buying a laptop [Archive] - FARKIN.NET Forums

julianwisbey

03-12-2007, 06:49 PM

hey everyone ,
im buying a laptop this week. Never had my own computer and have no idea what all the complicated shit means so could someone tell me whats the good features too look for in a laptop

im spending around 1200 then on top of that i need to get a router and that to run the net to it in the house

i want the computer to do these things

have a decent size hard drive
have a dvd player/burner
largish screen 15+
able to run multiple things at once
and it must be tough! as in if i drop it it wont break

thanks in advance.

Lemontime

03-12-2007, 06:56 PM

Spend a bit more and get a macbook.

julianwisbey

03-12-2007, 07:01 PM

i have a apple g4 laptop and its shit

im soo glad i didnt pay for it

drewie162

03-12-2007, 07:06 PM

I have got a HP and it is very reliable and it has hardly been treated well, so it is strong. Never had one problem with it.

AngoXC

03-12-2007, 07:10 PM

IBM Thinkpad?
durability wise, I cant think of anything better. My mum leases one through work and has actually had a few over the years and all have proven to be very sturdy and reliable...Been up to FN Queensland as well as the damp parts of Tasmania and still running strong. Its obsolute now but is still able to run those memory draining applications and survive her typing...i mean stabbing...
Take a look next time an IBM ad falls out of your morning paper...

tupper

03-12-2007, 07:13 PM

any compaq hp (think now joined?)
they run cheap laptops and you can upgrade them easy.
breeze to use and cool functions+looks.

TransitionPete

03-12-2007, 07:14 PM

i have a apple g4 laptop and its shit

im soo glad i didnt pay for it

where did you get it from julian? :p

axertes

03-12-2007, 07:28 PM

Try ebay. Laptops are kinda expensive to buy in shops. You can search within your price range on ebay.

Things to look for:

CPU: 1.8ghz is ok, 2ghz or more is good. Dual core is good. 2gb dual core > 2.5gb single core.

RAM: 1gb is ok, 2gb is good. >2gb is kinda pointless at this stage. Look for the speed. 400mhz is ok, more than that is good.

Graphics: dedicated graphics is good. 128mb is ok, 256mb is good. Graphics only really matter for games and to a lesser extent movies and photo applications.

HDD: Depends how much you want to keep on there. For example: my music collection is about 30gb, you want about 30gb for a Windows Vista install, some new games take up about 10gb. You want at least 100gb basically. 200gb would be better.

Monitor: look for the refresh rate. 5ms is ok, 2ms is good. Bigger is better but less portable, of course.

Brands: this is pretty subjective, but I like Asus stuff.

OS: try to get one that has Vista Business or Pro or whatever it's called. Anything but Home.

julianwisbey

03-12-2007, 07:35 PM

thanks axertes great info

is most of that stuff available in my budget ?

Giantrider

03-12-2007, 07:48 PM

I go to a high school were it is compulsory to have a laptop computer..
If your looking for tough as nails. then go for a toshiba.. I wouldn't go for a mac if your looking for something that you know will get pushed around.. I have an 2 year old A200 tough as nails, accidently dropped it off the second floor of the school library and it was fine :o..My toshiba stands up to everything i have put it through so far in a school full of guys, pushed around landed on it (i weigh 87kgs)... There pretty much the strongest laptop i have ever used..

Hope that can help..

Hamish

axertes

03-12-2007, 08:24 PM

Oh yeah Toshiba are great too.

Yeah Julian that stuff is definitely available within your budget on ebay. If you want to wait until after Christmas computer stuff gets cheaper.

Edit: Disclaimer - I do not own and have never owned a laptop. The knowledge I have is from building PCs.

pete.c

04-12-2007, 06:09 AM

I would say go for a HP.
And if you are buying it off ebay some of the laptops come with routers aswell.

ilostmypassword

04-12-2007, 06:21 AM

A apple G4 did suck :) But the new macbooks with intel chips fly! (in fact they run faster than PC laptops running the same hardware ;)). You can also run any operating system you wish through parallels.

Go macbook if you want a real computer :)

Pebble

04-12-2007, 06:32 AM

We paid 3k for our toshiba (well probably more as it's a rental). I've lost count of the number of times I've had to send it away. I think they replaced the motherboard a few times & it didn't fix the problem, then they finally got it right (some kind of screen graphics thing I think). And now every few months I have to ring up & send it for repair because it just sucks up heaps of dust, gets clogged, starts overheating & shuts down all the time. With the Toshi if it wasn't on warranty it would cost $80 each time because it would have to be completely pulled apart to clean out or replace the heatsink / fan.
Otherwise it's all good, except not enough ram / graphics for any half decent games, time to replace it me thinks!

Our problem is partly because we live in such a dusty place and partly a design flaw on toshibas part. So if you live in a dusty area look carefully where the air intake & exaust is (mine has it all underneath and it's not good). My husbands BenQ had the air intake on the front & never had any problems until recently it just died (conincidentally after a trip on the airline - hubby had put it in with the luggage DOH!, anyway seems like the motherboard died!).
Air intake underneath isn't a good thing in general for a laptop - it could overheat if you sit it on your lap, derr!

