New laptop for work. Need suggestions.

[Evan]

the i3 is $498 more?

[Steve85]

the i3 is $498 more?

I did not edit that well..at all.

The HP G61 with AMD is $498 and the HP (model not designated) in the latest Costco ad with the i3 is $639. There are some other differences mainly in the amount of memory, 3GB DDR2 in the cheaper model 4GB DDR3 and a bigger HD in the Costco model, plus Costco's additional year of coverage.

The Costco is not available until the 15th so I'm looking around a bit now. The processor seems to be real driver in price in terms of what I'm looking for in the 500-600 range. It seems you get bigger HD or a bigger screen or some other feature in return for a lesser processor. I'm curious how much of a difference the processor makes for my application.

I'm going to start looking at custom configs and would like to know if there is something I should avoid using. The amount of memory, web cam and such all seem to be readily available in the price point. I was thinking about a netbook and test drove my daughters this weekend...too small.

[Evan]

the i3 is $498 more?

I did not edit that well..at all.

The HP G61 with AMD is $498 and the HP (model not designated) in the latest Costco ad with the i3 is $639. There are some other differences mainly in the amount of memory, 3GB DDR2 in the cheaper model 4GB DDR3 and a bigger HD in the Costco model, plus Costco's additional year of coverage.

this is a better deal than the costco (despite it being a Dell ) as long as you dont plan to travel with the laptop much
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.staples.com/Dell-Insprion-17.3-Laptop-(Black">http://www.staples.com/Dell-Insprion-17.3-Laptop-(Black</a><!-- m -->)/product-nr_851067

if you can stretch your budget to $800, this laptop is super fast. the i7 quads scream
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1973460">http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1973460</a><!-- m -->

[mrbaggio]

Does anyone here have any experience with the ultra light laptops? The sort that would be in between a netbook and a proper laptop. My current net book is starting to die (battery). Given the cost of a new battery, I think it might as well just upgrade. I want slightly more power, a slightly larger screen, and super light weight.

If this is too much of a hijack sorry and feel free to delete.

[Steve85]

the i3 is $498 more?

I did not edit that well..at all.

The HP G61 with AMD is $498 and the HP (model not designated) in the latest Costco ad with the i3 is $639. There are some other differences mainly in the amount of memory, 3GB DDR2 in the cheaper model 4GB DDR3 and a bigger HD in the Costco model, plus Costco's additional year of coverage.

this is a better deal than the costco (despite it being a Dell ) as long as you dont plan to travel with the laptop much
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.staples.com/Dell-Insprion-17.3-Laptop-(Black">http://www.staples.com/Dell-Insprion-17.3-Laptop-(Black</a><!-- m -->)/product-nr_851067

if you can stretch your budget to $800, this laptop is super fast. the i7 quads scream
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1973460">http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=1973460</a><!-- m -->

That Dell does look pretty good...but with a 2 yr old broke-ass Dell in the office and my still working 6yr old HP it's hard to personally make that move. Especially wihout the extra warranty that's $150. I like the included 2nd year of warranty through Costco. Maybe I'll check out thier Dell offerings...

[.RJ]

Maybe I'll check out thier Dell offerings...

Dont bother. Their after sales and warranty support has gone from bad to intolerable.

[Evan]

If even RJ is off the Dell bandwagon then its best to stay far far away.

thats like jacko saying apple sucks :p

[Steve85]

Here's what I'm looking at using the slickdeals for $849:

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Intel® Core™ i7-720QM Quad Core processor (1.6GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.8 GHz
4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 320M - For i7 Processors
15.6" diagonal High Definition LED HP Brightview Widescreen Display (1366x768)
LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support
Webcam + Microphone
Intel Wireless-N Card
No TV Tuner w/remote control
HP Color Matching Keyboard
6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (standard)
No Modem
Microsoft® Works 9.0
HP Home & Home Office Store in-box envelope

That seems like a hell of a deal...

[Sijray21]

That seems like a hell of a deal...

i'd say so, plus LED brightview...mmm

i bought my HP dv3t with a lot less processing speed, memory, and harddrive space for just under $800. it was a 13.3", which is what i was looking for, but that sounds amazing for the price.

my specs that are different: (spent $749)
32-bit (1.3 gHz) processor
3GB memory
250GB storage
3MB L2 cache
13.3" lcd
9-cell battery

[.RJ]

If even RJ is off the Dell bandwagon then its best to stay far far away.

