Laptop Input

[Papi Chulo]

I am considering purchasing a laptop.. and this one caught my eye

Is it a decent unit?

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3561143&CatId=2510

 

[cypherpunk]

It's pretty nice and the price isn't that bad the last time I checked. Personally I'd opt for a 12 cell battery.

 

[The Bandit]

I work near the Acer repair depot, and you should see how many laptop repairs are on the Fedex truck every day. I'd go for HP.

 

[HILLARY]

It all depends on what you need the laptop for, to just surf the net, you can get any cheaper model around, what exactly do you need it for?

 

[cypherpunk]

I work near the Acer repair depot, and you should see how many laptop repairs are on the Fedex truck every day. I'd go for HP.

Unless you've worked near the HP repair depot too, I don't think your recommendation makes sense. Acer and HP are both good brands.

 

[The Bandit]

Acer and HP are both good brands.

What about Asus?

 

[thirdtime]

The HP forums are full of people complaining about them overheating and shutting down.

 

[cypherpunk]

What about Asus?

Great. All major brands in the US are pretty good.

 

[WoodPeckr]

Is it a decent unit?

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3561143&CatId=2510

If you are close to the US there are several laptops by HP, Toshiba, Acer, Sony, Gateway, etc. with those specs going for ~$800-$900.
Just a thought.

 

[canucklehead]

I would go with a MacBook or MacBook Pro..... but i am a Unix OSX guy..... I would be tempted just because of the XP install.

 

[WoodPeckr]

Prices still dropping

Here's one that caught my eye for $550.
HP - Pavilion TK-57 Laptop

Also thinking about this one for $400.
Toshiba - Satellite 540 Laptop - Onyx Blue
On this I would take out Vista and put in XP Pro and Ubuntu.

Just need one for surfing the net and basic stuff, nothing real demanding.

 

[drrogers]

Got rid of my HP piece of crap - contstant overheating, drives going etc, etc - good thing I bought extended warranty. My favorite blonde convinced me and now have MacBook - awesome - great battery life- good size and weight - runs OSX and XP - nothing I can't do - priced well and can't beat Mac Support. Could also try Dell - well priced and well recommended - Stay away from HP - check out the forums

 

[papasmerf]

Woody

I have never been a fan of any of the Celeron Chip Sets....They just seem to be a watered down processor.

 

[cypherpunk]

Woody

I have never been a fan of any of the Celeron Chip Sets....They just seem to be a watered down processor.

That's exactly what they are, but Celerons are perfectly capable chips for most purposes.

 

[WoodPeckr]

Woody

I have never been a fan of any of the Celeron Chip Sets....They just seem to be a watered down processor.

Agreed.
However have a friend who has been running one of them, an HP with Vista Home Prem and 1 gig RAM, for a couple months now with no problems at all. I didn't expect it to run as well as it is.

 

[papasmerf]

Agreed.
However have a friend who has been running one of them, an HP with Vista Home Prem and 1 gig RAM, for a couple months now with no problems at all. I didn't expect it to run as well as it is.

Neither would I
Personaly I am still not sure about VISTA.

 

[ispank]

HP / ACER / Dell / Mac

Sadly, it is all a question of taste ... and research. For example, all HP are not the same. The industrial (business) units are built significantly better than the retail units. Our office orders the business units from wholesale and we have been very pleased with price and longevity. At least a 1 year warrenty (parts and ON SITE service) is recommended if you need the unit for work.

If your budget can handle a MacBook with the equivalent specs you will be happier, but you will have a hard time finding "cheap" software for it - they only have a 4% market share. Still, I use my son's MacBook at home frequently and love it for email/web/documents/pictures/spreadsheets.
Be prepared to spend more than double for the Mac if you have to buy software retail.

Acer we have never been happy with. Keyboard, monitor, mother board, it is always something.

Dell is normally great, esp the business units. But they have had quality issues themselves the last year or so. Definately get a full warrenty.

Good luck!

 

[Horney_Senior]

Neither would I
Personaly I am still not sure about VISTA.

I've been using Vista for a year now with no problem - BUT - it needs a lot of hardware. Large amount of disk space for the install and don't bother to run on less than 2GB of RAM plus a video card with its own memory.

 

[Papi Chulo]

Everyone I have spoken with at different computer sales / service centres (excluding the big box stores) says to avoid Vista

 

[WoodPeckr]

Papi Chulo

I know a couple people who have been using Vista Home Prem a couple months with really no problems. One has 1 gig of RAM the other has 3 gig of RAM. I've used it a couple months off and on with no issues. Get at least 2 gigs of RAM with Vista Home Prem, Business or Ultimate versions. I only had a couple DRM issues with VISTA regarding art work on albums covers, no problems with music quality. Some sites degrade the picture quality of album covers with Vista. I get around that with another PC that runs XP & Ubuntu.
Overall I like Vista even though it's a resource hog.