currently looking at this one:

http://www.compusa.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4268682&CatId=3982

My req's:

>=250 GB hard drive
>= 2.0 GHz processor(s)
4 GB DDR2 RAM
>= 15" screen
dedicated graphics card w/ at least 256 mb


does anyone have an hp that can comment on their pros and cons?

1/22/2009 12:18:14 AM

I just got this HP last weekend: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9027714&type=product&id=1218010176167

Its almost the same specs as the one you're looking at, except the 13.3" screen & nvidia 9300M, otherwise, same processor, 4gigs of RAM, 64-bit Vista, 320gig HDD. I'm really liking it quite a bit. I recommend going to a store and just using the machine for a few minutes. The surface of the whole computer is quite glossy, especially the trackpad, it takes some getting used to & I thought I might not like it at first, but after almost a week of use I've gotten used to it.

HP's come with a ton of bloat-ware that you can either pay someone to uninstall or do it yourself, I chose to do it myself. One thing I wished would have been included was a Vista disc, even though I have a copy I wish it would've been included, so that's something to think about.

Overall, I really like this machine. Everything works fine out of the box, haven't tried the webcam yet though. Battery life is fine, ~3 hours before I need to plug in unless I'm using it heavily. But like I said, go to Best Buy or something & sit there & use one with the glossy finish (if the one you're looking at has it too, not really sure). Happy buying! Hope this isn't too much

1/22/2009 11:03:15 AM

i would suggest ignoring the hard drive and RAM requirements...depending on the particular model and deal, you MAY find that you can just buy a machine that doesn't meet your requirements in those two areas, and then upgrade those components for $peanuts

you can get 4gb of DDR2 SODIMM for $20 on a regular basis (check out http://www.slickdeals.net/ and http://www.bensbargains.net/)...though realize you'll need a 64-bit operating system to utilize all 4gb

there's a 320gb 7200rpm 16mb cache seagate drive on ben's for $74 shipped, right now...i can pretty much guarantee that any laptop you buy will have, at best, a 5400rpm 8mb cache drive in it (if not a 4200rpm drive) and a new faster drive with a larger cache will increase your performance a bit (not by a whole lot, unless you end up with a 4200rpm drive)

1/22/2009 11:15:15 AM

Quote :

"One thing I wished would have been included was a Vista disc, even though I have a copy I wish it would've been included, so that's something to think about."

Your computer has a recovery partition on the drive that you can boot to if you ever need to run a repair or recovery. Your computer should also be prompting you to make recovery disks, if not you can select this option and make your own set of recovery disks. I'm pretty sure you can only do this one time though.

1/22/2009 11:27:25 AM

HP will heat like a mofo

1/22/2009 11:36:17 AM

Here is the one I just got last week:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9166635&st=hp+pavillion+entertainment+pc&type=product&id=1218041148373

17" HD widescreen, 4GB RAM, 320 GB hard drive, and really inexpensive for everything it comes with.

1/22/2009 11:47:16 AM

^^^I did make the recovery discs, first thing I did with the machine. I just like to have a copy of Windows, I like to reformat about once a year just to keep things clean, at least I did with my XP machine. We'll see how things go with this one.

1/22/2009 1:07:08 PM

do you guys have any preferences for dual core processors? I was just wondering if there was any processor specifically that ran cleaner than the other as far as AMD-turion, athlon or intel-core 2duo or core duo not necessarily looking for optimum performance, but more along the line of a "safe" dual core...

Currently looking at dell inspiron 1525's on outlet and best buy...have really had good exp. w/ dell as far as build quality ( I know not so much as far as customer support )

1/22/2009 8:49:38 PM

bought the DV5-1160us for $940. All the reviews I read boast a battery life of ~4 hours, and most folks said it runs pretty quiet/cool. thanks for the info about the bloat-ware.

i needed a laptop with a big hdd so that i can have all my data analysis software on the same drive. my 6 yr old dell only has a 30 gb hdd (i know right) and i have to lug an external around everywhere i take it. not to mention that the motherboard somehow got cooked and it will not charge my batteries anymore.

new hp comes in on monday

1/23/2009 9:36:48 AM

laptop came today. happy with it, except for all the crap hp loaded onto it beforehand.

1/26/2009 6:00:30 PM

Looking to buy a laptop. I'll mainly use it to edit photos, so I'd like something with greater than 1200x800 res. can anything decent be had for less than 600?

3/6/2009 10:46:38 PM

Im currently looking at http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&m_11=XP33BNP&oc=bqdw52z&s=bsd

with an upgraded screen. Is it a good deal?

[Edited on March 7, 2009 at 12:12 PM. Reason : link]

3/7/2009 12:11:26 PM

That's the exact same setup I recommended to my cousin last week when she was looking to get a cheap decent laptop. She ended up not wanting to wait for shipping and bought something from a store, but personally I think that's a pretty good deal. I especially liked that it came with XP installed and also a copy of Vista that you could install at a later time if you choose.

I swear I thought it was $499 last week though. Might want to check the old posts on bensbargains on that. Those things usually have a price cycle they go through.

edit: looking at Ben's there are a couple versions of that laptop. The one I had suggested for her was the 1.8GHz with 2GB Ram, the built in webcam, and the 9 cell battery. Came out to $499 after shipping or +$150 for the upgraded screen.

[Edited on March 7, 2009 at 2:03 PM. Reason : more]

3/7/2009 1:56:07 PM

Ive got a Dell 1420 with Intel Centrino Duo (Summer 07) which has never given me problems while using SAS, excel, media monkey, digsby, etc. No real opinion/experience on the other laptop processors.

3/7/2009 8:59:50 PM

^ are you running SAS with Vista?

3/8/2009 10:57:02 AM

I'm just beginning to look into getting a new laptop, so I don't have any specific models in mind yet. I'm going to be in Kazakhstan for the next two years with a whole lot of free time on my hands. I figured a laptop that I could comfortably watch movies on with plenty of hard drive space (internal or external) to store movies/music are my main requirements. Any advice on what exactly I should look for? Not going to be using this for anything too fancy at all, so the lower the price the better.

4/20/2009 11:05:41 PM

^ Peace Corp?

4/20/2009 11:25:52 PM

Yeah, English education until the end of 2011. I've got a friend in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic and she and her friends have seen more current TV shows than I have thanks to season DVDs and downloads. And they still have leftover time for plenty of reading/work/boredom. Figure I should be prepared.

4/20/2009 11:32:41 PM

btt any reason to consider looking into a Mac? For my job here, it'd come in handy. However, I won't be coming back to this job 2 years down the road and don't know a whole lot about Macs, especially w/ no options for tech help abroad. I may've just answered the question myself, but just trying to see if anyone has any input.

4/26/2009 10:14:32 PM

you'll spend a hell of a lot more on a mac than you would on a pc that would do what you want.

And if you really want a lot of storage, you may want to get a laptop that doesn't have a lot of storage and buy a hard drive separately. You'll usually get a bigger and faster hard drive for a good bit less than it would be to get a laptop with that much storage. Especially with something like a dell.

[Edited on April 26, 2009 at 11:27 PM. Reason : .]

4/26/2009 11:25:03 PM

Quote :

"you'll spend a hell of a lot more on a mac than you would on a pc that would do what you want."

+12

when I got my hp dv5 (15.4", 2.4 GHz dual core, some bad ass ati video card, hdmi, 3 GB RAM, etc.) an "equivalent" mac would have cost about 1900-2K when I paid <1000

4/29/2009 5:01:13 AM