Ice_Berge_00 March 28, 2007 Share Ice_Berge_00 GC Alumni March 28, 2007 So my 5 year old laptop that I use for Aim, web browsing and for gaming when I'm not at my desktop is kicking the bucket. I'm thinking I wanna replace it with something that has decent gaming performance for WoW and possibly CS:S but not break the bank either. Thinking something around $1000 to $1200 or so. I was wondering what laptops people have out there (brand and rough specs). I was thinking DELL but it seems they've outsourced their customer service to another country and now it's a nightmare with their customer service. So I'm thinking about getting something locally from the stores or possibly over newegg. I'm thinking an HP right now but wondering if anyone out there has thoughts and recommendations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kruten March 28, 2007 Share Kruten Member March 28, 2007 Acer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroDamage March 28, 2007 Share ZeroDamage Member March 28, 2007 I've never bought from them but I have heard good things from them. Their prices are really good as well. http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rashad March 28, 2007 Share Rashad Member March 28, 2007 whatever you do, don't get a voodoo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler March 28, 2007 Share boiler Member March 28, 2007 I have had three Dell laptops. I know their support has been outsourced, but I have dealt with them for several things in the last few months (for three different computers) and their support has been fast, responsive, and satisfactory. You would probably be hard pressed to find more power/performance for the price than Dell. I think all the support complaints they had over the last few years got them to refocus on it and it's improved. You could probably build one from then with a Core 2 that would have decent (playable) CSS capabilities. Definitely wouldn't be able to have a lot of the visual goodies turned on, but you could still play. Their deals aren't that great right now ($200 off), you can look for coupon codes or wait for a 20% off or something. HPs are great laptops, but the price/performance is probably not going to be quite as palatable as a dell laptop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymo March 28, 2007 Share anonymo Member March 28, 2007 I cannot support your WoW addiction...sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
appalachian_fox March 28, 2007 Share appalachian_fox Member March 28, 2007 I was wondering what laptops people have out there (brand and rough specs). I was thinking DELL but it seems they've outsourced their customer service to another country and now it's a nightmare with their customer service. So I'm thinking about getting something locally from the stores or possibly over newegg. I'm thinking an HP right now but wondering if anyone out there has thoughts and recommendations. I have to agree with Boilersax...Yes, their support is outsourced, but it's not really bad, especially if you are (1) knowledgeable about computers and (2) Not arrogant about it. A bit of patience and the ability to convince the tech support person you do know what you are doing without sounding like you're better than them go a long way, and I've never had a support ticket for anyone run over an hour. I usually recommend Dell to people, and I used to work in an all-Dell shop, so I've had a fair amount of experience with their tech support. I've also had experience with Compaq's and HP's tech support recently, and can't say I've had the same luck, but it hasn't been nearly as much experience. Sorry to say, it's really about picking the best of the worst these days. Something I might recommend, depending on what they charge for it and what the laptop costs, is the Accident Protection plan. I don't know if this is still true, but the accident protection requires you also purchase the extended warranty or whatever they call it (it used to be figured in to the price, I assume it still is) and it comes with all sorts of fringe benefits: My tech support calls are always answered nearly immediately, and if I say I want a replacement part I get a tech to come out with the part NIB and have him/her install it. Plus, on a laptop, it used to cover ANY accident completely: Even if you dropped the machine or spilled coffee on it (I assume it still does, but I'd check first). Not so useful for a desktop, much more valuable for a laptop. Just something to consider. It's a peace of mind thing, sure, but there's actually a good bit of value to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preacher March 28, 2007 Share Preacher Member March 28, 2007 I know it's a little more than you said but my friend just got this and it is very nice: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16834117405 The only difference is that my friends only had 1GB of RAM and had Vista Home Premium on it. I was checking it out and playing Quake 4 on it and it looked very good for a laptop. Sony is still sony also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice_Berge_00 March 29, 2007 Author Share Ice_Berge_00 GC Alumni March 29, 2007 Hm, definitely some things to think about guys. I will say that in the past I've really liked Dell. I bought 3 comps from them between 97 and 2001 (me, parents and then me again). All desktops and good PC's. During that Time I had to deal with tech support and they were awesome. But since 2002 I really haven't dealt with their tech support ever, and I've heard many horror stories now. I did swing into Best Buy today, hold the laughter please , and checked out what they have there. I was looking at a few machines they had by HP and Sony that looked pretty decent for the price. Right now I"m trying to decide if I want to try and stick with XP Pro or if I dare for Vista... If I do go Vista I think it's pretty much given that I want 2 GB of ram in the machine since it is a system hog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice_Berge_00 March 29, 2007 Author Share Ice_Berge_00 GC Alumni March 29, 2007 Did some research on the specs of the machines at best buy and can't say I'm surprised. They're not what I"m looking for, 2 use shared video memory and 1 uses integrated. Don't think either will work for what I want. So I'm doing some playing with system specs on Dell, I've got 1 setup