Laptop died, need replacement

Post Reply New Topic

Hi everyone.

My laptop that carried me though college has stopped functioning. It keept freezing in Windows 7 at random and since it has passed my "5 year" cycle of getting new computers, I think it's high time I updgrade.

I am writing this on the same laptop but in Linux. It was the only way for me to have access to the internet seeing I dont have any other computers that i can work on. I was able to back all my stuff.

Here are specs i am looking for on my next laptop

NO MACS! only PC
HDD space of 500GB or more
4GB of ram or more
HDMI out
Blu-Ray Reader with DVD/CD Writer (Blu-Ray Burner optional)
More USB ports than i can shake a stick at (Min. 4)
Something a little performance oriented but not like gaming laptop
Budget: Anything from affordable to making my wallet cry

what i am gonna use it for?: Coding, photo editing, watching anime, surfing web, instant messaging, skype, playing around in Linux.

I encourage any suggestions for any brand of laptop out there. My experiences with laptops are as follows. My first one was a Dell and went downhill after 4 years i am worried to go back to Dell. My "current" rig is an Acer. It has been running like a Cadillac (until now) and has served me well during my college years and ready to be put to pasture. Here is a small list of PCs that have caught my eye

HP Pavilion dv6-3170ca
Dell XPS 15
Acer Aspire AS5750-6627
Acer Aspire AS5750-6439
Acer Aspire AS5745DG-7950
Acer Aspire AS5742-6823
Sony EB Series VPCEB4AFDB
Asus N53SV

I can't say about the rest of them, but my advice is to strike the Dell from your list. There are enormous numbers of complaints about Dell all over the internet, which you can look up yourself if you want to check.

Avoid the HP DV6, some have graphics card issues [and avoid nVidia graphics mobile chips]
stick to ATI for mobile gaming - see nvidiadefect.com

look for a laptop known to be compatible with Linux

I would forgo bluray burner and try get one with 4 or 6 GB of RAM [ie 4GB or more]
intel i core 5 or 7 processor, they are lightning fast but tend to be dual core rather than the desktops which have quad core.

the intel i5 core processor in my laptop which is over 15 months old seems faster than the AMD Flagship Phenom ii X6 1100T I have for my desktop. [the 2.27GHz TC 2.53GHz i5-430M]

ACER are a great make - stick with them - try simplyacer.com for price savings
avoid HP - had difficulties in getting them to acknowledge right to service under warranty and ended up having to complain once warranty ran out

your probably looking to spend say £600 for a decent system if you can afford it, would be difficult to get something with a dedicated graphics chip for less than £450 Im guessing [and read reviews of laptop and graphics chip before buying]

dont buy anything from Currys [or Dixons retail group eg PC World, Currys or Dixons]

let me know how you get on - I may have to make the same search soon for laptop with same spec.

Blu ray reader would be cool, but consider what you have at home [Ive got a PS3 so waiting for blu ray burners to come down in price [about 60 pounds for desktop drive]

Last edited by NSF on 19 Jun 2011, 11:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

I would reccoment looking into the thinkpad series. They're a little pricy, but they're made for heavy use, and they're pretty good on gadgetry too.

IBM Thinkpads ['Stinkpads'] are rubbish

not tried Levovo laptops but guess they are about the same
find out what distros of Linux a laptop will run

you want it to run Ubuntu/Linux Mint and Fedora ideally - what one do you use at the moment?

Windows 7 is best version of Windows - if it is not the OEM version you have you will be able to install on new machine and dual boot with Linux. Save license details and find out about trading in old laptop if it is 5 years old.

I would buy this if I had the money sitting around

http://www.simplyacer.com/Acer_Aspire_5 ... 53012.html
Spec looks amazing with i7 processor, price is £673

if youve got a really good job with enough disposable income then price isnt really too important.

Go for an Acer. I recently got a new Acer laptop, and it's a beast. (I have the Aspire 7552G-6061). By far the most power for the money you will get in a new laptop. Everything works in Linux. Try going for one of the Acers with an AMD Phenom II processor. The quad core is nice.

http://www.simplyacer.com/Acer_Aspire_5 ... 05709.html

its got dedicated graphics card, think nVidia will be ok if buying performance chip
reduced from £919 to £449. Should have everything you need.

main things you want is a bright screen [its amazing with bright vibrant screen] with decent audio, fast enough processor dedicated graphics card, at least 4GB of RAM

want at least 320GB HDD minimum - especially if your going to run 2 graphics cards,

possible things you may also want

SSD drive
large flash drive [buy cheaply and large size] to use readyboost with Windows to put page file on and make system run faster [I got 8GB Sandisk drive for £7 in sale - should have bought 2]

Whats good about AMD Quadcore mobile chip?

I prefer Intel i core series as they are lightning fast - even faster than my desktop Phenom ii X6 somehow.

Definitely go for ACER, solid build quality and lots of people recommend them - see post above

go to www.simplyacer.co.uk

Ive got a HP Pavillion and it is fast but has inherent problems with graphics chip which is integrated on motherboard - gets back from repair tomorrow [no doubt still broken]
wouldnt recommend them to anybody

Thanks for the suggestions! Seems i am gonna go Acer. I like my experience with the laptops i got from them and it looks like i am gonna pick one from the list. Oh and as for processor, i am an Intel guy...no AMD for me. I have nothing against AMD but i prefer Intel.

Think i am gonna pick up this dude Acer Asipre AS5745DG-7950

[Link]

Better price for the same performance. Granted that in every class Intel turns out a better chip than AMD, but for the cost of a mid-range Intel you can go ahead and get a high-end AMD.

For a little under $300.00 I got an HP G72 with the following specs:

OS Name Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Version 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name RVM2
System Manufacturer Hewlett-Packard
System Model HP G72 Notebook PC
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU T4500 @ 2.30GHz, 2300 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Hewlett-Packard F.17, 7/6/2010
SMBIOS Version 2.6
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.1.7601.17514"
User Name rvm2\Richard Mathews
Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 3.90 GB
Available Physical Memory 1.28 GB
Total Virtual Memory 7.81 GB
Available Virtual Memory 4.91 GB
Page File Space 3.90 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys

I bought it last November and so far it is holding up nicely.

Is battery life important? AMD's pre-Llano CPU is notoriously bad in this regard. They had just released Llano but it may take another month or so before actual availability. I highly recommend you wait for it before buying. If anything, it'll at least drives Intel's price down a bit.