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Looking to buy a laptop.

post #1 of 8
Thread Starter 
This is for my sister, not a power user, not a gamer.

Quote:
What is your maximum budget?

$750

Closer to $500 would be better

What country are you in?

USA

What will be the uses of this laptop?

Browsing, organizing photos, basic stuff.

Do you have brand loyalty or care which brands we select for you?

No

What screen size do you require?

13-15" She has a 13.3" Mac she seems to like the size of

What screen resolution do you require?

720p minimum on a 13"

Are you looking to buy NEW or would refurbished/recertified/used be okay?

New

How long should the battery last? (Under optimal conditions, no movies/games/heavy internet)



What games would you like to play with your laptop? And on what settings?

Farmville count? Max settings! thumb.gif

What operating system do you need? (if any)

None, Ill whipe it and do a clean install anyways


Is there a certain style of laptop you want? (aluminum, black, gaming, etc.)

Sleek

How much hard drive space do you need?

A small SSD would be better than a lot of slow storage

Do you need any special hardware? (blue ray, webcam, specialty ports, etc.)

no

Is there anything else we need to know?

Durability, sleek look take precedence.
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post #2 of 8
I've found the best thing to do with epople who have requirements such as those are to walk around a store that sells laptops so that they can look at them, check them out and get a feel for them, then buy online biggrin.gif

For specs I'd suggest something around the i3-2XXX area with 4GB RAM and whatever HDD choice. Those can be had for around £350 GBP, which is a bit less in dollars, I believe.
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post #3 of 8
Sounds like an APU would do her perfectly. Got my mom a samsung similar to this and she sounds like the same type of user as your sister.
Something like this should work
http://www.hsn.com/electronics/samsung-15-6-lcd-amd-quad-core-apu-4gb-ram-500gb-hdd-laptop-silver_p-6825379_xp.aspx
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post #4 of 8
Thread Starter 
yeah were looking at a6's and I3's

basically what manufacturers make a solid product at this price point? ASUS seems to make a reliable product

Check this out on AMZN:

ASUS A53E-AS31-WT 15.6-Inch Laptop (White)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007MW140O/ref=cm_sw_r_an_am_ap_am_us?ie=UTF8




id like to find something with faster storage, (smaller hdd would be an acceptable trade off for this) but it looks like that requires something at a higher price point.
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post #5 of 8
Quote:
Originally Posted by LuckySe7ens View Post

yeah were looking at a6's and I3's
basically what manufacturers make a solid product at this price point? ASUS seems to make a reliable product
Check this out on AMZN:
ASUS A53E-AS31-WT 15.6-Inch Laptop (White)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007MW140O/ref=cm_sw_r_an_am_ap_am_us?ie=UTF8
id like to find something with faster storage, (smaller hdd would be an acceptable trade off for this) but it looks like that requires something at a higher price point.

Yup that will be the case, although with the way SSD prices are going you can potentially just slap a 128gb (have seen the M4's as low as $90) in there it there's not much storage being used. I've always been a fan of ASUS and Samsung laptops for this price range, always a very good look/feel to them.
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post #6 of 8
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by asuindasun View Post

Yup that will be the case, although with the way SSD prices are going you can potentially just slap a 128gb (have seen the M4's as low as $90) in there it there's not much storage being used. I've always been a fan of ASUS and Samsung laptops for this price range, always a very good look/feel to them.

Thanks, Samsung, ASUS, and lenovo right now are on the list. Really leaning towards the amd side of things for the time being. A6 chips are.a good bit cheaper than I3s and a8s about the same
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post #7 of 8
It's really not worth saving $50-100 going with a 15" over a 13-14", IMO.

I'd go with something like this Lenovo Ideapad U400 for $500. You can also add an mSATA SSD in addition to the 2.5" HDD, but IMO an SSD is a bit pointless for basic usage, you're not going to see any speed boost in internet, office, youtube, etc. http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-099328U-14-0-Inch-Laptop-Graphite/dp/B005NHPH8A/ref=zg_bs_565108_22
 
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post #8 of 8
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jrbroad77 View Post

It's really not worth saving $50-100 going with a 15" over a 13-14", IMO.
I'd go with something like this Lenovo Ideapad U400 for $500. You can also add an mSATA SSD in addition to the 2.5" HDD, but IMO an SSD is a bit pointless for basic usage, you're not going to see any speed boost in internet, office, youtube, etc. http://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-099328U-14-0-Inch-Laptop-Graphite/dp/B005NHPH8A/ref=zg_bs_565108_22
thank you for the recommendation! we have a week or two to decide on something so I'm still shopping around for her. The 15" format to me seems like a better choice only because its her only computer and she really doesn't travel with it AFAIK, so more screen realestate seems adventageous atleast to me. I would love to be able to make some 13 to 14" recommendations to her though if there are some good ones available, since she seemed to enjoy the size of her little macbook.

That lenovo seems to be a serious contender. thumb.gif i3 + switchable discrete graphics + really nice looking all brushed/anodized aluminum exterior + the cooling layout (intakes from the keyboard) + msata port + 14" is a winner @ that price point
Edited by LuckySe7ens - 7/11/12 at 8:16pm
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