for 1650 which is a bit more than what I want to spend... I'm also looking at the Sony laptop preacher posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler March 29, 2007 Share boiler Member March 29, 2007 Here's a Dell E1505 I just put together that should do what you are looking for. Total price for this is $1521 before tax/shipping. It should handle source alright (not all the fancy AA/AF maybe), but it would be playable. Thats what a desktop computer is for, right? No matter what you choose, I DEFINITELY recommend you not go cheaper on the screen. The one I have listed is the best LCD available for the e1505, and the difference in resolution is BIG. I had an Inspiron 6000D (15.4" as well) with the lower res, and I regretted cheaping out on the screen every day I used it. There just isn't enough screen real estate. Even if you don't go dell, make sure the screen is WSXGA+ for 15.4" displays, well worth the money. you could save a little bit on the graphics by going for the x1400 hypermemory, but I've heard that card and vista don't like to leave lots of gaming power left. I also added in the 9 cell battery, which significantly increases the battery life over the 6 cell. I recommend it, but if you spend the majority of your time plugged in then you probably could get away with the 6 cell. It's only a $49 upgrade. I know you can do your own shopping for this, but I figured if you can find a Sony or HP laptop with this kind of power for cheaper, then buy it. I have no clue what kind of warranty those come with though. Something else to consider. DELL E1505 PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5600 (1.83GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 667MHz FSB) edit OPERATING SYSTEM FREE Upgrade to Genuine Windows Vista™ Home Premium with 1GB of memory edit LCD PANEL 15.4 inch UltraSharp™ Wide Screen SXGA+ Display with TrueLife™ edit MEMORY FREE! 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHZ, 2 DIMM edit HARD DRIVE FREE! 160GB 5400 RPM SATA Hard Drive edit OPTICAL DRIVE FREE 8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability edit VIDEO CARD 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 7300 TurboCache* edit SOUND OPTIONS Integrated Audio edit My Accessories BATTERY OPTIONS 85 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery edit WIRELESS CARDS Dell Wireless 1390b/g (54Mbps) edit BLUETOOTH OPTIONS Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Internal (2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate) edit PRODUCTIVITY No productivity suite- Includes Microsoft Works 8. DOES NOT INCLUDE MS WORD edit ANTI-VIRUS & SECURITY McAfee SecurityCenter with anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, 15-months edit PHOTOS, MUSIC & MORE! No Pre-Installed Software edit WARRANTY AND SERVICE 1Yr Ltd Warranty and At-Home Service edit ACCIDENT AND THEFT PROTECTION 1Yr Computrace LoJack for Laptops Theft Protection Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroDamage March 29, 2007 Share ZeroDamage Member March 29, 2007 Do not discount the link I provided above. The laptops are no name but you end up with better video than those 1500 dollar dells. http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler March 29, 2007 Share boiler Member March 29, 2007 Do not discount the link I provided above. The laptops are no name but you end up with better video than those 1500 dollar dells. http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/ I just checked that out myself, and the prices do look pretty good for the stuff they put in the notebook. I had not heard of them before and have no clue how their customer support is. The x1600 video card in the one starting at $1200 is definitely an upgrade over the ones dell offers in the e1505. I don't have the time to dig through that site to look at the "awards" and other accolades for the company, so you may want to look a little more into it before buying. Good prices and specs though, no question. From one of the notebooks I configured to try to "match" my I9400, it looks like 1 year limited warranty for hardware and lifetime tech support. It would be nice to be able to extend the hardware warranty (I couldn't for the one I configured), but the lifetime tech support is nice. This Xplorer X5-6800 from that site might be what you would want to look at, Ice. SXGA+ res, Core 2 T7200 @2.0GHz, 2GB ram, vista home premium, 120GB 5400rpm HD for roughly $1400, plus free case. Again, I'd research the company a bit more, but thats a nice notebook for cheaper than Dell. Not sure where ZD found out about this company, but it seems like a nice find if they can back up their systems like Dell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroDamage March 29, 2007 Share ZeroDamage Member March 29, 2007 The site has been used by my former employer without any problems (that I am aware of) and the products are of pretty good quality. I've never used them myself but if I needed a cheap laptop that could somewhat perform, I would consider them. Please call them and check them out first though. check out their reviews here: http://www.resellerratings.com/store/CyberPower It also looks like they keep up with the reviews on the resellerratings website and respond professionally. :-? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler March 29, 2007 Share boiler Member March 29, 2007 The site has been used by my former employer without any problems (that I am aware of) and the products are of pretty good quality. I've never used them myself but if I needed a cheap laptop that could somewhat perform, I would consider them. Please call them and check them out first though. check out their reviews here: http://www.resellerratings.com/store/CyberPower It also looks like they keep up with the reviews on the resellerratings website and respond professionally. :-? I read a bunch of those reviews, and it's a little disconcerting that there are that many out-of-box problems that people have had to deal with. I know that 75% of people that post on sites like that are the ones that only want to gripe about a company, leaving more negative than positive reviews, but it's a caution flag nonetheless. I would think that laptops would be a bit less of a hassle though as it's hard to not install parts properly and have it test ok before shipping. A number of the folks mention unhelpful and rude support people. Of course they might have been complete jerk-offs to the support guys, but thats not great. Even though a lot of Dell support guys speak english as a second language, they are all extremely courteous and helpful whenever I've had a problem/question. