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| Thread ID: 79539 | 2007-05-23 01:54:00 | There are so many laptops I don't know where to start... | Badcam (12313) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 552424 | 2007-05-23 01:54:00 | Hi PressF1 people I'm looking for a laptop to replace my almost defunct 800mhz lappy. I have been going crazy trying to find the best value for money purchase, and the more I look the more confused I'm getting. Could you please help? Part of me wants to splurge and go all out. To me, that's a budget of around $1500 - $1600 inc GST. I envisage a Core2 Duo (am I crazy?). The other part says, you don't need to spend that much money for what you'll be using it for. Just buy a laptop for less than $1000. I intend to use the laptop for surfing and emails, and MYOB v16. Speed isn't vital, as ANYTHING would be better than the laptop I have had for seven years. But, I would like to get the fastest chip I can afford (doesn't everybody? ;-) Watching DVD's isn't important, but battery life is. I would prefer to It would be nice though to have a DVD player/burner t back up my HD. I am reasonably competent with PC's, so after sales service isn't so important as long as I have the OS discs etc. A large HD isn't vital. I won't be saving huge files onto the laptop. I have wifi at home but have a USR PCMCIA card that isn't being used, also a belkin USB Wifi adaptor lying around. Id like the best screen I can get, the larger the better, but would be happy to use a 14 inch if everything else was good. If the laptop has a small amount of ram, I would be happy to wait until ram prices come down and buy some more later. I understand though that 1GB is essential for Vista, which all laptops seem to come with now. I use XP professional on my old laptop. I'm happy with using XP and have never used Vista, but would like to ensure my laptop has a little redundancy built in ie I can use Vista on it later should the laptop come with XP. Do I really need Vista??? Please throw your suggestions at me. If you know of any particular bargains around at the moment, let me know. Brands aren't important as long as I don't end up buying a dog. I'm happy to buy via a website or through the likes of DSE, Noel Lemmings etc as long as the laptop is good value for money. Am I asking too much? Please, please help. Thank you. |
Badcam (12313) | ||
| 552425 | 2007-05-23 02:25:00 | For your price range, probably Asus. 80GB Hard drives or bigger are pretty much the norm these days. Virtually every PC laptop now ships with Vista, although you can still re install XP SP2 which still has a few more 3rd party apps that work for it. Most PC laptops running XP would run sufficiently on 512MB - Vista needs about 1GB minimum. Edit: A laptop for under a $1000 in NZ is a pretty crappy laptop. RAM prices are dropping all the time and are fairly affordable for bigger amounts. |
winmacguy (3367) | ||
| 552426 | 2007-05-23 03:12:00 | Badcam, have a look at this post: pressf1.pcworld.co.nz I give several links to laptops in your price range, plus there are many other useful comments from PF1 'experts'. |
Strommer (42) | ||
| 552427 | 2007-05-23 07:12:00 | I want to spend around $1300 getting a laptop for uni and the best deal I have found so far has been Dell. I know it has its problems but its good bang for the buck. | beeswax34 (63) | ||
| 552428 | 2007-05-23 07:23:00 | I want to spend around $1300 getting a laptop for uni and the best deal I have found so far has been Dell. I know it has its problems but its good bang for the buck. Yes, Dell does seem to offer the best bang for bucks. A friend of mine bought a Dell laptop last year and is happy with it (except that the motherboard had to be replaced, which was done at no cost under warranty). But many of the big guns here on PF1 trash Dell... and hopefully some will pop up here and say why. |
Strommer (42) | ||
| 552429 | 2007-05-23 07:38:00 | Dell are famous for complete rubbish after sales service. I would be taking into consideration more than just price and features. How about warranty? ASUS has 2 years. Certain of the Toshibas have a 3 year warranty. Make sure you check the model, as its not all of them. |
pctek (84) | ||
| 552430 | 2007-05-23 07:42:00 | Dell are famous for complete rubbish after sales service. There is currently a class action court case against Dell in the US for false advertising based on their bate and switch ads and lack of customer service. more info here www.consumeraffairs.com |
winmacguy (3367) | ||
| 552431 | 2007-05-23 08:31:00 | Thanks everyone for participating in my thread. It's strange really. I have absolutely no difficulty in deciding what I need for a desktop, but laptops are so hard. I think, for me, it's that inability to pick and choose components. Can I throw a couple links at you? Which is the better laptop, and what should I choose? Do you know of something better?: tinyurl.com tinyurl.com tinyurl.com For me, it looks as if the compaq is a great buy. But, I've been warned away from compaq many times. Same for Dick Smith's, but they are handy, even if I know more than the staff about most of their gear. Please advise. Thanks once again. |
Badcam (12313) | ||
| 552432 | 2007-05-23 08:43:00 | As long as you sort yourself out with a 3 year extended warranty covering parts and service, I think you should be able to pick either of the 3 machines that your looking at, and you should be relatively OK. It is a PC laptop running Windows afterall, so what else could go wrong with it...? ;) Just kidding :p |
winmacguy (3367) | ||
| 552433 | 2007-05-23 09:16:00 | Thanks winmacguy. but I would never buy an extended warranty. I know my consumer rights very well. I'd rather spend the cost of an extended on more ram. Thanks anyway. | Badcam (12313) | ||
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