Looking to pick up a laptop. Don’t want to spend more then $1000 but I want something that will play DVD. I know nothing about wireless other then how it works. Whats good to get and not good to get with wireless? Who has had the best luck with what? Other then for internet I won’t use it for to much else. Any feedback would be great!
Thanks
your going to get a lot of opinions on this, but here’s my opinion.
Don’t spend a lot of money, unless you are really going to be taxing the thing with a lot of graphic editing software and or gaming.
Eventually the thing will puke and die and it feels much better if you paid 4 or 5 hundred vs 1k.
You should be able to get a decent Dell, Toshiba, or Compaq that will suit you for around 4 or 5 hundred.
Here’s what I would look for.
1. Make sure it has at least 1024k mb memory. Vista gets slow with only 512k. Most entry level laptops are at 512, but you can find them with 1024.
2. Integrated Wireless networking
3. CD/DVD Burner
4. Dual Core processor
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your going to get a lot of opinions on this, but here’s my opinion.
Don’t spend a lot of money, unless you are really going to be taxing the thing with a lot of graphic editing software and or gaming.
Eventually the thing will puke and die and it feels much better if you paid 4 or 5 hundred vs 1k.
You should be able to get a decent Dell, Toshiba, or Compaq that will suit you for around 4 or 5 hundred.
Here’s what I would look for.
1. Make sure it has at least 1024k mb memory. Vista gets slow with only 512k. Most entry level laptops are at 512, but you can find them with 1024.
2. Integrated Wireless networking
3. CD/DVD Burner
4. Dual Core processor
I am an IT analyst… and I couldn’t have said it better myself than what dtro said. Though, I think 4 hundred is a little the low side… I would say you can pick up the above for 5-7 hundred. around the 400 range, you will get into the cheaper models (emachine, etc). They really are made with the same parts as the upper models… but I get piece of mind going with a compaq or dell or something like that.. Just my opinion and experience. But, again, you can find everything that dtro said above for about 500… and then you are just looking at size, style, etc for a little extra cash. As I type this, I am on a IBM laptop from work… hooked wirelessly to my home network.
dtro I know you weren’t promoting Best Buy but I just wanted to throw in that Best Buy makes me shiver. Their customer service is soooo terrible that maybe you want to think about getting your LT somewhere like Sams Club where their return policy, even on electronics, is no questions asked…they’ll take it back or exchange it. You might be looking for an inexpensive machine which but be careful where you get it from or you might be wishing you spent a little extra if something goes wrong.
.02 – Chris
I had two dell’s and won’t buy one again. I went through them at about one a year and decided to go with a desktop instead. had this thing for a year and a half and had no glitches. The Dell wasn’t worth the 800 I paid for it, twice. Only one guy’s experience.
Look for a refurbished macbook at apple.com- 
I agree with the refurb macbook. Never had problems with my macs. Only thing is the GPS software is usually PC based, however the guy at the local GPS store said that Garmin is going to have all of it’s stuff avaiable for macs in the next 6-8 months.
GO MAC GO
B
Just at the local Apple dealer in Woodbury last week.
The newer Intel Macs run….WINDOWS! I was looking and using it…works and is compatible with any Windows software.
Try running a Mac OS on a PC… 
Apple is talking about a 35% market share for laptops…I know I see more of them out there all the time.
This is not good! Soon the whackos will start targeting the Mac O/S with bugs and viruses. 
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in the next 6-8 months.
I don’t want to turn this into a ford/chevy thing, but I used to be big apple guy, but that quoted statement is why I had a change of heart. Everything new that I wanted to try, ALWAYS had a asterisk (not Mac compatible). I got really tired of that. I’m sure they are great laptops, but try to get one for the price for the link I posted You could buy 2 or 3 of those for the price of a macbook. Some might say, well yeah you will need to buy 2 or 3 because the cheap ones are crap. I guess I’d have to disagree. About 4 yrs ago I bought 2 entry level Compaq’s and these things have taken a lot of abuse (dropped, spilled liquids, stepped on). They are still going strong.
I’m not saying Macbooks are bad, but I question the value for your money, that is all.
