Need a "new" laptop...

[hpfreak]

Okay, I'm normally the one giving recommendations, but I thought I'd let the you guys give your suggestions...
Recently, our 2 year old hp dv7 died (blasted motherboard )
Now, I need a decent replacement... Here is the filled out read before buying questions:


1. What is your budget?

Nothing above 700 Dollars Including tax.

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

It is prefered if it would be above 16"

3. What screen resolution do you want?

Doesn't matter, I'd prefer it'd be higher then 1366x768 though.

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

Well, It is a bit of both, the lighter the better, but I guess 17" auto marks it up into the desktop replacement category.

5. How much battery life do you need?

As much as possible, Atleast 2 hours

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)?

No gaming.

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

A lot of email, surfing business related sites, word processing, powerpoint, excel... etc... Not much multi-tasking, but there will be times where there are 3 IE windows open, and maybe a 1-2 spreadsheets at a time.

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

320 GB would be enough, 7,200 RPM is prefered, but it doesn't make much a difference if there isn't one available.

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

I'd prefer it be a retailer that you can walk into.. Like Fry's, BestBuy...

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

3-4 Years. It will be used aslong as it lasts.

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

DVD Writer/Reader. And the same goes for CD.

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.

Prefer it NOT to be HP. Mainly because our experiences with the tech support in the past, and the overall quality of the laptop.

I like Asus, but it won't matter if it isn't an Asus, just aslong as the laptop has good customer reviews.
I also like MSI, again, I'm not limiting myself to one.
I have a 10+ year old dell with Win98... I'm open to Dell, but their quality is like hp...

13. What country do you live in?

Texas, USA.

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.

Llano looks like a good direction to search in...
Warranty isn't very important, I don't want to pay extra for it. I like Asus also because of the 1 year accidental damage that seems to be a feature that most other brands aren't offering by default.

Thanks, and hopefully it will be easy to find a laptop matching my criteria.

If you guys have any ideas in mind but they don't quite fit my already lenient criteria, don't be afraid to post, aslong as it stays within budget.

I'm monitoring this thread closely... will choose the Best Answer as the descision is made. If I end up getting a laptop that no one suggested, I will select best answer based upon input quality, and reasonable laptops, even if they weren't selected.

Thanks again

 

[jaguarskx]

There's the 17.3" Lenovo G770 that's currently on sale for $629 + free shipping. Using the eCoupon code LOGICBUY10C knocks of 10% (basically cancels out the tax) and you'll be within your $700 budget.

http/shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/builder.workflow:Enter?mtm-item=%3A000000F3%3A000045DE%3A

The Lenovo sale ends tomorrow, July 20th. The eCoupon expires either tomorrow or the next day.

I too have been contemplating a new laptop, but it would be more for a want than a need. I'm tempted by the 14" Lenovo Y460p for portability... but I maybe I'll just wait to see what's available on Black Friday. So until then, I guess I'll continue to use my trusty 'ol IBM ThinkPad T40 from 2003.

 

[jaguarskx]

If you are dead set on purchasing a laptop from a retail store, then forget my recommendation.

 

[hpfreak]

I'm not dead set, but it is a laptop for my dad. And he's not interested in entering credit details online.. He'd rather be able to go to a store if the laptop has a problem while it is still in warranty...

 

[RetiredChief]

Are you close to a microcenter.
Texas
• Houston/West Loop
• Dallas Metroplex/Richardson

Might be time to Look at the on-line adds for the Laptops that you now have on the "short List" and take "Dad" to look at.

Understand about "Local" vs internet, not just on Credit Card, but with laptops it's nice to see the screen. That last top I mentioned is only the 2nd one not bought locally (first one was about 10 years ago, my wife bought me one off of QVC.

I know many "older" people are reluctant to use "on-line" shopping, but the savings more than offset the small possibility of fraud. And in the limited cases, the CC company's are very good on resolving a problem - Your only limited to $50 liability (NOT true for corporate cards or debit cards). Two cases in point. (1) Me and my wife went on vacation (LA via stop over in Los Vegas), the card was used in Va, then Los Vegas. When we hit LA, my wife went to purchase a Item (several hundred bucks) the card was declined. She had to call to allow the card to go thru. Another time we found a 2 day hotel charge (From Florida) on are bill (Quite a long time ago). Had no problem getting it taken off. My wife make so many purchases off the shopping networks that when shee took a two week vacation to England, One of them acuaully called to make sure she was OK (Got a real laugh on that).
Bottom Line - Help them get over this reservation - Money saved over the years could be considerable. PS My wife and I are both "Old foggeys" (65 and I'm 67)

 

[hpfreak]

Any one else?

 

[hpfreak]

Best answer selected by hpfreak.