Laptop help

Started by kingofjokers August 7th, 2009 3:15 PM
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  • 30 replies

kingofjokers

This is not a custom title!!!!

Age 27
Male
Hillside IL
Seen March 28th, 2012
Posted October 9th, 2010
674 posts
14.4 Years
I need help choosing a laptop and need one that can help me just do all my high school projects and stuff like that basically I don't need something that cost alot with useless stuff I wont use I.E webcam and stuff like that.
Mostly just need help choosing brand and model so please thank you

donavannj

Age 32
Male
'cause it get cold like Minnesota
Seen 5 Days Ago
Posted 1 Week Ago
22,513 posts
18.2 Years
ASUS has quality laptops, even though there aren't very well known for their laptops. ASUS makes motherboards for desktops, so you know that ASUS probably made the majority of the parts in the laptop (meaning its probably got high quality components.
whoops
Age 31
Male
Slowpoke Well
Seen May 20th, 2011
Posted July 9th, 2010
165 posts
14.9 Years
I'd always recommend a Dell. Their range goes from value to rediculously overspeced, and all of it's at a reasonable price point. I know that they're a bit common, but it's for a good reason! They're also pretty durable. I spilt hot chocolate on mine once, and it still works just fine (Though it died for about 20 minutes, affter it happened, which was scary =o)

I'm not really sure what size you're affter, though. If it's less than 15", dell don't do anything paticulary cheap, unless you buy one of the older models. My XPS m1330 was £600, and they're now down to £500 refurbished, £550 new. Don't know if that's too much for you or if £s arn't your currency.
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Greene1516

Scratching the surface...

Male
Purgatory
Seen May 1st, 2013
Posted April 21st, 2011
373 posts
13.9 Years
It really depends on where you are located since different locals can have different brands. And I would disagree with Dell since they have a habit of really taking the weight out of people's pockets with a lot of the Dell brand hardware that is necessary for a lot of their computers.
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Battle Frontier

Age 31
Male
Slowpoke Well
Seen May 20th, 2011
Posted July 9th, 2010
165 posts
14.9 Years
It really depends on where you are located since different locals can have different brands. And I would disagree with Dell since they have a habit of really taking the weight out of people's pockets with a lot of the Dell brand hardware that is necessary for a lot of their computers.
Elaborate please! Are you suggesting that a dell laptop will only work with dell keyboards, monitors and mice? If so, that's simply not the case! I've used all sorts of non-dell perhipals with my dell laptop.

Or are you suggesting that their laptops contain costly custom hardware? Well, it's certainly not costly... or paticularly custom. Dell laptops use pretty standard components from manafacturers such as Intel, Nvidia and Broadcom. I do believe they have their own special wifi cards, but they certainly don't seem to add to the cost much...
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twocows

The not-so-black cat of ill omen

Age 32
Male
Michigan
Seen February 19th, 2023
Posted April 30th, 2021
4,307 posts
14.2 Years
Eee PC 1000HA with Windows XP -- $325
Acer Aspire with Windows Vista Home Basic -- $250 (open box)
Same model, new -- $290
Lenovo G530 with Windows Vista Home Premium -- $370 (open box)

Unless you plan on gaming, all of these should be sufficient for schoolwork. If you plan on gaming, get a desktop; it's cheaper to get a cheap laptop and a gaming desktop than a gaming laptop. Note that the Eee PC lacks an optical disc drive.

I have a dell is very good.
Dell is horrible. Don't get a Dell. Just because you've heard of the brand name or haven't tried anything else doesn't mean it's a good brand. They're the single worst brand I have ever had to deal with. Their computers regularly overheat, their hardware fails early at best, the computers come pre-loaded with the most bloatware I've ever seen, and their technical support is staffed by monkeys with books.
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Archer

NSW, Australia
Seen January 26th, 2020
Posted January 5th, 2020
3,956 posts
16.6 Years
Eee PC 1000HA with Windows XP -- $325
Acer Aspire with Windows Vista Home Basic -- $250 (open box)
Same model, new -- $290
Lenovo G530 with Windows Vista Home Premium -- $370 (open box)

Unless you plan on gaming, all of these should be sufficient for schoolwork. If you plan on gaming, get a desktop; it's cheaper to get a cheap laptop and a gaming desktop than a gaming laptop. Note that the Eee PC lacks an optical disc drive.


