Looking to buy a new laptop.(BIGGS Edition)

[Boid Fink]

yeah man, youre good. I like HP as they are very user friendly if youre not hip to different systems. Asus and alienware make great ones too, but may be at or beyond the high end of your budget.

Yeah, my "lil" brother has an Alienware.  That laptop is a monster, and has all the bells and whistles.  He paid through the anus for it though...not sure if I really can justify that sort of purchase just to satiate my EGO, which is what I think he did.  You know...he is a huge dude, and now he owns a pimp laptop...but all he does is steal music, and check his facebook page.  Retarded.  He'll probably ruin it watching I-net porn soon enough.  But maybe not, that thing is guarded like Fort KNox on steroids.

And I did check out some ASUS stuff, and it was pretty nice.  Just not really familiar with them, and I am faaar from a tech saavy geek (which is a compliment).  Wish I was one.  So I tend to stray from things that do not lend some measure of familiarity.  Maybe I will revisit.  I am one click away you know?  Thanks for the input brah.

That looks like a nice set-up.  Do tons of comparing on similar models and read reviewer comments.  Newegg is a good place for both.  It looks like that drive will only read Bluray and not write like you wanted.  You could always buy an external bluray burner later.  Would be great for running a TV and gaming but maybe not at the highest settings on some games. I'm not a gamer but I would imagine they are getting pretty advanced now.  .

I did check out Newegg, but they don't offer any customization.  I customed my laptop out to what I felt was right (on the HP site), but THEY (newegg) DO OFFER CHEAPer, HIGH QUALITY STUFF!  Perhaps I will revisit in the A.M.  I do not rush into these things.  Any sort of geek saavy tech advice would be helpful. Yeah it stinks about the lack of high def copying, I suppose I will have to buy an external burner later.  Sigh.  Only IF I want to do that sort of thing though...to date, I am not really a DVD burner.  I hog info on my PC, and it rots there...guess I lack the sentimental gene.

And the PC is not really for gaming, but in the event I get bored, I want to be able to do as such.  And yes, I will be using it to run a TV from time to time. The only blu ray device I own is my PS3...and that is in my bedroom, so this would become the entertainment in the living room.  I own a Xbox and a PS3 for gaming...my PC has to be flexible.  Thanks for the input good sir.

[Boid Fink]

Also the 7200rpm hard drive would be a little better but I have never had a laptop with one to tell the difference.

Would that lend to more heat output?  Not that it matters...

Or would it just make it that much faster?

[tatmanfish]

Also the 7200rpm hard drive would be a little better but I have never had a laptop with one to tell the difference.

Would that lend to more heat output?  Not that it matters...

Or would it just make it that much faster?

unless your gaming, youll never notice the difference IMO. Even then, its only going to be a very small effect...mostly on shooters.

[Boid Fink]

Also the 7200rpm hard drive would be a little better but I have never had a laptop with one to tell the difference.

Would that lend to more heat output?  Not that it matters...

Or would it just make it that much faster?

unless your gaming, youll never notice the difference IMO. Even then, its only going to be a very small effect...mostly on shooters.

See...that does matter to some degree.  Technology goes stale after two or threee years, so I want to be able to have what it takes, even in the event I decide to play a shooter on the laptop.  It could happen I suppose...but then again, I might be wasting another 100 dollars or so...

Again, thanks.

[tatmanfish]

I got an Asus with a 7200rpm and really I only notice the difference when playing guys with weak systems(Id guess less than 5000).

Sadly, I rarely use it for gaming anymore as most my gaming is spent on XBOX.

[Bayfisher]

This article is a little old but it explains it pretty well. 

http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.23/23.01/2301LaptopHardDriveSpeed/index.html

Numerically, there was a noticeable difference: the 7200 RPM drive was 25-40% faster.
As a user, what's more important is how it feels. And, there was no doubt about it ... the 7200 RPM felt considerably snappier and more responsive than the 5400 RPM drive, and while not included in the test, the 4200 RPM drive would have shown an even bigger difference.

There's no question in our testing that the faster drives are noticeably faster. So, the question for you as you choose your drive is, "what's your priority?" If size is more important than speed, then go with size, but remember that not every operation will be as fast as your machine could make it. If speed is more important, then definitely go for the 7200 RPM drives in the smaller sizes. 5400 RPM drives are really the contemporary bare minimum speed you should settle for.


For the cost difference I would go with the faster drive. External HDs will be so cheap in a couple of years you won't have to worry about space.

[Boid Fink]

I got an Asus with a 7200rpm and really I only notice the difference when playing guys with weak systems(Id guess less than 5000).

Sadly, I rarely use it for gaming anymore as most my gaming is spent on XBOX.

I hear ya.  I only use my PS3 for Madden(everyone has Madden on the PS3, so I caved), and maybe a small amount of other games.  And NETFLIX (which everyone uses from time to time). 

And my Xbox doesn't get much play anymore, but if I do, that is the rig of choice.  Just like that lil guy more than the PS3.

