I DID A SEARCH

anyways,

i'm in the market for a laptop, and i was hoping to cash in on a Black Friday deal of some sort when i ran across this: http://www.staples.com/HP-Pavilion-dv7-4171us-17.3-Laptop/product_905669&cmArea=CIRCULAR

would this be a good bet? i really wanted to keep my budget around the $500 range, but for what i want i dont think that's gonna happen. i want:
-at least a 17" LED screen
-at least 4GB ddr3 ram
-dedicated graphics, at least 512mb
-a halfway decent processor, at least i3 level

this is going to be a desktop replacement that i dont plan on moving around that often, so size really isnt an issue. i might play some not-too-intensive games, and i will almost definitely be using it for music production at some point. should i stick with the HP, or is there a better specc'd laptop at a better price point?

11/23/2010 11:33:40 PM

great asus on sale, but out of your price range.

http://www.amazon.com/N61JQ-XV1-16-Inch-Versatile-Entertainment-Laptop/dp/B0041RRVOG/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top?t=slickdeals&tag=slickdeals

11/24/2010 1:13:12 AM

No way.

If you nix the dedicated graphics, then you can definitely do it. The Intel graphics with an i3/i5 cpu are actually decent, though not for gaming.

I just went through this exercise to buy a laptop. I too had to have a mid-range dedicated graphics chipset, though I wanted a 14-15" screen. Cheapest I could find on slickdeals/fatwallet in the last month was 850 bucks for a XPS15 or Envy14.

There are lots of better laptops than that for the price. Keep your eyes peeled on Slickdeals and fatwallet. Lenovo, HP and Dell have been doing progressively better deals over the past month.

11/24/2010 6:14:55 AM

well see, that particular model i have linked is only $749 on the 26th-27th, so if it's worth it i wont mind going a little out of my price range. i just want to make sure that if i'm gonna spend that much i'm gonna get the best laptop for the price.

11/24/2010 7:51:19 AM

anyone know if apple is doing any Macbook discounts on Friday?

11/24/2010 9:18:48 AM

^IIRC they usually do a sale that is about equal to the student pricing, maybe slightly better. BB is doing a $150 gift card or something with Macs.

11/24/2010 10:36:10 AM

749 != 500. For 750 you can get a core i5 laptop with a much better 3d card on a sale. Keep watching slickdeals

That laptop in the OP is still only a marginal deal at 750.

11/25/2010 12:32:04 AM

well my link was for an i7

I'm trying to get my HD video edit on; I need horsepower. I wish it had CUDA card, but ATI has their own stream rendering engine to take care of most of that disparity.

11/25/2010 11:11:26 AM

^^but will it have a 17.3" LED screen? i know 750 is more than 500, but i'm willing to pay that much more for the specs i want/need.

11/25/2010 11:45:16 AM

LED screen is a total marketing gimmick. There's no measurable difference in battery life, and at 750 bucks, its not going to be a quality panel anyway.

You can get a 15.6" screen with the same resolution, FYI.

11/25/2010 2:25:32 PM

alright. thanks

11/25/2010 4:10:20 PM

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?afsrc=1&EdpNo=6891953&SRCCODE=LINKSHARE&cm_mmc_o=-ddCjC1bELltzywCjC-d2CjCdwwp&AffiliateID=lw9MynSeamY-sZh82Qq5L06snmJCU_O8ZQ

There you go. Tomorrow it'll be $799

Intel Core i7-740QM 1.73GHz quad-core processor and 4GB of DDR3 Memory
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6370 graphics (1GB DDR3 VRAM)
15.6-inch Widescreen display with 1366 x 768 (720p native) resolution
802.11b/g/n wireless, HDMI output, 3 USB 2.0 ports, 4-in-1 media card reader
500GB hard drive and SuperMulti Optical Drive

15.6 inch screen, but a beast of a processor and a GREAT 3d card. About 3x better 3d performance, and an insanely better processor.

11/25/2010 5:44:56 PM

I'm looking for a laptop too. Saw this deal on Amazon.com under their "Black Friday Specials":

Dell Inspiron 17" laptop - $729
-Intel Core i5-460M 2.53GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.8GHz
-4GB RAM
-500GB Hard Drive; 8x CD/DVD Burner (Dual-Layer DVD+/-R Drive)
-17.3" High-Definition Display; Intel HD Graphics

I'm not a huge Dell fan, but this seems like a pretty good deal. What do you guys think?
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i17R-2248MRB-17-3-Inch-Laptop/dp/tech-data/B0044R1N10/ref=de_a_smtd

11/25/2010 8:55:39 PM

^ The ASUS is a better buy. Dedicated video card, faster processor and it's by a better manufacturer.

11/25/2010 10:22:15 PM

^^: ATi 6370 != 6730! Although I haven't checked the specs, something tells me a x3xx series card is nothing to write home about.

12/1/2010 10:52:37 PM