Laptops- HP, Dell, ect?

Question

Hey,

I'm a senior in High School this year, and, as I work on submitting applications, my mind invariably turns to happier things- Researching laptops. My dad has promised me a new one for college, but I want to get the best for his money, and I'd ideally like to set my sights on something I could pay for myself, if it came to that for some reason. I currently have a Dell Inspiron 1527- I don't remember how old it is, but I've had it for several years and it's in dire need of replacement- It could be fixed, but I'm not letting my dad sink any more money into the thing, so I've just stopped telling him when something on it stops working. 

Anyways, these are my tenative criteria:
- I want a real laptop, not some puny netbook-like thing that is crippled if I try to download something and watch Hulu at the same time. This being said, size isn't a huge issue, as long as it isn't some terribly bulky, heavy monster. My backpack currently weighs in at about 25 lbs and I can handle that fine, so lugging around an 8 lb laptop really doesn't bother me much. 
- I want something that comes with Windows 7- My Dell has Vista. Enough said.
- It should have decent gaming capabilities, but it doesn't have to be fantastic. Enough for the Sims 3, probably- I'm not big on computer games, but I'd like for it to be able to run and support some relatively well. 
4. Ample memory and hard drive, decent graphics, decent battery life, ect. ect. 
5. Under $600. Preferably a good amount under that, but that's my personal roof. 

Color doesn't matter to me much, nor does having a webcam built in. My Dell has one, and I've yet to use it seriously. 
Any reccomendations or experiences are appreciated! 


Also, what are the general opinions of the different brands? I was happy enough with my Dell (Before it started dying, that is), but I've heard HPs are really nice. Opinons? (I'm a Windows person, so no Macs)

? · Answer

Macs sucks. The best computer developers out there are Dell, HP, Toshiba, Acer, and Sony. These are the only companies which offer the best laptops at an affordable price. I'd filter out to Toshiba and Sony because they have better laptops. Never get a Mac. They just insult PCs for being unreliable but they haven't proven anything yet. Just wait until hackers make programs for Macs. Apple will surely be running around like idiots signing contracts with Norton, AVG, AOL, and McAfee.

I2K4 · Answer

I've been happy with Dell since my first laptop in 2002.  There isn't much difference between major brands in their guts, but there is in keyboard "feel", screens and appearance, and these really are matters of personal preference - my main suggestion is to try to get a hands on experience and look at the machine before buying.  HP seems to cram more useless junk software on its machines which sucks performance until it is removed, a nuisance.  

You certainly should get full feature W7 and not the "starter" edition, but don't be disrespectful of netbooks - docking a netty to a USB hub with a keyboard, mouse and external hard drive would be enough for many students, and they're a joy to pack around to lectures and coffee shops.  But if you're studying anything computer intensive or like to game, certainly get a full powered PC.

One tip in dealing with Dell - in buying them for myself and others I've consistently gotten better deals calling customer reps on the 800 number than trying to "build" a unit on the web site.  Maybe it's changed from a couple of years ago, but the India customer reps seem to have room to negotiate about the components and I've saved a couple of hundred from the "online" price of units I've bought.  (I also get the extended warranty, and have had good service experience so far, but that is a gamble against hardware breaking.)

Benny · Answer

THIS ONE IS BEST ACCORDING TO YOUR REQUIREMENT
Dell Inspiron 1545 15.6-Inch Jet Black Laptop - Up to 4 Hours 34 Minutes of Battery Life (Windows 7 Home Premium)
*2.1GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core T4300 Processor
*4GB Memory
*250GB Hard Drive, DVD±R/RW Optical Drive
*15.6" Display, Integrated Intel 4500 MHD Media Accelerator Graphics
*Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit), *Up to 4 Hours 34 Minutes of Battery Life
http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-15-6-Inch-Black-Laptop/dp/B002PY7OKI/?tag=sdhrhiaiaa-20

Or
http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?ff3=4&pub=5574865779&toolid=10001&campid=5336440665&customid=sdhrhiaiaa&mpre=http%3a%2f%2fshop.ebay.com%2fi.html%3f_nkw%3dlaptop%2bi3%26_sacat%3d0%26_dmpt%3dLaptops_Nov05%26_odkw%3dlaptop%2bi3%26_osacat%3d0%26_trksid%3dp3286.c0.m270.l1313

The incredible Canuck · Answer

go with asus and toshiba. they are the most reliable and will last a long time. trust me i have a toshiba sattelite i got for 600$ that runs games just fine. look up the toshiba satellite l650 it should have an amd cpu and ati radeon hd 4250 graphics. 4250 isnt that great but its the best you will get for 600$


http://us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/satellite/L650/L655D-S5094

ps avoid hp acer and gateway as they are the most likely to break. they are cheap for a reason.

Bassman1 · Answer

Price, compare features and specification, order direct and save, listed in order of my preference.
http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/home.to
http://www.dell.com
http://www.hp.com

One with any of the newest CPU/Processor, good i3, very good i5 or the best i7.

Anonymous · Answer

If you know what college you are going to you can get a student discount from HP and Apple, but I prefer HP because its more bang for your buck.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=High+performance&series_name=dv6t_series&jumpid=in_R329_prodexp/hhoslp/psg/notebooks/High_performance/dv6t_series

but it! either use a student discount or google hp cupons, you can only one of them, so get one that gets a bigger discount!

? · Answer

HP pavillion.

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Laptops- HP, Dell, ect?

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