Notebook/laptop/tablet Pc Buying Guide *updated 2011*

[Guest MONICA]

i have to buy a new laptop for college this coming september. i'm kind of in the same position as rich.paekk, except i dont play games. i need to use the laptop for school stuff like writing papers, wireless internet, and i download stuff A LOT. i was thinking about a vaio [because they're the prettiest =X] lol. oh and i need it to be fast, portable, and decent battery life. thanks in advance :]

[Guest tigereyez]

My dad said he'd buy me a laptop if I won the State math competition. Surprisingly, I did this year and he said he'd buy me a laptop upto 500 dollars on Ebay (lol, we're cheap people)

Like MONICA, I don't play games and thanks to this post, I guess I don't need a video card.

I do, however, read comic books and download stuff - a lot, but I just only need pretty much a computer where I can a) type up stuff b)access the internet c) watch DVDs d)keep files - a lot of files, like music and such e)CD/DVD burner and f) be it relatively portable, pretty, and its battery life useful.

Pretty much a laptop with about 40G's, 512 RAM, with CD/DVD Burner with no dead pixels ^^.

I just need some answers to these nagging questions:

1) is Pentium IV basically the same thing as Pentium Celeron? What are the differences?

2)2.8 GHz, is this good? How much processor speed is considered fast?

3)What's the best and most reliable model to buy (ie Dell, HP, Toshiba)?

4)How much does the battery life last, anyway?

This is it for now...my mom's kicking me off so she can watch her stupid dramas.

But no more of that with my future laptop! Yay!

Thanks in advance, soompiers!...^^

[Godotology]

My dad said he'd buy me a laptop if I won the State math competition. Surprisingly, I did this year and he said he'd buy me a laptop upto 500 dollars on Ebay (lol, we're cheap people)

$500 won't get you anything good, infact you're limited to used computers, or those on sale HP/Compaq/Toshiba models that are usually very low end and using a celeron processor. Lenovo might release a new budget line but it'll probably be over $500.

Like MONICA, I don't play games and thanks to this post, I guess I don't need a video card.

unfortunately you don't have a choice, at $500, you won't find any model with a dedicated video card

Pretty much a laptop with about 40G's, 512 RAM, with CD/DVD Burner with no dead pixels ^^.

the no dead pixel is pretty much up to luck in this case. Some manufacturers offer a pixel perfect guarantee that you have to purchase seperately, others (like Asus) include it in their high end line, which will probably be beyond your budget

I just need some answers to these nagging questions:

1) is Pentium IV basically the same thing as Pentium Celeron? What are the differences?

No. The Celeron is designed specifically for Notebooks, keeping in mind battery life and heat. The Pentium IV requires a larger heat sink, thus the notebooks containing them tend to be thicker. Celeron is usually 1.3-1.6ghz (not too sure on exact numbers but it should be it). You won't find too many current notebooks using Pentium 4 unless it is a big gaming rig.

2)2.8 GHz, is this good? How much processor speed is considered fast?

only the Pentium IV models will get 2.8ghz. The new Intel line, starting from the Celeron, Pentium M, and Core Duo all range between 1.66ghz to 2.13ghz.. however don't let the numbers fool you.. 2.13ghz from this processor is faster than a pentium 4 with 4.0ghz.

3)What's the best and most reliable model to buy (ie Dell, HP, Toshiba)?

Depends on specific models, as well as your budget.. a $500 laptop will get you something worth that quality.. paying $2000 for an Apple Powerbook, Asus Ensemble, or Lenovo Thinkpad will get you something solid, longer lasting and better built..but you have to pay for that quality. You will be limited to either top of the line "old models" as in 2-3 years ago, or current budget models.

4)How much does the battery life last, anyway?

Thanks in advance, soompiers!...^^

depends on the size of the battery (3,4,6,8,9 or 12 cell).. and the laptop itself. something using integrated graphics, a Celeron or Pentium M processor, and a 6 or 8 cell laptop can range from 2h30m to 4hs.