Dell is horrible. Don't get a Dell. Just because you've heard of the brand name or haven't tried anything else doesn't mean it's a good brand. They're the single worst brand I have ever had to deal with. Their computers regularly overheat, their hardware fails early at best, the computers come pre-loaded with the most bloatware I've ever seen, and their technical support is staffed by monkeys with books.
I'd have to agree here. I have several friends that are happy using netbooks at school.

Most laptops come with a 1.3MP webcam, and it really doesn't affect the price, as they are standard and cheap hardware.

Dell products, in my experience, often need special drivers and the like if you need to do a reinstall.

And don't buy second hand. You get no warranty, with worn components, etc. Bad idea.

Consider getting a long life battery.
Female
Sydney, Australia
Seen June 19th, 2011
Posted December 14th, 2010
1,499 posts
17.9 Years
Eee PC 1000HA with Windows XP -- $325
Acer Aspire with Windows Vista Home Basic -- $250 (open box)
Same model, new -- $290
Lenovo G530 with Windows Vista Home Premium -- $370 (open box)

Unless you plan on gaming, all of these should be sufficient for schoolwork. If you plan on gaming, get a desktop; it's cheaper to get a cheap laptop and a gaming desktop than a gaming laptop. Note that the Eee PC lacks an optical disc drive.


Dell is horrible. Don't get a Dell. Just because you've heard of the brand name or haven't tried anything else doesn't mean it's a good brand. They're the single worst brand I have ever had to deal with. Their computers regularly overheat, their hardware fails early at best, the computers come pre-loaded with the most bloatware I've ever seen, and their technical support is staffed by monkeys with books.
Netbooks are a very good option for both the budgetwise and the fashion-chic as they are "in" at the moment (expensive ones are also available).

Oh also, twocows, please dont call it the "single worst brand" as you havent tried enough of their products, unless you own a computer store or you have a very good money flow to buy most of their releases.

Dell has always been very good in quality and customer service, but ever since the incident with leaking batteries in Latitude 110L, D530 and Inspiron 1100, 1150, 5100, 5150, and 5160; people have been making bs about Dell, and this has just become a bandwagon for ignorant people to jump on.

Hardware is top quality with Dell, and so is their software, but all that software does clog up your system, so you use brains and only install drivers, and only install compulsory software such as Biometric Devices.

Oh yeah, that reminds me; get a netbook from a supplier and it may also give you Windows 7 for free when its released as an offer (it will tell you so in the information somewhere)

I would advise you not to buy a notebook / netbook from ebay unless its sealed by manufactor as they may be second-hand, or have a defect (hey the world's not black and white)

