Geekzone: technology news, blogs, forums
Guest
Welcome Guest.
You haven't logged in yet. If you don't have an account you can register now.


wrath524

3 posts

Wannabe Geek


#30247 2-Feb-2009 18:42
Send private message

I am in the process of buying a laptop for school purposes. Mainly I need it for wireless internet, and a word processor, but I also like to do alot of photoshopping also. I started off wanting a 17 inch screen but am coming to realize that a smaller screen might not be such a bad idea, school wise. I am trying to stay under $700.00 so I can bump up my warranty on whatever I buy. If someone could look at these specs (fi there is that big of differance in processors & graphics) and tell me what they think I should do that would be great.


Dell Studio 15: Intell Core 2 Duo T5800 (2.0GHz)
                      4GB RAM
                      320GB memory
                      256MB ATI Radeon HD3450
                      15inch True-Life widescreen
                      $679.00

HP dv7-1245dx (Best Buy): AMD Turion X2 RM-70 Dual Core (2.1GHz)
                                       4GB RAM
                                       320GB memory
                                       ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics RS780M
                                       17inch WXGA HD widescreen with Brightview
                                       $699.00

Asus X83Vb-X2 (Best Buy): Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 (2.0GHz)
                                       4GB RAM
                                       350GB memory   
                                       NVIDIA GeForce 9300M GS (512MB)                 
                                       14.1 Widescreen
                                       $679.99

View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic
 1 | 2
zocster
1983 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified
Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #193488 2-Feb-2009 19:03
Send private message

If I was going the laptop way I would go for a smaller screen, even a 15.4 seems big these days and I am sure Asus is building better laptops than what it used to.




 

Andy Ghozali
Geekzone Member

Logo
E: andy@ghozali.ru
M: +64 21 395 458
A: Andy's Business Services, 231 High St, Christchurch 8011, NZ
www.andy.mobifacebook icon linkedin icon instagram icon 



freitasm
BDFL - Memuneh
79270 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator
ID Verified
Trusted
Geekzone
Lifetime subscriber

  #193491 2-Feb-2009 19:09
Send private message

Unless of course you want a good desktop replacement. I have a huge Acer laptop that is faster than lots of desktops - but it won't leave the house so heavy it is. When I travel or go out I take a HP tablet PC.

If you want a brand I recommend HP and Dell. Of course you have to check which models meet your requirements.





Please support Geekzone by subscribing, or using one of our referral links: Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies | Hatch | GoodSyncBackblaze backup


Yatey
284 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #193494 2-Feb-2009 19:21
Send private message

Where are you getting these prices from?
Seem too cheap to be real (In New Zealand at least)




Jordan, Auckland University.
“Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.” - Paul Rand




wrath524

3 posts

Wannabe Geek


  #193495 2-Feb-2009 19:22
Send private message

I was leaning towards the Dell untill the guy at Best Buy showed me the Asus. He made it seem like its graphics card was alot better than the others. How does each pracessor and graphics card stand up to one another?

wrath524

3 posts

Wannabe Geek


  #193496 2-Feb-2009 19:24
Send private message

I got the prices from Best Buy.com

Yatey
284 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #193497 2-Feb-2009 19:25
Send private message

wrath524: I was leaning towards the Dell untill the guy at Best Buy showed me the Asus. He made it seem like its graphics card was alot better than the others. How does each pracessor and graphics card stand up to one another?


Best Buy, is this In Aussie?




Jordan, Auckland University.
“Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.” - Paul Rand


freitasm
BDFL - Memuneh
79270 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator
ID Verified
Trusted
Geekzone
Lifetime subscriber

  #193498 2-Feb-2009 19:28
Send private message

Best Buy in the U.S.

I wouldn't think the two ATI video cards would be much different in the Dell and HP machines.




Please support Geekzone by subscribing, or using one of our referral links: Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies | Hatch | GoodSyncBackblaze backup


 
 
 

Cloud spending continues to surge globally, but most organisations haven’t made the changes necessary to maximise the value and cost-efficiency benefits of their cloud investments. Download the whitepaper From Overspend to Advantage now.
Yatey
284 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #193499 2-Feb-2009 19:31
Send private message

Oh wow that is great pricing compared to NZ.
What would be the things to worry about? (Charger?)




Jordan, Auckland University.
“Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.” - Paul Rand


freitasm
BDFL - Memuneh
79270 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator
ID Verified
Trusted
Geekzone
Lifetime subscriber

  #193502 2-Feb-2009 19:38
Send private message

Going very off topic but just for an instant... No, you wouldn't have to worry about the chargers. Just get a new power cord when using those laptops in New Zealand or Australia.

I just received a HP Mini Mi this morning, coming directly from the U.S. for review and I just plugged it. The same with other laptops I've received before.





