I need help deciding

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:44 pm Post subject: I need help deciding

Okay so, I'm not the biggest tech nerd out there & I want to ask for a laptop for my birthday. Seeing as it's an expensive item, I need to ask my parents well in advance. I found a pretty cheap laptop that I think my parents will go for, but what I need to know is if I'm paying for a crappy cheap laptop.

Keep in mind, all I want to use this laptop for is MSN, school projects & browsing the internet. Nothing major like gaming or anything.

Here are the details of the laptop:

"SMART: Windows Vista� Home Basic Operating System English or French
LARGE: 15.4 inch Wide Screen XGA LCD CrystalBrite Display
FAST: 1.86GHz Intel Celeron M540
POWERFUL: 1GB DDR2 533 MHz Memory
HUGE: 120 GB SATA 5400 RPM Hard Drive provides sufficient memory storage for all your music, videos and files
CREATE: CDs and DVDs with the Super-Multi Dual-layer Drive
VISUAL: Intel� GMA X3100 with up to 358MB (shared vram) Video Card bring images to life
WIRELESS FREEDOM: Acer Wireless 802.11 b/g WLAN
SOFTWARE: To get you started with Microsoft� Works 8.5 with Office Home and Student 2007 Trial (60-days), Norton Internet Security� 90 day Trial

Ports: 3 USB 2.0. RJ45 Ethernet port , RJ11 Modem port, External display (VGA) port, 5-in-1 memory card reader, Microphone-in connector, stereo headphones/speakers connector, S-Video/TV out, ExpressCard�/54 slot

Communication: Integrated Acer Crystal Eye webcam, supporting enhanced Acer PrimaLite� technology

CHARGED: 6-Cell Lithium Ion (Li-ion) Battery
PROTECTED: 1 Year limited warranty"

The laptop

What do you guys think? All advice is appreciated. [Smile]

Thanks.

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 3:54 pm Post subject:

Sounds like a pretty sweet laptop in my opinion. The webcam is a bonus, and you'll also get Windows Vista on it.

I'd like a bigger screen, but as you just said, you'll only be using it for MSN, School projects and the internet so you don't need that big of a screen. The only thing that bothers me is the one year limited warranty, the laptop that my cousin has has at least a three or five year warranty on it, but you could always give it back later if it suddenly decides to die out on you.

If you ever needed to download some music from limewire or rip a album for a friend of yours, it seems that it would be able to do the drive.

I think the laptop a nice one and if your parents go for it then I'm guessing it will last for a while, however, it's really up to you in the end, so ... *shrugs*

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:03 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the advice. [Smile]

Yeah, the screen size doesn't really bother me at all. & I agree that the warranty doesn't seem that great... maybe I could buy an extended warranty.

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:06 pm Post subject:

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:16 pm Post subject:

Wow, that's weird that it does that. I guess it's because the URL has tons of numbers & stuff in it.

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:37 pm Post subject:

Okay....I don't see why anyone would tell you this sounds nice

Windows Vista is a buggy operating system that has been proven to lower performance of any application you use on it 10% (last I checked anyways, but alot of nerds hate vista with a passion)

15.4 inch screens are fine but I still don't see why they say LARGE next to it seeing as LARGE laptop screens are 17-19"

Fast? The CPU SUCKS! It says fast but 1.86ghz is not that great and celerons have low cache sizes and just basically plain suck as long as you aren't overclocking them (which you can't do with a name brand computer anyways, much less a laptop).

1 gigabyte of memory is fine, its the speed you have to worry about, DDR2-533 is slow compared to the majority of RAM these days. Should be okay for what you'll be doing though

The hard drive is nice, 120gbs is alot for a laptop, 5400rpm is decently fast.

The graphics thing is hardly worth mentioning, only Nvidia and ATI graphics are able to be seperated from the other graphics in terms of performance. Intel sucks, VIA sucks, SIS sucks, etc.

The software bundle is similarly worthless because its a bunch of demos and alternatives to that software are readily availible online for FREE.

If you wanted a good one you should go to one of the nerdier companies which offer waaaaaaaaaay better bang for the buck.

One example of such a company is Cyberpower, their cheapest notebook isn't quite under $500 but its just one example of a company and if you look at the specs its way better.
http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Xplorer_X5-2800_Notebook/

dual core pentium, 2gbs of 667mhz ram, 160gb hard drive, Nvidia 7600 video, etc.

but yeah if you shop around you should be able to find something at one of the smaller companies for a good price. That or you should check Dell's promotions - I've see their laptops go for under $350.

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 4:46 pm Post subject:

I agree with what you said about Windows Vista. We got a new computer last year (the one I'm using now) & I think it's crap. I hate it. But I also don't really care about the graphics quality or the screen size... I don't need them for anything.

Yeah, the software stuff isn't that great. I have all the Microsoft Works stuff, so I can easily just install it. What do you recommend for a free virus scanner? I was thinking AVG, but I'm not sure.

Thank you for the site! I'll check it out & see what they have to offer. [Smile]

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:56 pm Post subject:

I'm not the greatest with all the nerdy stuff either, but I'll just throw in my two cents about screens. I have an IBM Thinkpad X30 which, when I take it out at school, often shocks people by how tiny it is [Laughing]

It's only got a 12.1in screen but I think it's perfect for what I need to do. big screens = bulky = bad for carrying around [Sad]

I'm hardcore IBM though lmao, but Acer is a pretty decent brand too

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 12:03 am Post subject:

the best free antivirus scanners are in (arguably) order: AVG, Avast & Antivir.
I used to use both AVG and Antivir at the same time but then I switched to AVG and Avast because apparently Antivir and Avast hate each other and the new version of antivir sucked IMO. Then I quit using avast cause it always wants me to freakin re-register it!!!

So yeah, I'm going to say AVG - its simple to use and it does a pretty dang good job

Posted: Thu Mar 13, 2008 6:59 pm Post subject:

I haven't read these big posts yet, but if you want fast.. definately don't go with anything below 2.4 GHz, my computer it like um 4 years old and it's way faster then this laptop (I think 3.2).. GHz are the big thing you'll want, RAM is a big thing too but you're not playing games on it or anything so you say so I guess that's not a huge concern. I also really hate wireless.. my mom has an acer with wireless too, and it's pretty shotty. But I live out in the middle of no where, so maybe the signal will be stronger there. I personally would never buy a laptop though. Oh and the Vista I wouldn't go with.. I think I heard somewhere Windows isn't really concerned with fixing that shit and is already working on a newer version

Posted: Fri Mar 14, 2008 12:22 am Post subject:

Yes windows 7 is in the works. Microsoft knows Vista sucks and they are going to just sell a shoddy product till they make a completely new version to steal even more of our money.

As for your post Magnaflux, ghz isn't THAT important - you see, there is a little something called IPC, Instructions Per Cycle. basically a 2.4ghz processor that can process 10 IPC is just as fast as a 4.8ghz processor that processes 5 IPC.

That is the reason Pentium 4's went as high as 3.8ghz and Core 2's have never gone above 3.0ghz and are yet WAY faster

Similarly a 2ghz Athlon is just as good as a 3ghz Pentium 4.