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I barely managed to get my laptop to turn on and doubt that it will turn on again once it shuts down. I need to order a new laptop, and fast. Any suggestions for a reasonably priced (say, under 800) laptop to do my work on? I am a Windows user and don't play games on the computer. I do not want a netbook or a Dell.
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Try this Looks like it'll be fast for what you need and some graphical power for things you don't. I'm presuming your in the United States.
Also on a unrelated tangent: Here's my friend's philosophy blog, I highly respect my friend though I disagree with some of his conclusions; I have no ability to refute his conclusions but I generally enjoy listening to him explain to me various philosophical and theological concepts.
Let me know if you like his blog, and be sure to visit and provide him feedback, he enjoys discussion.
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
A laptop with 13" screen and integrated graphics? For 800$? (;¬_¬)
Mine is half the price, gets you a mind range previous generation card (6000M series), 15~" screen, okayish resolution. I'm personally a fan of larger screen sizes up to 16" for ease on the eyes though my friend prefers 13" so YMMV.
Speed is the main difference, the suggestion I gave is quad core so its good for multitasking but you wont load as fast as someone with a faster clocked cpu with less cores but if your not doing dedicated gaming it shouldn't ever matter (unless its Supreme Commander, you'll curbstomp people there).
If you want I can go into more research and try to find something with more CPU power but from what you described this should be a good bet and save you money.
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Thanks! I forgot two other areas of concern, though they are secondary: durability and battery life. Graphics *really* don't matter to me, so is there any way to trade down on the gaming capability of the Samsung you linked to in exchange for a better battery life/construction?
Posts: 2705 | Registered: Sep 2006
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
Here's something more comparable to the one you had, 450$, dual core i5, 4gb ddr3, [s]NOT refurbished[/s]*, 15~" screen and 64 bit Win7 OS.
Should be fast work computer, integrated graphics but as you say your not doing gaming and frankly there's a bunch of modern games that work on integrated graphics.
*I can't read :V I'll look into battary life, but really I always keep my laptop plugged in at all times and no matter how long the initial life is, it's gonna cut itself in half after a while anyways after extended battery use.
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That looks good. Thanks again. But why does it say refurbished if it's not? Also, I'm going to give it about an hour before purchasing it, just to see if anyone thinks of anything else.
Edit: Oh, I assumed it had a good battery life. I *don't* always leave my laptop plugged in, and, in fact, quite need the battery life.
Posts: 2705 | Registered: Sep 2006
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
It's refurbished but it's exactly the same model as my laptop aside from the lack of discrete graphics for its like 500$ cheaper than mine was and has 9 hours battery life and 1000 charge cycles, I like it, though its a smallish screen. (mines 15~")
This looks like the same as that samsung but without the video card and 6.5 hours battery.
edit: I didn't read the title of that other laptop I posted in an earlier post, my eyes skipped over it. Which is why I said "Can't read :V", nevertheless though, I'm just informing you that even if you go for a laptop with say 9 hours battery life, its no gaurantee it can keep that up for extended periods of time (especially if you entirely drain the battery between recharges) because eventually it does strain and degrade the battery and I don't think you can claim your warranty when it does.
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Cool, Acer is the top choice unless there's some problem that I should be aware of with refurbed laptops.
Posts: 2705 | Registered: Sep 2006
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
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I consulted with a friend, the first laptop you linked is made out of metal while most other laptops I've linked are plastic, so the one you have will be significantly more durable.
My friend is saying that refurbished laptops will most certainly not have a new/good battery so I suggest to find something else, lemme look some more.
My friend also says Dell Business laptops are perfectly fine.
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I've had a lot of hinge issues with Dell, if that matters. Maybe I just treat the hinges badly, but I try to be careful with it.
Posts: 2705 | Registered: Sep 2006
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
Here's an Acer with a core i5 the top/back of the screen part is protected by magnesium alloy and most of the 8573's are made with it. So when it's closed (thus in your bag) your protected.
e, hinges: all laptops have hinge issues unless its metal because plastic wears out faster, it isn't specific to dell.
e2: Here's the i3 version of that acer travelmate: i3
The problem with ordering laptops this month is that the boats don't get here for another month or so, so laptops are only just trickling in, there's not much to buy in terms of selection.
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Are the hinges metal in the Acer? And should I prefer the i3 or the i5? The i5 is out of stock.
Posts: 2705 | Registered: Sep 2006
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Bueller? Alright, if I don't get a response, I'm just going to go with the one I linked to first or Acer i3, basically chosen at random.
Edit: The acer has metal hinges. Going with that one. And, for the last time, thanks. You really helped immensely. Posts: 2705 | Registered: Sep 2006
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
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What's a Bueller? And yeah the i3 should be fine for your purposes, and no problem. I should be moving out again by the end of the month if you want to help me move (again, if your in montreal or interested in visiting up here...) ヽ(*≧ω≦)ﾉ
Sorry I sorta wandered off there but I'm glad to be of use.
