I'm about to buy my first Laptop

[stogiedude]

Looking for a good deal. Don't need a high end model. Hopefully I can find something decent for around $599-$699. I have read enough about Vista to know I really need 2GB of RAM. I really want to stay away from Gateway and Acer, prefer Compaq, HP and Toshiba. Need 15" screen but would like a 17". I know I won't find a laptop with a 17" screen for $699 though. AMD or Intel is good although I prefer to support AMD the underdog. I am going to be doing DJ work on the weekends and the company I am going to work for puts all the music and Karaoke files on an external HD instead of on CDs or DVDs. No more flipping through albums looking for disks. If all goes well I will be doing a wedding every Saturday night and singing in local hotels, bars and lounges during the week. Wish me luck. . .

 

[Volvohead]

Is this for on the road for this job? If so, I would look at something a little more rugged (IBM/Lenovo, Toughbook), even though it might cost a little more up front. The mainstream consumer models don't wear all that well in more serious commercial or business duty. $700 isn't such a great deal if it's broken when you need it most.

Usually employers provide the hardware for the job. Why don't they provide the laptop?

 

[Camu Mahubah]

HP Pavilion

 

[CivicFan]

XO

 

[XS650]

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HP Pavilion

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My wife's HP Pavilion has done very well the 3 years she's had it. We haven't done any durability tests though.

Her's was about $1500, Pavilions with better specs are under $700 now.

 

[simple_gifts]

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XO

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rock on. I'm getting one/two

 

[XS650]

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XO

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Q: How much does a $100 XO laptop cost?

A: $400.

Really they only cost $200 each. The catch is you have to pay for 2 and one of them gets sent to a needy student in a poor country. The extra $200 is tax detuctable though.

 

[bigbrother8]

i just took delivery of this machine a couple of days ago and so far im pretty impressed with its overall value. it is my 2nd laptop, i shopped for about 3 months before i pulled the trigger on it and i could not find a better value for the money. 17" screen with 2 MB's.

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5969098

 

[stogiedude]

I went looking to several stores and saw a Toshiba with a 17" screen at Office Depot for $649 after rebate, but it only had 1GB of RAM and there is no way I am going to run Vista with only 1GB of RAM. A 1GB RAM upgrade which I can do myself is $120 so that laptop goes to $770-not outrageous(tax is another $54), but a bit more than I really want to spend. There was another one for $850 that had 2GB of RAM, but with tax that puts me at $910 and there is no way I am spending that much right now.

I also looked at a Toshiba with a 15.4" screen with 2GB RAM, a 1.9GHz Turion 64 Dual Core for $699. I really, really don't want to spend more than that. I am concerned about the weight of a 17" laptop so I'm leaning towards the the Toshiba with the 15" screen and the 2GB RAM.

The guy at Best Buy said the Gateways had the highest rate of defects, problems, returns etc. and I've heard the same thing before. I'm really concerned about the quality and reliability of the Acers. I have heard that they are a mixed bag. Everything I've heard over the years about Toshiba laptops is good. I would also trust the quality of Compaq and HP at this point in time, but they seem to want more money for their laptops.

I'll be carrying the laptop to a wedding every Satuday night and into bars, lounges etc. wherever I perform, so I am heavily leaning towards a 15" screen model.

I would spend more, but I am spending a good amount for a powered mixer($400), speakers, microphones, mic stands, cables etc. I'll probably get a tuxedo too.

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[stogiedude]

Well I picked up an entry level Toshiba at Office depot for $599+tax. The screen is really good IMO, it seems pretty fast even with Vista-I imagine with XP it would be blazing fast. It has 2GB of RAM, 1.8Ghz Athlon 64, 160GB HD, a DVD drive and remarkably good sound quality from the built in speakers. I took Mcafee off immediately and installed AVG and Winpatrol and so far everything seems to be working fine. At this point I couldn't be happier.