samurai nightling May 26, 2010 Share samurai nightling Member May 26, 2010 (edited) So I'm looking to buy a new laptop for my fiance for her birthday coming up. She really needs a new one badly, and I'm looking to get the best bang for the buck, without spending too many of the bucks. Anyone know of any great deals or places to look right now? I'm sure she would love a Macbook, but I don't really want to pay so much just for the name, when the specs of the system are crap compared to a laptop that's cheaper. Any help is appreciated! Edited May 26, 2010 by samurai nightling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lousiest May 26, 2010 Share lousiest Member May 26, 2010 I usually rely on deal sites like Ben's Bargains (http://bensbargains.net/category/83/notebooks) or Slickdeals. I like the former for cases where I need to get something quick, as they categorize their deals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stutters May 26, 2010 Share stutters GC Alumni May 26, 2010 get a refurb'd macbook. just do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VooDooPC May 26, 2010 Share VooDooPC Member May 26, 2010 That's Nike, you mean, "Byte into an Apple"! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[LaW]Maverick May 26, 2010 Share [LaW]Maverick Member May 26, 2010 How much are you looking to spend? That'd help us make suggestions. I like ASUS for bang for the buck. For $1,000 you can have a pretty serious gaming notebook from them (it's what I'm typing on right now). They have some with 12 hours of battery for around $650 - $750 as well. (they get this with on the fly video card switching, which is pretty killer) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samurai nightling May 27, 2010 Author Share samurai nightling Member May 27, 2010 (edited) I'm looking for the $600-$700 range, and I'm not looking for a gaming laptop, she doesn't game at all and I'm sure i won't be allowed to use it for that lol. I just need a fast laptop that is better than her 5-6 year old Dell Inspiron. So far for the price im seeing ones with 4gb of ram and i can get an i3 or i5 in it, but most of them lack a decent video card. I'm not sure she'll need a lot of video though, since it isn't a gaming rig. A long battery life would be nice as well. Dang, I know she would love a Macbook, but not for $1228 after i upgrade to 4gb ram and put microsoft Office in it. Edited May 27, 2010 by samurai nightling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stutters May 27, 2010 Share stutters GC Alumni May 27, 2010 you're basing your ram requirements on your windows experience. you do NOT need 4gb of ram based on what she'll be using it for. $759 - Refurbished MacBook 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. their refurbs are solid. $49 - 2GB upgrade (if you really, really need it). crucial is in my mbpro. no issues. $129 - Office 2008 (student/home) $937 (+ tax). granted, out of the $600-700 range, but i'd be willing to bet she'll be using this setup for the next 5-6 years. i'd also encourage you to take a peek at ebay. find one with 2 years left on apple care, and you've got nothing to worry about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boiler May 27, 2010 Share boiler Member May 27, 2010 (edited) While I can't condone an apple product () I can say she won't need 4GB of ram or solid dedicated graphics if you say there will be no gaming occurring on this laptop. This would be a solid option, imo *edit - just realized this doesn't have a CD drive... not sure if that's a problem. The new i3 and i5 chips are awesome, but to me it doesn't sound like she'll need that kind of power. Edited May 27, 2010 by boiler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samurai nightling May 27, 2010 Author Share samurai nightling Member May 27, 2010 Yeah i know she won't NEED 4gb of ram, but i wanted to get her something that would be nice and fast for a long time. If i went the Windows route, i would def get 4gb, if i got Macbook i might stick with 2gb. She can also get the MS Office very cheap because she works and is a student at her Universities bookstore. She already used her student discount, but can get someone else to get it for her for like $10-20. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lousiest May 27, 2010 Share lousiest Member May 27, 2010 At my workplace, my colleagues value weight and battery life more than feature set (they've traded in more powerful ones for light laptops). Hence, I'm wondering if your fiance would rather have a more feature-rich laptop vs a more mobile one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[LaW]Maverick June 1, 2010 Share [LaW]Maverick Member June 1, 2010 While I can't condone an apple product () I can say she won't need 4GB of ram or solid dedicated graphics if you say there will be no gaming occurring on this laptop. This would be a solid option, imo *edit - just realized this doesn't have a CD drive... not sure if that's a problem. The new i3 and i5 chips are awesome, but to me it doesn't sound like she'll need that kind of power. This is actually one of the laptops I was going to suggest....I prefer this one, personally. However, it is a bit more expensive. The cool thing about that is that (aside from beating the pants off the refurbished Mac SJ posted, spec wise) it has dual video card switching. So if she wants to do anything more graphically intensive, she can--if she wants super long battery life, she has it. I'm not sure it NECESSARY for her...but hey, it works... OH, don't buy anything with less than 4 GB of RAM if you're planning on keeping it for a while. That's my 2-cents..even a Mac, I wouldn't buy without 4 GB of ram. PS: sorry SJ, couldn't resist the dig . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stutters June 1, 2010 Share stutters GC Alumni June 1, 2010 you're right, you can't argue with dual video card switching and 4gb of ram based on her needs. i'd hate to see what kind of gifts you get for your ladies. "hey honey, here's a dual speed power drill with 1/2" chuck support. happy anniversary!!!1" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[LaW]Maverick June 1, 2010 Share [LaW]Maverick Member June 1, 2010 you're right, you can't argue with dual video card switching and 4gb of ram based on her needs. i'd hate to see what kind of gifts you get for your ladies. "hey honey, here's a dual speed power drill with 1/2" chuck support. happy anniversary!!!1" You're just jealous because Apple can't do it on the fly like ASUS...and I *SAID* it wasn't necessary OK, OK, I'll stop poking the forum fruit-master. Seriously, the UL series by ASUS is the way to go in my opinion. Inexpensive, light, and loooong battery life. They sell 'em at Best Buy too, so you can go check on out in person before buying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stutters June 1, 2010 Share stutters GC Alumni June 1, 2010 it'd be awesome if apple had stores where you could go check out their products before buying them. or even if they weren't "apple stores," maybe stores like best buy would carry them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stutters June 1, 2010 Share stutters GC Alumni June 1, 2010 how about these apples? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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