- Nov 15, 2011
- 11
- 0
- 18,560
Hello all. I have been mostly a desktop man all my life, but now that I've moved away from home for my first job and do a good bit of travelling over weekends, I'm looking for a good laptop for my lifestyle. I could really use some help in finding a good deal (bang for the buck) laptop with a couple of preferences.
Budget: TBD, but I am trying to keep it under $600. I'm also a sucker for a great deal though, so that can go up if the features/$ goes up
So let's say up to $900 or even $1k. But it better be a darn good bang for the buck at those levels.
2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
I don't have a huge preference on this. I would like to be in the 15"-17" max area though, so no netbooks or teeny-tiny laptops.
3. What screen resolution do you want?
I work in excel a lot and use multiple windows frequently, so I need a resolution that can support 2 windows and give a decent amount of viewing space to both windows. I don't think I need anything like 1920x1080, but maybe something close?
4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
I'm not sure I know what this means. But essentially I need this laptop for work: Excel, email, couple non-cpu intensive software platforms, etc. I do want a strong wireless device (wirless-n?).
5. How much battery life do you need?
Battery life is not very important. 99% of laptop use will be in my home or girlfriend's.
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)?
I do actually want to play games but my demands are not that high. I play WoW casually. I like fuilidity (high fps) but I'm not a stickler for ultra settings. Smoothness > eye candy. So if I can find something that can play WoW at LOW settings but very smoothly, I will be happy. I'm not interested in many other games.
7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Some photo editing for website development stuff but this is a minor preference. No video editing. Possibly some MATLAB, Vizeo, PPT, photoshop. To my knowledge I do not think I will need a quad-core. I'm thinking more in the high GHz dual-core area.
8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
This is the kicker, I do NOT need a lot of HD space. I have plenty of space on my PC for larger files, but on this laptop I can't see myself needing more than 320GB. I could even go down to 250 or 120 I think. I would LIKE to start considering an SSD (ether stock or upgrade) for quick boot and faster responses, but I know that it's a killer on the pocket in laptops especially.
9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
No preference.
10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
2+ years
11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
None.
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'm not preferential with brands. I do NOT like all the junk laptops I've seen come with that slow the bejesus out of them. From past laptop purchases will usually just install a new copy of windows on it to avoid all the junk. I'm looking for advice, so if you have a recommendation on a brand I'm open ears.
13. What country do you live in?
US.
14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
See SSD above.
Budget: TBD, but I am trying to keep it under $600. I'm also a sucker for a great deal though, so that can go up if the features/$ goes up
So let's say up to $900 or even $1k. But it better be a darn good bang for the buck at those levels.2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?
I don't have a huge preference on this. I would like to be in the 15"-17" max area though, so no netbooks or teeny-tiny laptops.
3. What screen resolution do you want?
I work in excel a lot and use multiple windows frequently, so I need a resolution that can support 2 windows and give a decent amount of viewing space to both windows. I don't think I need anything like 1920x1080, but maybe something close?
4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop?
I'm not sure I know what this means. But essentially I need this laptop for work: Excel, email, couple non-cpu intensive software platforms, etc. I do want a strong wireless device (wirless-n?).
5. How much battery life do you need?
Battery life is not very important. 99% of laptop use will be in my home or girlfriend's.
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)?
I do actually want to play games but my demands are not that high. I play WoW casually. I like fuilidity (high fps) but I'm not a stickler for ultra settings. Smoothness > eye candy. So if I can find something that can play WoW at LOW settings but very smoothly, I will be happy. I'm not interested in many other games.
7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo/Video editing, Etc.)
Some photo editing for website development stuff but this is a minor preference. No video editing. Possibly some MATLAB, Vizeo, PPT, photoshop. To my knowledge I do not think I will need a quad-core. I'm thinking more in the high GHz dual-core area.
8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?
This is the kicker, I do NOT need a lot of HD space. I have plenty of space on my PC for larger files, but on this laptop I can't see myself needing more than 320GB. I could even go down to 250 or 120 I think. I would LIKE to start considering an SSD (ether stock or upgrade) for quick boot and faster responses, but I know that it's a killer on the pocket in laptops especially.
9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.
No preference.
10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?
2+ years
11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?
None.
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'm not preferential with brands. I do NOT like all the junk laptops I've seen come with that slow the bejesus out of them. From past laptop purchases will usually just install a new copy of windows on it to avoid all the junk. I'm looking for advice, so if you have a recommendation on a brand I'm open ears.
13. What country do you live in?
US.
14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.
See SSD above.
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