Need a new laptop

[suzydisney971]

My HP laptop is on the way out. Lost RAM memory and getting all these error messages. Brought it to Best Buy for Geek Squad to take a look at it and they are telling me that they could repair it for $300 but that it would be a waste of money because it would break down again. It's only about 4 years old. My DH uses mostly to get on the internet. Thankfully I don't have anything important saved on it. So anyone have any recommendations on a decent laptop for budget money? I thought about a netbook but I want a dvd player in case my DS wants to watch a movie. I'm going to check the Black Friday thread to see if any deals will be up for Black Friday. TIA!!

 

[buzz2400]

I keep an eye on salescircular.com to see what laptops are on sale. I am waiting to buy one also. I usually get my laptops at bestbuy. I have tried quite a few different brands and I have had trouble with all after about a year but I only spend about $300 for each.

 

[thomas998]

My HP laptop is on the way out. Lost RAM memory and getting all these error messages. Brought it to Best Buy for Geek Squad to take a look at it and they are telling me that they could repair it for $300 but that it would be a waste of money because it would break down again. It's only about 4 years old. My DH uses mostly to get on the internet. Thankfully I don't have anything important saved on it. So anyone have any recommendations on a decent laptop for budget money? I thought about a netbook but I want a dvd player in case my DS wants to watch a movie. I'm going to check the Black Friday thread to see if any deals will be up for Black Friday. TIA!!

First advice is ignore Geek Squad... they work for Best Buy and have an incentive to push you toward buying a new computer rather than keeping the one you have... they are also grossly over price for what they do.

My first question is what do you mean lost RAM memory... you can't lose RAM memory unless someone opens the computer and removes it. IT is possible that you have some faulty memory (but that isn't likely)... or it is possible that your computer has been set up to use virtual memory on your hard drive and because of lack of hard drive space the amount of memory you are able to use is being lowered by the computer... at any rate if you computer will boot up and it runs the programs you need or want to run there really is no reason to get another computer if you are trying to save money.

Most computers can be easily upgraded with more RAM memory or a larger hard drive and doing either or both will often make you feel like you have a newer faster computer than you were used to because of the improvement more memory or a larger hard drive can make.

Also you are using an HP laptop, and HP laptops are probably one of the easiest ones to make changes to the RAM or Hard drive that I have ever worked on... I've done both changes to my wive's HP and doing both things took less than 5 minutes to install.... the only thing that was a pain was re installing the operating system and software which takes the time waiting for it to happen but is still not a big deal.

If you can tell me the exact model number of the HP (found on the bottom)... and then give me a bit of information from the system I can tell you if there is really any need to ditch your computer or if you could make a improvement in some add ons...

To get the system information click on the control panel, then click on system and look at the information on the lower right side of the box that pops up... what is the CPU it list and speed... and how much memory does it say you have...

Let me know what that information is.

 

[suzydisney971]

First advice is ignore Geek Squad... they work for Best Buy and have an incentive to push you toward buying a new computer rather than keeping the one you have... they are also grossly over price for what they do.

My first question is what do you mean lost RAM memory... you can't lose RAM memory unless someone opens the computer and removes it. IT is possible that you have some faulty memory (but that isn't likely)... or it is possible that your computer has been set up to use virtual memory on your hard drive and because of lack of hard drive space the amount of memory you are able to use is being lowered by the computer... at any rate if you computer will boot up and it runs the programs you need or want to run there really is no reason to get another computer if you are trying to save money.

Most computers can be easily upgraded with more RAM memory or a larger hard drive and doing either or both will often make you feel like you have a newer faster computer than you were used to because of the improvement more memory or a larger hard drive can make.

Also you are using an HP laptop, and HP laptops are probably one of the easiest ones to make changes to the RAM or Hard drive that I have ever worked on... I've done both changes to my wive's HP and doing both things took less than 5 minutes to install.... the only thing that was a pain was re installing the operating system and software which takes the time waiting for it to happen but is still not a big deal.

If you can tell me the exact model number of the HP (found on the bottom)... and then give me a bit of information from the system I can tell you if there is really any need to ditch your computer or if you could make a improvement in some add ons...

To get the system information click on the control panel, then click on system and look at the information on the lower right side of the box that pops up... what is the CPU it list and speed... and how much memory does it say you have...

Let me know what that information is.

I get an error message that I've lost 20% RAM memory and the message just comes out of nowhere and repeats 20 times and I have to close out every box either by cancelling or continuing. I'm at work but I'll see if I can get you the model number. This is our first laptop and I don't know why it's acting up. It's not so much the memory but that it crashes when my DH is on the internet and my wallpaper is missing and so are most of the icons on my desktop. We have a HP desktop and that's fine for what I need it for. Thanks.

 

[ssawka]

If you can hold off for a month and a half, I would wait for Black Friday, unless you find a really good deal.

 

[thomas998]

I get an error message that I've lost 20% RAM memory and the message just comes out of nowhere and repeats 20 times and I have to close out every box either by cancelling or continuing. I'm at work but I'll see if I can get you the model number. This is our first laptop and I don't know why it's acting up. It's not so much the memory but that it crashes when my DH is on the internet and my wallpaper is missing and so are most of the icons on my desktop. We have a HP desktop and that's fine for what I need it for. Thanks.

The next time you see that error message write it down and send it to me exactly as its written... My first thought is that you may have a virus of some sort on your computer... If that is the case your quickest cheapest fix is to re install the operating system and software... but before you do there there are several other things that you can do to that might help.... but I've never seen a message like you describe that was caused by a hardware problem. Generally when memory is working it is working and when it isn't it isn't and the computer will run if the minimum amount that it needs is available and if not will crash or start to act up... but in general a memory stick of ram is going to be 256mb, 512mb, 1GB, 2GB or 4GB a stick... most laptops only have 2 slots for memory and if one was DOA you would lose 50% of your total memory...

Aside from posting the information, you should also consider doing the following.

Download Malwarebytes at the following site, http://www.malwarebytes.org/products/malwarebytes_free

download the free version no need to buy the pro version...

Install it and run it... do a full scan... let me know how many problems it finds and when it finds problems let it fix or delete them.... This simple act might clear up a lot of your problems, unless you have a nasty type virus.

Second. install and run the microsoft malware removal tool, download it from http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=16
Hopefully these things will eliminate your current problem.

But if you still want to speed up your machine it can probably have a memory upgrade and depending on the amount of memory your machine currently has and the operating system you are running, could have a significant impact on performance.