Looking for a new Laptop

[nocomputerskill]

I'm not really sure what section to post this question in. A few months ago my ASUS Eee pc had a hard drive
failure and it got me looking for a full size laptop. I'm not really sure what to look for though. I need something that will at least last me 4-6 years. I don't play any games so great graphics aren't a big deal. I need something I can do my school on and stream netflix to. The only real thing is I have a budget of about $370. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sisrace]

Hi. The budget is very tight. For school. Do you need a light computer with long batterylife, Do you need it to be cpu strong or is it just a watching internet, Streaming videos and writing computer?
Do you need a lot of storage.
ALSO, The old laptop you have, If you can get it fixed, Will you rather fix it for cheaper than getting a new computer becouse you can just get a new harddrive for it and possibly a new operating system becouse thats probably cheaper

Very cheap. Nor really powerful laptop but with good buildquality, 4hours of batterylife.
500Gb HDD, 4Gb ram, 2 core 1.8Ghz cpu and intergrated graphics.
This is not a power machine but it will handle internet and " mainstream schoolwork "
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314237

More expensive but in general more powerful and the ram is cheaper to upgrade in the future becouse you just add another 4Gb stick instead of buying an 8Gb stick and changing out the existing 4Gb stick that the other laptop needs you to do:
Its a quad core 1.6Ghz cpu thats way better than the 2 core 1.8ghz cpu on the first laptop
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834314150

 

[nocomputerskill]

I'm looking for a quad core with at least 4 gbs of ram. I need this to last me a while. I'm a freshman in High school but I do online classes. I got my ASUS fixed but it's a 1018p and only has 1 gb of ram and a 10'' screen. I don't need one "right now" per say but I will need something decent on a few months. That one on Newegg.com is way over budget but thanks for the suggestion. I appreciate your time.

 

[pappi]

http://mesgmy.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI...&readingPaneOpen=false&messageId=m53185879875

This link is my last correspondence with the seller of a used HP Pavilion dv7. This is my way of suggesting, maybe you should try e-bay for good working condition used laptop. I am now on 4th month with this used laptop I now consider a miraculous gift from Santa...all for $200.00. To me it is right now worth $1000.00.

Oops...I thought is was just one exchange of messages. Turns out it includes my whole correspondence with seller before and after I received the notebook.

 

[nocomputerskill]

I had been looking at the dv7 from FRY's. So it would be a good laptop to get.

 

[pappi]

Last December I almost bought a $1000.00 HP Envy from Best Buy but the store was so busy, I could not find a salesman. That night, I was determined to go back the next day and buy it despite having no features I preferred(including W8 which I was not too enthralled with)but for some reason I decided to visit e-bay. Lo and behold, on the very top of the bidding list was this used HP Pavilion dv7-2173cl with absolutely all the features I had been searching for; bidding was closing in less than 5 minutes. So I put in a bid a dollar more than the last offer and put in maximum bid for $300.00. I won it for $207.00.

This unit is DIVINE, in mint external appearance and operating 100% flawlessly.

PS....dv7-series is I think the only one that accepts external TV tuner smartcard...which is of utmost importance to me.

 

[sisrace]

Im not an american. So i dont really know what stores you have availbe but if i did i could have offered you something better.
If you still need help you could say wich stores you prefer. Or just wait until someone else comes. As i see you already got some helping you

 

[pappi]

If you are not hurried to get one, try this particular e-bay seller. His specialty is refurbishing laptops. He seems to be very honest and dependable...and very communicative. If you happen to be a Manhattanite, I can show you how amazingly awesome this dv7 I bought from him. I still have not gotten over it. I live in Germantown in Upper Eastside.

 

[nocomputerskill]

I don't live anywhere near Manhattan. I live in North Georgia. Sisrace, i have most of the "big" electronic stores not too far from me.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I've had nothing but bad luck with anything from Acer; I would avoid it like the plague. Also, Fry's is an expensive place to buy anything unless you can catch it on sale. Amazon or NewEgg usually have better deals.

Any reliable machines are going to cost more than you are wanting to spend right now. Since you have your old machine running again, I would suggest holding off a bit until you can afford something better.

 

[paul1149]

I suggest you make a list of the features important to you. Then see which models match up. Then check out user reviews at Amazon and Newegg. Finally, do comparison shopping. Ebay has a lot of clunkers, but also some very good deals. The hard part is dividing between them. I know - I refurbish laptops and sell on ebay. If you buy used, the seller's rep is going to be very important.

As far as Acer v. HP v. Asus, etc - all the makes have some clunkers, but most of their stuff is very good. Dell may be more uneven than HP, for instance, but Dell has put out some really great units too. They all have strengths and weaknesses that vary by model and unit.

 

[whs]

This one is a few bucks over your budget, but for the money it looks like a really nice laptop from Dell.

