Considering a laptop

[Navigator]

for my son's birthday coming up in a few weeks. He's going to college in the fall, needs a new computer, so we're thinking laptop will be best.

Can you buy a decent laptop for $2000 or less..lol If so, any recommendations??

He's 19...needs speed and graphics for gaming. Yes, this is a 'school work' computer...:rolleyes: :D

[Joseph]

for my son's birthday coming up in a few weeks. He's going to college in the fall, needs a new computer, so we're thinking laptop will be best.

Can you buy a decent laptop for $2000 or less..lol If so, any recommendations??

He's 19...needs speed and graphics for gaming. Yes, this is a 'school work' computer...:rolleyes: :D

Toshiba all da way

Make sure the graphics card runs independently from the computer, meaning it doesn’t use the computers ram

I have the Navidia 64 meg card in mine, it doesn’t depend on the computers memory, and I find it quite fast.

I have played many high end games on this thing with no problems what so ever

Min also has the Ultra screen for sharper viewing.

Here are some to consider

Toshiba Satellite A70-SC1 Intel Pentium 4-HT 548 3.33GHz Laptop (1600 dollars)

Toshiba A70-ML1 Pentium 4 3.06GHz Laptop (1500 dollars)

Future Shop

[Jim]

What he said.
Toshiba is a reliable brand.

[deb]

Go to a smaller independent for this stuff.... Future Shop and Staples and those places charge an arm and a leg for maintenance, upgrades and so on.

[Navigator]

Thanks all. Great Joe, that's what I'm looking for..sounds good. :cool:

[deb]

my sis paid $1,100 for her laptop.. can't remember what it was though.... it is posted somewhere here when someone was inquiring before about buying a laptop.

edit: found it

http://www.graphicsteck.ca/vb/showpost.php?p=138840&postcount=8

ram is 128 (she did up the RAM though, I think to 256 or 512)
hard drive 30 gig
processor 1 GH
brand of laptop IBM Thinkpad A30
Price $1148.00

she bought it at EBS Notebooks here in Barrie.

[Rustynut]

I bought this one (http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=11970&vpn=LS50-A11U1&manufacture=LG Electronics) for my daugther, which she uses daily at UWO.
Works great and best of all the M processor leaves you with a longer battery life.
Had it since September and not a moments trouble.
The best thing is the weight, extremely light and thin as well.
I did add 512mb ram to it though, it was working just fine with the 256 mb it came with but with and exta 512mb it works great!

[Navigator]

thanks deb and rusty...they'd probably be good for me, but the boy and gaming?? gotta get the separate graphics card as Joe said.

Another question, tho...what could we expect to have to buy as extras? I'd be willing to buy an extra battery, but is there anything else that is necessary that does not come with it. Did any of you find there was a plus, plus..like with cameras? :rolleyes: ;)

[Joseph]

Well I don't think you need the extra battery, I have never needed it as of yet

I would get a good carrying case, they usually come with a basic sleeve type

Also a USB storage device would be nice, it’s a hell of a lot better than a
floppy

USB Mouse for gaming, I mean homework :shifty:

[Navigator]

Well I don't think you need the extra battery, I have never needed it as of yet

I would get a good carrying case, they usually come with a basic sleeve type

Also a USB storage device would be nice, it’s a hell of a lot better than a
floppy

USB Mouse for gaming, I mean homework :shifty:
OK..the battery is out, I suppose he will be near a plug most times. :cool: I'll get the case, that's a good idea, as well as the mouse since I want him to have no excuse for not getting the homework done. :rolleyes: :p Yes, those USB storage devices are pretty cool, too.

[Navigator]

Toshiba Satellite A70-SC1 Intel Pentium 4-HT 548 3.33GHz Laptop (1600 dollars)

Toshiba A70-ML1 Pentium 4 3.06GHz Laptop (1500 dollars)

Future Shop
OK..been looking at these...one drawback is they are missing a burner.

Sooo...I see this one.Compaq R4025 AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz Laptop (http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10059668&catid=22495&logon=&langid=EN&dept=1#MoreInfo)Now I don't like the name Compaq but this one looks pretty nice. Maybe Compaq has come up to speed..:whome: Any reason why I shouldn't go with this???? :)

[deb]

remember not just anyone can work on a compaq.... it's a very proprietary system so finding parts down the road may become a headache.

[Roadracer4ever]

The best advice I can give you. Read consumer reports, benchmark tests, reviews, etc of your top choices. Many such articles on the net about particular brands/models that may enlighten you to the best possible purchase. Compaq merged with HP a few years ago, and may not be to bad now. My own experiences with them, I'd leave it alone.

[Rustynut]

Never dealt with Compaq, but all I can say is that if it suits your needs and the price is comfortable then go for it. Each day they improve or should I say they improve the price to their benefit no matter what company made it.
The end result is that after a couple of years the entire system is defunct. If and when it breaks down and the parts are not available, it is designed to be replaced as are all consumer items.
If one has a miliwatt more power or a couple of mb more ram this doesn't really matter unless you actually need to use the thing daily and extensively.
In our hands these things are mere toys that everyone tells us we need but I have yet to verify the "True Need" as we were led to believe.
Convenience yes, entertainment yes, do we need it ... no. Kids love to game and that's part of the entertainment.
Years ago, it was a baseball bat and glove for boys and a few dolls and skipping rope for girls, now the kids are into the same thing.

