Expert: Karl Zick - 7/19/2010

Question
QUESTION: Hi Karl

I am interested in a laptop computer to play videos that I recorded on the hard drive through a TV tuner card. I use VLC media player. It seems to take a fair bit of processing power or RAM because on my current computer it sometimes stalls and has a buffer underrun. It often stalls when I open another program.

I saw some laptop computers that appear to be good value for money. I am wondering what you think and which one would be the best for my purpose or if you know of something else that would be better. Please note the prices are in Australian dollars so the value in US dollars would be about 87% of the values listed.

There is a Toshiba Satellite PRO L500 with 2.2GHz, 4GBb RAM 320Gb hard drive and 15" screen for $550. See
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Toshiba-Satellite-PRO-L500-2-2GHz-4GB-15-Win7-Laptop-/290 Compared to the Acer one below, it has a slightly bigger processor but it does not have an i3.

The Acer Intel DualCore has 2.13GHz, 4Gb RAM, 320Gb hard drive, i3 and 15.6" screen for $678.00. See
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-Acer-Intel-DualCore-4Gb-Ram-320Gb-Win7-15-6-Laptop-/1

The other computer I am thinking of is a
Lenovo G550 DualCore with 2.2GHz, 3Gb RAM, 500Gb hard drive and a 15" screen for $600.
It only has 3Gb of RAM but a larger hard drive than the other two. However, it may not cost much to increase the RAM to 4Gb. It does not have an i3 like the one above. However, the processor is bigger. See
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-Lenovo-G550-DualCore-2-2GHz-3G-500GB-15-Windows-7-/20

All the computers are new and have Windows 7. It would probably be better if they had Windows XP because I have that on my other computers and it may run better. However, it may be unlikely that I would get a new model with that operating system.

Which one do you think is the best to get if any or do you know of any others that are better value for money which would be good for playing videos?

Your help is appreciated
Regards Richard.

ANSWER: My two favorite laptops on the market are Lenovo (IBM) and Toshiba.  If I were buying one for myself I would pick the Lenovo - but it is a toss-up.

I just finished setting up two new systems with Win 7 on them and I really like it.  It will take a little getting used to but I think Microsoft did it right this time.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi

Thanks for the letter.

Some people suggested one like below with an i3 processor and 64 bit would be an advantage. Would that make much difference?

The Acer system in my last email had these features. It is now at the below link
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Acer-Aspire-5740-Core-i3-2GB-320GB-15-6-HDMI-Windows-7_W0

If the link does not work go to http://www.ebay.com.au/  and paste Item number: 160455405914 into the search.


Your help is appreciated
Regards Richard.

Answer
Hi again Richard,

I cannot recommend ACER computers.  I have had some very bad experiences with their hardware and their tech support is the worst I have ever dealt with.

I repeat what I said about Lenovo's and Toshiba's.  They both come with the 64 bit version of Win 7 (which DOES make a speed difference) and, normally, 4GB of RAM.  I think processor speed, once you get past a 64 bit quad-core CPU, means very little.  Things like RAM and bus speed are a lot more important.  Also, it is hard to tell the difference between an AMD and an Intel CPU - and the AMD units are usually much cheaper.  I shop at Newegg.com a lot and you can usually get either unit for $399 of less.  Also, Amazon now has some great computer deals.