Laptop Suggestions?

[jeffb]

My FIL asked me if I wanted a laptop for by upcoming Birthday and I said sure. The only question is which one to get for under 1000.

[Hockeyfan]

There is a macbook for 999 base. Otherwise if you go PC, just make sure you get a nice processor and some other bells and whistles. If you go PC you should be able to get a nice one for a grand.

[jeffb]

Yeah, I'd love to stick with Mac. I'll have to ask if thats too much...

[stretch]

Jeff the base white plastic MB has just been upgraded to the same specs of the newer aluminium models, so if you don't care about the zooty casing and trackpad, that's the one to get at $999.

And if you mainly just use the laptop in one location in your house, I'd go for a refurbished 20' iMac at the same price. The big screen makes a big difference. Their refurb section is here. (http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac?mco=MTE3NjY)

[Hockeyfan]

Yeah, I'd love to stick with Mac. I'll have to ask if thats too much...

Can't you just kick in a bit extra. If he ups the grand and you throw in a few hundred. Maybe together you could get what you want.

[Porschephile]

I would either go HP or Mac!

[jeffb]

I do love the Mac...Perhaps thats the solution. Through in some extra $$. I was just at the local Best buy looking and found a few nonMac that I thought would be ok.

The Toshiba looked nice...

[Porschephile]

Stay away from Toshiba they suck imo!

[ArchersDad]

It's not a mac but I have been happy with my Dell Vostro 1500. I upped the ram to 4GB and put in a bigger HD but it's able to run Blender and play all the games I like very smoothly.

[jeffus]

Anybody got any feedback on the Dell Studio series?

[stretch]

Anybody got any feedback on the Dell Studio series?
There's a lot of negatives online about the current generation of those. I bought my Mom a new PC laptop recently and went for the HP Pavilion instead, based on a highly-unscientific comparison of user reviews on a dozen or so tech Web sites.

[jeffus]

There's a lot of negatives online about the current generation of those. I bought my Mom a new PC laptop recently and went for the HP Pavilion instead, based on a highly-unscientific comparison of user reviews on a dozen or so tech Web sites.

Oh well. I guess I'll cross that one off the list.

Thanks for the info.

[Electriclime]

I picked up a refurbished Dell Inspiron 1720 (widescreen) from their outlet site. New would have cost about $1600, I paid half that and it comes with the full warranty. Definitely check out the manufacturer's refurbished, whether you go with an Apple or PC.

[jeffb]

Stretch, is HP really the way to go? Seems crazy, but Bestbuy has some of the best prices...

HP Laptop (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9167652&type=product&id=1218041150023)

[jeffus]

I really just want to go the BB and get it over with. You can shop online all day and add a $5 mouse pad, and so on, and so on, until the thing costs $1234.95 before shipping. ????!!!!

Gimme the $600 one that's going to get the snot beat out of it and is mostly okie-dokey. OK?

[jeffb]

pretty much what I'm thinking. Its not like we don't already have a home computer that we use for most of the stuff. So probably just use it for email and web. But I don't want a Netbook. I'd like the option of having a full computer....

[stretch]

Stretch, is HP really the way to go? Seems crazy, but Bestbuy has some of the best prices...

HP Laptop (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9167652&type=product&id=1218041150023)

That's the exact one I bought. It seemed like a really good deal even with the added sales tax buying from BB.

[jeffb]

That's the exact one I bought. It seemed like a really good deal even with the added sales tax buying from BB.

Looking at the reviews it does look good. I mean, it has 45 + reviews.

The other idea I have is getting a Sony that has Blu-ray so I could hook it up to our TV....Not much more in price...

[jeffb]

Sony Blu-Ray (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9156557&type=product&id=1218038552017#tabbed-customerreviews)

Not sure about this one. I also think the price was cheaper in the store.

[stretch]

Jeff, if you want to do Blu-ray then just get a cheap player. Running to a TV out of a computer is usually a royal PITA.

[jeffus]

That's the exact one I bought. It seemed like a really good deal even with the added sales tax buying from BB.

That's a great deal! I'm going shopping tomorrow!

[jeffb]

Its a great Laptop. It does have a monster battery!

[stretch]

Its a great Laptop. It does have a monster battery!
Does it come with the 12-cell battery? I haven't opened it up.

[jeffb]

Yeah, its a 12 cell. I asked the sales associate if there were any other laptops to look at and she basically told me to just get this one. I don't even mind Vista!

[jeffus]

I went with the Studio15.

Just....couldn't.....resist.

I just configured the wireless network. Picking-up pc tonight.

Picked-up the laptop. Let the wife fire it up and haven't been able to pry it out of her hands yet. So I'll accept that as success.

Good luck with your choice too Jeff! :chugchug:

[jeffb]

looks nice too. My only problem with this screan its like looking into a mirror. Reflects everything. but the picture is great. Great with Netflix play instantly. I haven't really installed anything. Only firefox. Can't stand IE. I also got Norton.....Different mind set then with the Mac.

[jeffus]

I paid $700 for the Dell Studio15 (http://www.dell.com/content/topics/topic.aspx/global/products/laptop_studio/includes/en/us/laptop_studio_15_superview?c=us&cs=19&l=en&pageoverride=view_0&s=dhs). This is the cheapest computer I've purchased, literally. This thing has more bells and whistles than I've had time to discover.

4GB memory
Core 2 Duo T6400 cpu
Vista 64-bit
320 GB Hard Drive
Webcam
Wireless N (2.4 GHz & 5.0 GHz) network card
HDMI output to monitor (upconvert standard DVD's)
DVD burner
mini-Firewire input
Regular EtherNet connection
4 USB ports
External VGA connection
2 headphone connections
WiFi grabber
8-in-1 memory card reader
and a slot for the old PCMCIA card

for the extra 50 bucks I threw in a Logitech wireless mouse with the nano-receiver (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mice_pointers/mice/devices/4335&cl=us,en).

We like it very much so far.