Community Newsletter: Q&A forum: 8/11/06 Laptops: which one to buy?

Not to get too much off topic but I fixed a Dell laptop which wasn't booting up. I ran Windows Checkdisk and the hard drive booted again but the computer had about 100 mb's of free space left on a 20 gig hard drive. I installed CCleaner and it cleaned off about 2 gig of junk. This is a great program.

http://www.ccleaner.com/

Wheeeeee!!!

I totally agree with you. but macs (esp. laptops)are pretty pricy compared to what you could get if you bought a pc... but who would want a pc?!

Well, notebook is what they want to call them. Too hot for a lap.

Anyway, I'd say if you want a gaming machine--buy a desktop. If you want a take to school computer keep it smallish-but not the super small. I like the 14.5 wide screens. If you're still a kid you have good eyes. Don't spend over 700 dollars. That way you're only out $700 if it gets ripped--or dropped. Don't buy a DVD burner option. Make sure you have a CD/DVD READER builtin though (typically these'll burn CDs-- okay for music). DVD burners are too problem prone and burnable DVDs are still a little pricy. 3 USB ports at a MINIMUM. One for an external mouse, one for a USB Flash drive (1GB please) and one for the 500 GB USB external drive that you're going to leave IN the dorm. Backup to that drive every night. You should have everything on there so that when you're notebook disappears you'll still have your data. External speakers (leave'm in the dorm) so you can stream some music now and then or pull some off the big hard drive. Keep your password option active so if you have sensitive info on the computer it won't end up at the local bar.

Buy a wireless mouse. And of course you're going to have WIFI--it's de rigeur these days. Not just college but the coffee shop too.

Buy a cheap case--like $20 or so--top entry. NOT one that zippers along the side. YOu pick that baby up when it's not zipped and there she goes.

When you get the computer--do a full backup right away. Some computers have the original CD to do this and that's okay too.

Then, go to one of the RAM places on line and if your computer has 256meg put another 256 meg in it. 512 is a minimum. Don't expect to put Vista on this machine. Run XP until you get your next machine--probably in a couple of years.

Keep the XP updater--er, updated.

Have fun a college but study way hard.

Well there could be many answers to that question. I bought a cheap for a nonrefurbished Toshiba recently it's got an 80 gig hard drive and a speedy processor.. So speedy you almost get bugs in your teeth from the speed. 15. inch screen ATi in it but it works sooo good. I had the ability to surf the net, online gaming, mp3 music playing and the works to find out there is really a miracle machine out there that NEVER freezes but then again i kept it regularly checked for viruses (every day I treated my machine to a good virus scan to find out only bad cookies resigned in that machine). She's a beauty and has 512mb upgradeable to 2gig ram. For a price of 1500.00 before rebates. Lovely machine that is pretty sturdy but then again it ever got a scratch nor a bump... afterall real sleek.. less heavy than the laptop before her. I believe it's Toshiba A100. I know for sure it's a toshiba... with a massive punch to her. I got the version that has a teal top and a sliver bottom. The screen display is wonderful for watching movies on the DvD+-rw that it has. I could talk about it for hours but I dont think that would be far to you. Problem is with all laptops battery will depend on what your doing and how much your doing and what profile type you will be using... it also had the cant see the screen when ur not looking dead on the screen. as for finger print secerity not many have that but there is a gadget that will help you keep things secert.

Answer:

Collin, almost any laptop that you buy will meet your minimum needs. However, I can make some recommendations.

The laptop market is undergoing dramatic changes right at this very moment. My answer to you today is different in some regards than the answer I would have given to the same question just 3 weeks ago. What appears to be happening RIGHT NOW, is that laptop vendors and retailers are both clearing the decks for the introduction of laptops using the Intel Core 2 Duo processor, which was previously known by its code names Conroe and Merom. The desktop version of this radically new CPU (Conroe) is out right now, although not all models are actually shipping and supplies are short. The laptop version, which was code named Merom, will begin appearing in late August. This processor is the greatest advance in CPUs in 6 years, and it is both more powerful (a LOT more powerful) and lower power than anything previously offered by Intel or AMD.