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The newer Intel Macs run….WINDOWS! I was looking and using it…works and is compatible with any Windows software.
Own a Ford and a Chev. 
The deals on this site change daily. Some great deals every once in a while!
-J.
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Own a Ford and a Chev.
well yeah, if ya got the money, why not.
You can have a Ford and Chevy for the price of a Ford and a Chevy, but if you only really need one, you spend the money on only one and buy a boat with the remainder.
I have a headache just from typing that 
Great info guys.
You Mac guys kill me….
Ditto the “stay away from the Dell” LT. HP/Compaq good. IBM good. 1024Mb a ‘must have’. Get the best graphics card possible, and don’t skimp on the best virus and firewall on the market if your going to bet surfing that much. Ditto the cd/dvd burner, and wireless. 700 to 900 plus ?tax, and a 100 left over to gas the rig to go fishin!
Why are Dell’s notebook’s so bad? I have had 2 Dell desktops and have never has amy issues. I have heard other people say Dell notebooks are good. Just wanted to know why you all said they are bad?
Thanks
check out this website too
http://www.tigerdirect.com
Dell’s notebooks are not “bad”. They’re the brand for everyone to jump on and bash because it’s the popular thing to do, but they’re some of the best laptops out there. 
At my previous job, we used them all the time in nasty elements and they always performed. They were used at our desk and then packed up and taken on the road to job sites…most requiring air travel….so they earned their frequent flier miles without question getting banged around and handled all the time. On the job site they were subjected to long hours, vibration, fine dusts, construction site conditions, high humidity, along with an occasional accidental splash of water. These laptops ran 3rd party software packages that were much more processor intense than just your everyday email and light office applications.
These laptops meant everything to getting the job completed, so we had to use something that was proven in the field time and time again or we would miss deadlines and the customer wouldn’t be happy. We used the laptops for 2-3 years before they were cycled for new models and the process started all over again. I do not recall any one of them (at least 8 in the office that did this type of job) that had any problems. In my years of work, I rarely see a laptop on the job site thats not a Dell. As anyone knows, time=money and most businesses don’t want to waste time fighting a computer to finish the job so they get one that is dependable every time out. If they weren’t dependable and worthy of the abuse we put them through, then we wouldn’t have kept using them.
If you pay attention to what computers are used in critical situations and places where they are a “must have” in industrial processes, they are generally a Dell desktop/tower. If you’re going to look at who uses what, are you going to ask Joe Blow down the street, or the people that use them everyday where the job depends on it?
It’s typically not the computer that has the issues, it’s the inept users.
Good Luck.
I baught a Fujitsu made in japan , 3 years ago not one problem, not one!
Here is a good site it shows daily deals out on the web by
a lot of sites. It shows the hidden deals also. also a blog http://www.xpbargains.com/
I agree, that is a good deal! Lots of memory, and the faster processor.
Taz did you buy anything yet?
Not yet, just waiting for the best deal. Trying to stay away from Vista if I can since I haven’t heard anything good about it. My mom just bought a desktop with Vista so we’ll see how she likes it.
Has anyone had any expirience with the Vista? I wonder if that notebook at Best Buy with only 1gb of memory would be good enough for Vista. That is a smoking hot deal though, thats what I am looking for. Thanks for all your feedback.
Nathan
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Looking to pick up a laptop. Don’t want to spend more then $1000 Any feedback would be great!
Thanks
Just make sure she doesn’t have a boney but
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Not yet, just waiting for the best deal. Trying to stay away from Vista if I can since I haven’t heard anything good about it. My mom just bought a desktop with Vista so we’ll see how she likes it.
Has anyone had any expirience with the Vista? I wonder if that notebook at Best Buy with only 1gb of memory would be good enough for Vista. That is a smoking hot deal though, thats what I am looking for. Thanks for all your feedback.
Nathan
Vista has been running smooth for me the last couple of days on it. I’ve also read good things others have to say about the laptop.
I spent a couple hours removing all the bloat they preload, and also had to fight off the Best Buy CSR trying to upsell. But I’m really glad I bought it, because I finished transferring all my files and my old laptop decided to take a dump just as I finished…..yep HD crash. What are the odds?
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