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroDamage March 29, 2007 Share ZeroDamage Member March 29, 2007 The site has been used by my former employer without any problems (that I am aware of) and the products are of pretty good quality. I've never used them myself but if I needed a cheap laptop that could somewhat perform, I would consider them. Please call them and check them out first though. check out their reviews here: http://www.resellerratings.com/store/CyberPower It also looks like they keep up with the reviews on the resellerratings website and respond professionally. :-? I read a bunch of those reviews, and it's a little disconcerting that there are that many out-of-box problems that people have had to deal with. I know that 75% of people that post on sites like that are the ones that only want to gripe about a company, leaving more negative than positive reviews, but it's a caution flag nonetheless. I would think that laptops would be a bit less of a hassle though as it's hard to not install parts properly and have it test ok before shipping. A number of the folks mention unhelpful and rude support people. Of course they might have been complete jerk-offs to the support guys, but thats not great. Even though a lot of Dell support guys speak english as a second language, they are all extremely courteous and helpful whenever I've had a problem/question. Dell's reviews are not any better. Worse actually. http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Dell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice_Berge_00 March 29, 2007 Author Share Ice_Berge_00 GC Alumni March 29, 2007 Thanks for all the ideas guys. I talked to a couple guys at work that had recently used Dell's customer support and they said it was good. I've also heard that not too long ago they realized how stupid they were for outsourcing everything and have been turning it around. Although I'm sure it takes time to re-earn good rep once you make a major mistake like that. Right now I'm thinking Dell since I'm familiar with them and know people that have personally dealt with them recently. Although those Cyberpower ones are interesting. Hmm, very interesting. Between Last night and today DELL changed the options available for the laptop model I was looking at, the 1505, and now there's more options and some better deals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice_Berge_00 March 30, 2007 Author Share Ice_Berge_00 GC Alumni March 30, 2007 well, time to go drop some money, I'm going with the Dell. I'll let you guys know how it turns out Thanks everyone for all your feedback and ideas! PS, if anyone is interested I can post up some rough specs after I order, just ask Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonfly March 30, 2007 Share dragonfly Member March 30, 2007 They change deals by the hour practically... I've seen it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler March 30, 2007 Share boiler Member March 30, 2007 lets see those specs after you order it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroDamage March 30, 2007 Share ZeroDamage Member March 30, 2007 Thanks for all the ideas guys. I talked to a couple guys at work that had recently used Dell's customer support and they said it was good. I've also heard that not too long ago they realized how stupid they were for outsourcing everything and have been turning it around. Although I'm sure it takes time to re-earn good rep once you make a major mistake like that. Right now I'm thinking Dell since I'm familiar with them and know people that have personally dealt with them recently. Although those Cyberpower ones are interesting. Hmm, very interesting. Between Last night and today DELL changed the options available for the laptop model I was looking at, the 1505, and now there's more options and some better deals! I prefer their web chat these days. You can do something while you wait for a tech to get on and their slow typing. You also have what they said in written form so any crap they give is easily documented. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler March 30, 2007 Share boiler Member March 30, 2007 I'll have to try that web chat sometime, I like having stuff written down on my end. The last couple of times I called for support my waiting times were only a couple of minutes each. The support is definitely better, although it will probably take a while to get back people to got screwed before and don't trust them anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice_Berge_00 March 30, 2007 Author Share Ice_Berge_00 GC Alumni March 30, 2007 I'll have to try that web chat sometime, I like having stuff written down on my end. The last couple of times I called for support my waiting times were only a couple of minutes each. The support is definitely better, although it will probably take a while to get back people to got screwed before and don't trust them anymore. Very true, it's easy to lose people when you screw up like they did and it takes a LONG time to earn their trust back. On the other subject Inspiron e1505 w/ Intel Core2 Duo 1.63GHz 2MB L2 Cache 667 FSB 15.4 Inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WSXGA+ 2GB, DDR2, 533MHz 256MB Ge Force 7300 Graphics Turbocache 160GB 5400RPM SATA HARD DRIVE Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Edition 8X DVD+/-RW Drive I could've upped the RAM to DDR2 667 but it was a significant cost increase, along with going to the next step on the processor. This fit my budget pretty well (although a little higher than I initially wanted to pay) and should be good for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler March 31, 2007 Share boiler Member March 31, 2007 That looks like just what you were looking for, nice laptop Good call on the screen, you won't regret spending the extra money for the higher res! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroDamage March 31, 2007 Share ZeroDamage Member March 31, 2007 Just do not expect much for performance out of those turbocache like video cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now