buying new laptop, need help asap

[gorro]

I need to buy a laptop within the next week or so and I have a budget of around $1000. My budget pretty much puts macs out of the question so a pc laptop with have to do. Can anyone recommend a nice laptop with good battery life and a 15' or bigger screen. I was told I need a duo core processer and at least 2gig of ram. Are they any other things I should have in a laptop for graphic design? (I will be using photoshop,illustrator,indesign, no 3d rendering softwear.)

[lynnmosher]

My husband was just looking for one to do some of the same things. I don't remember what he thought was best. Will get back to you later today.

[righter1]

Gorro,

I just bought a new Dell laptop through Best Buy. My particular model was under $1000, but has a 14.1 inch screen (which was a downsize for me since my last laptop had at least a 15.1, if not bigger). The plus side was that, despite the fact I was looking at another Dell with a larger screen and cheaper price that they were sold out of, this one has MUCH more memory--well over 300 GB of space, which more than quadrupled the amount of space on my previous 'puter. If you're going to be running a lot of graphics, get as much RAM and memory as you can afford (keeping in mind that even in laptops, you can usually add more RAM, and you can add an external hard drive for $100 - $200 later on), and do a bit of research through Consumers Reports or the PC magazines (or even wikipedia) on graphics and see what will give you the biggest bang for you buck.

And, whatever you do, make sure you have USB ports for removable devices (like flash memory) and a DVD-RW burner. These are ESSENTIAL if you're doing a lot of photography. Most laptops I've run across even have ports for your memory cards (both my last two had ports for my SD card, which is nice.)

Be aware that most laptops now come with Windows Vista (bleh!) and some are becoming impossible to downgrade to XP. (Mine is--I checked.) If you need to transfer data over to a new machine, I know that Best Buy's Geek Squad did a good job on my last transfer. Unfortunately, this go-round, I couldn't do it because my old machine decided to be a piece of crap. (partly yours truly's error, but partly the stupid old machine.)


Oh, and my Dell is having a WONDERFUL time with the battery. If I'm cruisin on the net or working on my writing, the battery life is outstanding. I'm having times when it'll indicate 5+ hours of time left. :) Amazing. Just be aware that the larger your screen is, the more life it'll suck from your battery. If screen size is more important than battery life, by all means, get a larger 'puter. But, if battery life is more important, try to get a smaller, lighter machine, sacrificing the screen size. It'll improve your battery life. Remember you can always plug one of these machines into a TV screen or another monitor if you need to and make your images larger. Heck, you can even use a projector if you have the right hookups! :)



I don't know if the manufacturers still do this, but the first laptop I bought in 1999 was purchased remanufactured. At the time, it saved me a bunch of money on what was a decent machine (lasted me nearly 5 - 6 years!) You can also try eBay or Amazon.com. And my cousin's fiancé was telling me about this bargain site that could get you deep discounts (could even put a MAC in range for you!), but I can't remember the name of it off hand (I'll have to ask him, but he's getting married Saturday, so he's a bit... distracted.)


Hope this helps!

[writegirl1949]

I purchased a HP Pavillion Entertainment Notebook PC 4 years ago and it's really been outstanding. I don't rely on the battery much ... keep it plugged in. It has a 14" HiDef wide screen so it pulls a lot from the battery.

It's been a real workhorse for me and I really loved it. I still use it but was blessed to be able to buy an iMAC desktop (couldn't afford a MAC laptop).

One of the greatest things about the HP was the customer support ... it's been just awesome. We purchased the extended warranty and when we had problems (twice) we shipped it for repair -- their expense, overnight, etc. I had it back in just a day or two.

Hope this helps.

Blessings, Francine