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Looking for a Laptop
- Thread starter zmatalucci
- Start date
Pat Whatley
New Member
This is the one I bought for my wife back in May (for $250 more) and liked it so much I went and bought one for myself. I know you said you don't need it for design but I've run Illustrator and Photoshop on mine with virtually no lag whatsoever. I currently use it for invoicing, and for onsite design adjustments when meeting with customers.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3990141&Sku=S445-140003
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3990141&Sku=S445-140003
trakers
New Member
I'd go with Dell rather than HP.
I just helped a fellow businessman who purchased a new HP laptop. We are talking a tricked out machine with 17" screen and 8Gb of RAM running Vista.
It looks nice , but this thing is a P-I-G, PIG. What a POS. Slower than an 8-year itch and as unstable George Bush.
He bought this thing for business and Quickbooks randomly crashes as well as his browser and other business related programs.
I had him return it to Best Buy and he is getting a machine where we can put XP on it and be done with it. He will then have a fast, stable machine for the next 3 or 4 years.
No matter where you get it I would highly recommend to be sure it has XP installed or to least be certain you can upgrade it from Vista to XP.
I just helped a fellow businessman who purchased a new HP laptop. We are talking a tricked out machine with 17" screen and 8Gb of RAM running Vista.
It looks nice , but this thing is a P-I-G, PIG. What a POS. Slower than an 8-year itch and as unstable George Bush.
He bought this thing for business and Quickbooks randomly crashes as well as his browser and other business related programs.
I had him return it to Best Buy and he is getting a machine where we can put XP on it and be done with it. He will then have a fast, stable machine for the next 3 or 4 years.
No matter where you get it I would highly recommend to be sure it has XP installed or to least be certain you can upgrade it from Vista to XP.
WhiskeyDreamer
Professional Snow Ninja
i have a compaq (same as hp) notebook....and love it....one great thing about hp, is their customer support.....live online chat to help with any problems....when i found i wasn't able to burn off recovery disks, hp sent me recovery dvds....
edit: and i am running vista on a laptop and a desktop....and have NO problems....as long as it's up to date (and i'd spend the extra $35 on the laptop and the one that already has the crap software wiped off it and is all up to date with the updates)...
edit: and i am running vista on a laptop and a desktop....and have NO problems....as long as it's up to date (and i'd spend the extra $35 on the laptop and the one that already has the crap software wiped off it and is all up to date with the updates)...
animenick65
New Member
I'm a dell guy too. I bought my last couple of computers through the Dell outlet. I bought one just to see if it was worth it and have been sold ever since. You can get twice the computer for half the price. Most of them are refurb after being used on corporate lease or whatnot.
outlet.dell.com
great deals to be found there
Joel
outlet.dell.com
great deals to be found there
Joel
premiercolour
Merchant Member
I am using Lenovo T series. Can't beat it. Never crashed... yet. knock knock.. during the two years of ownership.
RJ California
New Member
I bought a Toshiba notebook at Costco a few months ago (Mother's Day gift for my wife). I also got her one of those wireless internet anywhere USB things from Verizon. She loves it. It's mostly used for internet and email. We've already taken it on a few trips and the internet even works while we're driving.
The only reason I bought the Toshiba was for the small size and it's light weight (she wanted something that she could carry around easily) --- and the fact that I could get it at Costco. You can't beat Costco's return policy.
The only reason I bought the Toshiba was for the small size and it's light weight (she wanted something that she could carry around easily) --- and the fact that I could get it at Costco. You can't beat Costco's return policy.
peavey123
New Member
Hey all. Not meaning to be a thread pirate but I'm looking at getting one of the new macbooks for christmas. Wondering if any of y'all have one or used one and how it performs for big honkin' sign graphics. A comparison between PC laptop performance would be nice also....should I just start a new thread? lol
cgsigns_jamie
New Member
I guess I'll be the first to recommend and Apple laptop.
I love my 15" MacBook Pro. This is my 4th PowerBook/MacBook and they are absolutely great laptops. I've had Dells and IBM's as well and keep coming back to Mac.
The best feature about the new ones with Intel processors is you can run Windows natively via boot camp or with software like fusion or parallels. That way if you don't like the Mac operating system (which it would be extremely hard not to like one of the best operating systems around) you can just slap a copy of Windows on it and have access to all your Windows applications.
