New laptop...what to buy??

[fjpod]

There is an old thread about laptops, but I'm thinking the recommendations don't necessarily hold true anymore. I would like at least a dual core. I don't want to spend more than $800. It will only be used for web browsing, word processing. No gaming. No video editing...but I don't want it to move at a snails pace.

What are folks recommending? Dell (gasp), Toshiba, Acer, ??? (I wish I could build my own.)

[Librarian]

In all honesty, for what you are saying you'd use it for, I'd recommend a netbook. Most of the new ones are using the new Intel Atom processor. It's plenty fast enough for everything you are going to do and because they have fewer high power parts the battery life is exceptional.

Acer, Asus, and MSI make the leading models currently. I personally own the Asus901 20G and I even photo/game on it without much problems, battery life is between 5-9 hours (tested (wordprocessing to watching HD video)).

[MrObvious]

ASUS laptops are nice. newegg.com has some nicer ones.

[thread]

I'd vote for a netbook for these purposes too, maybe the eeePC 901 in linux or winXP version?

[fjpod]

Thanks for your responses so far.

I don't think I would be happy with anything less than a 15" screen.

[MrObvious]

My laptop is nice. Check the Vostro 1700.

[PommieB]

Is $800 bucks enough to get a decent 15" laptop in the US, sounds a bit of a low budget to me.

[onewecallgod]

Originally Posted by PommieB

Is $800 bucks enough to get a decent 15" laptop in the US, sounds a bit of a low budget to me.

$800 is enough to get a 17in if you look in the right places.

My vote is also for a netbook. I just got my Acer Aspire One last week and it's awesome (full review to come).

[Librarian]

Originally Posted by fjpod

Thanks for your responses so far.

I don't think I would be happy with anything less than a 15" screen.

For what you're going to use it for, a 15" screen; 5+ pound klunker with 2-3hr (maybe) battery life is all you're going to get on a budget price. You will have a dual core most likely, and that Vostro isn't bad at all. One of these 10" screens is plenty big enough for word processing and web browsing. I'm using my 901 right now, and it's got plenty of space on screen. I would find it hard to compare the size, ~2.5 pound weight and around 7 hours of battery life to anything else you might find on the larger 15" end. Just my opinion.

[Nagoshi]

Trust me. You won't be happy with a large notebook.

My girlfriend has a $450 laptop. HP DV6000, Intel Core2Duo, 1Gb RAM, 160Gb of HDD, 15.4". Sometimes I wish the EEE came out sooner, cause that'd be what I would have proposed her. The only thing that works on that laptop are MSN Messenger, Internet Explorer and Sims 2, and even then it's lagging.

Seriously, get the EEEPC, or something similar. I saw one IRL, it's so **** sexy if I would have had the cash in my pocket I would have bought it right away.

Save your money, spend a good spent $500 on a netbook and place the $300 to get money from it. Dont do like me and buy a $2300 gaming notebook, only to sell it 13 months later and be deceived by it. If I could come back in time, Id have bought a full tower instead, and got a small laptop when they came out. I terribly regret having spent that much money on a single piece of plastic. Loved the ASUS experience... but the lack of customizing and the "you'Re stuck with what you've paid, live with it" is a terrible thing to live.

My advice, as I said before, is to get a netbook, especially if you are not going to game on it. Dont get big, it's useless as it does the same thing as the small one.

[MrObvious]

All your girlfriend needs is more RAM Nagoshi. I have 2GB and a bigger notebook and no problems. It's not that bad to transport either since it is so thin. Plus I love having a numeric keypad.

[Nagoshi]

I know she does need more RAM, lol. With that shared video card eating everything AND vista, Im gonna get at least 2Gb sticks to replace her's 512MB ones. She may end up with 4Gb of RAM. Ill also buy the same thing for my father's laptop; he's got the same one and it's getting quite alot of slowdowns lately.

Altho both of them needs a format right now lol.

[MrObvious]

Thank you! I hate to see you dogging on huge laptops because she was stupid enough to not get 2-4GB of RAM. I love mine.

[PommieB]

These EEEPC's are the in thing at the moment, because of there portability, personally I prefer a larger screen and 17inch is fine with me.

[Nagoshi]

Nah, we actually got a killer deal last winter. That laptop comes with a C2D T5250 (which even cheal laptops today can't carry), 1Gb of RAM and 160Gb of RAM for $450. Its not like it was customizable - it was older stuff for sale. It was well worth over $800 when she bought it. If it would have been customizable Id have put at least 2Gb of RAM. If I can get a spare amount of money Im getting extra cheap 2Gb sticks to put in her laptop.

Do you know if HP needs special sticks? I checked their website and for a similar model (cause they dont have her's listed) they only list the 512Mb one. Id buy some cheap OCZ, Mushkin, Buffalo or Corsair rams...

[MrObvious]

Call HP and ask what you can put in. I may go to 4GB of RAM soon and get a new CPU but I'm not sure yet.

[68Olds]

Best Buy has some good deals on the type of notebook you are looking to get. I got a Compaq for $400 plus $50 to upgrade the RAM from 1gb to 2gb (much needed with Vista Home Premium). It's a great web/office rig with the T2370 dual core CPU & GM965 chipset that can be overclocked (BSEL pin mod) or upgraded. If you keep an eye out either HP, Compaq, Toshiba or some other will have a similar notebook on-sale soon.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....A%3E1900-01-01

[onewecallgod]

The BSEL mod works on GM965? I know that it's hardware locked against the mod on GM945, but not on mobile ATi chipsets.