Buying new laptop - advice please

[Racey Rider]

Looking at buying a Asus K61ic-jx012v from Harvey Norman.
2.20ghz duo core
4 GB ram
500GB hard drive (- don't need half that much)
1GB Graphic card
Windows 7
2 year warrenty

$1899 + softwear

Is there better options out there for that sort of money?
Are extened warrentys useful on laptops?
What questions should I be asking?

maybe I don't need one that good? is a 512Mb Graphic card good enough for streaming stuff online?
watching movies etc.

(win98 / IE6 isn't cutting it anymore)

Thanks.
Racey

[6ft5]

Forget the microsoft stuff, buy a Macbook

[Delerium]

yes its good. I bought a toshiba with similar specs 18 months ago for double that. Once you start getting above the specs your looking at price goes up a lot for reducing gains.

[Leviticus]

Forget the microsoft stuff, buy a Macbook


MacBook all the way. And you can run windows on it if you really need to

[Racey Rider]

MacBook all the way. And you can run windows on it if you really need to

What are the pro's and con's of buying the more expensive Mac laptops?

Why would I buy a $2000 Mac over a $2000 Microsoft series?

[Leviticus]

What are the pro's and con's of buying the more expensive Mac laptops?

Why would I buy a $2000 Mac over a $2000 Microsoft series?



Bought my MacBook in 2007, still as fast as when it was new. Never had a virus, spyware or trojan, even though i run no security software. Mac OS software takes up less HD space, leaving more space for pr0n :laugh:

Easier to network with other computers in home/office (I have 3 macs wireless linked to 3 different printers)

And if you MUST have a windows machine, Mac comes with boot camp, allowing you to run another OS (windows or linux)

[zeocen]

If you're happy with Windows and have had no previous problems then spending the extra money for a Macbook is fairly pointless. I would say that laptop is a good deal, I have a Toshiba A500 series myself and it is a solid brick, they seem to be great laptops with decent specifications for the price.

In saying that, there's no comparison between build quality of a Windows laptop and a macbook, the macbooks are just made so well. But again - if you think you'll be fine on a Windows laptop I'm not sure what spending the extra money for the Macbook will achieve, Windows 7 is pretty nice!

If I had the money I would personally go the Macbook route, but I personally didn't, and am happy with my Windows 7 Toshiba :D

[SMOKEU]

forget the microsoft stuff, buy a macbook

fuck apple!!!

[SMOKEU]

This video tells the painful truth about Macs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JixbzFjv_cU&feature=related

[6ft5]

This video tells the painful truth about Macs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JixbzFjv_cU&feature=related

If you wish to contemplate everlasting virus attacks, by a windows PC

If you wish to enjoy using your computer, easily connect with the internet and components, go for a MAC. I have 3 of them and they just work. Even my clumsy teenagers are unable to break them. They just love the ease of use.

[davebullet]

We bought our Lenovo T9500 core 2 duo laptop (250gb HD, 4GB ram, low / middle range NVida graphics) 1 year ago from $1,799 from www.justlaptops.biz. Check them out on tardme. Good service and everything runs ok.

Vista however is a dog like most Windows 3.1 origin operating systems. The laptop itself is running well.

[6ft5]

We bought our Lenovo T9500 core 2 duo laptop (250gb HD, 4GB ram, low / middle range NVida graphics) 1 year ago from $1,799 from www.justlaptops.biz. Check them out on tardme. Good service and everything runs ok.

Vista however is a dog like most Windows 3.1 origin operating systems. The laptop itself is running well.

well I had a T500 sometime ago and it really sucked. Rebuilds, antivirus software, plug and pray drivers, actually hopeless from my point of view. Until I discovered the Macbook. What a revallation. I have now migrated to a Macbook Pro and will not ever use a windows machine!

It is there when I need it!

[Pussy]

Get one that prevents you posting in blue font, for a start

[ckai]

ah yes the age old mac vs pc


Looking at buying a Asus K61ic-jx012v from Harvey Norman.
2.20ghz duo core
4 GB ram
500GB hard drive (- don't need half that much)
1GB Graphic card
Windows 7
2 year warrenty

$1899 + softwear

Is there better options out there for that sort of money?
Are extened warrentys useful on laptops?
What questions should I be asking?

maybe I don't need one that good? is a 512Mb Graphic card good enough for streaming stuff online?
watching movies etc.

(win98 / IE6 isn't cutting it anymore)

Thanks.
Racey



don't even think that you won't use 500gb unless you're doing really basic stuff on a computer. programs are huge now, operating systems are getting bloated (although that's starting to change), and its always safer to have too much then kick yourself after.

I have to admit that it's bloody cheap for the spec level.

