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GaryBeu

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So Carla has decided that she needs a laptop computer. She's now a Junior at Western Kentucky University doing a double major. Coming home and working on this computer works out but she really needs one at school. What do you computer gurus recommend? Probably should be in the $500 range if possible. She can get Microsoft Office Suite for $100. Thanks.
 
Let the games begin! :smirk: You're gonna get all manner of recommendations.

I'm typing this on a three-year-old Toshiba which has not missed a beat in all this time.
 
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Overstock.com for a refurb. Dell LATITUDE laptop. Fairly cheap and reasonable...guaranteed.
 
My boss on the DJ side of things used to have a Toshiba. It really was the warhorse machine and the go-to anytime the main laptop failed. Lasted several years until it picked up a small virus that made it hang up one night. The main laptop had decided to update itself in the middle of playing and was in the process of restarting itself... which led to dead air... which led to drunks who think they know better heckling him. So needless to say my boss was a bit worked up... And the Toshiba not starting due to that virus was the final straw that night... He threw that thing the length of the bar. got it to start up a few days later to remove files that we needed but that was the end of that computer... That thing was tough!
 
Driving a Lenovo personally - formerly IBM, but, go for speed and memory at whoever has them cheap - Bestbuy, Overstock etc.etc. Quality almost interchangeable - price trumps.
 
I have a Macbook Pro, so you probably don't want to hear from me :rolleyes: but you might want to check out Frys.com - sometimes you can get some decent deals!
 
I think it's Google Chrome that's advertising on TV a new super thin lap top for around $289.00. PJ
 
In the under $500 range, I manage to pick up a Samsung NP305E5A-A07US with Windows 7 roughly 2 months ago. This laptop came with a quad-core AMD A6 processor, and is upgradable to the newer AMD A10 quad-core processor (which I have not done yet). It also came with 4GB of RAM, I DID upgrade that to 8GB since RAM is inexpensive these days (the extra 4GB was roughly $20).

I also have a MacBookPro (w/ Intel i7 processor) that work has provisioned to me. While I will agree that the MacBookPro (MBP) is a very powerful and "well built" laptop, it is also very heavy. It's aluminum chassis construction is nice and the display is top notch (quite possibly the best I've seen on a laptop). However, it is also mega expensive (even the REFURBISHED units exceed $1500), and it doesn't even have a full keyboard.

I bought my "cheap thrills" Samsung laptop because I recognized a need to delineate work and play computing, and the Asus netbook that I have is too underpowered and too small to use for games. The battery life matches or surpasses the battery life on my work's MBP, which is 3'ish hours on full charge. So far, the only thing I've found lacking on my Samsung is the display. It's plenty good. However, my gripe with the display on my Samsung is grounded in the fact that I've been using a MBP (with it's exceedingly awesome display) for work over the past year. So, seeing the short comings of the Samsung's display is more apparent than if I had never used or seldom used a MBP.

I think this laptop will last a while, especially after upgrading the processor to the AMD A10 processor, and upgrading the HDD to a SSD. Of course both of these upgrades will happen later on down the line. The biggest performance boost will be switching over to SSD as that will provide a 10x boost in disk performance, and theoretically reduce battery use.
 
Nunyas said:
I also have a MacBookPro (w/ Intel i7 processor) that work has provisioned to me. While I will agree that the MacBookPro (MBP) is a very powerful and "well built" laptop, it is also very heavy. It's aluminum chassis construction is nice and the display is top notch (quite possibly the best I've seen on a laptop). However, it is also mega expensive (even the REFURBISHED units exceed $1500), and it doesn't even have a full keyboard.
Click to expand...

Have you felt the "new" MBP with the retina display? Heavy is ain't.
 
how light are we talking here? I though my MBP was light when i got it, but when I got my Samsung and found it's half the weight, it made me reconsider what's "heavy" relative to laptops ;)


nm... i just looked it up. The new MBPs weigh about the same as my Samsung :p
 
OI! What's all this Mac talk?!?! :devilgrin: :savewave:

There are some good Lenovo deals out there. The Samsung Rob has is about the best deal out there, "upgradable" processor and SSD capability will keep it viable for quite a while.
 
Nunyas said:
how light are we talking here? I though my MBP was light when i got it, but when I got my Samsung and found it's half the weight, it made me reconsider what's "heavy" relative to laptops ;)


nm... i just looked it up. The new MBPs weigh about the same as my Samsung :p
Click to expand...

More than a pound lighter: New vs Old MBP
 
That's a significant weight loss. I was looking at the specs on them, and it's definitely built for speed, efficiency, and lightness. The only downside is it appears they have ditched the internal CD/DVD ROM drive, which was the weakest link in the older MBPs, IMO. I do like that they've gone full solid state with it for the disk drives. They're quick, quiet, and light (the SSDs). If I had the money for a personal MBP, it would certainly be a tempting product.
 
Double your budget but... I just got a MacBook Air base model. If I was running around with a laptop I would get the 11". Light. Very cool. Mine is 13" which is not as cute but bigger screen for me makes a difference. Light. Silent. I don't tax my machine like some here so base model works fine for me. Imported Excel files with tabs and formulas into Numbers no problem so didn't even bother with Office. Yes they are expensive but the 11" Air is just too cool.
 
I have a Toshiba that I have used as my only computer for the last 18 months it is just as everyone else has said a very solid reliable computer. I also bought my wife one last December and she is also very happy.
 
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