Hannah and I are on the market for new computers. I've compiled a list of some nice models that are very within our price range. There are a few we really love (or I really love, anyway) and there are some that are just pipe dreams. I'll start by listing the 'wishful thinking' ones that we'll never own until we are much more affluent than we are now. Then I'll list some of the serious contenders. When I am actually ready to snag a comp for me or for my Hannah, I will also go and check in the stores around the area to look for special deals and weekend blowouts. But in the meantime - these are the beauties I've been examining. Optical Drive used to be a semi deal breaker until I realized that it costs less than fifty bucks for an external one. I can swing that, therefore the OD is no longer an issue. I will be listing it among specs however because it still counts as a positive. All of the following have Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit or Windows 7 Professional 64 bit. We do not want Windows 8 in our house!
Wishful Thinking (Lower-end Gaming Laptops)
- MSI GE Series GE60 0NC-498US Notebook (8 GB, 2.60 GHz, 750 GB HD, NVIDIA, Optical Drive, 15.6" screen) $899.99
- SAMSUNG Series 7 NP700Z3C-S02US Notebook (6 GB, 2.50 GHz, 750 GB HD, NVIDIA, Optical Drive, 14" screen) $849.99
- ULTRABOOK ZEUS-M GAMING NOTEBOOK (8 GB, 2.60 GHz, 60 GB SSD, HD Graphics 4000, 14.1" screen) starting at $759.00
- LENOVO IdeaPad U410 437629U Ultrabook (4 GB, 1.80GHz, 500 GB HD & 32 GB SSD, NVIDIA, 14" screen) $699.99
SAMSUNG Series 5 Slim Notebook PC (4 GB, 2.1 GHz, 500 GB HD, AMD Radeon, 13.3" screen) $449.99
Toshiba Satellite U845-S402 Ultrabook (4 GB, 1.4 GHz, 500 GB HD & 16 GB SSD, 14" screen) $459.88
Asus X54C-RB92 LED Notebook (6 GB, 2.3 GHz, 500 GB HD, Optical Drive, 15.6" screen) $475.95
- SAMSUNG Series 3 Laptop NP300VA-A04US (6 GB, 2.45 GHz, 500 GB HD, HD Graphics 3000, Optical Drive, 14" screen) $499.88
Acer Blue 14" AS4830T-6899 Laptop PC (6 GB, 2.10 GHz, 500 GB HD, HD Graphics 3000, 14" screen) $508.00
SAMSUNG Series 3 NP300E4C-A01US (6 GB, 2.4 GHz, 500 GB HD, HD Graphics 3000, Optical Drive, 14" screen) $517.00
- TOSHIBA Satellite P745-S4160 (6 GB, 2.3 GHz, 640 GB HD, Optical Drive, 14" screen) $559.99
Of course this would all be easier if we didn't hate Windows 8 so much. We don't have IPads or IPhones or anything that is based on a touch screen and we would prefer to keep our Windows 7 - which means we need to pay a little bit more. Not much, but enough that it aggravates me that all the good deals are for the newest operating system. Also I just noticed that the majority of these computers are 14 inches. Hannah may want to do her own search since she's in favor of a slightly larger screen.
Things will go in and out stock. So I'll keep my eye out closer to the time that we actually have the money to nab them. ^.^
ReplyDelete*nods*
DeleteA warning ahead of time, do not get anything at all with under 2.1 GHz if you can absolutely avoid it. I would even argue from personal experience to never go under 2.5 GHz. Processing speed is often overlooked, but it really can bite you in the ass. That is what happened to me. That nice Nvidia graphics card means jack shit if you don't have the GHz enough to run it so something to watch for. I know you've heard me rant about it before. For Hannah since she games, I'd definitely make sure not to go under 2.5 GHz, for you, since you only do facebook, beware of anything under 2.1 GHz, most facebook games can't even handle that low of a processing speed.
ReplyDeleteI would suggest Hannah look at an Acer like mine, which as commendable processing speed of 2.7 GHz and a TB of storage. It can handle most games and can definitely handle anything guildwars could throw at her 1 or 2. I would advise against MSi, they've been kind of in hot water recently. Gateway and HP have both been bought out by Acer, and their ratings have gone up considerably. So if you look there you can probably find some wonderful deals.
Another good thing you could do is go into Staples or Office Depot and do what I did, buy the display computer if it's the last one available, it'll be half off, and cheaper to buy the entire 3 year protection than to buy the limited warranty of a new computer that wasn't used for display. Then if it acts up you can send it in immediately for better service from the Staples Tech than from the home company technical support. Something to consider. That was how I got my new computer for 360.00 and for as much as I complain about it, it is an awesome computer in the way of what it can do. It's just it's mouse that's all buggy. Haha.
You probably know this already but I just don't want you to make my same mistakes I did when I bought my Alienware thinking it would be all awesome and able to take on the world and in truth all it is, is a glorified word processor. :P
Yeah I am definitely looking at processor speed as a huge component. *nods* And yeah we are definitely going to check out display models and try and get a good deal. We'll go to Office Depot and Best Buy and Walmart and all the computer places and scope out the possibilities. ^_^ These are just a few that give me an idea of what I want. I would prefer to get one from a store in town rather than online if I can.
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