Please support Geekzone by subscribing, or using one of our referral links: Samsung | AliExpress | Wise | Sharesies | Hatch | GoodSyncBackblaze backup


stevenz
2802 posts

Uber Geek


  #193504 2-Feb-2009 19:42
Send private message

I used to recommend Toshiba, but their quality doesn't seem to be what it once was, and the pricing is getting silly. I'm quite impressed by the current models of HP machines, and the amount of stuff on their support site is quite amazing. I haven't used any of the current crop of Dell or IBM machines so I couldn't comment there, the last Dell I had was a 1Ghz system which was solid at least! :)



Yatey
284 posts

Ultimate Geek


  #193505 2-Feb-2009 19:42
Send private message

I would personally pick the Hp Or Dell, 14.1" I think is too small these days. 17" could get annoying taking to school each morning, but could be good for Photo editing.

Wow thats good to know, cheers




Jordan, Auckland University.
“Design is so simple, that’s why it is so complicated.” - Paul Rand


nate
6473 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod
Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

#193553 2-Feb-2009 23:06
Send private message

Yatey: Oh wow that is great pricing compared to NZ.
What would be the things to worry about? (Charger?)


I'd worry about the exchange rate, fine for this particular poster who is in the US, but NZ$1 = US$0.49 - take all those prices and times by 2.

digitaldream
62 posts

Master Geek


  #193554 2-Feb-2009 23:06
Send private message

I've had positive experiences with both Dell and HP.

Dell D series laptops do very well in my opinion, they use quadro cards for graphics.
Consider the D630.


HP's tend to be somewhat more expensive but look better I think.

Regs
4066 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted
Snowflake

  #193559 2-Feb-2009 23:28
Send private message

stevenz: I used to recommend Toshiba, but their quality doesn't seem to be what it once was, and the pricing is getting silly. I'm quite impressed by the current models of HP machines, and the amount of stuff on their support site is quite amazing. I haven't used any of the current crop of Dell or IBM machines so I couldn't comment there, the last Dell I had was a 1Ghz system which was solid at least! :)


I'd always bought toshiba in the past but they had a bad run with motherboards a few years back so the last few i've bought were HP's.  My own HP has, in the past 3 years, had virtually every component replaced except for the LCS panel and the actual CPU.  Gotta love the 3yr warranty though!

I have also have some friends that fix HPs, Toshibas and Apples and the word is that failures are a lot less common in the last couple of years - they are typically more reliable than they ever were (of course they are just as afraid of a hot cup of coffee as they ever were though!).

I dislike IBM's because they put the Fn key where the Ctrl key should be, so i'd probably never buy one based on that minor 'feature'.

Dells used to have a great reputation but i get the feeling thats not the case anymore.

If you're buying as a school machine then check with the school first as many of them have contracts with laptop companies to buy certain models at pretty decent prices and you may be able to buy one through them.




nate
6473 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod
Trusted
Lifetime subscriber

  #193561 2-Feb-2009 23:33
Send private message

Regs:  My own HP has, in the past 3 years, had virtually every component replaced except for the LCS panel and the actual CPU.  Gotta love the 3yr warranty though!


Here I was thinking that I put my HP through too much torture! My experience pretty much mirrors yours with my last HP (completely agree about the warranty).

I'm having trouble with the onboard NIC of my current HP laptop, hope this isn't deja vu.


 1 | 2
View this topic in a long page with up to 500 replies per page Create new topic





News and reviews »

Air New Zealand Starts AI adoption with OpenAI
Posted 24-Jul-2025 16:00


eero Pro 7 Review
Posted 23-Jul-2025 12:07


BeeStation Plus Review
Posted 21-Jul-2025 14:21


eero Unveils New Wi-Fi 7 Products in New Zealand
Posted 21-Jul-2025 00:01


WiZ Introduces HDMI Sync Box and other Light Devices
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:32


RedShield Enhances DDoS and Bot Attack Protection
Posted 20-Jul-2025 17:26


Seagate Ships 30TB Drives
Posted 17-Jul-2025 11:24


Oclean AirPump A10 Water Flosser Review
Posted 13-Jul-2025 11:05


Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7: Raising the Bar for Smartphones
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7 Brings New Edge-To-Edge FlexWindow
Posted 10-Jul-2025 02:01


Epson Launches New AM-C550Z WorkForce Enterprise printer
Posted 9-Jul-2025 18:22


Samsung Releases Smart Monitor M9
Posted 9-Jul-2025 17:46


Nearly Half of Older Kiwis Still Write their Passwords on Paper
Posted 9-Jul-2025 08:42


D-Link 4G+ Cat6 Wi-Fi 6 DWR-933M Mobile Hotspot Review
Posted 1-Jul-2025 11:34


Oppo A5 Series Launches With New Levels of Durability
Posted 30-Jun-2025 10:15









Geekzone Live »

Try automatic live updates from Geekzone directly in your browser, without refreshing the page, with Geekzone Live now.



Are you subscribed to our RSS feed? You can download the latest headlines and summaries from our stories directly to your computer or smartphone by using a feed reader.