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Looking to Buy a Laptop


Hayabusa

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Well, last time I was buying a TV, you guys helped me out a lot. Props.

I want a new computer/laptop, because the one I have now just doesnt cut it.

Main use for the new machine will be: Random and brief web surf. Typing up stuff. Storing, editting, and messing around with scanned pictures. Random file storage.

 

I will likely have on it some sort of office app., photoshop, and illustrator. I dont really use a computer for much else. I will have my own files (documents, pictures, etc) but I plan on keeping all the music and BS on the PC though this may also change. At the moment, I have about 6GB of my own files and shit on the computer (excluding programs and so on)

 

I may also upload photos and images online somewhere through the laptop. (my connection sucks so we;ll see)

 

ANYWAY

 

I have no clue about computers. What kind of features and components should I look out for when picking out a good and reasonably priced one? Memory, speed, etc, I dont know what these things are called in technical terms, nor do I really have an idea of what is a good number or a bad number to have on average. I dont know anything about ports, or any other things I may be over looking. I have a scanner and a printer, but doubt ill hook up the laptop to them directly. Instead I will likely transfer shit via USB and do it that way.

All i know for sure is, my PS3 has more storage space than our PC. Our PC is old, and it needs replacing.

 

Thanks for any help guys.

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make sure you get a fast harddrive if you can, most peolpe look to get giant sized harddrives but the speed is more important if you actually want to have more than one thing open at the same time, its easy to find really big cheap external harddrives if at some point you run out of room but its alot harder to speed it up once its in, thats just my two cents

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i dont need a brand or something

I need to know

what number/term explains speed

whats a good speed

whats a good size harddrive

etc etc

specifics and stats more so than just saying 'macbook' or get something with good speed (i dont really know what a good speed IS)

 

/computer illiterate

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the white macbooks are only $999 right now.

 

 

got a student ID, and it will be at least $100 off that price.

 

 

 

i don't mind PC's, i just fucking hate windows.

 

 

*edit

just realized there is a mac banner always on here. no wonder i knew the price so fast.

hahaha. HIGH.

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i dont need a brand or something

I need to know

what number/term explains speed

whats a good speed

whats a good size harddrive

etc etc

specifics and stats more so than just saying 'macbook' or get something with good speed (i dont really know what a good speed IS)

 

/computer illiterate

 

Hard drive size is up to you...put since you said you have pictures and they tend to take up space i would go with 250G or higher harddrive space

 

and something that spins at 5400rpm which is pretty fast

also get something with at least 3GB of RAM

 

if you do all that you will have a pretty good laptop

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A few things to keep in mind in order of importance:

First, if you aint into computers that much dropping anything more than $600 would be a waste.

 

Processor, I'd recommend a dual core for your needs, not the fasted but not slow either.

 

Ram, this is important, for a the newer laptops running Vista I'd suggest 4gb of ram if you want photoshop to run fast, but 2gb's would be a bare minimum but make sure you can upgrade to 4 or 8 later just in case you need to.

 

Operating System: A bare bones vista 32 is all you need, fuck anything more, you won't need it, don't get anything other than XP or Vista (unless you spring double the money and get a mac) if you want to use photoshop, some of the newer netbooks run operating systems that cannot run photoshop.

 

Hard drive, sounds like you really don't need much 40gb would suit your needs, I'd go with 80 though since you may want to start downloading free shit eventually and changing out parts on a laptop is not as easy as a tower.

 

DVD drive, a must for a laptop, don't go cheap here and get something that won't burn a DVD either, get a DVDR or DVDRW

 

Screen size is personal preferance, if you want to use photoshop a lot a larger screen makes it easier on you. Don't go too big though and have a 30pound laptop you have to lug around.

 

Thats all the very basic shit to know, HP, Dell, and Gateway make the best shit when it comes down to money spent verses reliability and quality.

I'm sure someone will chime in with some other brand but these are the larger brands out with few problems and still cheap.

 

 

 

*Oh yea, get some sort of anti Virus Program if you don't really know a lot about computers.

It will slow you down a little but losing all your shit and not having a computer will slow you down more.

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Hard drive size is up to you...put since you said you have pictures and they tend to take up space i would go with 250G or higher harddrive space

 

and something that spins at 5400rpm which is pretty fast

also get something with at least 3GB of RAM

 

if you do all that you will have a pretty good laptop

 

 

5400 rpm fast?

 

lies

 

make it at least 7200 rpms for the hard drive

 

everything else i would agree on

 

 

and as far as an operating system goes..skip on vista

move on to windows 7 or downgrade to XP

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5400 rpm fast?

 

lies

 

make it at least 7200 rpms for the hard drive

 

everything else i would agree on

 

 

and as far as an operating system goes..skip on vista

move on to windows 7 or downgrade to XP

 

well relitivly, I dont think he would need anything faster then 5400

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No need in buying a Lappy with a huge hardrive when you can purchase an external in the future if need be.

 

Save the money you would have spent on the HD and allot it to a better cpu. Dual core is a bare minimum. I suggest getting a lower tier AMD quadcore. Fuck Intel.

 

You are also gunna want to get a decent graphics card. Nothing over the top but you don't want to bottleneck your system with a shitty graphics card.

 

Try www.newegg.com they have stellar prices and delivery

 

And remember,

 

FUCK INTEL

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I want a new computer/laptop, because the one I have now just doesnt cut it.

Main use for the new machine will be: Random and brief web surf. Typing up stuff. Storing, editting, and messing around with scanned pictures. Random file storage.

 

I will likely have on it some sort of office app., photoshop, and illustrator. I dont really use a computer for much else. I will have my own files (documents, pictures, etc) but I plan on keeping all the music and BS on the PC though this may also change. At the moment, I have about 6GB of my own files and shit on the computer (excluding programs and so on)

 

I may also upload photos and images online somewhere through the laptop. (my connection sucks so we;ll see)

 

I don't think half the people read what you typed regarding what you plan on using it for.

 

Are you going to be using it at home exclusively, or will you carry it along with you too?

 

If you will be traveling with it, I would advise NOT getting a quad-core processor based model, as one they are HUGE (17"-18"), and power consumption is probably a lot higher than a dual-core model. A quad-core model can be thought of as a small desktop.

 

Yes, AMD is cheaper, but the Intel Core 2 Duo has a zillion more models to chose from.

 

I would suggest a Core 2 Duo notebook - speed, I don't know, as I really don't pay attention to that anymore. Just look for the best bang for your buck. Be sure it has 3GB of memory or more. Many models have 4GB now, the maximum (RAM is cheap). All notebooks now have wireless and ethernet integrated as a standard, so that is no issue. If you can get a model with a 64-bit edition of Vista (Home Premium, Business, Ultimate) pre-loaded, go for it. I wouldn't roll back to XP as I'm sure support will be discontinued in some time, and it doesn't support memory capacity higher than 3GB - unless it is the x64 edition, which is basically a beta 64-bit version of Professional.

 

Purchasing a Vista pre-loaded notebook now and between January 31, 2010 entitles you to a free upgrade to Windows 7 when that drops. It is supposed to be a lighter-weight Windows (unlike Vista), and just all-around better. I've been getting a lot of good feedback about it. You will be able to get the upgrade through the computer manufacturer.

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