Laptops

[mojo_786]

Hi, i'm searching for a decent laptop that'll last me a long period of time (atleast 3-4 years). I was wondering if you guys know a few good, reliable and cheap laptops.

Since im going to be mostly using it for university, it would be great if its light and is capable of playing high quality games.

If this is a repost - please direct me to the original topic.

Thank you,

Mojo

PS: my budget is around $1,500 CAD

[Blind_Io]

First of all you are looking for

Small and light
Powerful
Cheap

Pick any two.

Laptops capable of gaming are typically neither small nor cheap, but larger "desktop replacement" notebooks. Cheap laptops will be fine for University as long as you are not in graphic design or other processor-hungry fields, however they will probably have cheaper plastic cases and still be larger than the super-portable notebooks. They may play a few games but nothing like Battlefield 2 or FEAR.

You may have to be a bit more reasonable with your expectations, or prioritize them a bit for us.

[andyhui01]

mojo... I believe any laptop can last 3-4 years, it just depends on how you treat it and what you use it for... My laptop is currently 2+ years old (Bought June 2004), Intel Centrino 1.6 with 512mb RAM, it still works perfectly for browsing, word processing, photoshopping small files, watching videos and such and even gaming, I play LFS mainly on my laptop, but when I play games like bf2, the Desktop has to do the job.

If you're going to buy a laptop for the same reason I buy mine, any light and portable one that has reasonable spec now should be fine as long as you treat it well, I have virtually no scratches on my laptop, never dropped, always carried in a padded bag... if you want a laptop that can play bf2 equivalent games in 3 years time, I suggest you look somewhere else. I'm not trying to say you're not going to find a laptop that is light and has really good specs now that will support bf2, but not in the future. A prime example of this would be the MacBook Pro 15", my friend has one and it plays bf2 effortlessly and it is pretty portable, seems like the same weight as my iBook 12", but heavier than my Fujitsu.

[jeffy777]

Originally Posted by Blind_Io

Laptops capable of gaming are typically neither small nor cheap, but larger "desktop replacement" notebooks. Cheap laptops will be fine for University as long as you are not in graphic design or other processor-hungry fields, however they will probably have cheaper plastic cases and still be larger than the super-portable notebooks. They may play a few games but nothing like Battlefield 2 or FEAR.

I paid about $1000 for my wife's Dell and though it's not what you would call a "gaming laptop, it's really decent for gaming, due to it's Core Duo Processor, ATI graphics, and 1GB of RAM. It can play Battlefield 2 fairly well.

It's standard as far as size goes, lighter and sturdier than something in this class would have been just a year or two ago. Actually my friend bought a "gaming" laptop a just last summer that was bulkier, but now my wife's will smoke his performance-wise because of the Core Duo. In addition, the Dell was very affordable as far as laptops go. You won't find a cheaper deal that gives you this much performance and quality (and I wouldn't go any cheaper personally, since you'll start taking big performance cuts when you go with things like integrated graphics and less RAM). I always have friend's asking me to find them the best bang for the buck and I keep finding over and over again that Dell has the best deals on laptops.

So I think as with the current technology, you can get a good amount of performance in a comfortable package. Of course, you can always spend more and get more, but it all depends on your budget.

[GPriest]

Dell has descent prices, since they have no middle man.

[Jacobfox]

Then again, dell laptops have been an absolute pain in the ass in my experiences with them. Also they explode.

[Blind_Io]

I wouldn't touch Dell with a 10 ft cattle prod. They used to be pretty good service wise but they have outsourced everything to India or Uzbekistan or some godawful place. Now when you call for even the simplest question you get an accent so thick you can't understand a word. The tech people have no technical skills at all and I doubt are even capable of abstract thought, they just read through the same scripted drivel every time you call and finish with "thank you for calling Dell tech support, have a nice day" whether they actually solved the problem or not.

Also all Dell machines are now shipping with known Spyware, and if you notice it and call they give you the run around about how they didn't put it there and charge you $25 to tell you how to take it off. Last time my parents got a new Dell I spend two days removing all the crap they loaded on it and trying to get the system running the way it was supposed to.

No, don't buy a Dell. Buy Asus, hell, buy and EMachine before you buy a Dell.

[Cobol74]

Originally Posted by Blind_Io

I wouldn't touch Dell with a 10 ft cattle prod. They used to be pretty good service wise but they have outsourced everything to India or Uzbekistan or some godawful place. Now when you call for even the simplest question you get an accent so thick you can't understand a word. The tech people have no technical skills at all and I doubt are even capable of abstract thought, they just read through the same scripted drivel every time you call and finish with "thank you for calling Dell tech support, have a nice day" whether they actually solved the problem or not.

