Laptop Choices....

[duritz]

Ok so I'm in need of a laptop and was looking at some of the models out for around $1,000. I found one on newegg that looked pretty decent with 4 gigs of ram and a nice video card that I planned on buying soon.

A friend of mine told me today that he got a Lenovo T60p with a cracked screen and if I bought a screen off eBay for around $200 he could swap it out for me and give me the laptop. He said I'd also have to buy a power adaptor for it which should cost around $100. This seems like a better option than blowing $1,000 but I'm not sure how long the T60p is gonna last me.

I'm into gaming and the laptop is a few years old so I worry that it might not have the processing power/video card to keep up with new games coming out. I'm also going to be taking some graphic art classes soon and that's going to require a good video card and processing power as well.

So I'm wondering, should I put the money into the T60p and fix the screen/upgrade the memory and use it? Should I get something new that would be better and last longer before it becomes obsolete? Is a $1,000 laptop even going to be good enough to outlast the T60p?

Any help in making this decision is greatly appreciated.

Here are the specs of the T60p:

Product: ThinkPad T60p 8741-C4U

Original description: T7600(2.33GHz), 2GB RAM, 100GB 7200rpm HD, 15.4in 1680x1050 LCD, 256MB ATI FireGL V5250, CDRW/DVDRW, Intel 802.11abg wireless, Bluetooth/Modem, 1Gb Ethernet, UltraNav, Secure chip, Fingerprint reader, 9c Li-Ion batt

 

[Eureka]

It's an okay system, if you can fix it for $200 with a $50 adapter off ebay it'll be fine. Of course don't expect to game on a laptop like that, period. Don't expect to play any real games for under $1500 in a laptop. If you're looking for a new laptop, this one isn't half bad:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16834101180

 

[Spikesoldier]

thats a pretty cool laptop. repairing it would be the more economical choice, it was a high(er) end laptop thats still respectable. Use the ~700 you would save on getting a real ssd, new primary battery, and pocket the rest.

if you decide to go new, i would get a cheaper system and outfit it with a real ssd, memory upgrade if it needs it, and get a usb enclosure for the hdd for more storage on the go. your battery life will improve and large performance gains across the board are waiting.

Personally, I would take the lenovo and fix it up. It may be a product of the past but still very capable today and offers high end features such as bluetooth, gigabit lan, a/wireless, and a pretty nice display. If you do have the itch to go new, look into models with a LED backlit display. (thin kind)

 

[vj8usa]

Originally posted by: Eureka
Don't expect to play any real games for under $1500 in a laptop.[/L]

Actually, there are plenty of gaming capable laptops for under $1500. This one, for instance, has a GTX260M (which is close to a desktop 9800GT, I think) and is only $1k:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...oduct&id=1218092150636

You can find laptops with 9800M GPUs for even less, and those are very capable as well.

 

[Eureka]

Originally posted by: vj8usa

Originally posted by: Eureka
Don't expect to play any real games for under $1500 in a laptop.[/L]

Actually, there are plenty of gaming capable laptops for under $1500. This one, for instance, has a GTX260M (which is close to a desktop 9800GT, I think) and is only $1k:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ol...oduct&id=1218092150636

You can find laptops with 9800M GPUs for even less, and those are very capable as well.

I take that back then... You can find pretty capable gaming laptops at that price. But its still a lot more over budget.

And at 15.6" that's barely a laptop anymore. I had a 17" laptop for a couple of years and that thing was gigantic.

 

[JackMDS]

Lenovo Laptopss are usually more expensive than comparable Laptops of other Brands.

The Main reason for the price difference has nothing to do with performance/gaming etc.

The Lenovos are based on the Old IBM ThinkPad line, and its advantage is packing out a smaller device than comparable units by other brands.

If the difference in size does not matter to you it is Not necessarily the best deal.