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I love my HP. I've never had a lick of trouble with it in 6 years, the thing is an absolute workhorse. I had an Acer before and it was awful.
I like Fujitsus. Check out this one.
http://www.amazon.com/Fujitsu-LIFEBOOK%C2%AE-LH531-Notebook-FPCR46023/dp/B005M1KRX2
I like HP's as well. I've had mine for 5 years. I'm kind of rough with it but it's still alive and working fine.
Check out slickdeals.net or fatwallet.com and just search laptop.
These look like good deals:
http://www.staples.com/Dell-Inspiron-i14RN-1818DBK-14-Laptop/product_374303&cmArea=CIRCULAR
I dont know AMD processors, but that dell i5 is nice. I've only had dell's and intel processors.
ETA: nevermind on the newegg, thats only a 1.5 GHz. Def the Dell, 2.4GHz latest dual core sandy bridge proc, nore It doesnt have dedicated graphics, but it'd be hard to find one at that price point.
My experience with HP has always been very good and they have some of the highest online reviews. This one http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do;HHOJSID=XJcQPQyTr94p7ZMvhTR2GlnPJQ1y12wkjWs2jT53L5y4G0510nCD!1980869879?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=See+all&v1=series&series_name=g6x_series&jumpid=in_R329_prodexp/hhoslp/psg/notebooks/All_laptop_&_tablet_PC_series/g6x_series looks very nice to me and they have other options in your budget as well
Well I don't like HPs, I like my Acer. :P Don't get a Toshiba!
A Macbook is definitely your best bet...They are faster, better and last longer. Higher quality than pc's and don't get viruses like pc's.
If you can't get a new one, there are tons of people selling them on Craigslist.
I have an HP desktop and a Toshiba Satellite laptop and I love both of them! No problems, no viruses, no crashing... They work awesome.
Look on newegg.com! They always have awesome deals and they have really fast, reliable shipping.
I'd go Dell! If it's good enough for the government, it's good enough for me. :) The problem with Macs is that a lot of the software and hardware is proprietary and expensive. PCs are much easier to find stuff that works with it. Also, use Microsoft Essentials for your virus software. It's awesome. FI is a computer tech btw. :)
not brand specific, but try going to decide.com It will let you search for diff components you want and price ranges, and will let you know if the price is going to rise or fall in the near future. It's a really really useful tool, and I used it when purchasing my most recent laptop.
@jazzybee: Macbooks can, and do, get viruses. They're not faster, better, etc. Just different.
@BoiledPNut: The government, like many businesses, use Dell because they have great contracts where they get extremely low priced equipment and service. I wouldn't recommend Dell based on that. I personally am not a fan of Dell but it's what we use at my company because they're the lowest bidder.
Toshibas are good, Vaios are good but overpriced, Lenovos are pretty solid little machines. HPs were great back in the day. The newer ones are crap. Fujitsus generally give you the most bang for your buck.
Feel free to PM me if you have any questions...
my acer ones fine.
future hub got himself a Toshiba satellite for christmas which is pretty neat.
you could google the top 10 best laptops? =)
I had an acer for six months before it had some sort of hard drive related death. It was an awful computer.
My FI sold me his 5 year old HP which is still going strong and hasn't given me a single problem.
I had a Toshiba for a couple years that I was really liked, but it met an unfortunate and untimely death that was not its fault.
My grandmother got this beauty for Christmas:
I set it all up for her and I think its an awesome laptop.
I bought my Acer about a year ago for $350 before tax on sale from Best Buy. I'm pretty easy on it, but it's a good machine- I've had zero problems. But if I were taking it back and forth to school or something, I'm not sure I'd want something this cheap. It has, to its credit, survived my cockatoo attacking it a couple times- the keys pop right back on if they get picked off, and the plastic is remarkalby resistant to a large parrot beak.
During law school, when I lugged my computer back and forth and between classes daily, I had a Dell Inspiron, and that thing was a tank. It took three very abusive years and survived until the aforementioned cockatoo did in its power cord and I couldn't find a reliable replacement anymore.
