New Laptop

[Strokin 3s]

Looking to purchase a new laptop and was just looking for anyone's opinion or if they have recently bought a laptop that they really like?  Looking for something under $1K, so no Macs, haha.  Most of the use would be for Internet, e-mail, iTunes, etc....  The lighter the better, but still like a large screen size.  Hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction.

Thank you!

[Chili]

look into some of the larger netbooks then and save yourself the money if you are not going to be doing tons on it but surfing and music.

[MU Chi_IL]

Check out http://www.tigerdirect.com/ or newegg.com and wait for a sale.  You can usually pick up a good deal.  Also if you are a student, I think Microsoft still has a great deal going on student office.  I believe it is $60 for everything:


http://www.microsoft.com/student/discounts/theultimatesteal-us/default.aspx

[Strokin 3s]

Thanks, bought my last desktop off tigerdirect, I was more wondering if there specific brands/models that anyone seems to prefer or has heard good things about.  Oh yea burnable cd/dvd drive is a must so I think that may rule out the netbooks, not sure though?

[rocky_warrior]

A little dated now (you know 6-month old PC technology is dated...), but this thread may offer some help too...

http://www.muscoop.com/index.php?topic=10301.0

[tharocket]

get a thinkpad.  they have a spring savings going on right now, and they're fantastic computers.

Besides the 20% off, use this code to get another chunk of money off:

USP2DAYSALE

That coupon code ends tonight at midnight. SO GET MOVING!

[Skatastrophy]

I just picked myself up an Asus EEE s101 for a little laptop to chill on the couch with, but that looks good enough to make it to business meetings too.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220471&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Netbooks-_-ASUS-_-34220471

It is less than 3/4" thick and under 2.5 lbs.  It doesn't fit your "large screen" criterion, but for what you're looking to do netbooks offer extreme mobility and decent performance and a just-right price.

Plus it's beefy enough to drive http://www.hulu.com to my TV with decent audio.  Surprisingly robust little thing

[Ari Gold]

I have a dell inspiron 1521. It does everything you're going to be asking of it, it does it fine.
However after owning dell's for so long, I'm starting to think that a Mac isn't the worst thing in the world. What I would suggest atleast is to stick to a major computer manufacturer, no toschiba crap or anything.

[Chicago_inferiority_complexes]

get a thinkpad.  they have a spring savings going on right now, and they're fantastic computers.

Besides the 20% off, use this code to get another chunk of money off:

USP2DAYSALE

That coupon code ends tonight at midnight. SO GET MOVING!

ding ding ding

Cannot go wrong with a thinkpad.

[SCdem@MU]

Looking to purchase a new laptop and was just looking for anyone's opinion or if they have recently bought a laptop that they really like?  Looking for something under $1K, so no Macs, haha. 

You can get a Mac for under $1000. Buy a refurbished Macbook from the online Apple store:

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac?mco=MTE3NjY

$849.00

Refurbished Macs come with the same warranty as a new Mac from the factory. While you may still be able to get a PC laptop for cheaper, I strongly advise against going that route. The low end PC laptop market is filled with a lot of crap that will end up costing you more money and time in the long run.

Plus the option to drop your mac off at a local Apple store if it needs to get fixed is a much more pleasant experience than anything a PC manufacture is going to do for you.

If you do get a PC, make sure you get the XP downgrade. Vista is still awful and Windows 7 will come out next year.

[chapman]

I have a dell inspiron 1521. It does everything you're going to be asking of it, it does it fine.
However after owning dell's for so long, I'm starting to think that a Mac isn't the worst thing in the world.

If I had to live with a Dell any longer than I did, I think I'd just go Amish.

Anyhoo, I'd recommend the Sony Vaio.  Had mine about two years now, and I see they're now a little more juiced and about half the price I paid.

[77ncaachamps]

I'd recommend monitoring www.slickdeals.net for some great deals.

Dell is having some great clearance sales right now, I believe.

[MU Chi_IL]

This just got emailed to me:

Gateway T-1424u Laptop Computer - AMD Athlon 64 TK-57 1.9GHz, 3GB DDR2, 320GB HDD, DVDRW, 14.1" WXGA, Vista Home Premium, Red = $479

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=4545380&sku=G180-14100&SRCCODE=WEBBP1089&cm_mmc=Email-_-Retro-_-WEBBP1089-_-laptops

[SonofPianoMan]

A friend of mine here in Milwaukee has been getting a start up going.  It's still in the early phases but I'll be looking to them for my next laptop...

http://262systems.com/

They will  build to suit and have a very solid guarantee on their products.  It's at least worth a look.

[Tom Crean's Tanning Bed]

I bought an HP Pavillion laptop a year ago for about $600.  Coming from having a Dell for almost 4 years, it's miles ahead in terms of quality from what my old Dell was IMO. 

That being said, in terms of tech specs, do not skimp on RAM at all if you're buying a traditional laptop (not a netbook).  3GB is the standard right now, but with the new Windows 7 coming next year, I would suggest 4GB of RAM.  Right now, Vista requires 2GB of RAM for optimal performance, so I would imagine that 3GB will be the standard for Windows 7.  Having 4GB would give you some extra wiggle room in terms of performance in that regard. 

[77ncaachamps]

I bought an HP Pavillion laptop a year ago for about $600.  Coming from having a Dell for almost 4 years, it's miles ahead in terms of quality from what my old Dell was IMO. 

That being said, in terms of tech specs, do not skimp on RAM at all if you're buying a traditional laptop (not a netbook).  3GB is the standard right now, but with the new Windows 7 coming next year, I would suggest 4GB of RAM.  Right now, Vista requires 2GB of RAM for optimal performance, so I would imagine that 3GB will be the standard for Windows 7.  Having 4GB would give you some extra wiggle room in terms of performance in that regard. 

2GB for 32-bit Vista

4GB for 64-bit Vista

Or so I've heard.