- Sep 7, 2010
- 3
- 0
- 18,510
I guess it's been a while since I've bought a new computer. Sites that used to be reliable for great prices on pre-built systems have lost their luster (Newegg, Amazon, Ebay, Froogle (as a search engine)).
Refurbished models are 10-20% cheaper but you never quite know what you're getting with refurbished. I just helped a friend recover from a refurbished horror story. Her laptop kept throwing motherboards and GeekSquad merely kept replacing motherboards. (She babied that thing, it was never in a position to overheat or anything).
In all my research, HP laptops come out at the most bang for your buck, and they don't have any huge sales going on. As a huge plus, all HP laptops come with a 1 year basic warranty (doesn't cover accidents though, more robust coverage is extra)
I really wanted an i7 and NVIDIA graphics, but couldn't find anything remotely close. I do some Blender rendering and know that Blender can harness NVIDIA for processing power better than AMD.
For just under 600, I can get an AMD A10 2.5ghz quad with 1tb hd and 8gb ram (16gb max). It has extras that I don't really need (like a fingerprint scanner) but it's one of the models not customizable on hp's website. It has a discrete graphics card. The backlit keyboard can also be nice. I think this is really the best option on nearly the whole internet.
http
/shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-ENVY/902171?ENVY-15z-j100-Notebook-Best-Value
For $15 less, I can get a 17in AMD A8 quad core 2.0 ghz and a different, but competitive graphics card In practical terms, I'd be trading practical processing power and dazzle for 1.7 inches of screen space.
http/www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/load_configuration.do?destination=review&email_id=2675253&jumpid=in_r329_emailconfig
The funny thing to me is that, by all accounts and positive personal history, HP is one of the best brands on the market, and yet, they're much cheaper than dell or toshiba, or vanity brands. Lenovo's business line is probably better quality but almost all lenovos are pricier than everyone else. A 6-700 i3 with 4 or 6gb of ram just isn't going to compete with either of these.
But still, I'm looking for advice. Am I missing any gems out there in other brands? I think I've scoured HP's site to death
.
OS doesn't matter to me.
Thank you very much.
Refurbished models are 10-20% cheaper but you never quite know what you're getting with refurbished. I just helped a friend recover from a refurbished horror story. Her laptop kept throwing motherboards and GeekSquad merely kept replacing motherboards. (She babied that thing, it was never in a position to overheat or anything).
In all my research, HP laptops come out at the most bang for your buck, and they don't have any huge sales going on. As a huge plus, all HP laptops come with a 1 year basic warranty (doesn't cover accidents though, more robust coverage is extra)
I really wanted an i7 and NVIDIA graphics, but couldn't find anything remotely close. I do some Blender rendering and know that Blender can harness NVIDIA for processing power better than AMD.
For just under 600, I can get an AMD A10 2.5ghz quad with 1tb hd and 8gb ram (16gb max). It has extras that I don't really need (like a fingerprint scanner) but it's one of the models not customizable on hp's website. It has a discrete graphics card. The backlit keyboard can also be nice. I think this is really the best option on nearly the whole internet.
http
/shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Laptops/HP-ENVY/902171?ENVY-15z-j100-Notebook-Best-ValueFor $15 less, I can get a 17in AMD A8 quad core 2.0 ghz and a different, but competitive graphics card In practical terms, I'd be trading practical processing power and dazzle for 1.7 inches of screen space.
http
/www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/load_configuration.do?destination=review&email_id=2675253&jumpid=in_r329_emailconfigThe funny thing to me is that, by all accounts and positive personal history, HP is one of the best brands on the market, and yet, they're much cheaper than dell or toshiba, or vanity brands. Lenovo's business line is probably better quality but almost all lenovos are pricier than everyone else. A 6-700 i3 with 4 or 6gb of ram just isn't going to compete with either of these.
But still, I'm looking for advice. Am I missing any gems out there in other brands? I think I've scoured HP's site to death
.OS doesn't matter to me.
Thank you very much.
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