Looking for Laptop -mobility, school (computer program), etc

loridk

Honorable
Sep 28, 2012
3
0
10,510
1. What is your budget?

-The ideal being $500 range but willing to pay reasonably for what I want. I am pretty sure anything over $1200 will make me cry. I am frugal, if nothing else, and obviously want to spend the least possible but will not sacrifice quality. $850 seems to be the most likely.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

-Around 15" range. A little less is ok. More is too much. Mobility matters to me. I am a fairly small female, so weight can play a factor in my willingness to spend.

3. What screen resolution do you want?

-The higher the better, of course. I hate glare and since I will be everywhere with this, it can be a big deal.

4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?

-Portable but with speed and quality.

I have a great desktop which is my main platform for gaming and tasks that require more demand. I need this for school mostly. I am in a college program (Computer Systems Technology) that, obviously, requires a lot of time on computers and a need for something of decent/above McLaptop quality. I do a decent amount of programming, web site design, graphics and Networking on any given day. I do a fair amount of homework on my porch/outside the office. I also like to play the occasional game (SWTOR, EVE Online, Second Life) between classes. In case you didn't pick up, I live a busy life and am always in need of a computer in reach.

5. How much battery life do you need?

-4 hours would be great. More would be excellent but not a deal breaker.

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)?

-If I can play the games above at medium with no lag, I'm good. I do not what to be limited by the GPU for future occasional gaming.

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

-As mentioned above, I do almost everything on computers. I do work in low-light/dark a fair amount and have terrible night vision so a stock backlit keyboard would be a god-send. Otherwise, I will likely have to mod it with one.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?

-I backup almost all my media, save for a bit of music and school work so this is not a big issue. Never hurts though. Speed is much more important for me. So, you know, SSDs are great.

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

-Not really unless it is a local/fast ship place. More likely need recommendations for specific systems and/or even just a range of CPUs and video cards that will fit my needs. Personal opinions are, of course, always welcome.

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

-2 years is the ideal but I am aware of the constant leaps in technology that seem to be happening lately, so 1 year is not unreasonable.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?

-Any. The generic DVD reader/writer combo is not even needed really but occasionally useful.

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 am not very strongly attached to specific brands. I bought a Dell Inspiron 1530 4 years ago that tackled every task I threw at it. After much abuse, it finally begged to retire last year but still could chug along, barely, on SWTOR with medium settings. RIP Scarlet.

I usually have a lot of faith in Asus. Acer is eyed with suspicion, as is Sony. I heard good things about Toshiba and Lenovo. The only HP I would even consider is the Envy/their new ultrabooks but even those I am highly skeptical of. I would buy Compaq and Gateway for $1 to use as paperweights, otherwise avoided like a virus. Anything else, I am unbiased.

13. What country do you live in?

-Canada but 10 minutes from Detroit, with family there. If buying locally, the Windsor/Detroit area. If shipped, Canada is preferred but USA is doable if worth it.

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

-Sturdy, fast, light, powerful...pretty...at the best price, is what I am looking for. So, pretty much exactly what everyone else is looking for :)
 

master_chen

Honorable
Jun 20, 2012
90
0
10,610
Canada.
500$~850$.

Just get this or this, and you're pretty much good to go. These are very good notebooks for you, they'll satisfy almost all of your demands. I highly recommend them.

It is actually almost impossible to find a truly good notebook with anti-glare display for that money, so be thankful to at least that.
 

master_chen

Honorable
Jun 20, 2012
90
0
10,610


Well...it's actually quite hard to find a really good 15/15.6" notebook for that money, so......hmmmmm...
Alright, if you need 15" notebook EXACTLY, then...I guess that I can recommend you at least this, it's quite of a nice option too, but nothing spectacular.
And there's really not much worthwhile options left (only this, actually. But it weights quite much. Otherwise, if you don't care about weight, definitely get it), in that particular segment.

Also: there is nothing wrong with HP's notebooks (by the most part), you are being paranoid.
 

loridk

Honorable
Sep 28, 2012
3
0
10,510


Thank you again. Will check those out.

I don't really need 15" exactly so much as just less than 17".

HP does have the highest return/repair rate but I didn't look too deeply into it so their high sales may factor into that. Either way, my resistance to HP is more a bad fit for me/principle thing. Yes, it's personal this time ;)
 

master_chen

Honorable
Jun 20, 2012
90
0
10,610


I think that you're mistaking Dell for HP. Dell has crappy notebooks by the most part, not HP.
 

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