I love my 15" MacBook Pro. This is my 4th PowerBook/MacBook and they are absolutely great laptops. I've had Dells and IBM's as well and keep coming back to Mac.
The best feature about the new ones with Intel processors is you can run Windows natively via boot camp or with software like fusion or parallels. That way if you don't like the Mac operating system (which it would be extremely hard not to like one of the best operating systems around) you can just slap a copy of Windows on it and have access to all your Windows applications.
Poconopete
New Member
Using XP in a new HP will void your warranty, according to one of their agents.
Kottwitz-Graphics
New Member
Great site. I have been thinking about getting a 17" Dell for a while now. I found just the one I want for less than $900.
I'm like you, I hate the idea of having to go to Vista. There is a laptop repair shop not too far from me that took my sons Acer laptop with vista and took it back to XP. It runs a whole lot faster now.
For desktops, I'm running only Dell Optiplex models now, which have been rock solid. For laptops, I'm presently specing out a Dell Latitude D series, which is available with Windows XP factory installed with the option to upgrade to Vista in the future if wanted. They have a new E Series Latitude Laptop, which has not been getting good reviews, apparently there are a few bugs that need to be worked out. The D Series however, has been an industry standard. These are all corporate version models that in my experience, perform significantly better than regular models.
SignsOfMaine
New Member
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say Acer. I work on one at home and use one of their laptops on the road. They work great, and they don't preload them with too much crap like you expect from dell and hp. They have a nice screen and never any battery or overheating issues like you'll find with a lot of others (HP). I was able to get XP on mine at the time (when vista was out) but I think you'll want to call and ask if that's still an option.
Right now there aren't a whole ton of different acers listed on newegg, but check out the reviews:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?bop=And&Submit=SubCatDeals&N=50001146 40000032
All of the offered models have a 5 out of 5 star rating.
Full disclosure - newegg's rating system is based on the median review rather than the average I think, so I'm not saying there isn't a single person who gave it less than 5 stars =) Also, my laptop has one small annoyance, resting your thumb near the mouse button will sometimes cause it to think you're clicking when you're not. However I've been very happy to use an external usb mouse whenever possible anyway.
Right now there aren't a whole ton of different acers listed on newegg, but check out the reviews:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?bop=And&Submit=SubCatDeals&N=50001146 40000032
All of the offered models have a 5 out of 5 star rating.
Full disclosure - newegg's rating system is based on the median review rather than the average I think, so I'm not saying there isn't a single person who gave it less than 5 stars =) Also, my laptop has one small annoyance, resting your thumb near the mouse button will sometimes cause it to think you're clicking when you're not. However I've been very happy to use an external usb mouse whenever possible anyway.
I also got a Dell Latitude D830 with windows xp... just at $2000 with all the upgrades i added, it spins circles around my vaio. If your interseted in it, i just got a christmas coupon at the shop to save $350 on one. I'm not going to get another one so i have no interest in it, but can mail you the coupon for you to use
Si Allen
New Member
I have a Sony with a Core2 Duo that I bought from www.clearanceclub.com ....it is faster than my desktop!
No complaints here!
No complaints here!
ericmitchell29
New Member
You may want to confirm this but... I think xp only recognizes 4gigs of ram?
If you have an 8gig using vista and go to xp... only 4 will be recognized.
This is what I have been told.
Eric
If you have an 8gig using vista and go to xp... only 4 will be recognized.
This is what I have been told.
Eric
wrapman jamz
New Member
In our house we have a few...
2 HP's - love em (Pre vista)
2 Dell's -love it.
An E-Machines Desktop - works fine
Compac desktop - Excellent
1 GATEWAY - almost 24/7 gamer the kids use
2 Mac G5's
1 Intel Duo I-Mac I use for work
And a Panasonic mini laptop for field use
I'd say with PC, it's the software (Vista) that messes things up. I use XP on all PC's
Not one service issue yet (knock on wood)
The Macs are flawless, except for an overheating issue on the I-Mac
2 HP's - love em (Pre vista)
2 Dell's -love it.
An E-Machines Desktop - works fine
Compac desktop - Excellent
1 GATEWAY - almost 24/7 gamer the kids use
2 Mac G5's
1 Intel Duo I-Mac I use for work
And a Panasonic mini laptop for field use
I'd say with PC, it's the software (Vista) that messes things up. I use XP on all PC's
Not one service issue yet (knock on wood)
The Macs are flawless, except for an overheating issue on the I-Mac