Good computer for my brother?

[shawn3090]

All right, so now that I've got my laptop figured out, I need to find a laptop for my brother. He will be going to college in 3 years so for now we are getting a desktop replacement. The key features we need are:

• 17.3" screen or bigger
  
• Dedicated graphics
  
• Wireless-n (seems like it is standard now)
  
• Numeric keypad

 

So I have found this laptop for a cheap price. Is thisa good idea? I don't really want to go over $700, and my local store has it.

[Sy_Accursed]

Seems a bit pricey for the specs.

No dedicated graphics either.

 

You could easily get those specs in something like a dell for a fair bit cheaper.

[shawn3090]

No dedicated graphics either.

Graphics Brand/ Model

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 Switchable Graphics

Graphics Memory

512MB DDR3 discrete, up to 2741MB total graphics memory

[Sbrideau]

Seems a bit pricey for the specs.

No dedicated graphics either.

 

You could easily get those specs in something like a dell for a fair bit cheaper.

 

Never go for a Dell, I've seen too many fairly new dells break to suggest getting that brand.

 

For laptops, the best brand at the moment would be Asus, but good luck finding a good one in that price bracket.

[Sy_Accursed]

Seems a bit pricey for the specs.

No dedicated graphics either.

 

You could easily get those specs in something like a dell for a fair bit cheaper.

 

Never go for a Dell, I've seen too many fairly new dells break to suggest getting that brand.

 

For laptops, the best brand at the moment would be Asus, but good luck finding a good one in that price bracket.

 

Dell went thru a crap period but they are awesome once more.

Too many people refer back to the crap period, when it is no longer valid.

My last and current laptop are both dells and neither have gone wrong. (well my old one has since my brother has had it but tbf it was software faults and every computer my brother has ever had has gone wrong cause he ruins them)

[Sbrideau]

Seems a bit pricey for the specs.

No dedicated graphics either.

 

You could easily get those specs in something like a dell for a fair bit cheaper.

 

Never go for a Dell, I've seen too many fairly new dells break to suggest getting that brand.

 

For laptops, the best brand at the moment would be Asus, but good luck finding a good one in that price bracket.

 

Dell went thru a crap period but they are awesome once more.

Too many people refer back to the crap period, when it is no longer valid.

My last and current laptop are both dells and neither have gone wrong. (well my old one has since my brother has had it but tbf it was software faults and every computer my brother has ever had has gone wrong cause he ruins them)

 

Ok, then tell me why my work computer, which is a 1 month old Dell, had a motherboard fail on me (according the the IT dept). Also tell me why my friend's laptop, which is now 1 year old, but was 3 months old when his hard drive failed. Let's not forget my other friend's dell which was 4 months at the time old had the screen fail on her laptop. This is all in the last year, so I think we're still in the crap period. You just got lucky.

[Sy_Accursed]

It's called bad luck.

Computer do break y'know. like 4 cases in a year out of hundreds of thousands sold is hardly a solid case for them being useless.

 

I built my own custom desktop and the mobo was faulty when it arrived (as they can often be) so it died and took my gpu with it. Doesn't suddenly make the brand bad; jsut i got a bad 1.

[Sbrideau]

I did see parts from other brands break as well, but absolutely not as much as dells. I own 3 computers, one is 5 years old, one is 2 and a half, and the other 6 months old. None of them have any trouble at all.

[Jernlov]

All Sbrideau ever does is come in here and criticise literally everything that everyone else uses anyway so whatever. Only company I've had a problem with is ASUS but then it's related to LG seeing as they make 99% of the LCD panels these days. Actual monitor electronics were fine but it had an oversaturated tint and several stuck pixels. Support was okay but not Dell level, not anywhere near.

 

At least if you get a Dell and it goes wrong, you know you've got good support backing you. My friend said he got a dodgy Dell IPS and they sent him out a new one immediately after he complained and was allowed to keep his current one until the non-defective unit arrived. I've not had any problems with Dell's support either, always was helpful. I would say they're back in the game and have been for a while now. It's not 2007 any more. Not to mention the parts in Dells aren't 100% their own so maybe you should blame Hitachi for bad HDDs and whoever makes the motherboards for bad motherboards.

[Laura]

At least if you get a Dell and it goes wrong, you know you've got good support backing you.

 

http://forum.tip.it/topic/217499-dont-buy-a-dell-and-i-need-help/page__p__3317749__hl__dell__fromsearch__1#entry3317749

http://forum.tip.it/topic/223585-safe-gpu-temps/page__p__3435250__fromsearch__1#entry3435250

 

You can go with Dell if you choose, but tread lightly.

[Sbrideau]

All Sbrideau ever does is come in here and criticise literally everything that everyone else uses anyway so whatever

 

You should read more carefully, I only suggest not going with Dell most of the time. Anything else I do help others.

[das1330]

 

Ok, then tell me why my work computer, which is a 1 month old Dell, had a motherboard fail on me (according the the IT dept). Also tell me why my friend's laptop, which is now 1 year old, but was 3 months old when his hard drive failed. Let's not forget my other friend's dell which was 4 months at the time old had the screen fail on her laptop. This is all in the last year, so I think we're still in the crap period. You just got lucky.

 

It is worth noting that hard drive failures are essentially random and never the fault of the computer manufacturer - only three companies make them and they all fail at roughly equal rates. Further, a sample size of three is hardly representative; your likely just had a string of bad luck because, as said above, dell has improved their quality controls considerably in recent times.

 

 

OP: That laptop looks decent, but what do you intend on doing with it?

[Jernlov]

At least if you get a Dell and it goes wrong, you know you've got good support backing you.

 

http://forum.tip.it/topic/217499-dont-buy-a-dell-and-i-need-help/page__p__3317749__hl__dell__fromsearch__1#entry3317749

http://forum.tip.it/topic/223585-safe-gpu-temps/page__p__3435250__fromsearch__1#entry3435250

 

You can go with Dell if you choose, but tread lightly.

Wow... that is some poor showing. I've never had a problem with Dell's EU support at all but I guess it isn't the same everywhere. Thanks.

[AlexTeHowneR]

ASUS, P8700 (Equivalent to E8500 IIRC) 6GB of RAM, GTX 260M, 17.1" LCD, 500GB HDD. Recertified.

 

$689. I'd get it myself if I needed a laptop.

 

Grab it while it's still there.