I have 2 macs and 1 PC laptop. The laptop is only over a year old and has completely spat the dummy twice due to MS "software" (so they don't need to pay for warranty). The macs are about 2-3 years old and don't miss a beat. I converted the company over to macs because of ease of use cheaper long term costs and they've saved us a crap load.

but based on those specs I'd buy it! Macs are higher initial cost but end up paying for themselves but there's no way one could compete with that.

You'll always have sceptics for both sides. Most people that switch to macs love them. Just ask mac owners :) You may get a few that hate them because of bad experiences but you'll get a lot more that are sick of PC's and generally just tolerate them because they have no choice. Mac owners love their computers - it's a sick thing that you need to sign up for. You get a membership card and everything.

the software is a big thing with the macs.


Get one that prevents you posting in blue font, for a start

hahah

[6ft5]

amen to that, so get an iMac 20" if you use it at home, excellent value. Or get a Macbook if you only use email and a bit of browsing. OR get a Macbook Pro 15" for the more serious work.

[aderino4]

If you get a PC computer (whether desktop or laptop) pay the extra money to get Windows 7. It's a vast improvement over Vista.

I was one of those that converted from PC to Mac some years ago.

Since Win 7 come; I've been using PC for home again on a little HP Mini netbook. Still have the Mac for work etc. but for casual KB troll etc the netbook wins being small and light. :)

If you play games stick with PC there are more games for PC than for Mac. If you want easy, relatively worry-free computer go with the Mac just beware of the higher price tag; not to mention they release new model/ revision every 6 months so you will always feel inadequate.

[Racey Rider]

Thanks for all the helpful/confusing advise.
(can't watch that clip as u-tube is no longer viewable with flash 6 and can't update on win98)

Is the extra 3 year warrenty for $300 a good idea with laptops?
They seem to have a unreliabltiy reputation from what I hear. (Mac excluded)

It's annoying that they don't give you the system disks when buying win7. So if there's a problem - you can't format and reload!

[6ft5]

Hi RR

You have to do what you have to do. Not sure what reason you have to buy a laptop, but as stated above, there are other options, MAC included. You might be well advised to go to Harvey Norman and check it out before you jump in the deep end.

[Racey Rider]

I have been discussing my needs with the HN sales rep, but it's often better getting inderdepent advise from those that use things.

Have looked at Mac, but until I've more reason to spend the extra $$$, this deal seems like 'more' computer (for home use).

[zeocen]

The extra warranty cost is a piece of mind thing. You're well and truly covered under the CGA if your laptop dies within the three year mark. But some people just don't like the hassle or the arguments that come with quoting the CGA and are prepared to pay the extra money for hassle free warranty issues, if they should arise.

If you're buying a windows laptop, chances are you're going to need that CGA within the three years for something (speaking only from experience with awful HP laptops).

[zeocen]

I've also found that DSE folk have been somewhat more helpful than Harvey Norman in regards to laptops. It might pay to shop around and see what kinda deals you can get from difference places, especially in regards to finance if you're taking that route. DSE deal with Finance Now who are great, they have no punishments on paying things early, etc. HN are with GE Money which, in my experience have been absolutely horrible with hidden costs all over the show!

[onearmedbandit]

Sounds like a decent price for its specs as has been said elsewhere, I'm in the industry currently so have a reasonable idea on that. As far as the warranty goes it is really only a piece of mind thing as also has been said, but I can add that both the manufacturers and extended warranty will most likely only cover hardware issuses, not software. This is obvious when you think about it but most buyers are not aware and not made aware either.

In regards to not being supplied with the installation disks, this was the same as vista. On your hard drive there will be a partition with the install files stored there. The idea is is that if windows should fail to boot you can access the partition (for example acer's require you to press control and f11 during bootup) where you can format and reinstall. All good as long as your hard drive hasn't suffered a terminal failure.

[Winston001]

That is a good laptop with good specs. It is a long way above the basic machines and should keep you happy for a long time. Also Asus is a reputable brand. Personally I would rely on the CGA for guarantee protection but paying for a guarantee is a lot easier. I did read of a case (reported in Consumer?) where somebody took a successful small claim for a laptop which failed after 5 years.

I have an old HP NX5000 which is 7 years old and still useable. It is slow but browses the net, email etc all good. The business level HPs (ie. expensive end) tend to be reliable laptops. Using an HP 6710b at this moment. Anyway the Asus should give you a lot of pleasure.

[davebullet]

If you are worried about the graphics card - check out:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

You'll need to know the EXACT model number. A 1Gb graphics card sounds like it should be ok for what to want. Graphics card memory is only but one indicator for performance (much like PC CPU speed is only one factor).

