Are all of the processors now going to be a dual core ?? For that money ??

Which is better as far as processor goes - AMD or the Intel

I wish to spend my money wisely - I would mostly want to surf and create  a few word docs. But I just hate slow computers , I would not mind spending some money on speed - so the processor is critical to me . And understand I am working on a 5 year old Pentium 4 rig .

I am really leaning towards an HP by the way .

Thanks

For $600 I got a Acer Aspire I5 with a 5650 graphics card. This thing fukkin rocks.

Girlfriend just got a Toshiba that seems pretty decent for $500.  Then again I've been surfing the internet on my iphone for the last year so anything is an improvement.  Dual core running at 2.1, 3 gb ram, windows 7 64bit, and 250gb hard drive amongst other things.

e627
bought a tl-60 off ebay2.0ghz dual core for $25
2 more gigs of ram for $30


total spent around $360

Works for all of my needs. I'm not gaming or anything.

One of my retired friends just cracked a crowbar in her wallet and went from a Windows Millenium desk top to a Win7 Lenovo laptop.

She's thrilled.  I don't recall the exact model number but I was impressed with the wide screen and 101 keyboard.  She paid $550 with shipping and had the thing on her doorstep within 3 days.



http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100006740&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&ActiveSearchResult=True&SrchInDesc=lenovo&Page=1&PageSize=20

I just bought a toshiba satellite L something something with a dual core processor, 2 GB HD, I think it's 320 RAM for 449 at a box store.  They had one 50 bucks more 4 GB, 500 ram but smaller screen and no numerical keypad which is important to me and my work.

My last laptop was a toshiba and it took the abuse I gave it out in the field for over 5 yrs so I was happy to stay with that brand.

For surfing and word processing, I don't see how this could be a bad deal.




http://www.staples.com/HP-G72-B66US-17.3-Laptop/product_905670?cmArea=page_rr





AMD vs Intel?  Pick your price point, I don't believe that 99% of the intended users of these processors would notice a lick of a difference between the two.





<––  I own 2 Intels and 2 AMDs, all run fine for my uses.

 

I have a new laptop on the way, but the last one I bought before that was an HP nc6400.  It was factory refurbished and was only $350.  It's a great little machine.

ETA: Check overstock and amazon to get one a year or three older on the cheap.  IIRC I got mine from overstock.

In the $600 price range you should be able to get an i3 core with 4Gb ram and 500Gb hard drive.



The i3 outperforms the core duo that I'm using daily to surf Arf.com and i have not found a need for anything better yet.



I have a Intell core duo cpu T7300 @2.00Ghz 3Gb of Ram running vista home premium.

I've been a computer geek ever since I was born. I've seen them all, HP, Dell, Acer, Gateway, Compaq, Sony, Toshiba, Alienware, etc. even Macs. The first thing I will tell people is at all costs, avoid Acer, Gateway and Compaq. The latter of the three are so bad that you are better burning your cash and dancing around the campfire. Acer look good and everything and have all these "features" but they use shitty parts inside of them and most likely will become problematic within a year. Their warranty is also crappy as it is a one year and if you ever have problems, you must pay for shipping to them, wait, and possibly pay for parts.

As far as the standard computers go,

Dell > Sony (Tied with Asus)> Toshiba > HP

Toshiba's can be dirt cheap in price and still perform. We purchased one for $250 6 years ago and it still runs fine the only thing is the battery doesn't last long (which of course happens with any laptop or really any rechargable battery in life) and we had to replace the power cord ($35).

Asus has no customer support what so ever so I only recommend them to someone who knows computers a bit.

Sony's used to be top-notch but they've gone down and I've switched away from their company. They will release stuff sometimes with insufficient drivers and testing and then will have a recall. And their customer service is just O.K.

That brings me to Dell, the computers which I switched over to now. I highly recommend them because they are pretty cheap, their performance, value, and reliability is excellent. Even better, their customer service is top-notch. One time I had a harddrive issue with a Dell Mini 10 and had to do a system recovery but the install was on a disc and I didn't have an external disc drive to use, so I contacted Dell. The next day I received a brand new ready to go hard drive and a box to send mine back in! That's customer service!

Also, order by phone with Dell as you can always hassle them down to $50-$100 less than what they show online.



What size do you want?

I suppose it depends on your definition of 'decent.'

I have an Acer Aspire I got about 3 years ago, that has functioned flawlessly. I recently discovered that the battery is dead, so I can only use it if it's plugged in. I can live with that, as I only use it at home. Not bad for a $299 Best Buy special.

Depends on what you're doing with it.  I got my dad a nice Gateway for $498 with an intel I3 processor, 6 gigs (I believe it's expandable to 12) of ram, 340 gig HDD, dvd burner, usb2.0.  It didn't have a video card.  So it's a nice fast laptop for doing everyday tasks.  If you want to play games or do alot of video editing or if you use products like photoshop and lightroom, you may want to spend a little more and go up o the I5 and get something with a video card.

