# Laptop deals!!!!



## JMT74 (Apr 14, 2005)

I am looking to buy a new laptop and wanna know what people think about this particular deal and I should look for in buy a laptop. I know the more RAM the better. Here is the Dell Laptop I was looking at. There is an arrow pointing to the one I am looking into. Thanks. You will have to click on the image to zoom on it.


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## jls242424 (Nov 22, 2007)

JMT74 said:


> I am looking to buy a new laptop and wanna know what people think about this particular deal and I should look for in buy a laptop. I know the more RAM the better. Here is the Dell Laptop I was looking at.Thanks.


Pretty good specs and price to.  Hopefully you'll be able to pay more then the $20 a month or that lappie will end up costing you $3 to $4 grand and you'll be done paying for it in about 6 to 8 yrs.. Carefull, they like to try and soak you for a costly extended warranty. It's already got a yr or so warranty already.


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## DoubleHelix (Dec 10, 2004)

It's an average laptop. Whether it's best for you depends on what you plan to use it for. There's also no mention of the video adapter included. At that price, it'll be at the low end. Fine for general use. Won't work for gaming.


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## name is guy (Feb 12, 2009)

try looking at micro center deals on refurbished with warranty's i got a nice 700$ satellite laptop for less than half that. I helps to bring grandmothers with you.


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## hewee (Oct 26, 2001)

Save up and pay cash for it and you save so much money.


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## JMT74 (Apr 14, 2005)

I am looking to buy a new laptop and wanna know people experiences with their laptops. What manufacterer is best? I am looking probably to get a Dell but I can be persuaded to go with another manufacterer. Thanks.


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## jls242424 (Nov 22, 2007)

JMT74 said:


> I am looking to buy a new laptop and wanna know people experiences with their laptops. What manufacterer is best? I am looking probably to get a Dell but I can be persuaded to go with another manufacterer. Thanks.


You ask a loaded question  Everyone will have a different answer. You don't say what your budget is or how big a screen or what you want to do with it. Just surfing the web, e-mail, some photo stuff and watch youtube or are you into gaming. Two different animals that require two different systems. Once you get all that info together then look around at Amazon, Tigerdirect, http://tinyurl.com/22nqvn ect ect and a half dozen others http://shop4.frys.com/template/notebook that I'm sure will be mentioned in this thread. http://tinyurl.com/cppump Personally I'd go for a Toshiba or HP over Dell and I'd stick with 32bit for now.


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## JMT74 (Apr 14, 2005)

Yeah I should have stated a few things. Well my budget is around $700 or so. I would like to get a 16:9 widescreen. I kinda dig those. Obviously the more RAM the better. I am thinking 4gb atleast.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

There are VERY FEW reasons to require more than 2gig of memory, and adding the additional memory will run up the cost with no real benefit. I'd be looking at other attributes like video with it's own independent memory, processor speed, I/O connections, battery life, weight, etc.


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## jls242424 (Nov 22, 2007)

JMT74 said:


> Yeah I should have stated a few things. Well my budget is around $700 or so. I would like to get a 16:9 widescreen. I kinda dig those. Obviously the more RAM the better. I am thinking 4gb atleast.


Lots of systems in your price range come with 3G's of memory (As Vista needs that much) which is all you'll need and most laptop screens are now widescreen as the standard. (16:9) I was refering to do you want a 15"-16"-17" screen. I've got a 16" Toshiba Satellite 355D. http://i43.tinypic.com/2qbxchx.jpg Most laptops over 16" are going to start running into some serious cash if it's a new laptop and most always will come with processors that will be up to snuff for your needs. Good luck in your choice.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Vista doesn't need 3gigs, you're reading too many naysayers opinions. I run Vista with 2gig of memory, and even running a VM with 512mb reserved and a number of applications, I don't have memory usage for all the available RAM.


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## JMT74 (Apr 14, 2005)

Well I definately believe that the more RAM you have the better. Especially for future apps. etc. you will probably need more memory to run a bunch of them at the same time. I had 256 on this computer and that wasnt enough so I got 512. Now that doesn't seem to be enough for what I wanna do but my computer has RDRAM and I'm not spending $300 to go from 512mb to 1gb but that is another story lol. What should I be looking for in a video graphics card?


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## jls242424 (Nov 22, 2007)

JohnWill said:


> Vista doesn't need 3gigs, you're reading too many naysayers opinions. I run Vista with 2gig of memory.


