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Community => The Lounge => Hardware/Software => Topic started by: Jason on Sunday, January 02, 2011, 14:25:14 PM
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sooo im going to get a laptop for college but i just cant seem to find the patience to wait until the summer so im thinking of getting one now since my birthday is coming up. Im basically looking for the best bang for your buck laptop around $500. Im not trying to push $600 because im most likely going to replace the usual 5400 rpm HDD with a 7200 rpm one. ummm and yea, i probably wont do too much gaming but good integrated video or a card would be nice. and i think anything with a core i3 350M or 370M is around my range because thats what ive been aiming for. also a good webcam will be very handy...i guess at least a 1.3 MP. sooo yea any suggestions?
I found this one on newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220763&Tpk=Asus%20U50F-RBBAG05
tell me what you think. can you top it?
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i actually just found this and thought it was a better deal:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115861
Amazon has it for $599.97 but i like neweggs website better for showing specs haha
and i was thinking of getting this HDD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136280
But then i started thinking about SSD. Is is worth it?
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Watch this page:
http://slickdeals.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=9
Really good deals will be posted here:
http://slickdeals.net/
I would subscribe to the RSS feed if I were you.
Outside of that, I know approximately jack shit about current hardware and even less about current laptops. If it's just for college work (and not highly demanding tasks) then I would be tempted to say pick one off Craigslist for about $300 and it should easily do what you want, that extra $200 would go a long ways in a new hard drive, memory, extended battery or maybe even a better CPU. Best bang for your buck will either be used or a crazy insane deal on Slickdeals. But if it's Slickdeals, you either buy it right when you see it or don't buy it at all. Good deals go very fast on Slickdeals. Buy now, think later is their unofficial motto.
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Laptops these days are getting so fast its ridiculous. My suggestion is keeping waiting on slickdeals and nab whatever is in your price range. If you don't like it you can sell it to some bloke for more than you paid.
Oh and here's a really good suggestion. When you buy a laptop, make sure you wipe the HD and install any 'normal' copy of windows on it. The software they ship with computers these days is getting progressively worse.
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Laptops these days are getting so fast its ridiculous. My suggestion is keeping waiting on slickdeals and nab whatever is in your price range. If you don't like it you can sell it to some bloke for more than you paid.
Oh and here's a really good suggestion. When you buy a laptop, make sure you wipe the HD and install any 'normal' copy of windows on it. The software they ship with computers these days is getting progressively worse.
its kind of hard to follow on there since its not just laptops...but ill take a look at it.
and does that mean that i will need to buy a windows disk? because i have XP but ive used the disk already for this computer. or can i just use the windows that comes on the HDD already?
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Since you already have XP, you can use it on the laptop and its fine. I remember giving my friend a copy of XP back in the day and we both used the same CD key with no problems. However, I really suggest using Windows 7 Ultimate.
As for the Windows that comes with the laptop, chances are its going to be littered with software crap from the OEM and a locked recovery partition. Personally, I can't stand that stuff and I HAVE to wipe the HDD. Others can deal with it.
The best thing to do is dick around on the laptop and see if you can deal with whatever they put on the HDD. There's no point in wiping it if its usable.
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Stick around on Slickdeals, it's really worth your time.
As far as the OS, wiping would be best. I unfortunately don't have much experience re-installing Windows 7 on OEM computers that came with it but I think you can just grab a copy of the same version you have on the internet and install it with the key on the bottom of your laptop. As far as I know, there's no "Windows 7" discs that come with OEM computers these days, I'm pretty sure they just come with "recovery" CD's that are mostly useless.
As for downloading Windows on the internet, I believe it's 100% ok for any version. The legal problem comes when you crack or bypass activation thus giving yourself an unlimited free copy.
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I just ended up getting this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834157503
so tell me if im getting this right on what i should do (keeping in mind my laptop has windows 7 pro):
-completely wipe the HDD
-download windows 7 pro online
-put in serial key given to me on laptop
-bada bing bada boom good to go
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Yes
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okay sweet...sounds simple enough
would you agree on this as a good guide to follow to burn windows 7 pro onto a disc? Thats the only part im confused on as of now
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/how-to-burn-your-windows-7-iso-to-dvd-disc/3317
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Shoulda watched Slickdeals =\
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=806177&t=2516593
http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?sduid=806177&t=2505587
I wouldn't actually wipe your hard drive, let the Windows install disc do that (there's formatting and partition options when the time comes to install). Get yourself an untouched image (check out MyDigitalLife.info) and either use the Windows Image Burn tool or IMGBurn.
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yeaaa that IS a great deal...but im still happy with my purchase (i must think positive hahah)
okay soo ill just follow some steps to burn the disc and just stick it in and have that clear everything. What do you mean by "get yourself an untouched image"
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What do you mean by "get yourself an untouched image"
One that hasn't been modified by a 3rd party. You can integrate updates and programs into the install but you can also integrate viruses and other nasties. MyDigitalLife should have hashes on unmodified images.
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Yep. Basic steps:
1) Get untouched image
2) Integrate update packs if you want
3) Burn the image with IMGburn -- very straightforward program
4) Put the disc in the laptop and restart the comp to boot the disc
5) Use the disc to delete all the partitions
6) Make a new partition and install 7 on it
7) You've now got a very nice laptop
Oh and also heres a quick list of shit to do to boost the OS speed:
1) Disable system restore completely
2) Make sure the page file (swap memory) maximum is less than 512mb
3) Go to this site and disable unneeded services http://www.blackviper.com/Windows_7/servicecfg.htm (http://www.blackviper.com/Windows_7/servicecfg.htm)
4) Run ccleaner to get rid of post-install junk that is supposed to be removed
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ill give you an update on how this goes in a few days. I just had to send it back for a new one because the hard drive was making a very high pitched whistling noise when it was idle.
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LOL Skrewy :)
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success. ;D
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success. ;D
Congratulations on an informed purchase.
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Good work mate :D
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I didn't see this thread till after you bought it but I can tell you this. HP laptops are CRAP. My friends family has them and my mom and sister have them...they have all had to go back to hp, every single one of them. Thats 9 laptops all different models and features over 2 years that have had to go back to hp. The one my friend had died 6 times, each of the others all had to go back at least once most of them 2-3 times.
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Newer (within the last 2-3 years as you said) HP items may very well be crap. All the older HP stuff I've had (AMD single-core laptop, printers & scanners) seemed to work exactly as needed. But I've got a newer HP printer (the one I posted in the deals thread) and it's just a lemon, nothing but bad reviews on Amazon. Also I read on the HP forums that someone had problems with a HP plasma TV and HP wanted like $600 to repair while a 3rd party company wanted about $180 to do the same exact thing. The $600 bill was only mentioned after harassing support several times. This unfortunately wasn't an isolated case, it became one of the more popular threads on the HP forum with dozens of others complaining as well. Last I read, they were wanting to start a class-action suit.
My technology desires tend to hang back several generations. I have absolutely no complains about Dell. Every Dell computer I've worked on has been a pleasure and my Dell laptop runs great.
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Ive heard nothing but good things about Dells. A few friends have them and love them. I swear my grandfather was the only one at hp making good stuff lol.
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Gotta jump on the HP hate. I've got a friend that had a laptop with a shit-ton of hardware problems from HP. It was a laptop made last year I believe. He must of sent it back a forth like 3 or 4 times for the same problem each time :D
Dell is Dell. BTX is blue.