Either way after 3 to 5 years it will be a paper weight and that is just out of most warranty periods. So it's a play now loose later scenerio.

JMHO

[Navigator]

The best advice I can give you. Read consumer reports, benchmark tests, reviews, etc of your top choices. Many such articles on the net about particular brands/models that may enlighten you to the best possible purchase. Compaq merged with HP a few years ago, and may not be to bad now. My own experiences with them, I'd leave it alone.yup..thanks. I'm looking for consumer reports, etc. Good advice, it is. :) In doing this search, I found that Compaq and HP merged. I did not know that before. Now, hasn't HP been bought out by the Chinese?? It's hard to keep up...lol

Deb...'very proprietary system '...yes, that's always been what I had against their desktop systems. :sad:

Rusty...I hear you...all true, too. :D however, I do want this for my son to have at College...I only consider the gaming abilities so it gets some use...;) lol j/k (sort of)...I just feel if I am going to get one, he may as well be able to do it all with the thing. I think it would be hard to get through school these days without a computer. He could take his desktop from home (AMD 1600), I just feel the laptop would be more useful. I'm not sure he knows how to write as far as taking notes go..lol kids!! :rolleyes:

thanks to all for any input you give..it all helps. :)

OH..one more thing...I'm hearing go with the 64 bit chip..avaoid anything that is no 64. Comments???

[Roadracer4ever]

An article you might find of interest Nav. Link at the bottom of the article leads to some reviews of various laptops, but the article also explains, in some detail, what to look for based on budget, needs, etc.

http://www.itreviews.co.uk/guide/hguide17.htm

[Rustynut]

yup..thanks. I'm looking for consumer reports, etc. Good advice, it is. :) In doing this search, I found that Compaq and HP merged. I did not know that before. Now, hasn't HP been bought out by the Chinese?? It's hard to keep up...lol

Deb...'very proprietary system '...yes, that's always been what I had against their desktop systems. :sad:

Rusty...I hear you...all true, too. :D however, I do want this for my son to have at College...I only consider the gaming abilities so it gets some use...;) lol j/k (sort of)...I just feel if I am going to get one, he may as well be able to do it all with the thing. I think it would be hard to get through school these days without a computer. He could take his desktop from home (AMD 1600), I just feel the laptop would be more useful. I'm not sure he knows how to write as far as taking notes go..lol kids!! :rolleyes:

thanks to all for any input you give..it all helps. :)

OH..one more thing...I'm hearing go with the 64 bit chip..avaoid anything that is no 64. Comments???
I did too, but found after spending extra cash for Video editing software provided by the school, she only used it for one semester then the rest of the time it was basic word processing it did, when she wasn't on the chat line! :confused:

[Navigator]

An article you might find of interest Nav. Link at the bottom of the article leads to some reviews of various laptops, but the article also explains, in some detail, what to look for based on budget, needs, etc.

http://www.itreviews.co.uk/guide/hguide17.htm
Thanks RR..I don't see the Compaq there and I am out of time if I want it by Friday. :mad: I will get it at Future Shop...choices are Ottawa (1 hour east) or Kingston (1 hour South)...lol I have to put a deposit down today, in order to get it by Friday. So, that's what I'm about to do now...his birthday is Friday. What ever comes of it, we'll have to live with it. If it's not good enough, after a while he can sell it to dad for the office...:D :D I'll pick it up in Kingston on Friday or even Saturday...I have to go there Sat. for my eye checkup anyway. :)

[Navigator]

Sooo...I see this one.Compaq R4025 AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz Laptop (http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?sku_id=0665000FS10059668&catid=22495&logon=&langid=EN&dept=1#MoreInfo)Now I don't like the name Compaq but this one looks pretty nice. So, this is the laptop we got. Man, it's really nice. Dave is considering one for himself now...:shifty: but I want one for me. :cry lol

I set it up today for 'the boy'. He didn't bother with it because he got an X-box and the Halo games for his birthday, too. :rolleyes: Dad was in a good mood...lol

There wasn't much I had to do to set it up, except put in time zone etc, lol. It's loaded with programs, WinXP Home, Norton's 2005, MS Office, MS Money Works (??), photo editing software (I forget which ATM), DVD/CD burning software, etc, etc.

The screen is really nice (15.4") and you can connect a full size monitor up as well.

It has slots for digital camera cards...I tried ours, works beautifully. :cool:

We didn't get the accessories pack (mouse, alarm, headphones..??), he can get that later, but I did get him a nice leather carrying case.

Overall, it's friggin' nice...but I've been warned not to go filling it up with my 'junk'...well...:mad:

[MacMeat]

What an ingrate!!! :mad:

[Navigator]

What an ingrate!!! :mad:
yes, something like that...lol :p