Need a new laptop

[SDSorority]

Hi all. I'm in need of a new laptop... but don't have a ton of $$$ to spend. Any good deals going on? I'm a PC, but am open to Mac because I've heard GREAT things. DBIL used to work for Microsoft... and now owns a Mac as does his wife. Any hints on where to look for a new laptop?

 

[pulpinator]

Well, since you're on the "Budget" board, you probably don't want a Mac!!

Look at Costco, they usually have very good deals on HP laptops, and they extend the warranty for free.

 

[SDSorority]

Well, since you're on the "Budget" board, you probably don't want a Mac!!

Look at Costco, they usually have very good deals on HP laptops, and they extend the warranty for free.

Do I have to be a member to buy from costco?

 

[tobylars]

Alot of stores, (Office Max, Best Buy, etc) are having their Back-to-Schools right now and there are some good deals. Always double-check the features on each one. Dh got a great deal on his last fall, but didn't realize there was no Media card reader, so he had to buy an attachment.

 

[abmitch01]

took me forever to switch to mac but I haven't had any regrets. I have had the entry level one for well over 2 yrs and LOVE it

 

[Magic Mom]

I have a Sony Vaio and I love it. I had an HP before this and it was a lemon.

 

[dawson5]

Our first pc was a Compaq and was in twice before we owned it for a year. Granted that was 10 yrs ago, hopefully things have changed.

We bought a Sony Vaio to replace that, it is still going strong. It needs a better video card to handle the facebook games that the kids want to play, but other than that it still works perfectly (we believe the integrated video card was shot, it's part of the motherboard. My son put in a basic very low power one and it's working fine without any of the problems we had prior--glowing pixels). One thing to keep in mind, not sure if it changed or not but they seemed to use proprietary parts. We looked into buying a new motherboard but could not find them, what we did find was online and was over $250. This was for a five year old machine, didn't make sense to do that. It's now eight+ years old, will be nine in November.

So we took the money we would have used to fix the Sony and found a great deal on a Gateway. I paid under $600 for it (free shipping and no tax) and got a very powerful computer. I did have to replace the hard drive on it though (under $75) after a year. They put a Western Digital "Green" in it, which if you read reviews really isn't great. Found a deal on a 750GB WD Caviar Black, it replaced the 500GB Green. Runs top notch now, no issues. It is a Core 2 Quad and originally had 1TB of hard drive space and 4GB RAM, decent graphics card. No monitor though, bought that at BB cheaply. We didn't need it, hubby surprised me with a larger one.

My son bought an Acer two+ years ago for around $400, with a monitor and printer. This was right around the time they brought out Vista (first week that it came out). He has not had any problems except that he needed more RAM, which he bought. It runs great now.

Granted these are all desktops.

For deals going on, go to www.salescircular.com and choose your state. Should give you the deals for the brick & mortar stores. If you don't mind buying off the internet try Tiger Direct and Newegg (sign up for the newsletter for ever better deals).

 

[disneyofcourse]

I have owned this Sony Vaio desktop for seven years and I just bought the best one of the time and its lasted me this long with zero issues! Best $2000 I ever spent!

 

[ICan'tWait]

Keep an eye out on slickdeals.com. (I hope it's ok to post websites here...) It's where I found my last laptop and I've had friends find good deals on that site as well.

 

[acmmommymouse]

had a PC from Compaq for the last 10 years. I decided to splurge, which I so seldom do on myself for tech stuff, and I bought a cute little white Macbook about 2 months ago. I absolutely LOVE IT and am soooooooo glad that my kids urged me to go for it. It is all mine and will last for a long time and worth every penny I gave up. I know this isn't a budget answer, but if you can find the $$$$$ go for it!

 

[ExPirateShopGirl]

I like Dell. Have had several (some custom ordered new, some refurbished) all worked beautifully. Never had a reason to call for a warranty issue on any of them. Had a login issue with one but fixed it myself by looking up the issue online and resolved it myself.

Older daughter got a Macbook for HS graduation 3 years ago. Thankfully we bought the Applecare because it's had the motherboard replaced twice, the hard drive once, the network card once, and then finally replaced in its entirety. Not sure what, if any, issues the new one has had.

 

[Cjmuma]

Can I Recommend a Dell? I strongly suggest the dell outlet. My DH got an AWESOME laptop for 799 through them. It comes with a warranty, and his was a refurbished and I could not tell the difference from the one I got that was over 1500. I will always buy from the dell outlet from now on

 

[DawnM]

We always bought Dells, until I got my iMac. I will never go back! I am already trying to figure out how to get a desktop Mac too!

Dawn

 

[WheelCEO]

if you go with an intel processor, make sure it is the i3 or i5 as it is the newest technology.

 

[pulpinator]

Do I have to be a member to buy from costco?

Yes you do. If you're not already a member, then maybe not worth it. It's $50/year membership. Although we save more than $50/month shopping there (I did the math!).

 

[bucket o' butter]

We were at Best Buy last weekend and they had a Compaq laptop for $299. Full size one, not a netbook. DH looked at it and said it was basic, but unless you were planning to play real high tech games, it was a good computer. I don't anymore details. I was looking for my friend who is replacing her son's laptop. We bought our son one very similar to it almost two years ago, and (knock on wood) haven't had any problems with it at all.

 

[chevblazer02]

Check out Toshiba's. May cost a little more but definately better than HP's and Dell's.

 

[smokeyblue]

Mac's are great, they are the highest rated computer in Consumer's Reports, but expect to pay three times as much for them.

For $400 to $500 you should be able to get a good laptop that will get you through a few years. At this price point you will get a decent processor speed, hard drive space and memory, things that are lacking in this price range are sound systems, graphic cards, battery life and the sturdiness of the case itself. This is the range of laptop I have now. I have a 2 year old Toshiba. It still works fairly well, the battery will not hold a charge so I always use it with a cord, and the case has some cracking issues. However, I feel that I have got more than my money out of this machine for the abuse I give it!

If you go up to the $600-$800 range you are going to get a better machine. Usually better speakers, sturdier case, sometimes better battery life, faster processor and more memory. If you can afford it I would get something in this range, but like I said my cheaper Toshiba has worked well for 2 years now under heavy, heavy use.

If you go up even a little more in price you again will get faster processing speeds, more memory and probably very good batttery life. Really, I don't think its worth going past the $800 mark.

Really, the only brand I don't like is Dell. I just personally don't like the styling and feel. Also my bf had a total lemon Sony Viao, so that brand totally turns me off, but I know people who love their Viao's. His current HP is VERY nice and it was in that $600 range. Great graphics, strudy case, good speakers, lots of memory and hard drive space.

So that's my ramble about laptops. I pay a lot of attention to the computers my friends and family have and have formed my opinion from that. Best Buy has great deals in the month of August, I got mine 2 years ago in august and my BF got his last august. If there were a time of the year to get a great deal on a laptop it is now!

 

[wmharley]

Yes you do. If you're not already a member, then maybe not worth it. It's $50/year membership. Although we save more than $50/month shopping there (I did the math!).

you can (or could) order via online from them without being a member. You paid a slight % more.

 

[arminnie]

I've probably bought 5-6 computers from the Dell outlet. They are all working - even the one that is 12 years old.

My sister is a MAC consultant. She like most MAC fanatics thinks there is nothing else worth having. I used my dad's MAC for about a month last year. I just did not see the benefit. I think there are certain design fields where the software available on the MACs is better. But often software (like Southwest Ding) is late coming to MACs.

If you really think you want to spend the money for a MAC then do so. But they are not infallible. My sister's MAC has been in the shop multiple times. It's kind of like a cult.