Here's a 14 inch

http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-14r-combo-mod/pd?oc=fndom13b&model_id=inspiron-14r-combo-mod


Here's a 15 inch

http://www.dell.com/us/p/inspiron-15r-combo-mod/pd?oc=fndor15b&model_id=inspiron-15r-combo-mod


Same specs expect the 14 inch will get a little bit better battery as screen is a little smaller.


Personally, I'd get the 14 inch. A laptop is supposed to be portable. Call them, make them take $50 off and give you free shipping. Enjoy your new computer

BTW, I use an Alienware M11X with Runcore SSD, Docked with an external HDD, external DVD RW, 5.1 surround, USB hub, front USB hub, ethernet, and an HD 22" monitor.

Nothing about Dell is highly recommendable. They have the worst customer service of any PC I have ever owned. The Dell lap top I am on still has an on going issue(3yrs) that Dell cannot fix and will not invest the time into to do so. They told me to wait for Vista service pack and it would be fixed....Nope not at all.





I would not recommend Dell to anyone that I liked and wanted them to value my opinion.
 
 

As I said, they usually fail pretty fast. Usually. Every now and then someone gets lucky. But at $$$ I don't like chancing when you don't have to. Keep in mind if you do get plagued, you're screwed as their is no customer support.

Do you know what your problems are? I will bet its not Dell at all from the sound of it. Vista is made by Microsoft and is the worst crime they've ever done. Switch to 7. Bet your issues go away.

I had a Dell laptop start smoking and fry out while it was sitting on my chest ( laying down while using it).  Called up Dell and they wouldn't even let us talk to anyone without paying money ( I think $50 ) to talk to someone because we didn't have an extended warranty.  Fuck them.

That's how customer service works. They ARE A BUSINESS. They don't want to spend money. But let me let you in on a little secret, if you don't let them get off the phone, they can't get off the phone. If you got nothing, you didn't try hard enough.

Customer service's main priority should be to make a customer happy, hence the "customer service".  And it's kind of hard to not let "them" off the phone when it's a computer talking back to you.  They are a BUSINESS that lost my business and others I know also...good for them they can conduct business however they want, I'll act accordingly.

The low battery warning sound never worked. I went through hours of tech support up to and including allowing them to access my lap top via remote. When they gave up they told me it had to be a MS problem also, and i needed to wait until service pack came out. After it came out and the problem was still there. I contacted them again and they wouldn't even attempt it anymore. They took 3 lap tops off of the shelf that had the same specs as mine and all 3 of them had the same issue.
Yeah that issue is minor, but the way they handled it..... F'em.
The company i work for has over 75 PCs in the plant and they are going away from Dell and going to HP. Im not advocating any brand for anyone to buy. Im just saying that Dell isnt better than Sony, Toshiba, or HP.
I recently tried to buy my wife laptop from Dell actually. They shipped 3 laptops to me, one at the time trying to get me one that hadnt been opened before i received it. All three of them had been opened and tampered with. I got my money back and bought an untouched Sony from Best Buy, no geek squad bullshit, just an unopened Sony with an Intel i5/650 GB Hd/4GB Ram/windows 7 for $728. The wife is very happy with it.
 

 

I have a higher end Dell laptop.  I bought the wife the cheapest Acer at BestBuy, probaby about $400.  The Acer is a sweet deal and makes me feel like I wasted money on th Dell, other than it has HDMI for hooking netflix up the the bigscreen.

You really need to decide what features you need, how many USB ports, hard drive space, wireless capabilities, etc..........

The indicators and remote connect are both driver issues with Vista. Again, biggest crime ever. They released shitty Vista as a delay for Windows 7. Windows 7 is a great operating system. But Microsoft should have been held accountable to give the people free Windows 7. Again, it shows the Monopole they have on the market. You upgrade to 7 and you will not have any of those problems.

Sony was always the company that you buy from them, and you had a great machine. Yes, overpriced but they always worked. Recently, they've dipped but they still produce a pretty good computer. Check to see if your laptop has any of the overheating recall on their website though.

While the company you work for is making a switch from Dell, many still use Dell and have recently bought hundreds of new ones (school district).

You imply something key which basically it depends on your experience. And that's completely true. Someone can get a dud from a good company and someone can get a jewel from a bad one.

The reason I recommend Dell, is because overall they have the best customer service out of all the manufactures, a good price, and good reliability as they use quality parts and don't cut back on the quality of parts and throw some shitting gimmicks on their laptops like some other brands.

Please remember that you are comparing your VISTA Dell to a 7(I think) Sony. If the Sony is Vista though, that just comes down to luck to what parts MS supports with drivers.

We have a Vista Sony all in one which is 2 years old and it had some problematic software issues. Upgraded to 7 and fixed. Again, depends on the actual parts inside the computer, not the brand on the outside!