Does the laptop have built in wireless networking (either G or N (N= the latest))? That would be the other typical need for a laptop.

PS: I still run our Windows 98 machine with Firefox 2 over our wireless network at home (got a cheak Edimax wireless card for about $50). It is way slower than the laptop, but still useable for basic surfing. So don't feel the need to chuck the old machine just yet.

[hayd3n]

Burning new laptop - advice please
ligher and some gas

[bogan]

after squinting at the blue text to decipher what brand you are getting (blue doesnt go well with the dark zone!) I saw it was ASUS, for well cheap too, I've got an asus with very similar specs running 7 atm, its pretty sweet, first thing i did was a complete format though to get rid of all the junk that comes pre-installed. The GTX220M would be the weak point in the system I think, but if you're not wanting it for games then thatll be fine.

[CookMySock]

It's annoying that they don't give you the system disks when buying win7. So if there's a problem - you can't format and reload!Thats because you should buy a new computer, not try to fix it.

And don't even think of using Ubuntu. It's completely boring, with nothing interesting to do whatsoever except just USE it. :yawn:

Steve

[Scouse]

If your getting windos7 with the laptop you should go for somting with an intel i7 proccessor

[SMOKEU]

If you wish to contemplate everlasting virus attacks, by a windows PC

If you wish to enjoy using your computer, easily connect with the internet and components, go for a MAC. I have 3 of them and they just work. Even my clumsy teenagers are unable to break them. They just love the ease of use.

I don't have any problems with viruses. AVG Free takes care of that. I also use AdAware and Zone Alarm. Mac computers are grossly overpriced, there is far less software available for them compared to Windows XP, they are often more expensive and more difficult to do hardware upgrades on as well as being not as nice to use as Windows XP Pro. I will admit that Macs' do usually look very nice compared to generic Windows based computers, but you'd be better off buying a Windows machine and then using the spare change to buy some nice sculptures or paintings. Why pay double to get a machine that does half as much?

[jonbuoy]

If you wish to contemplate everlasting virus attacks, by a windows PC

If you wish to enjoy using your computer, easily connect with the internet and components, go for a MAC. I have 3 of them and they just work. Even my clumsy teenagers are unable to break them. They just love the ease of use.

Ive personally never had a virus on a Windows computer, had to repair a few with viruses -coincidently none of them had antivirus running on them. Windows 7 or Ubuntu.

[jonbuoy]

Thats because you should buy a new computer, not try to fix it.

And don't even think of using Ubuntu. It's completely boring, with nothing interesting to do whatsoever except just USE it. :yawn:

Steve

Ubuntu might be a little dull at the moment but every release is looking a little more polished. It does what it should and without wasting resources in making things look "pretty". Its well supported and with a few more years development will be giving Microsoft and Apple a real run for their money. If all you do is surfing and emailing, MP3 playing it will give you a few more years out of your old hardware.

[CookMySock]

Ubuntu might be a little dull at the moment ...Hehe, yeah I'm just being a dick. I have six Ubuntu systems and no windows. There is always lots to keep IT people busy with windows system, and nothing at all for Ubuntu hehe, it's great.

Anyway, lets not hijack their thread.

Steve

[6ft5]

Hehe, yeah I'm just being a dick. I have six Ubuntu systems and no windows. There is always lots to keep IT people busy with windows system, and nothing at all for Ubuntu hehe, it's great.

Anyway, lets not hijack their thread.

Steve

Yeah get a perm, buy a MAC

H

[Tank]

Hehe, yeah I'm just being a dick. I have six Ubuntu systems and no windows. There is always lots to keep IT people busy with windows system, and nothing at all for Ubuntu hehe, it's great.

Anyway, lets not hijack their thread.

Steve

Thats not quite accurate, so just to settle the discussion.

ALL current OS's have updates published. It doses not matter which name is in the tin - windows, OSX or free linux deritives. There is always maintainance to be done.

Whilst I dont have a mammoth IT shop - we run over 300 production servers - all running Windows operating systems. All of our developers run Windows (except for the couple who do useabilty design and iphone apps who are mac users).

We are launching a cloud based deployment of 15 servers to customers in 2 weeks - with the projected groth we expect this to be over 100 servers in the cloud by the end of the year. Again all running Windows (2008R2).

We never have any issues. It all just comes down to good management.

OP - Really it dosnt matter what you buy - just stick with a known brand and buy it from a place that has repair agents under contract who come to you to fix the problem - not some return to base repaie when you can be without it for weeks.

BTW - the CGA wont cover issues with Windows - only hardware.

[Squiggles]

Get a mac... new 21.5" imacs @ $1900 at the mo

[SMOKEU]

Get a mac... new 21.5" imacs @ $1900 at the mo

Why, why why???