twocows

The not-so-black cat of ill omen

Age 32
Male
Michigan
Seen February 19th, 2023
Posted April 30th, 2021
4,307 posts
14.2 Years
Oh also, twocows, please dont call it the "single worst brand" as you havent tried enough of their products, unless you own a computer store or you have a very good money flow to buy most of their releases.
I've done tech support for a lot of people over the past few years. I've dealt with enough Dell computers to hate them more than any other computer brand. It has nothing to do with bandwagon; I hate it when people bandwagon as much as you, let me tell you. I wouldn't dislike them if I didn't have a genuine reason to do so. As an owner of a Dell product, I can say firsthand that their customer support is horrid. Their "top quality hardware" sees more failures than any other brand I've had to deal with. It's just more hassle than it's worth.
VNs are superior to anime, don't @ me
Seen April 10th, 2010
Posted April 9th, 2010
940 posts
15.1 Years
Oh update I really want a new one so no used ones and I decided not to get a dell I am deciding between hp or acer and saw that if i buy a new laptop now i could get windows 7 free please correct me if I am wrong.
Any Vista laptop you buy at this point from a major OEM ought to support the Windows 7 upgrade-free scheme; yes. I would personally not recommend Acer (Or Asus, or MSI, or Toshiba, for that matter). HP have outstanding warranty support but you'll find yourself a little restricted with purchase upgrade options. My recommendation is still firmly in the Dell camp.
Seen April 10th, 2010
Posted April 9th, 2010
940 posts
15.1 Years
Dell Inspiron 15
$449 as stock; but with a proper 2Ghz Dual Core CPU; 3GB of RAM and 250GB of HDD it's a damn sight gruntier than any netbook you'll find. Plus you can customize 'til your hearts content ~ I personally would add $30 for the Core2Duo T6500 over the Pentium Dual and $30 for the Home Premium Vista Upgrade (which will get you Home Premium 7 as a free upgrade anyway); plus a pretty color :D The 9-cell battery, 1600x900 display option and built in bluetooth and webcam are also very appealing for my $; plus the option for a REAL discrete GPU. Again though; that's just moi ~ but isn't that the beauty of Dell? Customize!
Age 31
Male
Slowpoke Well
Seen May 20th, 2011
Posted July 9th, 2010
165 posts
14.9 Years
I'd definately advise against HP. I've had an HP laptop die on me for no reason whatsoever, irrecoverably so. That's just one person's experience, granted, but also you should consider that HP laptops are offten monstrously overpriced for what they are.
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Age 33
Male
Seen October 15th, 2009
Posted August 26th, 2009
54 posts
14.1 Years
I've done tech support for a lot of people over the past few years. I've dealt with enough Dell computers to hate them more than any other computer brand. It has nothing to do with bandwagon; I hate it when people bandwagon as much as you, let me tell you. I wouldn't dislike them if I didn't have a genuine reason to do so. As an owner of a Dell product, I can say firsthand that their customer support is horrid. Their "top quality hardware" sees more failures than any other brand I've had to deal with. It's just more hassle than it's worth.
The shop I work in has had a load of the same Dells come back (8 at the last count), with the same issue. They all seem to have trouble getting past the BIOS Post screen. Apparently Dell pushed out some update for the BIOS that doesn't seem to have been tested terribly much.

I try to avoid selling that particular range anymore, it's not worth the hassle..

Feign

Clain

Seen January 24th, 2023
Posted March 12th, 2011
4,293 posts
14.4 Years
I need help choosing a laptop and need one that can help me just do all my high school projects and stuff like that basically I don't need something that cost alot with useless stuff I wont use I.E webcam and stuff like that.
Mostly just need help choosing brand and model so please thank you
Unless if you want to wait for Windows 7, get a cheap one now off newegg, or even best buy. Any computer can do high school stuff, it's the graphics etc that you're paying for. So it's best to find a low end one. Toshiba and HP are good products. Dell is okay if you don't plan on using it that often though, cause when they do break down, it is quite costly to repair.

twocows

The not-so-black cat of ill omen

Age 32
Male
Michigan
Seen February 19th, 2023
Posted April 30th, 2021
4,307 posts
14.2 Years
also forgot to say this I need to have office home and student also and if it comes with the laptop i would love it I just need to find it cheap if it doesn't come with the laptop thanks for all the help guys
If you absolutely have to have Office, you can get the student discounted version here ($60, requires .edu email) or the Home/Student version here ($100). Though I would recommend at least trying the free OpenOffice.org first. It's good enough for most high school work, and feels a lot like Office XP; it can also save in the formats that Office uses (usually with no problems; just select "Microsoft Office XP DOC format" when you're saving). You can get OpenOffice.org here.
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Feign

Clain

Seen January 24th, 2023
Posted March 12th, 2011
4,293 posts
14.4 Years
Dell sometimes offers Student Microsoft office. For what you're doing with the laptop though, I think a dell would be the best. You shouldn't be paying more than $600 for a laptop.