Help me pick a laptop please =)

[juliwats119]

ok so i need to get a laptop for school and stuff but also to replace my desktop

so i search on dealstudio and got it down to these 2

Asus Eee PC 1000HA White 10" Netbook

and Gateway T-6345U 14.1" NoteBook


i thought the second one was a better buy because its got a bigger screen and more hard drive but idk what do you guys think?

and also feel free to add more laptops if u can find better ones or the same for cheaper or the same price,mu budget is $500.

 

[Thanee]

Well, that depends on what you do with it.

The Netbook (I have the Asus Eee PC 1000 HE in white, which is really cool) is completely capable of all office-like tasks, but you won't have much fun with games on it. On the plus side, and its main strength, it's ultra-portable (and the HE also has a really good battery endurance).

However, Netbooks typically have no DVD drive, which could be problematic, if it is your only computer.

The other one you listed looks decent enough. It also won't be capable of running games with the integrated graphics solution, but other than that...

Bye
Thanee

 

[tenkar]

I enjoy my 9" Acer netbook, but if I was going to do schoolwork on it I'd break out my fullsized laptop. Fullsized laptop = fullsized keyboard, which is very important for reports and such.

As Thanee said, the netbook lacks a CD/DVD drive, which will make installing many programs difficult to say the least.

 

[Rl'Halsinor]

I have to agree with the wise advice Thanee and tenkar have given here. If this is going to be primarily for schooling then you want a larger laptop. 14" to 15" should be plenty. And unless you have a boat load of cash, gaming isn't really a main stay of laptops. You have to shell out some serious $ for a gaming laptop.

1. As tenkar so rightly points out you need a system that has a DVD drive that can also burn. Many just burn CDs and play DVDs but that should suffice.

I can't begin to stress the importance of a DVD/CD drive. I belong to the TechSpot.com forums where we help people with all kinds of issues including the Blue Screens of Death.

So many people come there whose system doesn't have this drive and thus cannot run some critical dianostics nor can they use their disks for repairs, etc.


2. Make sure your system has at least two gigs of RAM especially with Vista. Vista loves RAM.

3. Also, make sure you get an extended warrenty for 2-3 years because if you ever drop it and break the screen a replacement costs about the same as a new laptop.


4. Stay away from Intel's Pentium Dual Core systems because they run HOT. However, Intel's Dual Core 2 is excellent. AMD dual core cpus are also excellent. I have laptops with both Intel and AMD.


5. You'll want a number of USB ports for printers, wireless mouse, flash drives, etc.


* I suggest joining the TechSpot.com forums and ask for advice over there (no, I am not compensated for this suggestion ) under their Mobile forums. Many people who lend advice are full time IT's who lend their expertise and some of them build and repair laptops. They can tell you what brands are good and which ones to stay away from. If you do decide to ask over there make sure you give the following two pieces of information:

a. Your budget.

b. What you want this laptop to do from primary purpose to secondary purposes.

 

[drothgery]

I have to agree with the wise advice Thanee and tenkar have given here. If this is going to be primarily for schooling then you want a larger laptop. 14" to 15" should be plenty. And unless you have a boat load of cash, gaming isn't really a main stay of laptops. You have to shell out some serious $ for a gaming laptop.

Cash has very little to do with it. A video card good enough for cutting-edge games, and/or a large enough and high enough resolution screen will not fit in the power requirements of a reasonably portable laptop. "Gaming Laptops" are luggable, not portable; there's no possible way you could use them in coach class airplane seat.

2. Make sure your system has at least two gigs of RAM especially with Vista. Vista loves RAM.

Get at least 4. Upgrading RAM on notebooks is a pain, memory is cheap, and you'll never regret having too much cheap RAM.

4. Stay away from Intel's Pentium Dual Core systems because they run HOT.

Cite? Intel's Pentium Dual Core CPUs (and single and dual-core Celeron CPUs, for that matter) are just lower clock speed / smaller cache / slower FSB versions of the Core 2 Duo. If a Pentium Dual Core laptop runs hot, it's probably due to that individual laptop's design, not the CPU (unless they were seriously cutting corners by putting a desktop part in a notebook).

 

[ssampier]

What school? High school or college? Which college?

I ask because some colleges have very specific requirements.

Of the two I would get the bigger screen and keyboard. I cringe a little since it's a Gateway. I have never had good experience with Gateway. I used IBM, Sony, HP, Dell, and Toshiba laptops and they work well.

Gateway sold its business division to MPC and then MPC went bankrupt only adds fuel to the fire.