Looking for a good laptop, but also one that won't be too expensive

[hans030390]

My family is considering buying a laptop, and I'm the one helping them pick it out. Basically, I'm just looking for something with a core 2 duo cpu, 1gb of ram, decent sized hard drive, and perhaps a geforce go 7600gt or 7900.

I found a Dell that came to under $1300. That was customized too. If there is a place where I can either buy, or make a custom laptop (with similar specs) that may be cheaper and/or more reliable, please let me know. I would greatly appreciate any help.

Thanks!

 

[cheesehead]

I would avoid Dells like the plauge. HP/Compaq produces several laptops that compare pretty well, and start at a similar price.

 

[alimoalem]

check out the hp dv9000t. depending on the speed of the cpu, you can get it for ~$1200. buy it off of costco.com and you'll get 10% off the upgrades (at least my dv2000t was 10% cheaper for the upgrades...same base price i think)

 

[IEC]

Go with an HP rather than the Dell. Inspiron build quality is crap IMO.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

dont go for the 7600!

the 7700 should be out soon, if it isnt already and its meant to be a big improvement on the 7600. 4 more pipes (7600 has 8 i think, so the this has 12) 50% more bandwidth too

 

[pkme2]

IMO, You should consider the IBM Lenovo laptops as another alternative.

 

[HomeyFoos]

He won't be gaming on a Lenovo laptop for $1300. Alot of people hate Dell. They've made some bad machines in the past. And some good ones. Right now, they are cheap and as far as consumer-based laptop's go, they are pretty much on par with the competition. Have you ever been to the repair desk at Best Buy? Next time you are in the store, wander over there and just look at all the HP/Compaq/Sony/Toshiba machines that are on their repair shelves. I've been there 3 times in the last 3 weeks for my ailing Toshiba Satellite and let me assure you the answer is 'plenty'. They all break.

The only system in that price-range with comparable performance is going to be Acer and I would DEFINATELY avoid a low-cost Acer (or any other Acer for that matter - but that's just been my experience). If you can get a Dell w/ a 7900GS for $1300, that price/performance is going to be hard to beat. Also, this is just my opinion, but don't spend the money to upgrade Ram and maybe hard drive (just depending on how advanced of a user you are). These 2 parts specifically are very easy to change (most of the time - if you get a Dell, it should be quite easy).

I seem to be supporting Dell quite a bit recently but I've had no reason to not. I've purchased a laptop and a monitor and plan on getting a second monitor in the near future. I used to be anti-dell but I can't seem to beat their price/performance on certain items. Hell, I had my dad buy a Dell just so he would quit calling me with all of his technical issues. For the computer beginner or for a family who only feels comfortable with name-brands, I think Dell does a pretty good job. If you are an advanced user and can get rid of all the junk they put on the OS, you can be very happy with your Dell Laptop. Desktop is probably a different story. I would only recommend dell for the beginner or for the 50-something parental units who want to surf and email their kids.



good luck,

 

[otispunkmeyer]

www.zepto.com

 

[hans030390]

Getting rid of junk on a Dell computer won't be a problem. Our Vaio originally came with a lot of crap on it as well, and I got rid of pretty much everything.

Generally, any Dell computer (laptop or desktop) I've seen worked perfectly fine. Any technical issues it has I could likely fix on my own.

Also, the laptop will be mostly stationary.

So, considering that, would a Dell be that bad?

 

[WobbleWobble]

Dells aren't that bad. Yes, I do prefer Thinkpads but I've seen way more Thinkpads die than Dells. While I've always hated Dell's build quality, the value can't be beat.

 

[Parasitic]

Originally posted by: HomeyFoos
He won't be gaming on a Lenovo laptop for $1300. Alot of people hate Dell. They've made some bad machines in the past. And some good ones. Right now, they are cheap and as far as consumer-based laptop's go, they are pretty much on par with the competition. Have you ever been to the repair desk at Best Buy? Next time you are in the store, wander over there and just look at all the HP/Compaq/Sony/Toshiba machines that are on their repair shelves. I've been there 3 times in the last 3 weeks for my ailing Toshiba Satellite and let me assure you the answer is 'plenty'.

That's because Best Buy doesn't sell Dells and most people who go to BB for repairs bought their notebooks there.