My no. 1 choice is probably an Apple. Hubby is most likely going to go with an Acer or something similar (we had a bad run with a HP desktop when we were in Darwin so not too keen on that brand).

scblack

04-12-2007, 07:34 AM

I went through this process about 12 months ago.

A laptop is a commodity item - brand names mean very very little. Most components are chucked together by the same suppliers anyway. Spend as much as you can as that is what will get you what you want.

My Asus cost $1500-1600 has all you are looking for. 1gb RAM, 256 graphics, 120gb hard drive, dvd burner/player, 15.4" screen, wireless, TV connection. Asus make good laptops. What axertes says is right.

And 2 year worldwide warranty - good warranty is very important and could be the MOST important factor for a laptop.

Don't go with Unwired for internet connection. Slow, not cheapest, and
I'm stuck with two-year contract.

morgo_mpx

04-12-2007, 09:10 AM

ok, computers are my specialality so i should be able to help you out.

For that price range intel Core2Duo will be to expencive. So your best bet would be to go with a AMD turion X2. In laptops there are better then the Athlon X2 and use less power so will therefore give you longer battery life with the same specs as another laptop.

If looking at brands Asus is the best. Toshiba and HP are ok but if you want a desent laptop from them you will need to pay 1.5k+. Acer i would avoid, same as dell. They both use very cheap componants, including ram, motherboards and there cooling is minamal. Also dells have had battery problems in the past whether it is DOA to catching fire.

With a laptop you want atleast 1gb of ram. Also Try and get Windows XP since vista is still in its buggy stage. (it has been tested that the XP sp3 runs 2 times better the vista sp1).

Macbooks i would only get if you were going you use it for mainly multimedia use. But since you only have round 1200 the macs are way out of your range.

This one has actually serprised me about how cheap it is.
http://www.dse.com.au/cgi-bin/dse.storefront/47548bf2065321062740c0a87f9c068d/Product/View/XC4201

axertes

04-12-2007, 10:18 AM

Morgo wins computers.

I still say ebay. Or if you really don't want to ebay, decide a particular model you want and search it at staticice.com

MasterOfReality

04-12-2007, 10:40 AM

I bought a Toshiba Satellite A200 about 3 or 4 months ago.

Its a 1.8Ghz Core2 Duo, 2Gb ram, 256Mb ATI Radeon video card, 160Gb hard drive, dvd burner, widescreen etc etc. Comes in handy for running multiple applications at once with the Core Duo processor.

Got it for around $1900. Can probably pick the same one up for around $1400-$1500 if you look around now.

Vista does suck, its just slower than XP but goes quite ok on my laptop so get as much ram as you can afford.

Dug

04-12-2007, 10:48 AM

What do you want to do with it..... Email Internet thinking of playing games?

Just a idea of what you expect the thing to do..

You would not buy a Dawoo to race at Bathurst

axertes

04-12-2007, 11:01 AM

You wouldn't buy a Daewoo anyway :P

Why are they called Daewoos? Because if they last more than a day you go "woo!"

Pebble

04-12-2007, 11:25 AM

Just in case it wasn't clear in my first post - the Toshi I was talking about is almost 3yrs old now - I'm sure technology has come a long way since and you get a lot more for your buck these days. However I'd still look as design aspects closely.

Our local leading edge guy said the same thing as Scblack - that pretty much all the brands have componets that are made in the same place.

Hubby is looking at one below the $2500 mark, I've forwarded on Morgo's comments as I think he'll find it interesting, if not just to make him think about choosing wisely if going by "brand". (hmm $2500 gets a very nice bike doesn't it :) )

What is the general consensus on reviews that magazines such as Australian PC Authority put out? They seem to test by certain bench marks so I guess it could be a good performance guide?

morgo_mpx

04-12-2007, 12:04 PM

axertes

04-12-2007, 12:30 PM

If yor friend is looking at for under 2.5k this is what i would get.

http://www.techbuy.com.au/p/76756/ASUS/F3SV-AK136G.asp

It is a great laptop, and very fast and powerfull, plus it has a desent video card.
Techbuy is a good reliable online store i have bought from on many occasions.

http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=ASUS+F3Sv

Sweet laptop. Better than my PC haha. I think we want something cheaper though.

slamer

04-12-2007, 01:18 PM

i would go with toshiba there not the best but they are really good for repairs and warranty's.

Pebble

04-12-2007, 02:11 PM

i would go with toshiba there not the best but they are really good for repairs and warranty's.

Good point, they have always been great to deal with warranty wise, exceptionally so last time.

