About Lauren Bennett Expertise I am a computer science major and my dad is an Electric Engineering, so my life has revolved around computers. For as long as I can remember, I have been buying and selling computers. I tend to travel a lot, so I have always had a laptop. I have bought 5 of them for myself, and bought around 30-40 for friends and family. I have dealt with the good and the bad of various version and brand names. If you are in need of buying a laptop, feel free to contact me and I'm sure I will be able to guide you into purchasing the laptop that will be the best fit for you. I will custom build you computers for you to choose from so you can get an exact idea of what to go and buy when you do it yourself and so that you have an exact price. However, I am in the USA and am only knowledgeable about computers here in the US. I do not know about foreign currency or the quality of computer brand names outside the US.
Experience B.S. in Computer Science. Buying and selling for years. Assisting friends/family.
Question QUESTION: I am looking for a laptop for entertainment purpose (Internet, Games, Movies) with the following minimum configurations:
1) 1 GB DDR RAM
2) 100 GB HDD
3) Intel Core 2 duo 1.6 GHZ processor
4) Preinstalled Windows Vista Home Premium (not Home Basic as it lacks a lot of features)
5) Added Graphics Card
6) Slot DVD Drive
7) Integrated Camera
Do let me know if I need to check any other feature which might be required for my entertainment purpose (given above). Also, could you tell me which brand would give me all the above configure in a laptop?
Thank in advance!!
ANSWER: I'd check out the Dell Inspiron E1505. It is a laptop built for entertainment purposes. You can get everything you want on it, and more. I'd recommend fully upgrading to the 256 MB video card option on it. However, it does not have the integrated camera. You'd have to go with the Dell XPS M1210 (which I have). It is a very powerful and fast computer that will also give you want you want, but only has a 12.1" screen.
I believe the HP Entertainment notebooks do come with the integrated camera option. The downfalls to HP include coming in second in terms of quality (to Dell) and they also fall behind Dell in the warranty services offered. Dell techs will come to your house within 48 hours of something going wrong and fix it on the spot. With HP you have to ship it off, wait for it to be fixed, and then wait for it to be shipped back and shipping a laptop is always scary has to all the jarring and throwing around the usually happens.
So it is really a matter of how much that integrated camera means to you vs one you can clip on.
If you read my previous posts it will go into great detail about why Dell is the best manufacturer of computers (I wrote my thesis on it).
If you'd like to go with that Dell I recommended to you...
-----Use code 1H0BMD78L6?HF9 to save $300 off any $999.00+ Dell Inspiron notebook. (valid 4/12/2007 6:00:00 AM - 4/19/2007 11:59:59 PM)
-----Use code XPGH$C57$L1$F5 to save $450 off any $1,499.00+ Dell Inspiron notebook. (valid 4/12/2007 6:00:00 AM - 4/18/2007 11:59:59 PM)
As this coupon expires soon, if you purchase after that date, let me know and I can probably find you another one :)
p.s. I'd strongly recommend the 3 or 4 year PC Care Bundle. It comes with a lot and the discount makes the extras almost free!
I just built a computer about to your specs with a 3 year warranty (including 24/7 tech support, overnight shipping, at home service, 3 years antivirus software, 3 years accidental damage coverage, theft protection, and dell on call) for about $2,000 and you can get it for about $1,400. Not too bad :).
A similar model from HP is about $1,550, but you don't get the luxury of at home service with it (which, from personal experience, is amazing).
HP's warranty states: "Three-business-day repair time (an upgrade from standard 4–10 business-day repair time; does not include shipping time)"
Let me know what you think of the two options and I can provide more details on whichever route you decide to take. If neither seem to fit your needs/budget, let me know and we can work something else out!
Just in addition to your specs, make sure you get a decent warranty on it, that you upgrade the battery in terms of cells, an that you try to get the 667 MHz RAM.
I currently have a Dell Inspiron 6000, Dell Inspiron 9300, Dell Inspiron E1505, Dell XPS M1210, and Dell XPS 410 :)
I used to have HP, Gateway, Acer, and Sony so I've had experience with quite a few computer brand names out there.
I'm always around so keep me posted and let me know if you have any questions!
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you for your quick answer but would like to know about other brands like Sony VAIO or Linova (IBM).
Also, let me know which would be the best (for my purpose) Graphics card?
Thanks again.
Answer Sony VAIO computers are a hit or miss in terms of quality. They do offer the at home service warranty, like Dell, but are highly overpriced and not nearly as good in terms of overall quality as other brands. Lenova laptops are much better for businesses and not as good in the entertainment area. I don't personally know that much about the Acer and Asus laptops out there today, but a few of my friends who have had them didn't like them and ended up returning them for something else.
I thought about getting a VAIO at one point, but when it cost me about $1,000 more, I decided there was no point in spending $1,000 more on a laptop that was identical to the Dell one. If you are willing to spend quite a bit more, I can look into the VAIO laptops for you.
You would be fine with even a 128 MB graphics card, but for Vista, I'd go with the 256 MB graphics card (not the HyperMemory one). The HyperMemory graphics card means that the memory is shared between all of the computer, not dedicated to graphics. Any ATI or NVIDIA brand named one would be fine.
