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Another "what laptop should I buy?" thread (sorry)

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Warwick

Warwick

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I'm looking at getting a new laptop and need a bit of advice on the best ones out there.

Basically I will be using it primarily to surf the web and use Microsoft applications, and possibly download movies/tv shows etc. I don't play computer games or anything like that.

I'm looking at something around the $1600-$2000 price bracket and around a 13' screen. I don't need it to have a particularly long battery life.
I've heard mixed reports on many models and there are so many reviews out there.

Any help out there for a non-tech-savy n00b? Any advice on the best places to buy as well would be much appreciated.
 
If you are after a solid general use laptop then a Dell Inspiron is a pretty good buy for around $900 for a basic model (13" screen). You can add a few bells and whistles it might go up to about $1400. You can order them off the Dell Website.

My Favorite Laptop is the Sony Vaio but you'd need to put at least another grand in your budget to get one of those.

Asus also make a nice 14 inch model U80V which is just in your budget and is a pretty nicely designed machine.

But at your budget the Dell the ASUS might be a goer for you.
 
Need much portability?

I've personally been on a hunt out for a 13" portable laptop around the $1500 for uni, and I've narrowed it down to Asus UL30VT, Toshiba T130 and the HP dm3 series. But their all CULV (compact ultra low voltage), and don't have disc drives (I'm planning to get an external), with super long battery life which you've said you don't need.

If anything, a Macbook Pro is also an option, if you don't mind OSX.
 

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Warwick said:
I'm looking at getting a new laptop and need a bit of advice on the best ones out there.

Basically I will be using it primarily to surf the web and use Microsoft applications, and possibly download movies/tv shows etc. I don't play computer games or anything like that.

I'm looking at something around the $1600-$2000 price bracket and around a 13' screen. I don't need it to have a particularly long battery life.
I've heard mixed reports on many models and there are so many reviews out there.

Any help out there for a non-tech-savy n00b? Any advice on the best places to buy as well would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...

Compaq Presario CQ-61 217 15.6" screen
Dual Core 1.8 GHz CPU
4GB RAM
320GB HDD
Windows 7
Dual layer DVD Burner
WiFi
HDMI (High definition video out/in)

$463.00 at JB HiFi ($509.00 at any Dick Smith)

Just bought one for my daughter after a few weeks research.
Very good machine for the very low price.:thumbsu:

Excellent product.

Spend money saved on 2010 Membership or a really fraken sweet LG Dual HD Tuner, Dual HDD, High Definition Digital Recorder and record the whole season in High Def for $721.00.
 
Bump
.
I'm looking for a new laptop and thought you guys might know of better deals than I do.

I'm not looking for anything overly special but would like it to be relatively quick. I'll mainly be using it for general web searching, listening to music, watching TV shows and movies through HDMI on my TV and the odd game (Football Manager mainly). I'll probably get a portable hard drive, so the internal hard drive doesn't need to be amazing.

What would you guys suggest I spend and what brands/models to look at? Have only really looked on the Dell website so far. Willing to pay up to $1400, maybe even more, but would obviously prefer something cheaper.
 
trigg said:
What would you guys suggest I spend and what brands/models to look at? Have only really looked on the Dell website so far. Willing to pay up to $1400, maybe even more, but would obviously prefer something cheaper.
Click to expand...

Picked up the old model of the HP Envy 14 from JB for $1200 (just get them to price-match the lowest on staticice), and would highly recommend it.

Pros:
- Fantastic (backlit) keyboard
- 1600x900 resolution which allows me to have two browsers/programs running side-by-side, something which is inconvenient on the standard 1200x800 or 1366x768 screens.
- Ability to switch between dedicated graphics (for performance) and integrated graphics (to extend battery life)
- Really good build, with no flexy parts and a fully metallic casing. Also good speakers by laptop standards (though still rather shit by speaker standards).

Cons:
- The default colour settings are shithouse, and require a bit of fiddling to get right.
- A bit on the heavy side (due to metallic casing) and slightly wider than other 14" laptops.

Specs are given in the JB link at the top of this post, and the actual battery time is about 3.30-3.45.

You might have to call around to find a JB that still stocks the old model (my one only had one left), but there should still be a couple floating round.
 
i'm a big fan of ASUS notebooks
two year global warranty as standards gives you that extra piece of mind. i have a U80V mentioned earlier in this thread and it works a treat. 5-6hours battery life when surfing the net on wireless and doing other small tasks. lasted about a good deal of time as well watching movies on an 8 hour plane trip. phone support is good as well as they have an australian based call centre
 

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CatmanForever said:
you have microsoft applications so get a nice machine with windows 7 on it.....forget Mac's
Click to expand...
I agree, don't get anything Apple...they will charge you an arm and a leg for the product and your life for service...

For that kind of money I would think you can get a bloody great deal:thumbsu:..
Places like JB HiFi and Dick Smith always have good deals...also Dell are pretty good as well.

You should be able to get a decent i5 with that but if you are going to play movies, talk to the guys behind the counter as to the better Lappies with good video cards in them, that's going to make the difference there...

Oh just quietly try getting one with a decent battery, I had the same mentallity about an average battery but when I got a duper 12hr one...wellllll:D
 
these days willing to pay 1500-1600 for a laptop shouldnt be mentioned to the sales person
if your looking to buy a decent laptop that your looking for 1100 at the most is fine, use the rest of your budget for software and accessories. if you end up paying what your looking for, youll end up paying for any so called freebies they throw in.
 

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Henry Jr said:
If you are looking for a quick laptop, better to spend less on the processor and upgrade to an SSD drive.

Otherwise, you will always be limited by the speed of the mechanical harddrive.

Best value money can buy :thumbsu:
Click to expand...

Main difference is in boot times though?

Not bad advice by any stretch, and when the SSDs come down a little bit more in price, I'll be grabbing one, but if you've got a shit CPU with minimal RAM, the SSD isn't going to make a huge different.
 
King Elvis said:
Main difference is in boot times though?

Not bad advice by any stretch, and when the SSDs come down a little bit more in price, I'll be grabbing one, but if you've got a shit CPU with minimal RAM, the SSD isn't going to make a huge different.
Click to expand...

Mate, I've seen Celeron's with 2gb ram destroy i5's and i7's
 

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Another "what laptop should I buy?" thread (sorry)

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