As a laptop buyer, there are two ways you can take advantage of this:

-Wait for a laptop using Core 2 Duo (Merom)
-Buy now and get a true bargain on a current model

The intensity of the pre-Merom price cuts and discount is almost breathtaking. Sixty days ago, a Centrino system was AT LEAST $799. Today, $549 to $599 is not hard to find if you look, and this is in systems with other advanced features as well as the Centrino chip system. There are lots of coupons, lots of discounts, lots of rebates. Best Buy has a coupon for $100 off ANY laptop, good to August 19th, at:

http://emailinfo.bestbuy.com/pp/editor_NET/v3/CampaignWrapper.aspx?E=5698;188232;765145480;1;02&R=T1_CMP_5684&A=1007&ci=5684

[I have no connection with Best Buy, but its a good example of the promotions that are going on right now.]

There have been fantastic deals at Best Buy, CompUSA, Office Depot and Circuit City; you can get terrific laptops with advanced features for $549 to $699, and possibly even for $449 or $499. These are not stripped down models, you can meet ALL of my suggestions below in these price ranges.

***IF***, that is, you dont feel that you have to wait for Core 2 Duo and that you will be satisfied with current technology.

Another consideration is Vista, the new operating system coming from Microsoft coming out next year. Just about any laptop that you buy today will run Vista (you may have to add memory), but the real issue is Vistas Aero interface. All laptops will not run Aero, so if you buy now, be sure to ask about this if it is important to you. If you can wait (ah, back to the waiting game), you will probably be able to get a laptop this fall that comes with XP installed and a coupon for a free upgrade to Vista next year. This could possibly be the best of both worlds ... again, if you can wait.

[Unfortunately for all students going off to college in August and September, both Vista and Core 2 Duo are really both happening too late for most of these students to be able to wait.]

Anyway, here are some general suggestions:

1. Buy a Tier 1 laptop only .... made by the major manufacturers. Personally, Im partial to Toshiba, Dell and Lenovo (the IBM Thinkpad line). There are several other Tier 1 vendors (Acer, Sony, Gateway, HP/Compaq and perhaps I missed one or two). But I would not buy a 2nd Tier or 3rd Tier laptop. Parts, service and support issues are just too important on a laptop.

2. At this point, dont buy a laptop using a Celeron processor. There are just too many good deals right now on models with full performance CPUs. Go for Pentium M or a Core Solo or Core Duo CPU (note, Core Duo is an older CPU and is not the same as Core 2 Duo, the new CPU coming next month). Any of these CPUs will meet typical needs, but obviously more money (and not much more) will get you a faster CPU. But note that in a laptop, a faster CPU often means shorter battery life and more thermal issues.

3. Get a model with a DVD BURNER, not just a combo drive (burns CDs but only plays, does not burn, DVDs)

4. Get at least 512MB of memory, and preferably a gigabyte (note, however, you can expand this yourself later if needed, and its cheap to do ($30 to $50))

5. Get at least a 60 gigabyte 5400rpm drive, but in general the larger the drive the better. I dont know how you will use the laptop, so I cant say how much space you need. Drives are available up to 160 gigabytes, but the cost really starts to climb fast past 80 or 100 gigabytes. Similarly, 7200 rpm drives are faster than 5400 rpm drives, but the cost skyrockets.

6. Get a laptop with internal wireless networking that supports at least 802.11b and 802.11g (almost all will today)

7. Card slots: Some laptops have no or only one single expansion card slot. Some manufacturers have totally replaced PC Card slots (incorrectly called PCMCIA Card slots) with Express Card Slots. Personally, I think that this is premature, and the arrangement that I prefer is that found in some Toshiba models (the A105 in particular) that has two card slots, one of each type.

8. Pay attention to the video display system, especially if you want to run Vista with Aero next year. Chipset shared video systems CAN be ok, but not all are. Look for at least 128 Megabyte memory capability and support for Pixel Shader 2. Intel GMA 950 is ok, but GMA 900 wont run Aero due to lack of a driver (which may or may not get fixed). Discreet video systems by ATI or NVidia may or may not run Aero. If you get a video system that uses shared memory, then the need for a Gigabyte of memory (instead of only 512 Megabytes) becomes far greater.

9. The screen is too personal a choice for anyone to give valid advice; there are normal (4:3 aspect ratio) and widescreen displays, matte and shiny displays, and different resolutions. Its a personal preference. There is no one single best.

10. You also need to consider size; is it going to be traveling much? There are compact laptops (with screens down to 12) and there are laptops with 17 screens that are almost too big to fit in most laptop cases. Its all personal preference.

11. If you buy a Dell laptop, spend the extra $10 to get a restore CD. For other models, find out what type of restore provision is included. Personally I avoid models whose only restore capability is from a hidden partition on the hard drive. Toshiba still includes restore CDs (actually DVDs) on all models, as far as I can see. Dell, as noted, uses both hard drive partitions and an optional (extra cost, $10) CD (but ordering it is obscure and most buyers miss the chance to get the CD). Many if not most other brands/models use a hidden restore partition, which is useless if the hard drive itself has failed.

