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Old Aug 9, 2008 | 11:29 PM
  #1  
Jeff's Avatar
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Default need a new computer

ok time for a new laptop. need some help getting one. i want something around 15 inches, fast as possible with a solid state hd.i guess i want the fastest computer i can get because my parents are paying for part of it because mine now is old an crappy. i dont want to slack on anything but it cant be a huge computer. also i wont be playing games on it just listening to music doing school stuff and photography stuff. and o ya no macs im a pc guy. help me out guys
 
Old Aug 10, 2008 | 11:44 AM
  #2  
Whiplash's Avatar
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Try ncix.com
I havent looked at their laptops but they have the best deals on PCs that Ive found so far.r
 
Old Aug 10, 2008 | 11:55 AM
  #3  
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15 inch Mac Book Pro... I know you said no macs but trust me... you will NOT be disappointed... especially if your doing photography stuff.

Josh
 
Old Aug 10, 2008 | 01:07 PM
  #4  
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you know what they say....."once you've had mac, you never go back!"

i don't even own a laptop though. but, it would be nice to have my own computer!
 
Old Aug 10, 2008 | 01:36 PM
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my laptop is solid state, but its an ultra portable, meaning, you sacrifice some stuff.

Asus Eee PC 900



9" screen, 512mb ram, 20Gb harddrive (if you go with linux) Windows based is 12gb, cheaper(smaller) drives were used because the windows licensing ate up that part of the budget. Both windows or linux are teh same MSRP.

EASILY modded. You can open them up, and solder jump drives to the board in a couple of the unused USB pins, effectively adding more solid state harddrives. Pretty sure you can increase RAM with a bit of modding too.

I know its not really what you were looking for, but I figured I'd toss it out there as an option if you change your mind.

Downside is that the keys are pretty small, and it'll take a little time to get used to typing on it.

Oh, they're around $500. Maybe get one in addition to a bigger laptop!
 
Old Aug 10, 2008 | 07:22 PM
  #6  
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HP has some good laptops and dell has the XPS which is very powerful. I have a 17" hp with 4gb ram, 320gb hdd, 2.2ghz core 2 duo, nvidia 8800m graphics card, HD screen, blue ray player and more. It looks nice, isn't very thick and has a few nice features and I'm sure you could get something similar in a 15" version. You could also look at gaming computers since they will be fast even if you're not going to play games.

Desktops are still the best, my new parts blow my laptop out of the water. Quad core 2.6ghz, 4gb ram, 2 nvidia 9800gtx sli, 1tb hdd.
 
Old Aug 10, 2008 | 08:17 PM
  #7  
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ive got an alienware desktop and laptop, love them both
 
Old Aug 10, 2008 | 09:07 PM
  #8  
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well i have a 17" dell xps now that is about 4-5 years old. its slow and the battery does not work and i want some thing smaller to carry around and had a better battery life
 
Old Aug 10, 2008 | 09:30 PM
  #9  
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If you're hard core PC, Dell and HP are very solid manufacturers. I have a Dell Latitude D630 and it works extremely well for what I need it for, which is a lot of programming and internet usage. Both HP and Dell, from my experience, manufacture very capable PCs.

If all you are doing is listening to music and photo editing, lets say, you could always try buying a Mac. I'm more of a PC guy myself, I don't really like the way Leopard OS does a lot of things, but they're a good way to go if you don't mind spending a lot of money.

The biggest problem with Macs is that they are insanely expensive for no apparent reason other than the fact that they have a piece of fruit on the lid. I was at target the other day and I spotted an HP laptop for about $600: 4 gigs of DDR2 memory, 320gb HDD, a powerful GPU (I don't remember off the top of my head), core 2 duo. Now, compare that to the latest iteration of Macbook: 2 gigs DDR2, 250gb HDD. And the price..? 1500 USD! and, well, you get the idea. I know I'm probably preaching to the choir here, but my point is that you just have to shop around a little to get a feel for what you want, how much you're willing to pay, and where/with whom you can find the best deal.

Also, don't buy Alienware. Almost worse than Macbooks in terms of price-erformance ratio.
 
Old Aug 10, 2008 | 09:37 PM
  #10  
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My brothers swear by Dell... one just bought a 1730, but sold it because it was too large... he now has a 1530 I believe... 15 something, anyways... He loves it.
 



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