You go with your 2gigs and I'll keep my 3  You can never have enough memory..:up:


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## jls242424 (Nov 22, 2007)

JMT74 said:


> Well I definately believe that the more RAM you have the better. Especially for future apps. etc. you will probably need more memory to run a bunch of them at the same time. I had 256 on this computer and that wasnt enough so I got 512. Now that doesn't seem to be enough for what I wanna do but my computer has RDRAM and I'm not spending $300 to go from 512mb to 1gb


For $300 you can buy a new desktop with way more then 256. I didn't know a computer if built within the last 4 yrs would even run with only 256MB of Ram.. Come on into the SDRAM pool. The waters fine.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

You can always add memory at a very reasonable price to a modern laptop, but if you buy one with shared memory for the video, it'll have poor video performance for the life of the machine, there's no upgrade path. The same with interface connections like Bluetooth, Firewire, 802.11n wireless, etc. 

Specifying a laptop is the same as when you're building a house, let the builder add the extras that are difficult or impossible to add after the fact, and you can later paint the rooms any color you like.


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## JMT74 (Apr 14, 2005)

Ok, So what type of Video Card should I look out for? I was for the heck of it building one on the Dell website and when I came across Video Card they gave me 2 options. The 1st option was Included in the original price. It is a Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD. The 2nd option which is a $100 more is a 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD4430. I take it your gonna tell me you would drop $100 more for the 2nd Option. lol


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## casper0191 (Apr 2, 2009)

Well why don't you try on going to the malling then see what can you buy with your budget. You'll never know you might change your mind if you saw them personally.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Well, I'd check the detailed specifications, and if the video card uses shared main memory, I'd move on.  For the one you stated, I'd be seriously considering the extra cost option.

Obviously, if you're just going to use this for web browsing and word processing, the shared memory probably won't be an issue. However, if you plan on doing any heavier graphics applications or playing any games, you'll really miss the better graphics WAY more than an extra couple of gigabytes of memory.


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## jls242424 (Nov 22, 2007)

JMT74 said:


> Ok, So what type of Video Card should I look out for? I was for the heck of it building one on the Dell website and when I came across Video Card they gave me 2 options. The 1st option was Included in the original price. It is a Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X4500HD. The 2nd option which is a $100 more is a 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD4430. I take it your gonna tell me you would drop $100 more for the 2nd Option. lol


"With the release of AMD's latest budget graphics card, the Radeon HD 4770, the GPU giant is bringing a lot of technology to the table. The card sports the world's first 40nm GPU (beating out CPUs to a new process technology for the first time), GDDR5 memory, and 640 stream processors, all for under $100.
http://tinyurl.com/cnbpwk


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## JMT74 (Apr 14, 2005)

Alright so what brand does everyone prefer? Dell, HP, Sony Vaio, Acer,Gateway etc.... I am just curious what everyone has and their experiences with their particular manufacturer/model. Thanks.


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## casper0191 (Apr 2, 2009)

Well dell is one of top the line but I didn't have that brand yet. Sony is kind a cool if they are Laptops or a mobile type computer. Acer is kind enough to stand for a while but not recommended. Gateway no comments yets still reviewing it and I might start saving to get one.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

So far I've had good luck with my HP multimedia luggable (17" screen, 2 hard drivers, big!), and my wife and daughter both have Toshiba machines that are nice, but a bit on the expensive side.

I also have a small Averatec laptop that I've had for years, other than upgrading the memory and hard disk for bigger sizes, it's served me well. It's been on more airplanes and in more hotels than I can count, and keeps running 100%. The only issue I had was the lid plastic finally cracked around the hinge and I had to use JB-Weld to fix the lid. but it's still hitting on all eight cylinders.


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## JMT74 (Apr 14, 2005)

So I take it you would go with an HP over a DELL?


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## DebraZito (May 2, 2009)

Hi JMT,

I suggest you to keep eye on few good deal sites that can save your money and you can get good deal for your laptop.

here is a staples link for you if admin dont count me spaming as I am putting one link for it

http://www.staples.com/office/suppl...Id=10001&jspStoreDir=Staples&productId=267184

here you can check rebate details and can get discount...Go for techbargains, dealtaker, cheapdeals101, dealnews to see laptops with good bargains....


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Tons of laptop deals on these sites every day.

Deal News

Tech Bargains

More Stuff 4 Less


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

I've merged the two threads on the same topic, please don't start multiple threads.


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## JMT74 (Apr 14, 2005)

There are so many deals out there. I am lost at what is the best deal or what I want for that matter lol. I am pretty much set that I don't want a 17" laptop. I like the 16:9 widescreen models the best I think. lol I can't make up my mind. One more thing alot of these laptops have a standard processor speed of 2.0ghz. Will I really notice much of a difference from 2.0 compared to a let's say 2.4ghz processor? Thanks.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Not enough to get excited about.  If you go for a dual-core model, you get that much more throughput. Also, the faster the clock, the faster the battery depletes.