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Cool. It'll be here in four days. Right now, I just need to make sure that my computer doesn't turn off until it arrives, so I can slowly transfer all my ebooks by flash drive. (If it does, I'll buy an HD enclosure and pop my HD into that.) Very excited. I looked into the i3 vs i5 thing and, given that I've been working with an old POS Dell for a while now, but it's actually been fine in terms of functionality, I think I'll be fine.
Speaking of which, does anyone want to buy my Studio 1557 for parts? The problem with it is that the hinges suck and so the power button becomes loose, causing it to disconnect. I'm pretty sure that it's an "everything being in the right place" issue, and if you knew how to fix computers, you could easily do so. I don't know how to fix computers and am sick of paying Dell to fix it. I just paid them about 50-70 bucks two months ago to fix this same problem, and again about six months before that, and again six months before that. The power adapter would come with the computer.
Unfortunately, I'm not in Montreal anymore this Summer, so I can't help with your moving. Sorry.
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The i5 is broadly speaking better than the i7, the i7 has a lower clockspeed, doesnt have hyperthreading, but has more cores. So it will be better at multitasking but the i5 will load games faster.
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I did not look at random it was very carefully chosen given the information provided. (Did you read the thread?)
If it was just getting the best possible deal or 800$ then sure that Toshiba would be great, but Jon specified that build quality (i.e. having a metal frame) was important, along with battery life.
The acer i3 and the original thing he linked both have metal frames because they're business laptops and meant to be durable when on the move, something I presumed if they're not going to be plugged in very often because he moves around a lot.
I can't think of any other situation in which you wouldn't find an outlet to plug in.
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
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It might be worth it to wait a month if you can for that i5 acer to become available when the boats arrive.
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But if that was the case, why didn't you recommend a Lenovo Thinkpad. They're build to military specs. This is a heckuva lot better build / supported / quality computer for the money:
I don't know. I've had worse luck with some business laptops (Dell) than with some consumer grade (HP). And ranked for quality, Acer's really down the list:
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Sense of urgency and only a few feasible leads to track down aside, I had consulted with my friends who both make a living buying and selling computers and laptops and the acer series suggested above seemed like the best choice for what was reccomended. At this time I can't consult with them regarding the lenovo as they aren't awake, but maybe later if Jon hasn't ordered it yet. Though I'm fairly skeptical that all lenovo's are build to such specifications, and will still come down to a fair bit of research.
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Not all Lenovos. Only the Thinkpad line. I work in defense, and we only use them or the ruggedized HP's for military field ops.
Posts: 1204 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Alas, it's too late. I actually wanted a Thinkpad, but assumed that I couldn't get it for under a grand, so didn't bother saying anything. Oh well. Maybe in five years.
Posts: 2705 | Registered: Sep 2006
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you will still like it when you get it, even if you overpaid a little bit.
Blayne, I have used both the i5's and i7's, and there is hardly a difference when loading games, at least for me. Also....I don't judge a computer solely on gaming performance.....at least not my laptop.
I bought mine used at a pawn shop, and I paid less than $400 for a $1300 computer, so I am happy as pie. Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
Blegh, I'ld never spend that much money on something used unless there's a 3 year warranty, I just don't want the hassle of peoples sloppy seconds.
Gaming performance is most certainly noticible, my friend build his own and my computer to nearly identical specifications at the time except I want for the i5 and he the i7 and I routinely out perform him in games like Company of Heroes or Hearts of Iron 2.
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I wonder what other components or chip versions were causing the discrepancy. Every single benchmark doesn't lie.
It's a good opportunity to learn something about hardware. Compare the rest of your specs.
Posts: 1204 | Registered: Mar 2003
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Blayne Bradley
unregistered
posted
Right now his computer was upgraded to be far better performance wise and I still load games first. My computer at this point was best bang/buck economical with an eye for futureproofing while his was performance and quality. But my i5 still loads games faster because I have a 3.2ghz clockspeed to his like 2.33
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Blayne -- that doesn't mean the i5 is better. It only means that you bought a better processor. There is a 3.2 Ghz version of the i7 as well -- and it will run circles around your i5. I'm not sure what processor he has, but there isn't a 2.3 Ghz version of the i7. And every i7 has hyperthreading. It's only the i5 desktops that are missing hyperthreading (though the laptops have it enabled, strangely enough).
Generally speaking, upgrading from an i3 to an i5 gives a very large performance boost. Upgrading from an i5 to an i7 gives a smaller, modest boost. But certainly a higher end i5 chip can give better performance on some things than a lower end i7 chip.
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I think we're talking past each other; the i5 is better for games, because games are not optimized for more than dual core. This is a fact.
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First you claimed that i7's didn't hyperthread (when it's i5's that don't). Then you claimed that they have lower clock speed. When you turned out wrong (again), you claimed that a quad core is inferior for gaming because "games are not optimized for more than dual core". BTW, a game optimized for dual core will only use the two cores. And guess what . . . a quad core has two cores as well.
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But why does it say refurbished if it's not? Also, I'm going to give it about an hour before purchasing it, just to see if anyone thinks of anything else.
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