I think you should up your budget to at least $700

i have to buy a new laptop for college this coming september. i'm kind of in the same position as rich.paekk, except i dont play games. i need to use the laptop for school stuff like writing papers, wireless internet, and i download stuff A LOT. i was thinking about a vaio [because they're the prettiest =X] lol. oh and i need it to be fast, portable, and decent battery life. thanks in advance :]

you should best ask in july of august because alot of new models will come out by then as well as better pricing. the general rule of thumb is to buy when you really need it.

[Guest tigereyez]

Hm. But I've been looking on Ebay for refurbished, used, and somewhat new (overstock) products and for $500, I found a lot of Dell Inspirons that were 40G, 512 MB Ram, CD/DVD, 2.8 GHz from Celeron, etc. - new ones too.

I think you know a lot about computers (more than I will ever lol)

So I don't know...Are you saying that these are all scams? o_o

[Guest userid]

i would look into refurbs only if it's by the manufracture and does carry a decent warranty.

[Guest Xarthan]

Hey I have a brand new Inspiron 6000 that's not a refurb that's still in the box with I think 3 years left on the warranty. if anyone is interested I can sell to a fellow soompier before I ebay the lapie. (1.5, 512 Ram, 40GB HD)

[Guest tigereyez]

^ That seems pretty cool.

How much are you thinking of selling it for?

Additionally, I have more questions for the soompi community!

1) To buy a "good" laptop, what brand is best? Brand tried to explain it to me, but...I'm still kind of confused. You know, a good brand that's not too cheap or expensive. Forget what I said the price limit was - Dell, Toshia, etc. I see a whole bunches of Dell Inspirons and IBM Thinkpads...and I'm not quite sure what's what.

2)What's WIFI?

3) I'm a junior in high school....and my dad said I had the option of waiting till my senior summer to get a laptop. That seems great, expect...I kinda want it now :-/ Plus, I'd still have to get it on Ebay anyway. My needs and demands are quiet modest (I think^^) and I don't think it'll make that much of difference. I buy it now or later. The fact is, I want it for coming up senior year and this summer. What do you guys think? Do you guys think i should wait?

[Godotology]

1) To buy a "good" laptop, what brand is best? Brand tried to explain it to me, but...I'm still kind of confused. You know, a good brand that's not too cheap or expensive. Forget what I said the price limit was - Dell, Toshia, etc. I see a whole bunches of Dell Inspirons and IBM Thinkpads...and I'm not quite sure what's what.

ultimately depends on the model. For example the Fujitsu C series is crap and built shoddily, but the rest of their line up is well built and high quality.

Dell has 3 laptop lines in the US.. Inspiron (the main stream one), Latitude (usually better built and more expensive), and the XPS line (with the exception of the M140, it is aimed towards gamers).

Thinkpad is one of the two lines Lenovo (formerly IBM) offers. The Z, T and X series from Lenovo are usually built with titanium in the chassis (compared to abs plastic most other brands use).. and thus are lighter, sturdier and more durable.

Toshiba has 3 lines, the Sattelite (aimed toward average users), Tecra (the higher end line), and Qosmio. While the Tecra is better built.. I personally find all 3 of them to be poorly built compared to their rivals.. keyboard and palm rests have major flex problems, battery life is poor, and generates a significant amount of heat.

Dell Inspirons, HP, and Compaq are all decent brands.. they don't really offer anything exciting but they're not bad either and since you're on a budget you probably would have to settle for these.

Other brands such as Asus, Clevo, Fujitsu, Sony, Apple and Lenovo usually either incorporate high performing video cards, better build (using either carbon fiber, titanium, or magnesium in the chassis and lid), and sleeker looks..but you have to be willing to spend the money for them because they certainly are NOT cheap.. especially Apple and Sony.