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## aka Brett (Nov 25, 2008)

JMT74 said:


> There are so many deals out there. I am lost at what is the best deal or what I want for that matter lol. I am pretty much set that I don't want a 17" laptop. I like the 16:9 widescreen models the best I think. lol I can't make up my mind. One more thing alot of these laptops have a standard processor speed of 2.0ghz. Will I really notice much of a difference from 2.0 compared to a let's say 2.4ghz processor? Thanks.


With a laptop you want one that has a processor that has the notebook in mind..with being energy efficient.
There are a couple reasons for this..an energy efficient processor doesnt run as hot...and as john will stated battery life is better.
heat and laptop equals dead laptop.
Set your budget for the machine...expect a life of about 3 years...
some of the IBMs early dells and some toshibas never seem to die.
times change...so just expect about 3 years out of one.
Be sure you buy one with a synaptics touchpad...the alps touchpads ok and thats it.
you want one that comes with the disks as so you do not have to fight for them later,as the recovery partition doesnt always work.
a widescreen 15 is about right...14 isnt bad if it is widescreen.
most units are widescreen now.
An important note to is what John will is saying about the graphic card.
if you can get one with a dedicated card this will be a big benefit
you can replace a card..but you cant replace the onboard shared card.[major work and bucks} a large perecnet of dead laptop are because of the death of the shared card


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## JMT74 (Apr 14, 2005)

Well I just priced out a DELL Inspiron taking into consideration what you all have been telling me and here is what I come up with. Let me know if you think this is a good deal or not. Thanks.
Inspiron 15
Date & Time: May 03,2009 10:24 PM CST

SYSTEM COMPONENTS

Inspiron 15 Qty 1 
Intel® Core 2 Duo T6400 (2.00GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache), Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1 32 Bit Unit Price $909.00 
Limited Time  Free upgrade to Widescreen 15.6 WLED display!
Limited Time Offer! 

Catalog Number: 29 DNCAZA1

INSPIRON 15 Intel® Core 2 Duo T6400 (2.00GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache)

Operating System Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1 32 Bit

System Color Jet Black

Memory 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 800MHz

LCD Panel Bright, glossy widescreen 15.6 WLED display (1366x768)

Video Card 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD4330

Hard Drive 320GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)

Network Integrated 10/100 Network Card

Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 9.0

Combo or DVD+RW Drive 8X CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)

Sound Soundblaster X-Fi Hi Def Audio - Software Enabled

Wireless Networking Cards Dell Wireless 1397 802.11g Half Mini-Card

Integrated Web Cam Integrated 1.3 MP Webcam

Productivity Microsoft Works

Software - Antivirus McAfee SecurityCenter with anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, 30-Days

Battery Options 9-cell battery

Hardware Support Services 1Yr Ltd Warranty and Mail-In Service

Datasafe Dell Online Backup 2GB for 1 year

Dial-Up Internet Access No ISP requested

Entertainment and Editing Software WildTangent Games

PROCESSOR LABELS Intel® Core 2 Duo Processor

OS LABELS Windows Vista Premium

Dell Remote Access Dell Remote Access, free basic service

Sub total:$909.00 with coupon code QX934B1BM47BS? it is $225 off so it would cost $684+$29 for shipping= $713.


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## aka Brett (Nov 25, 2008)

JMT74 said:


> Well I just priced out a DELL Inspiron taking into consideration what you all have been telling me and here is what I come up with. Let me know if you think this is a good deal or not. Thanks.
> Inspiron 15
> Date & Time: May 03,2009 10:24 PM CST
> 
> ...


i picked up a dell inspiron 1525 for 500 bucks close to a year ago
i will cruise there site a little for deals


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## aka Brett (Nov 25, 2008)

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9149557&type=product&id=1218036213752
480 bucks


 Warranty Terms - Parts
1 year
 Warranty Terms - Labor
1 year
 Product Height
1.5"
 Product Width
14.7"
 Product Weight
6.5 lbs.
 Product Depth
9.6"
 Processor Brand
Intel®
 Processor
Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core
 Processor Speed
2.16GHz
 Display Type
WXGA widescreen LCD (1366 x 768)
 Screen Size
15.6"
 System Bus
800MHz
 Cache Memory
1MB on die Level 2
 System Memory (RAM)
3GB
 System Memory (RAM) Expandable To
4GB
 Type of Memory (RAM)
DDR2 SoDIMM
 Hard Drive Type
Serial ATA (5400 rpm)
 Hard Drive Size
160GB
 Optical Drive
Double-layer DVD±RW/CD-RW
 Optical Drive Speeds
Drive speeds not specified
 Direct-Disc Labeling
No
 Digital Media Reader or Slots
Yes, digital media card reader
 Graphics
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
 Video Memory
Up to 384MB (shared)
 Personal Video Recorder (PVR)
No
 TV Tuner
No
 MPEG
Yes
 Built-in Webcam
No
 Modem
None
 Networking
Built-in 10/100 Mbps Ethernet network card
 Wireless Networking
Wireless-B+G
 Bluetooth-Enabled
No
 S-Video Outputs
None
 Audio
High-definition 2.0
 Speakers
Built-in
 PCMCIA Slots
None
 USB 2.0 Ports
3
 IEEE 1394 FireWire Ports
None
 Parallel Ports
None
 Serial Ports
None
 Game Ports
None
 Laptop Weight
Standard (more than 5.5 lbs.)
 Battery Type
Lithium-ion
 Battery Life
Up to 2 hours and 26 minutes
 Pointing Device
Touchpad
 Operating System
Windows Vista Home Premium with SP1
 Included Software
Microsoft Works 9, Adobe Reader 9, Roxio Creator 10 Dell Edition