Going with that damn Sony computer, the motherboard failed on it after <1.5 years and Sony wanted $750 to replace it! The use of their stupid proprietary parts is why it was so friggin high in price. That's 3/4 of what we paid when we bought it. I soon discovered that many others had the same problem and told Sony it was a design flaw of using integrated graphics on a blu-ray playing machine causing overheat and ultimately motherboard failure. They denied it. After going back and forth for a month, I finally got the repair for $150 which was still too much in my opinion. When we received it, the disc that was inside was broken and the computer was all nicked up. We sent it back to get it repaired and demanded them replace my f'en disc they broke. They didn't. We received the computer back with the case fixed but now the motherboard failed again! At this point they refused to fix it properly. I laughed at them and straightened them out. The computer was sent back and received, finally "fixed". This process took 4 months! They broke my disc and never replaced it. Even more troubling is that I talked with some of their computer techs and they agreed with me that my analysis is correct and they have no idea why the "engineers" used integrated on a "power" machine at all other than to save money and produce a lousy product! I wonder why it was discontinued

I'm still waiting for the motherboard to fail a 3rd time so they can refund the $1000 back.

That being said, I'm done with Sony Vaio

For $500, just make sure you get 4GB RAM.



Discrete graphics and an HDMI port would be nice.



Most users won't ever come close to running out of hard drive space, and they all have DVD burners.



I'm not a fan of HP.  Toshiba or Lenovo for me.

You can get that for $450-$500 if you play your cards right.

$600 gets you an i5.

I personally wouldn't worry about the GPU. AThe onboard intel HD does everything but play fulll blown games.
You'd have to spend at least $1K on a laptop to get a GPU that can play real games at a decent level anyways.

Just bought an 11.6" Dell laptop for ~$425 shipped

For laptops stick with Toshiba or Asus.

I have had good luck with Toshiba.

Agreed. As someone who has spent years working on them, my personal laptop is an Asus. I have a toshiba that is 15 years old and was working fine till some jackass dropped it.

Lenovos are pretty reliable too. I've not had a ton of experience with MSI laptops, but the ones I have had my hands on have been quite nice, also.

Fuck HP.

Their computers have always been a nightmare, but I'll never forgive them for the faulty motherboards that shipped out in nearly all of the dvxxxx series.

Have a problem? want a replacement? guess what, they replace it with one that will also either lose graphics or wireless. Sometimes both.

Fuck HP.

I'm not sure if I said it or not, so Fuck HP.

My wife's dv2120 lost the wireless first, then the graphics.  I won't buy another HP product in my life if I can help it.



Their printers are not bad, but their consumables costs are the highest in the market.



 

Thanks guys for all the info , I did not want this to fall into a brand debate , but you have given me plenty to think about .

I have had issues with the dell that I am on now and I am going to go with something diff. for the sake of change if nothing else .

Have been told by friends using HP and looked others using Hp that they are good to go.

Maybe just my personal opinion and everyone has one , I am sure that many thousands of Dell , Sony , HP and others that I cannot name just swear by their unit. Other in that list would not ever own another one . I have had a Dell and a Gateway desktop units and had trouble with both. But I am sure as with an automobile , sometimes you just have troubles.

I was looking at a 15-15.6 inch laptop as far as size goes , I am still concerned with the CPU and the speed , which brand is best, there seems to be no clear winner that I can tell between AMD and the Intel units.

This is one that I close to pulling the trigger on : LINKY

Thanks again for all the thoughts and info.............................

Before you pull the trigger, look here to see if you can get yourself a good deal:

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/computers-laptop/

OP, I bought an Asus UL50vt from New Egg (reconditioned) for $500.  It has a dual core intel 1.3ghz, but throttles up to 1.7 and has turbo software that take it up to 1.9, if needed, I've never felt the need.  500 gb HDD, 15.6" HD screen, dual video cards, integrated and discrete.  HDMI, media card reader, DVD Burner, etc.  It weighs about 3ish pounds and is less than 1.5" thick.  It's a great computer and w/ the integrated video, I've got 7 hours of battery life w/ about 20% battery left when I plugged it in.  I paid extra for a 2 year warranty.  

If you're not concerned w/ discrete video, then you can max out all the other options for that price.


ETA:  if you watch slickdeals, you can find some great deals and double coupons.  I found the set up I have, but w/ a better processor and slightly better discrete graphics card for just $100 more and it was reconditioned.

I just bought a toshibayesterday at big box store 4g 320 soemthing ,wide screen ––- for under 500 bucks total ––way nicer than my old dell that I bought in 2004

Been using Toshiba Satellite laptops for last 10 years.  Nary a problem.  They are definitely price performers and the way to go.

Newegg periodically has a nice Lenovo for $399 with free shipping. I almost bought one a couple of weeks ago.

Tagscribed. I'm shopping for almost the exact same thing.

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