Laptop buying advice needed.

helicon1984

Hello. My friend's computer finally gave up on him so he's thinking of buying a laptop as a, sort of, desktop replacement. Being a journalist, he'll also need it for work. He occasionally plays games and wants to watch DVDs etc. on it. He gave me a list of 8 laptops he found interesting but he wants some sound advice before he buys one. Here's the list:

- MSI, EX720X-014, Core2Duo T5800 (2 GHz), 17" LCD Display (1440*900), NV9300 256MB, 4 GB RAM, 320 GB HDD, DVD+/-RW, LAN, WLAN, Bluetooth, FireWire, E-Sata, HDMI, VGA Out, Sound Blaster 5.1, Card Reader.

- MSI, EX623X-077, Dual Core T3400 (2.16GHz), 16" LCD Display (1366*788), NV9500 512 MB, 4 GB RAM, 250 GB HDD, DVD+/-RW, LAN, WLAN, Modem, E-Sata, Sound Blaster 5.1, Card Reader, Camera, Fingerprint.

- HP 6735s, NA816ES, AMD x2 RM70 (2,00 GHz), 15.4" LCD Display, ATI 3200, 4GB RAM, 320 HDD, DVD+/-RW, LAN, WLAN, Bluetooth.

- HP 6830s NN328ES, Dual Core T4200 (2.0 GHz), 17" LCD WXGA, ATI3430/256MB, 3 GB RAM, 320 GB HDD, DVD+/-RW, LAN, 802.11a/b/g, Bluetooth.

- Acer Aspire AS7530G ARG0C.1, AMD X2 (2,0GHz), 17" LCD CrystalBrite, GF9300 256MB, 3 GB RAM, 320 GB HDD, DVD+/-RW, LAN, WLAN, Bluetooth, Camera, Cardreader.

- Toshiba Satellite L300-1A8, dual-core T3400 (2160MHz), 15.4" WXGA Display, Intel GMA 4500MHD, 4GB RAM, 320 GB HDD, DVD+/-RW , LAN, WLAN, FW, Camera, Cardreader.

- Toshiba Sat A300-18I, Athlon 64X DC (2,00 GHz), 15.4" WXGA Display, Ati3470, 3GB RAM, 320 GB HDD, DVD+/-RW , LAN, WLAN, Card Reader, VHP.

- LENOVO, NRJ6FCD, Core 2 Duo T5870 (2.0GHz/800MHz/2M), 15.4" WXGA glossy, Mobile Intel GMA 4500MHD (GM45), 1 GB RAM, 250GB HDD, DVD+/-RW, GLAN, WLAN, HDMI, Camera, Cardreader, Bluetooth, FW.

fmueller

Some of the models your friend is looking at have 17" screens and some 15". That's probably the biggest difference, and he should consider what's more important to him, screen size or portability.

I don't know enough about the different processors to comment. Hopefully somebody else will come in on that. The HDs are all about the same size, and 3GB or 4GB of RAM is going to be about the same in practice, since a 32 bit OS is not going to be able to use the full 4GB anyhow.

The rest is all features that only your friend can know if he needs them. For example a camera can be great if he does a lot of video conferencing, otherwise it's pretty much a waste of space. I just bought myself a laptop that has a built in card reader, but can not read the cards my DSLR uses. For me it's not a big deal because I paid only $340 for the laptop, and I got an external card reader for $20, but if I needed the card reader on a daily basis for work, I might have paid attention to get a built-in one. Similarly if you use a Bluetooth device or something that requires a FW connection often, having that built-in might be important to you - although you can always get an adapter.

Unfortunately you don't give us the most important spec, which is the one with the $ sign :bigggrin:

helicon1984

fmueller wrote:

Some of the models your friend is looking at have 17" screens and some 15". That's probably the biggest difference, and he should consider what's more important to him, screen size or portability.

I don't know enough about the different processors to comment. Hopefully somebody else will come in on that. The HDs are all about the same size, and 3GB or 4GB of RAM is going to be about the same in practice, since a 32 bit OS is not going to be able to use the full 4GB anyhow.

The rest is all features that only your friend can know if he needs them. For example a camera can be great if he does a lot of video conferencing, otherwise it's pretty much a waste of space. I just bought myself a laptop that has a built in card reader, but can not read the cards my DSLR uses. For me it's not a big deal because I paid only $340 for the laptop, and I got an external card reader for $20, but if I needed the card reader on a daily basis for work, I might have paid attention to get a built-in one. Similarly if you use a Bluetooth device or something that requires a FW connection often, having that built-in might be important to you - although you can always get an adapter.

Unfortunately you don't give us the most important spec, which is the one with the $ sign :bigggrin:

Screen size is not that important. Quality of the display is. Portability isn't really important because its his home and work computer and, for the time being, his dekstop replacement. Concerning the RAM he's picked the ones with 3 and 4 GB because he wants to install Win 7 RC 64bit version. Camera and a card reader are not that important but he won't complain if the laptop has one. Also, all of these laptops go from around 700$ to 1000$ and a 1000$ is the highest he'll go.

helicon1984

This has died down a bit so I'm bumpin' it. Anyone had any experience with any of these laptops? Any advice?

Thrax

The only advice I can give is that Lenovo notebooks are far and away the most reliable on the market.

hustler07

In my experience you pay for what you get. I have an HP notebook that worked well for me. I tried the cheaper versions like Acer, and noticed it wasn't nearly as good. I don't recommend the extra warranties and what not either, save the money.

fmueller

My first laptop was an IBM Thinkpad A31 - ancient, but IBM is now sold as Lenovo, and apparently top quality. I just bought an Acer, and frankly speaking, I see little difference in built quality. We'll see how the Acer behaves itself over the years, but my wife got the Thinkpad brand new, and it did not wear particularly well. That's how it ended up with me.

edcentric

I have heard otherwise about the Chinese Lenovo's.
I run an HP at work, it is OK. Nothing special.

My daughters both run Toshibas. Both have been rock solid. Both are C2D.

If I was to pick from the list the 16" MSI would be where I would lean. Good CPU, good video, reasonable size.

helicon1984

Thanks everyone. My friend is going with the MSI one, the second on the list.