2)What's WIFI?

what's used to get wireless internet

3) I'm a junior in high school....and my dad said I had the option of waiting till my senior summer to get a laptop. That seems great, expect...I kinda want it now :-/ Plus, I'd still have to get it on Ebay anyway. My needs and demands are quiet modest (I think^^) and I don't think it'll make that much of difference. I buy it now or later. The fact is, I want it for coming up senior year and this summer. What do you guys think? Do you guys think i should wait?

like i said earlier.. NEVER buy a notebook until you really need it. Like most technology, prices will always go down and there will always be a better product later.

[Guest MONICA]

you should best ask in july of august because alot of new models will come out by then as well as better pricing. the general rule of thumb is to buy when you really need it.

yea that's what my parents keep telling me but i'm sooooooooooooooo impatient. i wanted a laptop so i can take it to korea to watch dvds...i guess i'll just buy a portable dvd player haha.

[Godotology]

yea that's what my parents keep telling me but i'm sooooooooooooooo impatient. i wanted a laptop so i can take it to korea to watch dvds...i guess i'll just buy a portable dvd player haha.

i know that feeling.. but seriously..once you get over it, and when the time comes.. you'll thank yourself for waiting. Last year I really wanted an Asus w3v laptop.. it was a hard wait.. then when summer came, it had a $100 rebate.. and then another rebate came.. and this year, a new refresh model will come out that is so much superior over the previous model.

when are you going to Korea?

[Guest megaSTEPxo]

Hi Range (again!)

I was wondering if you heard of the brand Averatec? If so, what are your opinions about it? I need some feedback^^ Thanks!

And also.. can you give me some feedbacks on this Sony Vaio FS830w?

• Intel Pentium M 740 processor (1.73GHz)

• 512MB DDR2 RAM

• 80GB Hard drive

• DVD Writer with Dual Layer support

• 15.4” WXGA display with XBrite

It's selling for $1,299.98 CAD.. (so about $1481.98 after tax) .. for this price? is it worth it?

Before I really had my mind set on Toshiba or Compaq (since it seems cheaper) but the more I look at it.. the more I think it looks better than Compaq and Toshiba. However, Sony is a lot more expensive but because like I mentioned a few pages ago, I don't need extreme functions.. so I am hoping to find maybe a lower end Sony one. At this point, I guess my price range can be below ~$1500. And is there a time when laptops are the cheapest?? Like you adviced above, you said if you can wait, than wait. I guess the longest I can wait right now is no later mid August?

[Azngel]

hi range,

what do you think of this laptop? worth the price?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1134703552594

thanks

[Godotology]

I was wondering if you heard of the brand Averatec? If so, what are your opinions about it? I need some feedback^^ Thanks!

And also.. can you give me some feedbacks on this Sony Vaio FS830w?

• Intel Pentium M 740 processor (1.73GHz)

• 512MB DDR2 RAM

• 80GB Hard drive

• DVD Writer with Dual Layer support

• 15.4” WXGA display with XBrite

It's selling for $1,299.98 CAD.. (so about $1481.98 after tax) .. for this price? is it worth it?

Before I really had my mind set on Toshiba or Compaq (since it seems cheaper) but the more I look at it.. the more I think it looks better than Compaq and Toshiba. However, Sony is a lot more expensive but because like I mentioned a few pages ago, I don't need extreme functions.. so I am hoping to find maybe a lower end Sony one. At this point, I guess my price range can be below ~$1500. And is there a time when laptops are the cheapest?? Like you adviced above, you said if you can wait, than wait. I guess the longest I can wait right now is no later mid August?

what do you think of this laptop? worth the price?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1134703552594

To both of you, no and no.

The Sony Vaio FS830w is a model from last year using the Sonoma processor. Sony has already moved on with Core Duo models such as the FE series. For Canada, check CanadaSys (just google them) and try configure some Asus "Built On" models to see if you can get a better deal. Asus is the ODM for Sony so the quality is similar. Since the FS is a 15.4" model, Asus has the Z70 and Z71 series which is the equivelent. the FS830w doesn't seem to have a dedicated graphics card so it's not going to be great for gaming.. so if you don't need a gpu, go configure the Asus Z71a (this one also doesnt have a vid card). Other wise if you want more power, go for the Z70va or Z71v. Also on CanadaSys is the Fujitsu N3511.. around the same price as the Vaio, but you get a little more.. a better processor and a dedicated (but low end) graphics card. However the N series is a pound heavier, but much of it is due to the magnesium lid it has.. very sturdy.

