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Post by Pyro ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ ✔ on Sept 25, 2011 1:27:54 GMT -5
I want to spend about $500NZD. Maybe a little more say up to $600 $700 max.
Now, I want to have a computer that runs windows. None of that apple crap.
I don't know anything about computer specs.
The main thing Ill be using my computer for is chatting/ESCing on msn, checking emails, listening to music, and watching youtube/porn, and some word procsessing at home, so not too fussed about battery life.
So my first question is, what brand is best/reliable?
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Post by Laharls_Wrath on Sept 25, 2011 1:36:38 GMT -5
www.engadget.com/2009/11/17/laptop-reliability-survey-asus-and-toshiba-win-hp-fails/ helpful? acer are cheap and it shows I dont trust hp reliability Dell dont make heir own pcs so it's hit or miss, I hear they have good customer service though, although it's all out of india so yeah toshiba's are pretty good, but they can be pricey I've an asus because it was the best deal for the money and, unlike dell, they make heir own shit and have been manufacturing motherboards for a while, although I have had stability issues when I first got it (although it was relatively new) which were went away when I updated the vBIOS ummmm, in terms of what kind of specs you should look for, well, I'm not entirely sure since I've never looked into what you would need for /less/ than gaming as for price, idk the NZD to USD conversion and it all varies from model to model and stuff edit: also, everything I remember is a couple years old because it's from back when I was looking into getting a new pc edit2: I've heard decent things about lenovo laptops from people, although the fn key is in the bottom left where ctrl should be (as opposed to being to the right of ctrl, it's to the keft) and that just drives me insane
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Post by thewave on Sept 25, 2011 10:10:12 GMT -5
Now this is something I can help a lot with. I want to spend about $500NZD. Maybe a little more say up to $600 $700 max. In my experience, $600-700 laptops are decent laptops for gaming purposes. But I don't know the average price in NZ, so can't help you there. 99.9% of all laptops have Windows, unless you're going in the obvious Mac section, so you should be good there. Most laptops have Windows 7 nowadays, but the cheaper ones tend to have Windows Vista, so be sure as hell you keep an eye out for that. You wouldn't want Vista ever. For those purposes, you mainly should look at the processor/cpu. I think you're fine with the minimum of 2.0GHz dual core. You could look for 2.5-3.0GHz dual core to be sure it'll run fine, but it's not necessary. Just be sure to not go lower than the minimum. The RAM/memory should be at least 3GB to avoid any slowdowns, mainly because windows only uses almost 2GB RAM. But most laptops have 3-4GB RAM, so you should be fine. How strange it might sound, I recommend that you're sure that the HDD is minimal 100GB, or if necessary not lower than 50GB, mainly because of free space to work with so your laptop won't slow down. Believe me, your laptop needs it. I shouldn't worry too much about your graphic card if you don't intend gaming purposes, most laptops have graphic cards that do your purposes just fine. Just be sure it's NOT an integrated graphic card, since those often suck a lot. If you go with an nvidia or Radeon graphic card your 100% fine, though those also make the laptop more pricey. From my experience Acer, Samsung and Toshiba are very good brands, you're never wrong with them. Even though Dell makes awesome desktops, it's a hit or miss with laptops because they tend to install sucky integrated graphic cards on laptops which makes them bad. Other than that Dell is pretty good too. Asus is a brand you have to avoid at any cost. Is the laptop from Asus? Next! Is even just a part of the laptop from Asus? NEXT! Seriously, from my experience I had nothing but complains from Asus, it gave me problems in every way possible. |
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Post by Laharls_Wrath on Sept 25, 2011 13:04:05 GMT -5
I've had very few problems with my Asus and I think they're a great brand and take personal offense at your dislike of them >:
I'd avoid Acer and Dell tbqh, because, again, Dell doesnt make anything so every model has varying quality etc and I've never heard anyone say anything good about an acer that they've had for over a year
as for harddrive space, I'd also say over 100gb but that's just me
I've 2 500gb harddrives and about 400gb of one used up and about 100gb of the other
I'd avoid getting a laptop with vista, cuz vista
also, they'd probably be hard to fins since 7 has been around for so long
definitely avoid integrated graphics because those are just trash
after turning to google, apparently 500-600 NZD is about 389.65-467.58 USD
doubt you'll find anything "gaming" quality for this but you said you didnt need that
also, are you dead set on a laptop because, again, desktops are always cheaper for more
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Post by Pyro ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ ✔ on Sept 25, 2011 15:23:16 GMT -5
Thanks people! Ill look around the net using your advice. ^_^ Also yeah laptop will be best. I really really hates using laptops. I hate everything about them apart from the portability. But at the moment I don't have anywhere to put a PC (unless it went on the floor  ), and I don't know what my situation will be like in the future if I've got to move it's going to be much easier to just set up a laptop. Ill look at getting one later on in the future when Im more stable. |
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Post by Chromeo on Sept 25, 2011 15:32:42 GMT -5
On the plus side many laptops have built in webcams |
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Tails82
Lord of Terror++
Loyal Vassal
still...sipping?