Also all Dell machines are now shipping with known Spyware, and if you notice it and call they give you the run around about how they didn't put it there and charge you $25 to tell you how to take it off. Last time my parents got a new Dell I spend two days removing all the crap they loaded on it and trying to get the system running the way it was supposed to.

No, don't buy a Dell. Buy Asus, hell, buy and EMachine before you buy a Dell.

Bloody hell - I did not know that. I was considering a Dell as my next laptop, got them at work seem to be OK Probably more than their Balance Sheet is worth to play silly buggers with a corporate machine they'd get their arse sued off. Thanks for the warning.

[cvrefugee]

Get an Apple MacBook and run Parallels for Windows applications.

[jeffy777]

Originally Posted by Blind_Io

I wouldn't touch Dell with a 10 ft cattle prod. They used to be pretty good service wise but they have outsourced everything to India or Uzbekistan or some godawful place. Now when you call for even the simplest question you get an accent so thick you can't understand a word. The tech people have no technical skills at all and I doubt are even capable of abstract thought, they just read through the same scripted drivel every time you call and finish with "thank you for calling Dell tech support, have a nice day" whether they actually solved the problem or not.

Also all Dell machines are now shipping with known Spyware, and if you notice it and call they give you the run around about how they didn't put it there and charge you $25 to tell you how to take it off. Last time my parents got a new Dell I spend two days removing all the crap they loaded on it and trying to get the system running the way it was supposed to.

No, don't buy a Dell. Buy Asus, hell, buy and EMachine before you buy a Dell.

I wouldn't know since I've never had to call their tech suppport and I've had two of their laptops without a prob And I always delete all the pre-installed crap. That's a no-brainer. Two days to get it running properly? That's funny!

They're good laptops man, regardless of what the Blind man says

Viper also recommended them in another similar thread, so I'm in good company:
http://forum.finalgear.com/viewtopic.php?t=13598

[Blind_Io]

Well, I had to take off all the pre-installed crap one thing at a time because Dell will only send you a "restore" CD, not a Windows installation disk. Then getting rid of the spyware that it shipped with was fun, because it was particularly nasty - I had to go in and deny access to entire folders in a trial and error process to disable the spyware without causing problems elsewhere.

Most of that time was spent on hold with tech support or being shuffled around their phone system as I tried to acquire a Windows installer disk (which they are supposed to provide if you request it).

My initial plan was just to format the damn thing and start over with a fresh copy of Windows, but Dell does not make that easy and refuses to give you an untainted version of the OS.

[jeffy777]

You can just use any Windows CD and get the drivers from their site. Of course if you don't have a Windows disc, that's a problem, but I have atleast 4 of them laying around

But I have never formatted either of my Dell laptops. I just uninstalled what I didn't want, and life has been beautiful ever since.

[mojo_786]

Hmm... Dell was one of the brands i was looking at. From what ive heard theyre pretty reliable and with their tech support ur cared for. But from what blind_Io is saying, i might think elsewhere.

On the other hand, cvg that MacBook Laptop looks sweet and the specs sounds prety good too. But ive never used a Mac before (only sometimes in highschool) is it easier to surf around compared to Windows? or should i stick with windows? Also this parallels program, any of u guys use it?

And im not that big of a fan for gaming on laptops, so im probably gonna be running games like (umm NFSU2 or something similar) to pass my time during and inbetween classes. But mostly its going to be used for some graphic programs and school work.

I got a few laptops in the flyer the other day, once i get a good look at them i'll post their specs (theyre mostly from futureshop or best buy) and get ur opinion on them.

Thanks again guys, i really appreciate it

-Mojo-

[Raid]

I have been really happy with the build quality of my Acer laptop over the last year and a half I have had it. I’ve used it for school and gaming for a while now and haven’t had a single problem out of it. My buddy recently ordered a similar model for himself and he couldn’t be happier. His is pretty good performance wise and only weights about 6.5 lbs which isn’t bad considering everything it has. http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...nufacture=Acer

But like I said, I have had no problems with mine and I can see it easily lasting me for another 2-3 years.

[Blind_Io]

Check out Asus. I have their S5N and I love it, I can't put into words how much I love my laptop, the S5N is out of production and was probably a bit more than you wanted to spend but there are plenty to choose from. I only with Asus sold direct - you have to find a retailer that has the model you want ( http://froogle.google.com/ is good for that)

Here is the Asus notebook lineup: http://usa.asus.com/products1.aspx?l1=5