FI bought an Acer when he was in college nine years ago, and obviously used it pretty regularly. He didn't use it for a few years, and then when I moved in a year and a half ago, he gave it to me to use. I used it daily, and would still be using it if I didn't get lured in by Boxing Day sales. Needless to say, I got another Acer, and swear by the brand. A nine year-old laptop that works with no glitches? Pretty awesome!
Here's another one, a HP, not as good a processor as the other one from staples I linked, (i3 vs i5) but only $430 after rebate
And an ASUS from best buy, $450. This would be my top pick, def worth 20 bucks to get the i5 over the HP i3.
Macbooks are NOT just "different"....
They are HIGHER quality and definitely a better choice than any pc out there, period. I've had a Macbook for four years...no viruses, no issues installing any programs, great user/support community.
I've got the following PC's along with the follwing problems:
Toshiba Laptop - intermittent Wireless access issues, had to get new hard drive b/c of viruses
IBM Thinkpad - Had to replace hard drive b/c it crashed
HP Desktop - Slow
Sony Vaio - No problems yet but the hardware (lcd) is low quality
In addition, there are constant installtion issues and problems with the operating systems or wireless.
Since I have had the Macbook, I haven't had ANY problems and the crazy thing is that I purchased it used from Craigslist! I have a new Macbook Pro and its lightning fast.
The point is, Macbooks are not only different, they are a better investment.
I love my macbook pro, but since you're looking in the 500 range, I'd suggest HP. Dells have given us nothing but trouble lately, but the HP we have is going strong. If it's for school, remember not to get anything too wide, because the bigger it is, the heavier it is, and it can suck to haul them around all day.
Check to see if your college offers any discounts. My school offers a discount on both Dell and Apple - with Dell (cheaper) I just said I was a student. I expected I'd have to give them my student ID number or fax a schedule, but nope. It was only like 10% off, but I figured every little bit helps. I've had my Dell for almost 3 years and it's still going strong. I will say I paid a little more to get teh warranty - but when my computer died this summer**, they had a certain amount of time to fix it - and they had to send someone out to my house to do it. I had my computer back up and running within 48 hours.
**always back up your harddrive!
@jazzybee: She asked for something inexpensive, so your Mac rant is fairly pointless. You could easily have problems with the hard drive or internet connection on a Mac just as you could a PC, the parts inside it are not different enough - it's not like Macs never break, that's luck of the draw and how well you take care of your laptop. As far as being slow goes, again, that can happen with any computer that doesn't have enough memory usage or where you're not being careful with your antivirus/spyware stuff.
I have a Toshiba laptop, was in a similar situation to you and spent 380 on mine - make sure you leave enough $ to get a good anti-virus and Office Home and Student, you'll definitely need it if you're in school. I talked to my coworkers in the computer department to see what they recommended for cheap but not super slow or crappy and settled on an i3 processor and was also told you want a minimum of 4 GB.
Thanks for all of the info everyone! I have been doing so much reasearch and still had no idea what I wanted But Fi just called me and told me he picked up a computer he got some good reviews on and if I end up not liking it I can just return it. He didnt tell me what he got me so fingers crossed I like it!
Asus manufactures a lot of parts that are in name brand computers so they're high quality and less expensive. I got that as my second computer (I use a Mac and wanted a netbook) and I got it for around $200, so you could probably get a full size for your budget. I did a lot of research and they had great reviews.
You can find a used Macbook in good condition on Craigslist, or use Apple discounts on any college campus.
Macs are just best, which is what she asked for.
I just ordered an Acer from Newegg. Hopefully it works out good for me. (Got myself a little netbook to haul around.) Newegg's shipping is insanely fast. (3 day shipping for free.)
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Hey I REALLY need a new laptop! and I have about 500 dollars left over after books and tuition on my FA...
What brand of laptops are the best? What are the best laptops for under 500... Help I need to get one asap!