I have a Dell XPS M140 that is finally about to crap out. I was looking to get a notebook computer instead of a laptop because i want long battery and light weight. The only thing I need is to play HD movies and do some minor editing... Any recommendations? What should I look for?
Thanks!
Also, any brands I should avoid? I had bad experiences with Compaq and HP in the past, and my Dell has been great so far...How's Acer?
Kidd J
Favorite Answer
Well, laptops and notebooks are actually the same thing. If you mean netbook then I can't be sure if there is one that can be used for HD movie editing. The thing is, it needs a graphic card to make it run smooth and netbook usually don't have it.
Acer is okay. It's not the best choice but it's okay. I've heard that people like Toshiba. I did a review myself and it seems decent. The specs and designs are good. I use Gateway and so far I haven't got any major problem except for overheating (due to congested dust in my laptop's fan) and OS problems. Asus make great laptops too. Look in that area or you can stick with Dell. Price wise, Acer might be the cheapest.
doruletz1999
Notebook and Laptop are one and the same thing.
If you meant to say Netbook, don't waste your money on one. They are very basic, stripped down versions of laptops, only good for web surfing with some minor word processing and maybe some low quality video playback.
Dell is a not so good brand. They use the cheapest hardware possible and Dell support sucks.
Brands don't actually really matter per say, it's the specs that make all the difference.
So far I owned 7 laptops. 1 eMachines, 2 HP, 2 Acer and 2 Toshiba.
I had excellent experience with HP, Acer and Toshiba, all 3 have excellent support and worked great for me for years. Had some problems with the eMachines, but support was great also and they repaired it in time.
For good quality HD Video you want first of all a laptop with a full 1080p Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080) display (most of the cheap ones only have 1366 x 768).
Also you would need at the very least an Intel HD integrated graphics with 4GB RAM, although any GeForce GT xxxM dedicated card would be much better. (xxx could be anything from 520 on up, as in GeForce GT 520M or GeForce GTX 580M - the best mobility card ever)
Here are the acceptable screen resolutions for HD Video playback from best to least required:
2048x1536 (QXGA)
1920x1200 (WUXGA)
1920x1080 (WUXGA) Full HD
1680x1050 (WSXGA+)
1680x945 (WSXGA+)
1680x900 (WSXGA+)
1600x900 (WXGA++) HD+
1600x1200 (UXGA)
1440x960 (WXGA+)
1440x900 (WXGA+)
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Dell XPS 15 is the best choice. I love JBL Audio, it is the best sound system on a laptop to date. No laptop has been able to provide this level of clear and loud sound from a laptop. Goodbye speakers.
Anonymous
I would suggest not dell or mac. Acer is good and cheap as long as you get a dual core machine.
Anonymous
Iv'e got one of these apart from the crappy power connector it's awesome
http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_PC/Eee_PC_1215N/#specifications