I was going to get my wife an iPad (she hates our 3 year old Dell laptop which for some bizarre reason refuses to open up Facebook anymore), but since they're rather delayed I guess I should look at something else.
So I'm looking for a smallish laptop, but good quality. Main uses are surfing the web, playing casual games, playing DVDs. I'm not going to be too worked up over specifications, but I would want something that's not loaded with crapware and has a solid build quality. Probably stay away from netbooks though, as laptop prices are affordable enough.
Any suggestions?
Every five seconds it seems there's another laptop promo at Tigerdirect.com
I got Princesca a very nice Acer laptop from there last summer. I think it was $400.
How are Acers - I've never owned one. Certainly they are cheap.
Quote from: Barrister on April 14, 2010, 06:24:49 PM
How are Acers - I've never owned one. Certainly they are cheap.
Mine's working fine. Hard drive a little slow, but it plays EU3 well, HOI3 almost acceptably.
http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook?mco=OTY2ODEwOQ (http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/macbook?mco=OTY2ODEwOQ)
Or you know, go to Alaska & pick up an iPad there.
Meh - MacBook Pros are OSSUM (and new models announced this week), but the base MacBook has struck me as overpriced. The Pros are very nice, with premium products and a price tag to match.
This looks tempting...
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=5705551&sku=M455-13001&cm_re=Homepage-_-Spot%2006-_-CatId_17_M455-13001
Anyone?
It's an alright laptop, I guess. Small screen tho.
It depends of course on what you want to do with it, but perhaps you should consider an iPad. It's pretty much designed to be a second computer around the home...
:D
But seriously, if you can find a decently-priced one, go for a laptop that has a Core i3 processor. The on-die GPU (meaning it is pretty much a third core on the processor that is dedicated to graphics) is tailor-made IMO for laptops or home theater PCs. It handles HD video and light gaming like a champ, and consumes very little power in comparison to a dedicated graphics card.
If I were getting Frau Spiess a good laptop that would more or less be a desktop replacement for her, I'd get her something like this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5571656&Sku=T78-15611
But since she wouldn't use but 20% of that laptop's potential, I'm going super-cheap & getting her something like this: http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0326326
Ah, but speiss, I was trying to find something that was an iPad replacement - something light, and around that $500 price point. The first laptop you pointed to was twice the weight of the one I had picked out.
But I'm going to put this on hold - we just bought a $9000 trailer last night.
Why?
To go camping in with the baby? :huh:
Quote from: Barrister on April 16, 2010, 12:24:20 PM
To go camping in with the baby? :huh:
That's a good reason. It could also serve you on work trip to Ross River.
but I didn't know what kind of trailer you bought.
I posted a link in the OTT thread, but here it is:
http://yukon.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehicles-RVs-campers-trailers-travel-trailers-campers-Bonair-ultra-light-travel-trailer-W0QQAdIdZ198308994
The plan is we're taking a month, driving south and visiting family. Since we'll have a month old baby we'll be going really, really slowly, so a trailer seemed like a good idea.
If I were to look for a smallish laptop under 2 kg in weight, but with the decent to great performance gaming wise, then what should I get?
V
Quote from: Valdemar on April 17, 2010, 07:51:13 AM
If I were to look for a smallish laptop under 2 kg in weight, but with the decent to great performance gaming wise, then what should I get?
V
How much do you want to spend?
To paraphrase a line, the qualities you want in a laptop are light, powerful and cheap. Pick two.
Quote from: Barrister on April 17, 2010, 12:00:21 PM
Quote from: Valdemar on April 17, 2010, 07:51:13 AM
If I were to look for a smallish laptop under 2 kg in weight, but with the decent to great performance gaming wise, then what should I get?
V
How much do you want to spend?
To paraphrase a line, the qualities you want in a laptop are light, powerful and cheap. Pick two.
Well I obviously can't afford Mac ;)
No seriously, I'll spend some to get a pwerfull and light, I don't need 15+ inches when I already have external monitors and keyboard if need be. So performance and weight over big scrren and price
V
Quote from: Barrister on April 14, 2010, 06:24:49 PM
How are Acers - I've never owned one. Certainly they are cheap.
I had one, I thought it was a better bargain for the price than my previous IBM Thinkpad.
I think Acer laptops are a bit underrated, compared to companies such as Dell.
Not a bad choice, but they might be low on specs for gaming.
Ah well, as for durability, I bought it c.a. 2006 (January of that year I believe), and I've sold it last year to my ex-girlfriend who's still using it and doing whatever she wants with no problem. Only needed to add 2gb of memory, putting it at 4gb RAM (about 100$) and things got working better.
Whatever you buy, make sure it has at least 4gb ram, and possibility to expand to 8gb.