Yes. Never again.

[Evan]

yeah that is one seriously pimpin' machine.

i7s get my geek lust going.

[Steve85]

The 4GB DDR3 listed on the sytem above was an upgrade and as I was checking out I found the code also worked on a dv7t with free upgrade to 4GB. So I have all the same internals as above with 17" screen which I like since it's not a travelling laptop.

This thing is great. First off Windows 7 has an easy transfer feature that wirelessly transferred everything from my old laptop. I have been reorganizing photos and videos and things move around instantly. No waiting 5 minutes with the picture of the piece of paper flying from one folder to the other. We picked up a pocket camcorder, Kodak Zi8, and I have been shooting stuff in 720p. Uploading and processing the finished movie is very quick compared to what I'm used to. Videos of this quality (less really) and length, usually about 4 minutes, would take 40 minutes to process on the old machine. I plan on digging out the old tapes and redoing the videos in higher resolution. No Windows 7 64bit driver for the old Sony camera though so I need to find a work around.

I'll probably pick up some better video editing software, the program that came with the camera sucks. Even Windows Movie Maker blows it away but of course .mov is not a movie maker supported file format. God forbid they use a format compatible with the editor included on 99% of consumer computers. Unless there is something special about CODEC 4 something or other it's just stupid and annoying.

Bigger screen and number pad have made working from home (though only on occasion) in spreadsheets all day bearable.

And yeah, it's awesome at emailing.

[Evan]

Just got a new work laptop.

The only Dells Ive used that havent been flaming piles of shit have been the Precision series. We took some into DoD field training exercises years ago and pounded on them in dirt and dust and they did great.
So even after several flaming turd Dell laptops I figured Id give the Precisions another chance, main reason being the Dell workstation laptops are MUCH cheaper than the HPs.

17" Precision M6500, core i7 Extreme mobile chip, 16GB ram, 256GB SSD, fastest nvidia mobile gpu. yeah, it screams.

Got a 30" Dell monitor to pair it with too. (might go triple screen with a 24" too if the video card lets me)

horray for end of fiscal year money

[caa337]

Extreme i7? nice. Do you have the 260 GTXM or 280 GTXM? If you have one of those you should be able to go triple screen.

[Evan]

Quadro 3800M which I assume is the same?.
thats good to know, now all I need is for the dual screen dvi switchbox to finally come in....

[caa337]

Yeah thats an amazing card. the desktop version can run multiple screens so im sure you should be able too. My Ailenware can probably run multiple monitors. I have a radeon 5850 which should support eye infinity since the desktop version can run multiple ones easily.

[Tyler.M]

I know everyone hates PCs and more people hate Dells, but I gotta say, I've loved my XPS M1530 since I got it for college awhile. Honestly though, when it comes to graphics cards and that kind of thing, definitely go for a utilitarian card instead of one that focuses on graphical stuff. Laptops are impossible to upgrade since all of the components are integrated, and you'll void the warranty (at least on my Dell) if you even look at the casing wrong. Buy yeah, radeon cards are awesome, but I personally use NVIDIA myself which are just as versatile.

Might I suggest plenty of oontz oontz ram tho? Especially if your doing presentations, 4gb is definitely worth it. and a dual core. quad cores aren't really utilized by that many programs yet... but then again, you might be using some fancy presentation program that uses it.

[Steve85]

I need some help with a 3 year old Macbook...

It is my daughters and I have been put in charge of her Christmas list which is:

New battery
New OS
External HD (internal is getting fulled up)
Overall refresh

Obviously I can get the battery and get the external HD but it's doing the complete backup, new OS install/general refresh that will drive me to throw it out the window of a car falling off a 37 story parking garage.

Some guidance please or even if someone has done this on a Mac I'd be willing to pay to have it done right and basically hand her a renewed laptop.

[Apoc]

Sounds like a good candidate for a total replacement.

[Steve85]

She's a keeper, it's the other daughter I'd like to replace sometimes.