But when I used to game on the PC, waaay back in the Nam, I would play old school COD, Battlefield...lan parties...it was actually fun.  Clan stuff, PCs everywhere...beer...music...it was a riot.  But of course it had to end.  I am too clean to let that sort of thing jack up my stuff.  HA HA!  But PC gaming was so much better, IIRC.

[Boid Fink]

This article is a little old but it explains it pretty well. 

http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.23/23.01/2301LaptopHardDriveSpeed/index.html

Numerically, there was a noticeable difference: the 7200 RPM drive was 25-40% faster.
As a user, what's more important is how it feels. And, there was no doubt about it ... the 7200 RPM felt considerably snappier and more responsive than the 5400 RPM drive, and while not included in the test, the 4200 RPM drive would have shown an even bigger difference.

There's no question in our testing that the faster drives are noticeably faster. So, the question for you as you choose your drive is, "what's your priority?" If size is more important than speed, then go with size, but remember that not every operation will be as fast as your machine could make it. If speed is more important, then definitely go for the 7200 RPM drives in the smaller sizes. 5400 RPM drives are really the contemporary bare minimum speed you should settle for.


For the cost difference I would go with the faster drive. External HDs will be so cheap in a couple of years you won't have to worry about space.

Will Do.

[chace1986]

I have had 2 HP laptops and I was very dissappointed with both.

I will not stray from Alienware....and Im not even a PC gamer..I have had my M15x for almost 3 years and it is still a beast of a machine....I paid about $1,900 at the time though....which would be a bit past your budget.

[Boid Fink]

I have had 2 HP laptops and I was very dissappointed with both.

I will not stray from Alienware....and Im not even a PC gamer..I have had my M15x for almost 3 years and it is still a beast of a machine....I paid about $1,900 at the time though....which would be a bit past your budget.

I priced the 17's (Alienware), and I cringed.  But they are awesome!

If I was going to do that, I would go Mac/Apple (retina display).  Those things are artfully put together.  Just sexy.  You seriously could get laid walking around with one of those in a geek fest.

And yeah, my bro has an Alienware,and that thing is a beast of a PC.  But the way I customed it, it was going to run me around 2700.  Hell naaaaw!  Not that I am a cheap guy, but I just cannot pull the trigger man.

I did a lot of research, and the WORST thing I have read about the laptop I am looking at is that the touchpad sucks azz.  So I buy a mouse, problem solved.  Was going to do that no matter what lappie I purchased. Man...WTF am I going to buy?

Might be three or four days before I rest over this.  You know how it is.

[Bayfisher]

Laptops are a second TV on Sundays, lol.   Great for division games during commercials. 

[Boid Fink]

Laptops are a second TV on Sundays, lol.   Great for division games during commercials.

I hear ya!

[chace1986]

I have had 2 HP laptops and I was very dissappointed with both.

I will not stray from Alienware....and Im not even a PC gamer..I have had my M15x for almost 3 years and it is still a beast of a machine....I paid about $1,900 at the time though....which would be a bit past your budget.

I priced the 17's (Alienware), and I cringed.  But they are awesome!

If I was going to do that, I would go Mac/Apple (retina display).  Those things are artfully put together.  Just sexy.  You seriously could get laid walking around with one of those in a geek fest.

And yeah, my bro has an Alienware,and that thing is a beast of a PC.  But the way I customed it, it was going to run me around 2700.  Hell naaaaw!  Not that I am a cheap guy, but I just cannot pull the trigger man.

I did a lot of research, and the WORST thing I have read about the laptop I am looking at is that the touchpad sucks azz.  So I buy a mouse, problem solved.  Was going to do that no matter what lappie I purchased. Man...WTF am I going to buy?

Might be three or four days before I rest over this.  You know how it is.

Yea...now that I think about it...the $1,900 that I paid had about $500-$600 taken off cause one of my friends got me a hookup on a discount since they worked for Dell.

Kudos for you wanting to spend as much as you are. I made several foolish purchases on computers because they were a good deal...I was going through about a computer a year...so I was defintely cool with dropping nearly $2,000 for something I knew would last 5+ years.

If I could justify the use of it...I would love to get the Aurora desktop...which would top out about $4,000...sheesh.

[Legend]

Macbooks come loaded with everything you need. But I think most have gone away from the cd drives.

[Nicodemus]

Only thing I would say would be that if you can afford to pimp it out with all the bells and whistles the laptop will last you a lot longer than just buying a high end premade product. I'm pretty sure that different markets have different quality to the brands available, over here in the UK I've had Acer, Dell, Toshiba, IBM, Samsung, Apples and Compaq/HP and of them all HP/Compaq have been pretty much the worst laptops closely followed by IBM. These days I kit my clients out with Acer, Dell, Samsung or Apple and personally use an Acer. I've had my Acer for 3 years now and it's still better than some of the new laptops that I buy for my clients as I went the extra mile to pimp it out to last.