July 26, 200916 yr I've been in search of a laptop for quite some time, but haven't really come across any good buys. There's this one laptop I've been looking at for the past couple days, and it seems for the most part not too bad. *Specs below* Thing is, I don't have much experience when it comes to purchasing laptops and I could use some clarification on how well some components such as the video card might perform; and the laptop performance in general. I'll be using the laptop primarily for school work (word documents, excel, videos, mp3's etc) but in my spare time some video games such as Left 4 Dead. I'm looking to spend less than $1000CAN, and would prefer to purchase from retail stores if possible. (Warranty Issues, if your wondering.) [hide=Specs at a glance]http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10126101&catid=25315# Base Features Approximate Battery Life Up To 4.7 Hours Hard Drive Speed/Capacity 320 GB 5400 RPM Optical Drive 8x DVD+/-R/RW DL Processor Speed 2.0 GHz Processor Type Intel Core 2 Duo T6500 RAM 4 GB Screen Size 15.6 Inches Graphics Discrete Video Memory Yes Expandable Video Memory No Graphics Chipset ATI Mobility Radeon HD4330 Integrated Video Memory No Native Screen Resolution 1366 x 768 Upgradable Video System No Video Memory 512 MB Audio Audio Chipset REALTEK ALC272 Audio Output Stereo Digital Input No Digital Output No Hardware Volume Control No Integrated Amplifier Information Not Available Integrated Microphone Yes Microphone Input Yes Speaker Wattage 3 Watts Speakers Yes Inputs/Outputs Card Reader Yes Card Reader - Compatible Memory Types SD/SDHC/MMC Composite Output No ExpressCard/34 Input No ExpressCard/54 Input Yes HDCP Compliant Information Not Available HDMI Port Yes IEEE 1394 Input/Output No IR Receiver No Number of Touchpad Buttons 2 PC Card Input Yes S-Video Output No Type of Keyboard 88-Key Type of Modem Information Not Available Type of Pointing Device Touchpad USB 2.0 4 VGA Output Yes Webcam Yes Networking Ethernet Port Gigabit LAN Integrated Bluetooth Yes Integrated WiFi 802.11b/g Power Battery - Capacity 4400 mAh Battery - Number of Cells 6 Cell Battery Type Lithium-Ion Computing Features Processor Cache 2 MB System Bus 800 MHz Software Loaded Software 1 Acrobat Reader Loaded Software 2 Easy SpeedUp Manager Loaded Software 3 Easy Display Manager Loaded Software 4 Samsung Magic Doctor Operating System Language Bilingual Pre-loaded Operating System Yes Accessories Headphones No Remote No Product Features Notebook Depth 25.58 cm Notebook Thickness (closed) 3.13 cm Notebook Weight (including Battery) 2.55 kg Notebook Width 37.6 cm Warranty Labour 1 Year Warranty Parts 1 Year[/hide] On a slightly unrelated note, one year's warranty doesn't sound like the best idea to me. Should I consider purchasing some extra warranty? Although I don't have my mind set just yet on purchasing this laptop, it seems like a good fit for me. But I'd rather not throw away $900CAN on a laptop only to regret my purchase a year from now; so, I'm asking the many experienced and knowledgeable people of the T&C forum to give me some help and advice. Also, if you have any other suggestions please post away!
July 27, 200916 yr I recommend this HP G60-458DX Laptop, i have used it for half an year, It's an excellent product with the price it's offered at. Perfect for Net, gameing and ssmall projets.
July 27, 200916 yr Without looking at other laptops, it would certainly suit your needs. The graphics card is enough to play Left 4 Dead and the weight and battery life look good for work. Generally, extended warranties from manufacturers aren't worth what you pay for them. But I usually buy them because I cannot afford to be without my laptop for long periods of time. When do you need it? There will be several price drops on the Core 2 Duo lineup in Intel's fourth or first quarter.
July 27, 200916 yr Author Generally, extended warranties from manufacturers aren't worth what you pay for them. But I usually buy them because I cannot afford to be without my laptop for long periods of time. When do you need it? There will be several price drops on the Core 2 Duo lineup in Intel's fourth or first quarter. When do I need the laptop? Well, thing is I've been looking for around four months; I don't actually need it until later this year, November-ish when I'll be in Vancouver. Any guesses how much of a price drop there will be? If it's several hundred dollars I'll could probably wait it out. But I wouldn't mind at all having it sooner then later. Thanks for the suggestion as well dfergfshktf, but I'm not too sure how well the graphics card will work playing some of the games I intend to, and the processor is a bit of a turn off as well.
July 28, 200916 yr If you need it now, buy it now; I don't think there will be a major price drop that quickly and certainly not several hundred dollars. The laptop he suggested would not fit the bill for L4D.
July 28, 200916 yr Author If you need it now, buy it now; I don't think there will be a major price drop that quickly and certainly not several hundred dollars. The laptop he suggested would not fit the bill for L4D. Alright, I appreciate all the help laura, I'll probably pick it up Wednesday when they get some more in stock. Futureshop has a two-week return policy on laptops, so I figure I'll give it a try for a week or so and than decide if I want to keep it or not. Thanks again. :thumbup:
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