Dell Inspiron 15.6" TouchScreen Laptop 4GB Memory 500GB Hard Drive I15RVT-6143BLK - Best Buy

 

[pappi]

Yeah...but one is a teenager only once in a lifetime. Teenagers do lots of high level computing...a lot more than senior citizens like I, do. I suggest get your money(rich uncle, rich girl/boyfriend or lots of babysitting...etc.) and go for it. Get your desired PC. Pay with Bill-me-later type of financing.

And be happy. No point in being a settling down unhappy youth. I GB RAM is unconstitutional for a teenager in USA. It's un-American.

 

[whs]

Yeah...but one is a teenager only once in a lifetime. Teenagers do lots of high level computing...a lot more than senior citizens like I, do. I suggest get your money(rich uncle, rich girl/boyfriend or lots of babysitting...etc.) and go for it. Get your desired PC. Pay with Bill-me-later type of financing.

And be happy. No point in being a settling down unhappy youth. I GB RAM is unconstitutional for a teenager in USA. It's un-American.

Pappi, speak for yourself. I do a lot of high power processing and I am probably the oldest around here. The youngsters are just the opposite. All they do is content consumption. That you can do with any rinky dink laptop.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Yeah...but one is a teenager only once in a lifetime. Teenagers do lots of high level computing...a lot more than senior citizens like I, do. I suggest get your money(rich uncle, rich girl/boyfriend or lots of babysitting...etc.) and go for it. Get your desired PC. Pay with Bill-me-later type of financing.

And be happy. No point in being a settling down unhappy youth. I GB RAM is unconstitutional for a teenager in USA. It's un-American.

Pappi, speak for yourself. I do a lot of high power processing and I am probably the oldest around here. The youngsters are just the opposite. All they do is content consumption. That you can do with any rinky dink laptop.

I'm also a senior.

 

[pappi]

For every Lady Fitzgerald with high level Forum titles as Guru, Gold member, etc... there are hundreds of seniors who do not know how to copy/paste or be helped in the Forum, to the point that our billionaire ex-mayor ran a free PC clinic for seniors. His motto was "It's not cute anymore not to know computers".

High Schoolers cannot do without computers. They do demonstrations, projects and such during online classes. These stuffs require good PC. They are so good with computing, they deserve better PC.

This particular teenager needs a better PC. Go, get your PC now, no matter what. (Just don't rob a bank, please)

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

For every Lady Fitzgerald with high level Forum titles as Guru, Gold member, etc... there are hundreds of seniors who do not know how to copy/paste or be helped in the Forum, to the point that our billionaire ex-mayor ran a free PC clinic for seniors. His motto was "It's not cute anymore not to know computers".

High Schoolers cannot do without computers. They do demonstrations, projects and such during online classes. These stuffs require good PC. They are so good with computing, they deserve better PC.

This particular teenager needs a better PC. Go, get your PC now, no matter what. (Just don't rob a bank, please)

There are more seniors who are computer literate than you think. And more high schoolers who are primarily content consumers than you think. To most of them, computers are just a replacement for libraries, calculators, and typewriters.

 

[pappi]

Evidently we personally know different bunch of seniors and teenagers. The teenagers I know would not have 1 GB RAM PC. The seniors I know have lame excuse for their being techno-challenged, "I have secretaries to do my important computing" ...and they are games addicts, and that's why they have expensive PC's. And they are often infected. I think those online game software are malware laden.

 

[sisrace]

There are a lot of teenagers in my class that just use their ipad and have no computer. But my freinds and i are pretty heavy computer users. I render videos, Record videos, Playing very heavy games etc.
Everyone is different. There are elders who dont know what a computer is and there are elders that are extreme powerusers.
Us teenagers are not an exeption. Sure we know what computers is but many dont know how to use them really and some doesent even have a computer. They use their phones and tablets. And there are teenagers that put a TON of load on their machines

Also back to topic:
I just recommend what the others said. Use your old machine and save more money, Get some jobs etc.
Then you can afford a better laptop that will last you way longer and will have more than enough horsepower when you need it.. Trust me you will

 

[pappi]

I-pads are popular item to school and can be used instead of PC or Mac for the same purpose. They are now "must" items even in grade school. My students(grad school) don't take notes anymore. They video-tape lectures. They pass around lectures others missed in "full session". I was astonished to see charts and graphs I had shown fully displayed in their I-pads or PC's. In bad weather, those unable to attend lectures, do improvised online "attendance" and not miss a beat.

It's always difficult to generalize because of unavoidable exceptions. But in general, teenagers do much more with electronics/computers than seniors...that's if and when they get a break from obsessive texting. For those of you who would disagree, perhaps I should add a disclaimer: this is my experience with teenagers and seniors in Manhattan. I dunno about Sweden, Germany or Florida. I personally do not know any teenager who does not own either an I-pad or PC. Most of them have both plus smaller handheld electronics---for non-stop texting.