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## JMT74 (Apr 14, 2005)

I suppose if you wanna pay for cheaper components then that Best Buy looks like a good deal. Has shared video memory though. See this is why I am confused on what is a good deal and what isnt lol.


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## casper0191 (Apr 2, 2009)

Well like I said it's more cooler if you go out on window shopping and look for one. i'm telling you might end up wit a greater deal.


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## aka Brett (Nov 25, 2008)

JMT74 said:


> I suppose if you wanna pay for cheaper components then that Best Buy looks like a good deal. Has shared video memory though. See this is why I am confused on what is a good deal and what isnt lol.


yes it has shared video
I think the one you shown does to
the bummer however is the alps touchpad i know the 1525 has an alps
dont know about the one you shown
however my 1525 does run cool
and my battery life is much higher than advertised.
lid is still nice and tight with no play
the reason i bought it with the shared memory about a year ago is 500 bucks wouldnt get you much a year ago
the same setup straight from dell was about 1100 bucks 
also it has the drivers available for xp which was important.

this link down here is something to consider...you can buy ram cheap to upgrade..but you have a high quality laptop to start off with durable...and available documentation for any future repairs or trouble shooting

http://www.lenovo.com/us/en/


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

As I said, if you plan on running any modern games, shared memory is a big minus!


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## JMT74 (Apr 14, 2005)

Well this to me looks like what they call a dedicated video card. Video Card 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD4330. The included option didnt mention how many MB's the card had so I assume this one is dedicated. What do you think of the specs on that DELL I priced out John? Thanks.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

The description you posted says: _*Memory 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 800MHz*_

That sure sounds like the video memory is stealing bandwidth and capacity from the main memory.


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## JMT74 (Apr 14, 2005)

Ok, Maybe I am confused on that but here is what it says for the Video Card: Video Card 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD4330. Seems to me that this video card is 256mb. Maybe that 4gb of ram does share with the 256mb ATI Mobility Radeon HD4330 but why would that be the upgraded option when I priced it out? The default option would have definately shared the main memory.


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## JohnWill (Oct 19, 2002)

Maybe the specification sheet is wrong. It says shared memory, but maybe that's just for the standard video.

I think I'd ask that question point blank of the Dell folks before I assumed that it wasn't shared memory.


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## casper0191 (Apr 2, 2009)

Have you tried on asking the Store directly?


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## SayWhatJD (Jun 16, 2009)

If you're looking for a cheap laptop solution, check out www.pcsurplusonline.com. Also, iff you're into Tablet PC's, there is a bunch of those in stock and they are priced pretty reasonably.

If you create an account on their site and use FRUGAL as the group code when you sign up, you get 10% off all orders.

Toss the coupon JDEALS (all caps) in the coupon field at checkout and you'll get another $10 off your order if it's over $50. There's also freebies for large $$ orders. Can't beat that!

That means something like this Gateway M275 touchscreen tablet PC here http://www.pcsurplusonline.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_ID=369&ParentCat=89 which is normally $249 comes out to $224.99 after your 10%, then take another $10 off with the coupon and you're only talking about $214 for a swanky tablet w/ the swivel screen and all. Zing!


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## DebraZito (May 2, 2009)

Well guys,

Thanks for posts, I was bit out touch with my laptop...I just bought good laptop for my brother on his graduation...Great deal:

http://www.cheapdeals101.com/deals/...k-pc-with-1gb-ddr2-sodimm-memory-hp-7205.html

HP Compaq 6910p 14.1" Core 2 Duo T7300 Notebook
80GB 5400rpm SATA hard drive
1+1 = 2GB DDR2 ram

Hope this is a good deal for him....

Hey guys can we make one section where we can post deals..actually I buy things online so many times so if I found anything helpful I can post here...

thanks....


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## casper0191 (Apr 2, 2009)

Well if you are so sure about that then go on get it.


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