In regards to the Sony Vaio SZ110/B offered by Best Buy. at $1849, I can think of some better alternatives. The thing is, is that at the moment, the Vaio SZ is the ONLY 13.3" widescreen in the US with a dedicated graphics card.. the Nvidia Go 7400, which is the best card you can get on a 13.3" laptop (the card itself is pretty decent for a low end card). However I can think of several models coming out in the next several month that can match the Vaio SZ series, and would be cheaper. If you're willing to wait, around April or May, Asus will release the W3J, which is a size higher 14.1" widescreen.. has the ATi x1600 card (far superior to that of the Go 7400), AND will come in at $1799. It should be superior to the Vaio in every way possible save weight. There will also be the W7J, which is also 13.3" and using the Go 7400..pricing should be competitive. However you should also consider if you really need the dedicated video in it.. and when you need it. If you need it now and could do w/o the vid card. the Fujitsu S2110 should be ALOT cheaper. it's a 13" inch as well but standard ratio.

As for Averatec, they always targetted people who are on a tight budget.. thus their laptops are cheap.. most of them aren't built very well, they flex VERY easily, the lid is weak, the keyboard mushy, and the chassis and hinges wearing out after a year or two. Some of their models are built by MSI and Twinhead, which are better built than the rest of the Averatecs..but if you were to go that route, I'd rather buy direct from MSI instead. (I don't think you can get the Twinhead model elsewhere).

[Guest sunshine4ever]

Range, I have a question, I'm having a dv1331se HP notebook, no idea if you know what brand it is, but my battery is only around an hour. Do I need to buy another type of batter to put in if I want more hours? It's so inconvienient, I can't do much..always have to carry all the stuffs come with it.

[Godotology]

Range, I have a question, I'm having a dv1331se HP notebook, no idea if you know what brand it is, but my battery is only around an hour. Do I need to buy another type of batter to put in if I want more hours? It's so inconvienient, I can't do much..always have to carry all the stuffs come with it.

how long have you had it? that one is a 2004 model.. battery does degrade after time, but yes you might need to buy another one.

[Guest sunshine4ever]

how long have you had it? that one is a 2004 model.. battery does degrade after time, but yes you might need to buy another one.

last year, I think it's a 2005 one...

I got it in November..

sorry didn't get back to this thread when you asked for the name of my laptop..it's night now and I don't want to turn on the light to find out the year..I think it's recent..

oh yeah, what happened to you? you disappeared for days!!! did you return to Hawaii as said?

[Guest MONICA]

i know that feeling.. but seriously..once you get over it, and when the time comes.. you'll thank yourself for waiting. Last year I really wanted an Asus w3v laptop.. it was a hard wait.. then when summer came, it had a $100 rebate.. and then another rebate came.. and this year, a new refresh model will come out that is so much superior over the previous model.

when are you going to Korea?

may 30th through june 29th :]

[Godotology]

may 30th through june 29th :]

ah you have some time then. Recently Intel released the Core Duo for laptops and we're starting to see some vendors release their newest models with this processor. By May, we should start seeing even more models. Of course, Korea might have some products you'll like there as well. Both LG and Samsung are not sold in the US due to a non compete with Lenovo and Dell respectively. Should you buy an LG in Korea, LG of American will honor the warranty.

[Guest vannushka]

Hi Range. I am asking this for my brother. He wants a laptop and his main purpose is to play games. It doesnt have to be portable..so I guess the 14inch+ range is fine. Could you give me a few models that are good for gamers? Thanks

[Godotology]

Hi Range. I am asking this for my brother. He wants a laptop and his main purpose is to play games. It doesnt have to be portable..so I guess the 14inch+ range is fine. Could you give me a few models that are good for gamers? Thanks

what's his price range?, does he have any video card preferences? and when does he need one by?