Pebble

04-12-2007, 02:12 PM

stoff

04-12-2007, 02:43 PM

I'm a fairly experienced destroyer of laptops (I'm on my 6th in four years). I have found that in dusty environments like on a building site, I havent had any problems with either IBM or HP. From a dropability point of view, the IBMs have definitely come out the best. One other good tip is not to spill coffee on them - turns out the electronic bits are caffeine intolerant. :o Can't help on the technical side, but for durability, the IBM Thinkpad I have now is definitely the most bullet-proof.

chu

04-12-2007, 05:46 PM

dont get a toshiba...i know that everyone says that they are good but they chew through hard drives...i have had 4 hard drives and 3 new screens they just break for no reason...if i were you i would get a hp or something they are good

julianwisbey

04-12-2007, 06:14 PM

well speaking of toshibas i went and brought one today m200 i cant remember the details but ill give the full story later on with a picture of it

1100 with 3 year warranty down from 1599 :cool:

AngoXC

04-12-2007, 06:58 PM

Air intake underneath isn't a good thing in general for a laptop - it could overheat if you sit it on your lap, derr!

The heads of the industry prefer us, the general public, to call them 'notebooks' for that very reason. The term 'laptop' implys that one can use it in their lap. A woman won a big court case some time ago when her IBM 'laptop' caught fire in her lap. I use an older S-series Fujitsu and it runs hot doing trivial tasks (such as this)...wouldnt think twice about having it in my lap...ironic in that I thought Fujitsu made air conditioners...

bazza

04-12-2007, 08:33 PM

running a toshiba. went through this whole process about 3 months ago. first notebook i have ever owned or had in our house and i love it to death. best investment. i got the m200 with 3 year extended warranty (5 years total), the expensive microsoft student package so i could have powerpoint (uni), bag, surge protector thingo and got the 2 years help me if some shit goes wrong 24/7 phone number for about $1500. run time is about 2 1/2 hours easy and thats with music and word/excel/powerpoint all going. work em for a deal and shoping around is usually your best bet. i got mine with joyce mayne simply because the sales person was awesome and did a better deal than anyone else i dealt with straight away. personally i wouldn't bother with Dell or Ebay for an item like this.

Drizz

04-12-2007, 10:47 PM

I will added my 0.02 pence and say that ASUS make really good laptops.

Bought my G1S back in July, only issue I have is the stock power pack overheated and short circuited itself. Went out and bought another universal power pack and the notebook is still going strong. As a travelling gaming platform G1S is not a bad choice, will be interesting to see if I have any issue 12 months down the track when the warranty goes.

Before this I have a Dell XPS for the past 3 years. Weights like a brick but generally no problems, the battery die on me so I replaced it with a new one, otherwise there is no issue.

In terms of getting drop, have anyone tried one of these? Are they really as good as they advertised?

http://www.panasonic.com/business/toughbook/laptop-computers.asp

Pebble

05-12-2007, 05:26 AM

The heads of the industry prefer us, the general public, to call them 'notebooks' for that very reason. The term 'laptop' implys that one can use it in their lap. A woman won a big court case some time ago when her IBM 'laptop' caught fire in her lap. I use an older S-series Fujitsu and it runs hot doing trivial tasks (such as this)...wouldnt think twice about having it in my lap...ironic in that I thought Fujitsu made air conditioners...

Lol:D

It's hard to stop calling them Laptops! Makes sense though.
.................................................. ........................................

I'll give a plug to Joyce Mayne as well, thanks for reminding me- I'll remind hubby to check them out instead of the usual Harvey Norman. Joyce was fantastic in comparison to anyone else last time when we were buying a digital camera, gave a discount without asking & great service. Harvey's service has been really pathetic lately, particularly if you tend to ask any remotely technical questions (I like to read up on what I'm buying;)) this is the Dubbo store though, Harvey in Townsville was pretty good.

Pebble

07-12-2007, 02:53 PM

Anyone got opinions on Dell? They seem to have some reasonable prices. Hubby is now looking at going that way as they have the option to order it with XP without the additional cost.

faith_rider

07-12-2007, 03:04 PM

Anyone got opinions on Dell? They seem to have some reasonable prices. Hubby is now looking at going that way as they have the option to order it with XP without the additional cost.

Not worth the trouble... Acer and Dell are both just junk in my opinion, unless you go really high end. I brought a cheap Acer and replaced it within a year. My girlfriend had a cheap Dell and did the same, both of us to MacBooks :D

Kirky

07-12-2007, 03:07 PM

Lappy 486...
http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/aa135/Kirky42/Strong_Bad_Email_119.png

dcrofty

07-12-2007, 04:15 PM

Not worth the trouble... Acer and Dell are both just junk in my opinion, unless you go really high end. I brought a cheap Acer and replaced it within a year. My girlfriend had a cheap Dell and did the same, both of us to MacBooks :D

My acer goes like a charm........if you call a charm having the motherboard replaced 3 times and the screen once.

GET A GOOD WARRENTY! Whilst Acer customer service is the worst of any company I have ever encountered the actual repair people are OK, I've experienced their work in three countries.