Need advice in purchasing a new laptop

[crow]

Hey peeps!

I've been looking into purchasing a new laptop for a while though I am always unsure of what to buy. I'm talking in terms of specs and brand. I have heard that HP is not as good as it used to be so I'm asking you all here to give me some input on other brands (or HP if I'm wrong about it).

I'm looking into getting a powerful and high performance laptop since I used Traktor Scratch Pro and I access my external hard drive a lot. Therefore, I will be using up A LOT of processing speed and RAM. Hard disk space must be a lot! Don't worry about the screen size though. I don't mind a 15" laptop as long as its capabilities are good.

Also, should I just get a mac? A friend is getting me a super good deal though I'm not a big fan of macs. And finally, should I turn to Alienware and customize my own laptop? or would that be too overpriced?

Let me know as I need to buy one this week.

[Shy--Ism]

It all depends on how much exactly you want the HD space to be and how far powerful computing performance can achieve. Not sure what I'd be able to think of at this time. However I can currently suggest Dell Studio 17 (3GB system RAM and 320GB HDD) or even XPS M1530 up to 4GB RAM 160Gb HDD. I'd rather go with the first as I've been recently hearing suspicious traits about XPS. Good performance and affordable notebooks I guess.

[crow]

Yeah I heard a lot bad reviews about the XPS series. HP released a laptop with 500 GB HDD. I want nothing less than 4 GB RAM too. Quad core would be great for processor.

[Shy--Ism]

I've heard about the new HP Pavillion, but I thought you wanted some input about other brands. Nevertheless, if you're seeking Quad cores then Dell Precision M6400 Covet would be the right choice I guess (8GB RAM and 320GB HDD), or even Acer Aspire 8930G quad for a bigger hard disk space although I'm not a fan. Eventually, there is always Macbook's 8 GB RAM and 500 GB HDD, but then you are going back to core duo with a high rate of 3.06 GHz. After all, it's always easy to choose a high performance laptop if you got the cash !

[Nicktalopia]

Crow go for over 1TB HD for a laptop because eventually you will be trapped with space overload and with laptops it sucks to carry an external disk.
As far as brands go, each has it's cons and pros depending on it's specs but i recommend staying away from HP, i keep hearng bad stuff about it's exterior wearing out too quickly and faulty interior.
if you can't find a good Macbook pro deal go for Lenovo T61.

[TranceFusion]

I have the Toshiba A500-13F, 500GB HD, 4GB RAM, max 8GB RAM, 2.0GHz, Intel Core 2 Duo. That's all i remember for now and i'm very very very satisfied with it i heard that the HPs are produced to work perfectly for around a year and then problems start coming. As for the Sony Vaio i heard about problems with the cooling system. Acer no way! Dunno about Asus and Fujitsu although i heard that Fujitsu is very good.

[rob]

Well, I have a 3 years old Sony VAIO and a 2 years old Macbook. I abuse of the VAIO that I use like a desktop, plugged 24/7, while I use the mac more occasionally for my work.
Both still have an impressing good performance. I can say that the Vaio surprised me to have a very heavy duty. My mac’s damn dvd player busted twice in two years and I have annoying green lines on my screen appearing from time to time, while my Vaio has only let me down once, when the screen turned black due to an electrical malfunction in my home (however I had to pay the outrageous sum of 350$ to fix it, that kept me home for the rest of the month )

I would strongly recommend a Vaio (if u can handle the prices).

Windows 7 is quite appealing, at least it’s not Vista! it works great with an up-to-date antivirus.
With a 1 Tb HD, it should do the trick.

[Genesis]

Crow, you don't need ridiculous amounts of space on your laptop's HDD like 1T or so. I've bought my 1T external HDD for less than 80 euros here and sits nicely on my desk for whenever I need it plugged in. Having a huge HDD built into your machine will unnecessarily drive the price up. Another advantage of having the external HDD is that it serves as an excellent back-up device as it is separated from the machine and anything that might befall it.

You said you're not keen on Mac. Well, I think that's a mistake as many people (at least in this forum myself and Dion would be prime examples to testify with) have made the switch from PC and have never looked back. But I'll spare you the brainwash attempts and keep the Mac argument under the lid since you're not interested. Should you change your mind though, let me know.

I've no interest/knowledge in Alienware so I'll skip that bit.

If you're going to get a Windows-run laptop and want a good deal for an affordable price then, as Sarah recommended, Dell are top notch. I've sent one to my brother in Lebanon from here and he's delighted with it. Again, I won't bombard you with specs; with Dell you can build anything yourself from a micky-mouse laptop to a space-invador super machine from the same site. A good place to start, trial and error, and see what they can offer you at whichever price.

If Dell are a no-go, then get something from the latest Sony Vaio range. Absolute top-notch quality and style; I wouldn't change a thing about them.

Good luck.

[Night Stalker]

[Shy--Ism]

Ironically, that was my experience with Toshiba/Acer ! Probably because almost everything can be refurbished in Lebanon, sadly that is. Well indeed, a couple of years ago DELL have had quite bad reviews concerning customers’ service support and hardware breaks. But recently Dell (and Acer as well to name a few) worked on their new series in terms of warranty repairs efficiency and hardware configuration, while back in the days I remember people used to constantly whine about the average weight and how Inspiron used to be heavy for example. HD deaths can occur in any laptop or desktop, crap happens. The company is one of the top manufacturers in the notebooks industry; you just need to save more cash and go for the real solid machine, otherwise you will end up buying plastic models. And this goes to almost all brands since perfection and artificial intelligence are a daily challenge. However I agree it wouldn’t be worth the deal to spend so much money on a Dell while you can afford another more proficient and trustworthy laptop model. I’ve never owned a Quad yet, thus these were just suggestions built on memory and personal experiences through observation.

And Aziz, is everything okay in your neck of the woods? It’s been so long that I haven’t seen the “berry and the juice” wisdom around.

[samlbronkowitz]

MAC all the way! the new Macbook Pro series in both 13 and 15inch is unbelievable.
I'm one of those that made the switch and never ever looked back> I'd take a pay cut if I could convince my company to switch to Mac but that ain't happening.

especially for Traktor man.

[crow]

I have nothing against owning a Macbook Pro, though the whole shift from both systems is going to be somewhat annoying. I have a lot of software that I bought and is licensed you know what I mean? Would be a hassle to purchase their Mac versions again. Then again, I always heard so much about the power of Mac when it comes to music oriented activities such as using Traktor or Ableton or whatever.

As for HP, yes I have heard so damn much lately about their durability issues. Though they look absolutely tempting! With Dell, I have heard both good and bad. At the end of the day, I think I would end up with a PC because it is upgradeable.

I must say... I'm quite confused.

I'm such a bitch when it comes to these choices!

[Genesis]

^ The softwares are a concern but you can always do as I did with some essential windows software; for 60 euros you could get a fusion software that runs all your windows software on Mac.

And don't worry about the switch and how quick it'll take; you'll be on your feet before you know it.

[tarantula]

All i can say HP dv8

[e-sam]

I'll add my voice to Tarantula HP DV8 if you are seeking a portable to place on table and forget about it (Since its 18" and damn heavy compared to the 15") or just get HP DV6 2020.

Intel Core QUAD i7 720QM (6MB cache, 1.6GHz)
4 GB RAM (upgrade these to at least 8GB)
500 GB HD (7200 rpm)
1 GB dedicated VGA GeForce GT230M
Win 7 64bit
15.6" LED
Wifi, bluetooth, fingerprint, webcam, etc...

All this for $1500 in UAE.


Note: DV8 is a bit expensive around $2500.