And a final comment: Although Im no fan of extended warranties in general, for laptops in a student environment, they can make a lot of sense. But there are some rules. Here are my additional recommendations for extended warranty rules:
1. ONLY buy the extended warranty directly from the manufacturer, not from the store where you bought it. That excludes some brands, but the manufacturer extended warranties have proven to be better than the store warranties, in my experience.

2. ONLY buy an extended warranty that includes accidental damage coverage, so that you are covered if the screen is cracked, the laptop is broken or you spill a liquid into the laptop. Again, that excludes some brands (and it may exclude buyers in some states that define an extended warranty plan as insurance and require it to be sold by licensed insurance companies and agents).

If you buy a laptop from Dell or Toshiba, 3 years of extended warranty coverage with accidental damage coverage will run you about $220 to $290. I have not checked rates or availability from other vendors. Note that even from Dell and Toshiba, not all of the extended warranties have accidental damage coverage, so know what you are getting. Most laptop repairs past the first couple of months are due to accidental damage, not to normal component failures.
Best of luck, this is a great time to be buying a laptop.
Sincerely,
Barry

--Submitted by: Barry W. of North Canton, Ohio

Well, I just recently made a purchase at Best Buy in July for a laptop and it was $649 on sale and I've noticed that the prices have decreased since then. He's right about the store warranties, I used to purchase them but they're not as good as manufacturers warranties. Not picking on Best Buy, but they wanted to charge me $400 their store warranty on the laptop that I purchased, where one could buy another computer. The laptops with all of the bells and whistles are at very reasonable rates right now.

I thought I was just dumb because I can't figure out how to move this ad so I can read the text. If I EVER thought of buying an Apple, this inconsiderate ad makes up my mind.

At LEAST tell us how to move it. I tried changing the size of the text several times and think I have perhaps figured out how to read that paragraph. Shame on you, CNET for allowing this.

I'm not seeing it.

I haven't seen it.

I recently purchased a laptop for school, and i would agree that there are many good deals out there right now, however purchasing a $500 laptop could leave you wanting more in a year.You can get an AMD turion64 with integrated ati graphics, a gig of ram, 100 gig hard drive, dvd burner, and a widescreen for about $900, it does very well and will probably leave you happier in the future.

I don't know if it was already mentioned, but pay close attention to the design, construction and materials used in making the laptop. My Dell 1150 had developed hinge cracks after about 6 months of almost no use (two hours a week, max with the lid opened and closed a few times). Dell recognized this issue, but only will replace ONCE, after that you're on your own.

Look for metal hinges NOT plastic.

Barry,

Your information was extremely helpful. Thank you so much. Going shopping with my son (college freshman) for his laptop. Have a couple of questions. What is Tier 1 ? Have never seen reference to this before. What other equipment (cables, wireless modem, etc) will he need? and, do you have an opinion about virus protection, which one is best? Thank you so much for your help. Look forward to your reply

My experience (undergrad + grad) with IT folks at college has been less than satisfactory. They really only have the perspective of what complaints are most likely encountered. They would be a good final screen to make sure that your machine is compatible. I liked the idea of chatting with an advisor, but it would be helpful only, if as Wayne mentions, you have one, and if you know your major. Good luck. -Nick

When I was researching laptops for my kid--a computer engineering major--I found that most laptops advertised on the market were for home use. To get a dual core processor, 512MB video card and at least a GB of RAM cost an arm and a leg because I was into gaming machines.

Small businesses are NOT going to pay $4000 for a laptop. As such, you can get a comparable machine through the small business section of most computer manufacturers at a grearly reduced price. I opted for a Dell D820--only sold to small businesses and not carried in their home use line. It had identical performance and configuration as their gaming machine, but was under $2000. As delivered, it had a T2500 Dual core processore, a 512MB NVidia video card, iGB RAM, Firewire, Bluetooth, USB2--powered and unpowered--a 9 cell battery and was wireless capable.

When you shop in stores or call a manufacturer, chances are you're going to get into home machines. With Dell, it took several calls before someone finally transferred me to their small business unit.

By the way, ask about student discounts. Often their small business section will tell you that there are no discounts... unless you want to go to the "for home use" section. Dell said that, then magically made about $350 disappear from the original quote... and threw in a Dell top of the line fax-scanner-copier-printer to boot.

Happy Hunting,
Wayne