What laptop should I get?

Question

I'm looking for a personal laptop/notebook, but I know little about computer hardware- could someone help me (as specifically as possible) find a good laptop/notebook? Links are great.

I am going to use it for:
- playing games
- surfing internet
- making and saving office documents (word, powerpoint, etc)

Here's what I want:
- as cheap as possible
- as fast as possible
- decent battery life
- capability to run windows
- capability to run games (such as the Sims)
- fairly portable, but weight isn't a big issue

Thank you!

Answer 1

Tall order there.

Unfortunately, there's no way you can get all of those features.

I'm not going to provide links, since (a) there are infinite websites with laptops available and (b) I don't know exactly what's SOTA in laptops.

Let's start with the stuff that's readily available.

Every new laptop from a major retailer will be preloaded with Windows. Most used laptops also have Windows, but that's not a given.

Laptop batteries age fairly quickly, and lose their ability to hold a charge. Newer laptops can run off the battery longer than older laptops.

The main issue on your laundry list is "playing games". Any P100 with 32 MB RAM can handle Internet and word processing.

Newer laptop video capability is typically better than older laptop ability. Some new laptops boast very good video cards; my laptop, for example, has an ATI Mobility Radeon 9600 with 64 MB video RAM. It handles all the really high-end games well.

The better you want the games to look, though, the bigger and more expensive the laptop will be. Note also there's a category of laptops known as "desktop replacements," which are large, heavy, and tend to have more capability than smaller, more portable hardware.

Answer 2

I repair computers, and we have a dozen or so in the house. The best laptop we have is my wife's HP laptop (no, I don't work for HP). Almost any new laptop will run Windows, surf the net and run Office. Games will impose a certain graphics requirement. (Read the SIMS box) Get what you need when you buy it, laptops are expensive to upgrade, except maybe memory.

Cheap will trade off against fast/light.

Battery life will trade off against light.

DO you need a cd writer? DVD reader? DVD writer? They add to the cost.

Don't skimp on memory, 512K is about right for most WinXP systems, more if you are doing video editing, running sophisticated games, or database work.

Get the best graphics you can afford, because you are not going to be able to upgrade it later.

I also recommend a laptop lock, if you ever leave its' side for even an instant., and an extended warrantee, for the inevitable disaster.

Answer 3

Hmmmm.. the computer that you want can actually be found almost anywhere!

Reason being:

You can actually make a DIY computer by just purchasing the relavent hardwares and make it yourself.. Who knows the computer configuration that you make may not exist in this world yet?

Of course for all DIY computers, there is no warrenty. Therefore if you are looking for computers with warrenty you can purcahse an Acer (recommended) but models like Compac and HP is still good... but you will need to listen to others about the comments of the model as some models of Compac and HP still do its mininal performance of its capabilites even though there is 1 GB of RAM.

For notebooks/laptops, I would still recommend Acer however you must know what kind of games you are playing. If you playing games like WOW(World of Warcraft) or Audition or any online MMO. You would want to get a laptop which is of 1 GB of RAM, maybe about 60 to 80 GB of HDD.

Of course if you still dont like Acer or others, you can get a MAC which is fairly cheap now, with good configurations.

Cheers!

Answer 4

Try alienware. They have good high performance laptops that won a lot of awards. I think u can get a small 17 inch screened laptop for 700$ from circuit city. the big ones cost 4000$ dollars. But ull have to shop around.

Answer 5

if you want it cheap i would recommend a macbook. i use to be a pc user, but i cant stand windows xp anymore and windows vista its new operation system is not much better.
the macbooks i think range from 1000-1400 i think.
i have the macbook pro which is 2800, and i have never used a better computer or laptop in my life.

Answer 6

F!#$ Dells they suck a$$. Get a Lenovo Thinkpad or Alienware laptop. Look for the the 2nd cheapest one.

Answer 7

are you going to build up on it? i would get a bottom line del if you are ntoo build it up