Help me buy a new laptop! Please :) UPDATE in OP

[Marseeya]

Next week I have to buy a new laptop computer. The one I'm replacing is an HP ZE5620us and I really liked it. It cost me around $1200 a year and a half ago. I'd like to keep the price around that or less -- between $900 and $1200 (preferably with rebates to make it lower!).

Basically I do a lot of internet surfing, a lot of word processing, some picture editing & storing, watch DVDs, and just general personal computing kind of stuff.

Right now I'm working on a Dell Inspiron and it stinks! I don't think I really want to go with another Dell, but I could be persuaded. I loved my HP and I'm just heartbroken that it died.

Any recommendations?

ETA: I found one! It's an HP Pavilion ZV6130 and you can see it here: Laptop I found it for $849 after a $50 rebate at Staples. DH was very impressed with it, and I was too. Anyway, thanks for the suggestions! I looked at the Apples and was very impressed with the user reviews, but I decided to stick with a PC for now.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Maybe fixing it will be cheaper than replacing? We have an HPzv5000 laptop and really like it too. Walmart.com had the best prices when we bought, however if you can hang on a few more weeks you'll get Christmas pricing everywhere so should be able to find a good deal.

FYI - we had the warranty on our HP desktop. When it died we sent it in and within a week we had it back working perfectly again, they replaced the hard drive. Now it's the kids computer.

 

[Marseeya]

Maybe fixing it will be cheaper than replacing? We have an HPzv5000 laptop and really like it too. Walmart.com had the best prices when we bought, however if you can hang on a few more weeks you'll get Christmas pricing everywhere so should be able to find a good deal.

FYI - we had the warranty on our HP desktop. When it died we sent it in and within a week we had it back working perfectly again, they replaced the hard drive. Now it's the kids computer.

No, it's the motherboard. Even with DH's coworker replacing it for a six-pack of beer it would cost more to fix than we want to put into it. Everywhere I've checked for it says it would be around $800 to fix.

I never thought of looking at Walmart, though. I'll check there.

 

[caitycaity]

i just bought (it arrived last week) a dell inspiron and i have been happy with it (my old one was an inspiron too), but i see you aren't happy with yours. care to share why?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Walmart is the biggest seller of HP computers in the US apparently, so you can usually get a good deal there. Good luck.

BTW, what type of processor did you have? Our desktop that died had an Athlon processor - they told us it was the motherboard too. Will only buy Pentium now.

 

[momof3disneyholics]

Call Dell. They built a nice one for me, and put exactly what I wanted in it.

 

[iggbees]

if you're into picture editing, you could look at the ibook. it's only 999$. i've been a lifelong user of apple, never once had a problem with anything and the software it includes for picture editing is great. i even persuaded my boyfriend to get an apple, now he's got two and he's a computer scientist who had to use apple in high school and swore never to go back.

 

[lap3]

...Basically I do a lot of internet surfing, a lot of word processing, some picture editing & storing, watch DVDs, and just general personal computing kind of stuff...

Any recommendations?

Have you considered an Apple iBook? They can do everything you're looking for and more. They're not counter-intuitive so it's super easy to use. I've been using my current model for a little over 3 years and it's been extremely reliable...no problems as of yet.

 

[Marseeya]

i just bought (it arrived last week) a dell inspiron and i have been happy with it (my old one was an inspiron too), but i see you aren't happy with yours. care to share why?

It's a bottom of the line Dell and so much slower than my HP was. It also crashes a lot.

 

[Marseeya]

Walmart is the biggest seller of HP computers in the US apparently, so you can usually get a good deal there. Good luck.

BTW, what type of processor did you have? Our desktop that died had an Athlon processor - they told us it was the motherboard too. Will only buy Pentium now.

It was a Celeron M. The problem with the motherboard is with the power. It has gotten to the point where it won't even take a charge, so it's pretty unusable. I'm going to have to get my DH to take out the hard drive for me and see if he can get something set up at work so I can get all my documents off there.

 

[Marseeya]

For those of you who have mentioned Apples, how difficult was it to make the switch from a PC? I've looked at a few of them and the only thing is, I don't have a whole lot of time right now to devote to learning a whole new system. I pretty much have to get up and running right away.

 

[lap3]

For those of you who have mentioned Apples, how difficult was it to make the switch from a PC? I've looked at a few of them and the only thing is, I don't have a whole lot of time right now to devote to learning a whole new system. I pretty much have to get up and running right away.

Not difficult at all. In fact, on business trips, I'll bring both a PC for work and my iBook along for pleasure. Why? Work won't let me use the PC for personal stuff. Yeah, it's heavy carrying both but totally worth it. If you have an Apple store or retailer near you, stop by and at least check it out. You'd be surprise how easy it is to use.

 

[iggbees]

For those of you who have mentioned Apples, how difficult was it to make the switch from a PC? I've looked at a few of them and the only thing is, I don't have a whole lot of time right now to devote to learning a whole new system. I pretty much have to get up and running right away.

apple is extremely simple to use. especially the new interface (osx, people are afraid to switch because they think it's still like os 9 which was a bit more difficult). basically everything is right out on the dock for you. when you start your computer up for the first time you can set up your internet and other things as well. it goes through this whole program that tells you what to do.

http://www.apple.com/switch/

try looking there for some answers. i also suggest going to an apple store if there is one near you just to see what the guys in the store have to say. they are very knowledgeable if you've never owned an apple before.