Posts: 34,346
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Post by Tails82 on Sept 25, 2011 15:35:51 GMT -5
Yeah a webcam. So we can have some legit pg fun
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Post by Pyro ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ ✔ on Sept 25, 2011 15:40:34 GMT -5
Yeah but laptop cams are lame. You can't move it around. I want to get one of those ones I can put anywhere so I can point it at stuff.
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Post by thewave on Sept 25, 2011 15:47:04 GMT -5
Also yeah laptop will be best. I really really hates using laptops. I hate everything about them apart from the portability. But at the moment I don't have anywhere to put a PC (unless it went on the floor ), and I don't know what my situation will be like in the future if I've got to move it's going to be much easier to just set up a laptop. Ill look at getting one later on in the future when Im more stable. The portability of a desktop isn't as great as a laptop, but it isn't that bad. You can put it on the floor as long as it isn't dusty or anything. And setting it up is much easier than it looks like, plugging most cables in requires only common sense. Also, a desktop is much cheaper than a laptop, and often it's even ten times better than a laptop of the same price. So yeah, if you really dislike a laptop and want a desktop, then go for it. |
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Post by thewave on Sept 25, 2011 15:57:12 GMT -5
I've had very few problems with my Asus and I think they're a great brand and take personal offense at your dislike of them >: I'd avoid Acer and Dell tbqh, because, again, Dell doesnt make anything so every model has varying quality etc and I've never heard anyone say anything good about an acer that they've had for over a year I'm just sharing my experience, perhaps Asus isn't that bad, but I've only had problems with it. Dell is a great brand, the Dell desktop of my grandparents has lived for 7 years (which is long) before it permanently broke down. And we only had to upgrade the graphic card once, but beside that it always was up-to-date with everything. As a comparison, it could play Flight Simulator X on highest graphic settings without any problems. Try to find a 7-year old PC to do that. We now have a new Dell desktop for a year, it's much better than the previous one, and still no problems. Acer is a great too, my previous laptop was an Acer one and lived for almost three years, which is pretty long for a laptop. Even though it had Vista, I had no problems with it beside obvious Vista problems. My grandfather also haves an Acer laptop for c.a. 4 years, and it's only slowing down recently, but other than that it's running perfectly fine up till now. I guess it depends on the model and people's experience that we have different opinions. |
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Post by Chromeo on Sept 25, 2011 16:02:43 GMT -5
Desktops must be built differently on the mainland or something if you think moving one around is easy. >_>
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Post by thewave on Sept 25, 2011 16:09:06 GMT -5
Desktops must be built differently on the mainland or something if you think moving one around is easy. >_> Tsk, people these day. Sure, desktops are heavy, but not THAT heavy that you can't lift them. In fact, they're pretty easy to lift. ALSO, it's not like you need to move them every day, it only happens occasionally. If it's because you're revamping your room, just move it somewhere else, then move it back when you're done. If you're moving, just place it in a car, it's not like you're going to carry it to your new place. Seriously, people these days.... What a bunch of pansies. >_> |
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Post by Chromeo on Sept 25, 2011 16:36:25 GMT -5
It's not the weight, it's samfdomvom odvm cables everywhere.
Also, Proboards is incredibly shitty lately.
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Post by thewave on Sept 25, 2011 16:37:43 GMT -5
It's not the weight, it's samfdomvom odvm cables everywhere. Oh, is that all? Then place it in a way that the cables aren't in the way, or just bundle them together. That's not a big deal either. |
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Post by Pyro ᵛᵉʳᶦᶠᶦᵉᵈ ✔ on Sept 25, 2011 16:40:26 GMT -5
Sounds good for someone like you but not for me.
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), and I don't know what my situation will be like in the future if I've got to move it's going to be much easier to just set up a laptop. Ill look at getting one later on in the future when Im more stable.
Spinning round and round like the deadly hands of a radium clock. 