without typing passwords. Integrated numeric keypad speeds data entry and calculations. Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit. The newest version of Windows makes everyday tasks simple.
for $450 i might could go with a 15.6" screen thats for sure... and the HDMI output would be a pleasent addition I'm currently researching doing 1 of two things, fixing one of our current laptops and getting a cheap small dell, like an optiplex 520 for use on the 55" TV, or just getting a new laptop to do both. i have all the wireless peices a small cased desktop would take to do what i want and just use the laptop when i want to game and be on it and tiger's got a 520 for $150. so far it's looking like about $350 total to fix the current fap top enough to be reliable and have a new computer for the TV to directly stream movies and stuff too and from. or between $550-$750 for just a new laptop to be a total workhorse like mine has been the past year or so.
17" widescreen dell, for $700, for the extra $160 I would add the 6gb dual channel memory and 1gb videocard http://dealnews.com/Dell-Inspiron-1...z-17-Laptop-for-700-free-shipping/448223.html I know it's 15.6 but it still has a numberpad and it's only $550 http://dealnews.com/Gateway-Core-i5-Dual-2.53-GHz-16-Blu-ray-Laptop-for-550-9-s-h/448956.html probably the best deal I saw for around the price 17" sony with videocard http://dealnews.com/Sony-VAIO-Core-i5-Dual-2.53-GHz-17-LED-Blu-ray-Laptop-for-800-9-s-h/447335.html or say F the budget and get: http://dealnews.com/Dell-XPS-Core-i7-Quad-Core-2-GHz-17-LED-Laptop-for-930-free-shipping/447663.html P.S. all my choices have much better processors (i5 or i7) than the ones you listed, don't get anything less than an i5 IMO
decided to go a different route with my network/computer quandry. I decided to put about $50-$60 into the current faptop and just run it for another 2 or so years and in doing so i'm now currently looking for the cheapest small PC that i can find with the most bang for my buck. refurbs included. most likely gunna be a dell Optiplex SFF. probably will be about 2+GHz Processor, 2GB RAM, and 80+GB HD. so far i can find one for about $160-$185. so we'll see...
I'm pretty strongly against older refurbished models for several reasons. The components are older and are bound to fail sooner (especially hard drives). Your expansion and upgrade options are limited (sometimes VERY limited, especially for SFF, and older machines tended to use more proprietary parts). Plus, the older processors (probably Pentium 4 or Pentium D) use considerably more power and are quite bad performers (you can't compare GHz to GHz between generations, for instance a 2.4GHz Core 2 Duo is ridiculously faster than a 2.4GHz Pentium D). You can get brand new desktops in the $400 range that will use less power, be MUCH faster, have modern upgrade options and run Win7. You can certainly buy older machines for cheap, but if you consider true cost including power usage and any replacement parts you might have to buy, how long before it costs more than buying a new one?
I'm not too worried about buying older/refurb desktops as thats all i've boughten in the recent past when desktops are concerned and have had little to no trouble with them doing what i've wanted. Ususally use dad's company to buy a bunch for his applications and bum one off him, but this time all he has is micro towers and i NEED something the size of a SFF. Also, i don't have $400, i have $350, and thats it, to buy/build a small pc to use for email, intraweb surfing, streaming video, netflix, espn3, veetle, ushare type stuff and basic microsoft office work from time to time, and get the things the laptop and network needs to keep running for a few years and be able to back everything up. i need small size, not so much computing power, or windows 7 for this machines use, actually XP would be preferable with the ammount of space windows 7 takes up. it's only going to be on a minimal ammount of time as it's mainly for the streaming video abilities cause the PS3 sucks balls at netflix and can't run hardly any streams i currently want/need it to including espn3, so power usage really isn't a first concern. Having a small cheap machine to run streaming video from time to time is what its main use will be. not too much more than that. so this for $170 http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-Optiplex-7...0661776013?pt=Desktop_PCs&hash=item4aa8ee668d will leave me more than enough space on our TV stand and plenty of computing power and allow me the $20 for a USB wireless card, $40 for a new battery for the laptop, an 1TB external HD for backing everything up on our 3 computers and possibly a cheapish set of computer speakers. all for $340 Optiplex SFF computer: $170 USB Wireless card: $20 1TB external HD: $70 Battery for faptop: $40 Set of OKish/decent computer speakers: $40 all for <$350 after tax and shipping. If i had more money i'd spend it, but as it stands my budget is $350 to be able to run any type of web based video on my bigscreen, take some of the livingroom computing duties away from my aging laptop, and back anything and everying up on our 3 current machines and any additional machines incase something happens as we currently have a minimal safteynet. If there's another way i'm game but currently the cheapest up front way is a refurbed 2 or 3 year old dell and a spare battery for the laptop.
but those is so damnd expensive too actualy, in all honesty its main, MAIN use is to watch sporting events and TV shows BH and verizon either don't offer or each want and extra $30+ a month to be able to watch, some in SD . I'll also be able to watch all the NFL games i want on the 55" without buying satelite :winkwink: and get to catch all the EPL, GBL, or any other non US based sports and TV shows, and when i'm not doing that jen can catch up on her constant couponing/web searching in the livingroom without burning up the laptop.
up it to the 2gb card, 1 step higher in processors and 8gb of ram for like $1250 http://dealnews.com/Dell-XPS-15-Cor...-LED-Laptop-for-980-free-shipping/450167.html Might have to compare what a 2gb 525 compares to since I don't have the time. But it should be pretty damn beefy
I'm gettin pretty narrowed in on the part and pieces i'm going to buy for my little home network project, but i'm intrigued at the idea of a possible new SFF/ small pc that would trump a older used modle. I'm currently looking at getting the Dell Optiplex GX740 SFF that has an AMD dual core 2.0 GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, a 500GB HD, Windows XP, and a DVD/CD-RW disc drive as it's main components. Granted who knows how long before the HD is useless or anything else, but its shipped for $170, and as best as i can tell its identicle to the laptop i've been using for the past five years, even down to the Processor and the laptop's run just fine on the big screen for my liking, but that could also have something to do with the graphics card i dunno . Either way I'm open to spend up to about $330 shipped/instore for it as i'll still need to get a wireless adapter for it. So please if you can shoot me some links/ideas that are atleast comperable, even if its currently got ledd HD space or current ram thats fine too i'm willing to upgrade it in the future.
Actually just spotted this, new Dell Optiplex slimline (slightly larger than the SFF) for $304 w/ 3 year warranty: http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=13757&t=2812521 The SFF version is on sale too, it's a little more expensive.
hrmmmms sir, you have officially given me something to think about. thats at least 3 times the machine the 740 is (by my understanding), and with a 3 year warranty and for $336 shipped with the 320GB HD... Whelp looks like I'll HAVE to get Jen involved since with that computer I'm looking at roughly $125 over the $350 fixed budget, but still $75-100 under total budget allocatable. but DEF thanks for the heads up only real decision to make now is if we'll ever NEED the extra power the new one comes with since pops has spare mother boards for the 740 series handy and loads of 1GB DDR2 chip sets supposedly. kinda makes the 3 year warranty nice but not too much of a necessity. might be able to finagle some stuff around though.
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellst...ode=ss&c=US&l=EN&dgc=SS&cid=52103&lid=1342491 I know it's a small screen, but the specs are decent for $200 http://www.buy.com/prod/lenovo-thin...top-intel-core-2-duo/q/loc/101/220309641.html
