Buying this week, desperate for ADVICE

Teej750

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Dec 28, 2011
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Hello all THG members
Well I though it would be a good idea to write a FAQ for people to fill it in before asking for notebook recommendations.
So please copy and paste these questions in the topic you opened and we can help you find the laptop that suits you.


1. What is your budget? $950-1100

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? 16"-17.5"

3. What screen resolution do you want? High Def,

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? doesn't matter, will travel with my iPad.

5. How much battery life do you need? Doesn't matter, but 2-3hrs I guess

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)? N/A

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.) minor photo editing of family photos

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? not a deal breaker here 500 is plenty

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. Bestbuy.com amazon.com tigerdirect.com but also open to suggestions

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? 3 years minimum

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? Blu ray would be nice but don't wanna sacrifice value or other features. not a necessity!

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons. I like ASUS, Sony, Toshiba, Apple. Had Sony Vaio and Toshiba before and were durable. Bad luck in past with HP, and I don't want an Acer, Gateway, or Dell.

13. What country do you live in? USA, West Virginia

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed. Primarily want this to stream movies, surf the web, facebook, email, and very basic photoshop. Prefer 16.5" +, MUST have an HDMI output, and prefer the best quality screen/resolution I can get for my $$$. Will not be doing any gaming. Other than watching movies the only multi tasking I will be doing is having 3-4 Intermet pages up at once reading stuff!

I hope this can help people find their ideal notebook.

Additionally... you should also consider what support options are available in your area. If say you buy something abroad, will you be able to have it fixed near where you live? Does the warranty apply? How quickly do local accredited technicians fix laptops?
There are a couple reliable techs near me to work on stuff if needed!
 
SONY VPCF23EFX/B Notebook Intel Core i7 2670QM(2.20GHz) 16.4" - $960

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834127541


I prefer Lenovo ThinkPads. From my experience they are pretty rugged business class laptops. My ThinkPad T40 is about 9 years old and it still works fine. Unfortunately, having a single core @ 1.5GHz it is pretty slow compared to more modern laptops. Lenovo does not have any laptops that meet your needs (i.e. no 1920x1080 screen).
 

Teej750

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Dec 28, 2011
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The only 2 Suggestions I have are that Sony F series and a Dell XPS X17L. Any other tips or recs would be really appreciated as I'm buying this this week. I had my heart set on a ASUS so if someone could please rec a model of ASUS that compares to these above 2's price range and comment on differences that would be awesome. I have just read that ASUS is an up and coming company, good customer service and for the price of their products they are hard to beat! Is that way off???

 

bigcyco1

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Feb 11, 2012
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Do you mean Asrock ?Because if you mean Asus yes that's way off they are one of the most known respected company and have been for many many years.and there not cheap at all there pretty high dollar compared to other company
 

Teej750

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Dec 28, 2011
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See so I am way off then. Maybe I should stick to Medicine! So, anyways do you have any other ideas for my wants or in comparison to those 2 laptops above? What about Samsung 7 Series?
 

Supermuncher85

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Chevk out the DELL xps17. I don't have a link to it but you can customize it to your desire, my tip get a backlit keyboard! It's only $40 more but once you have it you will never go back. http://www.dell.com/us/p/laptops?~ck=mn#!facets=135390~0~6687269,135390~0~13406796,55846~0~5930681&p=1

Other 17incher I like is the 4730s from HP, the only downside of the probook line is that the fan is always on. This might be a deal breaker but being so huge it will on your table 99% of the time anyway. No backlit keyboard though. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&N=100017489&isNodeId=1&Description=4730s&x=0&y=0

There's also the envy 17 from HP which often has deals pushing it into your price range.

Are you set on 17inches though? That's a beast and you can get something smaller that you can actually carry. Macbook, ultrabook etc.
 

bigcyco1

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Feb 11, 2012
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List of the Top 10 Gaming Laptops 2012List of the Top 10 Best Gaming Laptops

Top Ten Gaming Laptop


ASUS Republic of Gamers G74SX-DH72 Gaming Laptop
MSI GT683R-242US Gaming Laptop
Dell Alienware M18X-8636BK 18-inch LED Best Gaming Laptop
Toshiba Qosmio X775-3DV80 Top Gaming Laptop
HP Pavilion DV7T QE Top Gaming Laptop



Lenovo Ideapad Y570 0826KU Gaming Laptop
Sony VAIO F23JFXBC 16.4 inch Gaming Laptop
Apple Macbook Pro MD311LL/A LED Top Gaming Laptop
Samsung NP-QX411-W01US Top Ten Gaming Laptop
Acer AS7741G-6426 Gaming Laptop – Top Ten Gaming Laptops Under 1000