advice on purchasing a notebook

The geek forum. PHP, Perl, HTML, hardware questions etc.. it's all in here. Got a techie question? We'll sort you out. Ask your questions or post a link to your own site here!

advice on purchasing a notebook

Postby blue elf » Thu Nov 24, 2005 12:49 pm

Hi,
I'd like to get a notebook PC, but I'm not sure which ones to look into. The main 2 I've been looking at I found on the Best Buy website. The first one is a Toshiba with an Intel Celeron M processor and the second one is a Compaq with an AMD Turion 64 processor. They both have 512 MB of RAM , but the Toshiba has a 60GB hard drive, while the Compaq has an 80GB one. This is my first notebook, so I'm not sure which one would be the best. It'll be for schoolwork, plus probably games and movies. If anyone has any other PCs they'd like to recommend that's cool too. I'd like to keep it in the $1,000 or less price range though.
User avatar
blue elf
 
Posts: 421
Joined: Fri May 30, 2003 3:50 pm
Location: Virginia

Postby Arnobius » Thu Nov 24, 2005 2:20 pm

Personally I prefer the college ruled notebook with the metal spiral binding over the other kinds. Singls subject notebooks are better than the three or five sections.
User avatar
Arnobius
 
Posts: 2870
Joined: Thu Dec 02, 2004 11:41 pm

Postby Mr. Rogers » Thu Nov 24, 2005 2:29 pm

i really liked the IMB ThinkPad series of notebooks. I don't know if I'd recommend any of the celeron processors if you're planning on watching games and movies. if you were just surfing the web and doing word processing that'd be fine, but try to get a good AMD or Pentium one if you can. http://www-131.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?storeId=10000001&catalogId=-840&langId=-1&categoryId=2035724
User avatar
Mr. Rogers
 
Posts: 1512
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2003 10:23 pm
Location: Chicago, IL

Postby blue elf » Thu Nov 24, 2005 2:49 pm

AnimeHeretic wrote:Personally I prefer the college ruled notebook with the metal spiral binding over the other kinds. Singls subject notebooks are better than the three or five sections.


Yes, those are definitely more affordable and very portable, but not really good for surfing the net, and the only game you can really play on one is Tic-tac-toe.....or Hangman. ^^ Plus, there's no DVD drive.



Update: I bought the Compaq.
User avatar
blue elf
 
Posts: 421
Joined: Fri May 30, 2003 3:50 pm
Location: Virginia

Postby rinoa_heartilly » Sat Dec 17, 2005 1:12 pm

i work at a sony store and i spend a lot of time working on the Vaio section. they are fairly popular as far as notebooks go. that being said, i would recommend a vaio FS series notebook. they're relatively cheap (look under outlet at sonystyle.com for really good deals, or visit a sony outlet near you). they do tend to be costly as far getting them repaired, but if you get an extended warranty (like from an outlet) you can get a 3 yr for 99 dollars. so yeah, they've been really popular as far as students go.
"You should see yourself. Do you have any idea what you look like right at this very moment Spike?"

"What?"

"A ravenous beast. The same blood runs through both of us, the blood of a beast who hunts for the blood of others."

"I've bled out all of that kind of blood away…"

"Then why are you STILL ALIVE!?" - Spike & Vicious, Ballad of Fallen Angels
User avatar
rinoa_heartilly
 
Posts: 25
Joined: Mon Sep 29, 2003 7:17 pm
Location: Galbadia

Postby Steeltemplar » Sat Dec 17, 2005 5:54 pm

I would say stay away from Compaq. They are middle of the road quality at best.

Sony and Toshiba are probably the best way to go. Whichever you get, buy the extended warranty. Laptops do cost a fair bit, as has been mentioned, and they also break down a lot more than desktops.
Headbangers United

"There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt." - Niccolo Machiavelli

"But even as Josue and Caleb declared that the Land of Promise was good and fair, and that the possession of it would be easy and pleasant; so the Holy Spirit, speaking by all the Saints, and our Blessed Lord Himself assure us that a devout life is a lovely, a pleasant, and a happy life." - from An Introduction to the Devout Life, by St. Francis de Sales

Loyal subject of Sakura-hime, the RP Princess.
CR-chan's faithful PNC.
FF-chan's NiichanB.
User avatar
Steeltemplar
 
Posts: 1373
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2005 10:32 pm
Location: United States of Whatever

Postby Mr. SmartyPants » Sun Dec 18, 2005 3:51 pm

Steeltemplar wrote:I would say stay away from Compaq. They are middle of the road quality at best.

Sony and Toshiba are probably the best way to go. Whichever you get, buy the extended warranty. Laptops do cost a fair bit, as has been mentioned, and they also break down a lot more than desktops.


not in this case.... celeron processor = baaaaaaaaaaad
User avatar
Mr. SmartyPants
 
Posts: 12541
Joined: Sat Aug 21, 2004 9:00 am

Postby Steeltemplar » Sun Dec 18, 2005 5:17 pm

Mr. SmartyPants wrote:not in this case.... celeron processor = baaaaaaaaaaad

Heh. Well, I was speaking in a general sense.

Let me say I agree with MSP that you should not get a Celeron.
Headbangers United

"There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt." - Niccolo Machiavelli

"But even as Josue and Caleb declared that the Land of Promise was good and fair, and that the possession of it would be easy and pleasant; so the Holy Spirit, speaking by all the Saints, and our Blessed Lord Himself assure us that a devout life is a lovely, a pleasant, and a happy life." - from An Introduction to the Devout Life, by St. Francis de Sales

Loyal subject of Sakura-hime, the RP Princess.
CR-chan's faithful PNC.
FF-chan's NiichanB.
User avatar
Steeltemplar
 
Posts: 1373
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2005 10:32 pm
Location: United States of Whatever

Postby Yojimbo » Sun Dec 18, 2005 6:55 pm

blue elf wrote:Yes, those are definitely more affordable and very portable, but not really good for surfing the net, and the only game you can really play on one is Tic-tac-toe.....or Hangman. ^^ Plus, there's no DVD drive.



Update: I bought the Compaq.


You could play Tetris...but you'd have to animate it page by page. My cousin recently got a nice HP with an AMD 64 3200 processor in it, 60 gigs, 512mb of RAM, and a DVDRW/CDRW drive in it for something like $800.
"You can't sit on the fence when it comes to Jesus, Satan owns the fence." Mark Cahill

2-151 D Co. Infantry (Air Assault)
User avatar
Yojimbo
 
Posts: 2695
Joined: Fri Jul 09, 2004 5:59 pm
Location: West Lafayette, Indiana


Return to Computing and Links

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 181 guests