- May 20, 2009
- 5
- 0
- 18,510
I have a pretty good idea of what I want (Toshiba 13"), but within that group there are several options with quite a bit of cost difference. The differences that I've found are mostly in processor. I know that the i3 is the latest & greatest, but I don't know if it's really going to be worth the extra money for me. I figure I'll just submit this form and see what you folks say..
1_What is your budget?
$400-$800
2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
13.3"
3_What screen resolution do you want?
Not a major consideration
4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portable. 14" widescreen is a touch too wide.
Weight isn't all that important.
5_How much battery life do you need?
Don't *need* 7 or 8 hours, thought it would be great to have.
I'd be very happy with 5 hours, and I'm ok turning down screen brightness & killing WiFi to get that
Anything less than 2.5 hours would be a negative
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)?
Maybe, but nothing major. If I did play, it might be strategy games like Civilization.
Only other thing might be a sports type game (Hockey, Football, etc..)
I'm perfectly fine with cranking graphics settings down to play if I happen to want to.
I haven't installed a single game in the 5 years I've owned my old laptop
7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)
Occasional DVD movies and video/photo work.
It's so rare for me to edit video/photos that I'm ok with less-than-stellar performance
8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?
Most of the models I'm considering are 320-500GB. That's plenty.
9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
Would like to go through Best Buy because of no interest financing.
If it looks like one of the $400-$500 models will work though, I'll buy from whoever
10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?
At least 3 years. Hopefully more..
11_What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
DVD burner. Internal is preferred, but I don't use mine all that often so external would be acceptable if it means saving substantial $$.
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 tend to lean towards Toshiba because they have the most selection in the 13" screen size that I want and I've had one going strong for almost 5 years now.
I'm willing to consider other brands though, but will need to hear some good reviews about reliability.
13_What country do you live in?
United States
14_Please tell us any additional information if needed.
I also do a little bit of programming (web & DB development) so decent performance with VB, SQL server, Access and such is pretty important.
Also, I'm curious as to whether I should put any importance on whether or not to get a 64 bit or 32 bit version of Windows.
1_What is your budget?
$400-$800
2_What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
13.3"
3_What screen resolution do you want?
Not a major consideration
4_Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
Portable. 14" widescreen is a touch too wide.
Weight isn't all that important.
5_How much battery life do you need?
Don't *need* 7 or 8 hours, thought it would be great to have.
I'd be very happy with 5 hours, and I'm ok turning down screen brightness & killing WiFi to get that
Anything less than 2.5 hours would be a negative
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)?
Maybe, but nothing major. If I did play, it might be strategy games like Civilization.
Only other thing might be a sports type game (Hockey, Football, etc..)
I'm perfectly fine with cranking graphics settings down to play if I happen to want to.
I haven't installed a single game in the 5 years I've owned my old laptop
7_What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)
Occasional DVD movies and video/photo work.
It's so rare for me to edit video/photos that I'm ok with less-than-stellar performance
8_How much storage (H.D.D Capacity) do you need?
Most of the models I'm considering are 320-500GB. That's plenty.
9_If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
Would like to go through Best Buy because of no interest financing.
If it looks like one of the $400-$500 models will work though, I'll buy from whoever
10_How long do you want to keep your laptop?
At least 3 years. Hopefully more..
11_What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
DVD burner. Internal is preferred, but I don't use mine all that often so external would be acceptable if it means saving substantial $$.
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 tend to lean towards Toshiba because they have the most selection in the 13" screen size that I want and I've had one going strong for almost 5 years now.
I'm willing to consider other brands though, but will need to hear some good reviews about reliability.
13_What country do you live in?
United States
14_Please tell us any additional information if needed.
I also do a little bit of programming (web & DB development) so decent performance with VB, SQL server, Access and such is pretty important.
Also, I'm curious as to whether I should put any importance on whether or not to get a 64 bit or 32 bit version of Windows.
/www.microsoft.com/Windows/pc-scout/laptop-details.aspx?pcid=f89044fd-0a32-df11-9df7-02bf9d3bf32a. 
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