Notebook computer suggestions?
 

I am changing jobs from a small company with a liberal computer use policy to a larger company with a much more restrictive policy. Since I was given free access to my work computer, I have never purchased one. However, I will now need a personal computer.

My wife and I both decided that we would prefer a notebook computer since we don't want to dedicate a space to a computer. We will generally be using the computer for web surfing, digital photographs, MP3's, and maybe some personal finance stuff.

Right now I am looking at this one from Sam's Club. I don't want to spend over $1000. Any other suggestions?

Looks like a decent deal to me. As long as you stick with the better brands (HP/Compaq, Dell, IBM, Sony) and stay away from the low-end processors (Celeron, Sempron), you should be pretty happy.

In case you're in the mood to shop around, here's a great website that compiles ads from the various retailers so that you can see where to go for the good deals. That should give you a really good idea of what a "good price" is for a notebook.

http://www.salescircular.com/

From Nov. 5th through Nov. 11th you can get a laptop that sounds like it would do everything you need it to do for only $400

Check it out here: http://bfads.net/ (scroll down a little)

Here are the specs:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...3231960&dlc=es

Thanks guys!

I like the idea of getting a laptop for only $400, but the specs (particularly L2 Cache, System memory/speed) do not seem to be nearly as robust. Will I notice the difference?

Depends on what you'll be using it for. Low-end lappys are just fine when it comes to stuff like browsing the internet and basic productivity. If you're going to get into a lot of multimedia (like digital cameras or videos), you'll definitely notice the difference in speed.

Damn it! If I had never known about the $400 laptop, I would have bought the other one and been fine. Now I will second guess my decision every time I pick it up. :banghead:

Personally, I love my HP ze2000. I spent a bit more and got the AMD Turion 2.8 processor instead of the Sempron or Celeron. I've had the thing for about a year and a half now and it has been trouble-free.

Two other people in our church have the Compaq version of my laptop, one with the Sempron and one with the Celeron. Mine blows them both out of the water. (Also, both being Compaqs, they both have told me that there are components that you have to go back to compaq for instead of generics - don't know about this personally, but I know it used to be true before HP bought out Compaq).

The big thing I like about the HP over others like Dell or Gateway is they offer the AMD processor. And customer support is fairly easy to work with (Between my personal and thr church I keep tabs on 4-5 HP computers). They are pretty much problem-free but in the rare event that I have a problem, the customer service is quite helpful.



Here's a thread I put up last summer when I was looking that may give some insight to brands and such...

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showt...ghlight=laptop

Thanks for the tip Pastor! Your thread was a good read.

Lenovo (formely IBM) is a pretty good choice also. I bought a Centrino Duo over the summer for $700. Office Depot was advertising a Core 2 version for $650 last week.

I find Dell's stuff to work great. I've used a refurbed D800 for almost 2 years now without a single prolbem other than the screens burning in, and Dell sent a tech to me and replaced it twice. Haven't had that issue in over a year and a half. You can pick up a refurb on the cheap:

http://www.dell.com/content/products...n&s=dfh&~ck=mn

Some are new PCs that were cancelled, some are refurbs, some are even off-lease and scratch & dent. You can fall anywhere in there.

As a side note, worry about screen size/resolution as much as anything else because you cannot upgrade/change that later on a laptop.

Thanks for the link Simplex. How long does it take to get a refurbished computer from the time of the order?

Typically a few days. Everything they show there is sitting on a shelf, ready to go. It's not like ordering a new one where they "build it for you" (yeah right).

Thanks! Now it looks like the one I wanted is already gone. Go figure! :banghead:

They must have pretty quick turnover. I'll keep checking it throughout the day.

I can get you a great deal on some slightly used batteries...