Torn between 3 laptops..

[tomekkplk1]

Well, I'm looking for a laptop, max I want to spend is $450, nothing special.
Just something to use itunes, check email, surf the web, and game lightly (CSS or something not too graphic intensive) I found 3.. can anybody help with the choices? and i don't care about weight.

Acer Aspire AS5560G-7809 NX.RURAA.001 Notebook PC - AMD Quad-Core A6-3420M 1.5GHz, 4GB DDR3, 320GB HDD, DVDRW, AMD Radeon HD 7670M, 15.6 Display, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, Black at TigerDirect.com

HP Pavilion G4-1164ca Refurbished Notebook PC - AMD A6-3400M 1.4GHz, 4GB DDR3, 750GB HDD, 14.0 Display, DVDRW, AMD Radeon HD 6520G, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit at TigerDirect.com

HP Pavilion dv6-6117dx Refurbished Entertainment Notebook PC - AMD A8-3500M Quad-Core 2.4GHz, 4GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, DVDRW, 15.6 LED, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit, Silver at TigerDirect.com

[glc]

None of the above, and don't buy from Tiger Direct.

Newegg.com - ASUS A53Z-ES61 Notebook AMD A-Series A6-3420M(1.5GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory DDR3 500GB HDD 5400rpm DVD±R/RW AMD Radeon HD 6520G

[tomekkplk1]

Why not buy from TD? and why none of those laptops? Just curious

[quartet-man]

HP and Acer are brands that have lots of issues who use questionable parts as well. Tiger Direct sells a bunch of crap. They get things that aren't very good and polish them to make them sound great. They do carry some good parts, but Newegg is a better company to deal with and I believe have better prices for the quality parts.

[Force Flow]

Tigerdirect has a long history of poor customer service and sometimes mis-represents products (especially bare bones and open box items).

As for the laptops--the brands you picked out are not known for their longevity or reliability. The hardware in them tends to fail with alarming frequency. I saw a statistic a few years ago that showed a quarter of all HP laptops had to be shipped back to the manufacturer within the first year of service.

[MaxRat]

Tiger Direct stinks for customer service and they dont honor rebates....

HP has had a bad rap for notebook reliability... the worst was the HP-DV4 thats plagued with heat issues and die right at the warranty end...

I have an HP DV6 A6-3400 but had I really known all the issues with prior notebooks (didnt research) I might not have bought it.

This is the one I have....

Newegg.com - Refurbished: HP Pavilion DV6-1149WM Refurbished Notebook AMD A-Series A6-3400M(1.4GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory DDR3 640GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi AMD Radeon HD 6520G

I did not buy it at newegg and I got a way better deal than newegg list this for even on sale...and it wasnt a refurb it was NIB

Mines been solid but after talking to a buddy who runs a RTV repair center he let it known that the HP are a 2 year and done if it last that long... best to buy Asus, MSI or Dell...

Beings this is my very first laptop I took the deal so I am with what I got... now I think when the next gen AMD-APU (Trinity) hits full scale I am going to opt for an Asus notebook and let this one trickle down the kid chain

[tomekkplk1]

Hm.. good to know. Thanks for the help, so that asus laptop is a good buy?

[HAL9000]

Short answer... YES!

[glc]

I'd actually prefer an Intel-based laptop but with your budget, all you are going to get is Intel integrated video, which won't game worth a darn.

[AnotherMuggle]

I didn't know HP had such a bad reputation when it came to laptops.

My family has owned 2 HP and 2 Dell laptops, both of which were great products but both the Dells we have had issues with.

One of the Dells had a faulty DVD drive from new and had to be sent back for repair and now (after ~2yrs) has a fautly battery (Win7 reports it as damaged). The other Dell is around 2yrs old and has recently had the hard drive fail.

Both HP's worked fine till they were sold on eBay after around 4-5yrs use. I guess, like with most things in life, it's still just luck of the draw. Even with a handful of short straws you may still be lucky enough to choose the long one.

[MaxRat]

I find that to be true.

HP and Acer were very decent until they started selling at Walmart... seems like its a walmart deal that if you sell products there you must cheapen them and give them a 1-2 year life span and thats it... there are a lot of products at walmart on that cycle.

Bought the Father-in-law an Acer laptop at Walmart 6-7 years ago and its still going strong but thats luck of the straw...

I bought my daughter a HP D1Z (E-350) for her schooling 2 years ago and I've heard no complaints...

Got my HP DV4 that I like and the wife got an Acer E-300 series thats Okay at best... its cheap and flimsy but works...

I also got an HP Mini Atom/ION that works well just needs more ram...

I've always been a desktop person but this year with traveling a ton it just made sense to have a laptop but I found some great deals and I picked them up for use around the house...

[jdeb]

If you are looking for durability and stability (business class), the Asus P43E series, Lenovo Thinkpads, and the Dell Latitudes are second to none. The Asus P43E is a very impressive business class laptop for the money.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...n=p43e&x=0&y=0

[glc]

Yep, but those have Intel video and cost more than $450.

[jdeb]

Originally Posted by glc Yep, but those have Intel video and cost more than $450.

Right, just throwing it out there. Lenovo Outlet and Dell Outlets are good places to go to get a little better bang for your buck. That Asus ASUS P43E-XH31 for 529.00 is a solid unit for a little more money and they have a a good deal more beef to them.


Here is a good deal if your looking at price
Available from 6:00PM - 11:59PM PT
05/31/12 New Egg Shell Shocker Deal

RE-CERTIFIED: ASUS X54C-BBK5 Refurbished Notebook Intel Core i3 2350M(2.30GHz) 15.6 Inch 4GB Memory 320GB HDD DVD±R/RW Intel HD Graphics 3000
$334.99

[quartet-man]

Originally Posted by MaxRat I find that to be true. HP and Acer were very decent until they started selling at Walmart... seems like its a walmart deal that if you sell products there you must cheapen them and give them a 1-2 year life span and thats it... there are a lot of products at walmart on that cycle.

There is some truth to that. I read an article years ago about how Walmart is always pushing for lower and lower prices. They use their clout to bully companies into doing so, or they drop their products. Rubbermaid was all but bankrupted by this because they couldn't give them the price they wanted. So, they carried more Sterilite stuff I think, but now carry other brands. You might find an occasional Rubbermaid product there (either leftover or maybe without an equivalent by someone else), but mostly they aren't represented there. The stuff I have seen there is not the quality it once was. This is likely the casualty of trying to be competitive and WalMart is a big reason why I am sure.

[quartet-man]

To the tune of "Torn between two lovers"

♫ Torn between three laptops, feeling like a fool
Looking at all of them and trying not to drool.
Torn between three laptops, feeling like a fool
If I pick it wrong, I will feel like a tool. ♫

[MaxRat]

trust me when I say this but just about everything you buy is on this cycle... from anything electronic to even stuff like Grills and lawnmowers... those people are pretty slick at cutting cost... they know they can ship flowers dry without watering them and get more in the truck w/o being over weight....

for people not in the know...its just that they dont know... for everyday general public they think they are getting great deals without knowing the limited time span...

some of that stuff is so cheap and poorly boxed it comes off the truck already broken...

[Preston]

Just say no to HPs... I too am not a fan.

[MaxRat]

I honestly really like my DV6 A6-3400... its very fast for a laptop and runs very cool and has really long battery life... I'll be really sad if it dies but its a beast

Loaded games to it and it plays games on the APU nicely...I may throw a SSD in it and load a vanilla install of win7 to rid of all that HP bloat but other than that it runs nicely compared to others I've played with...

But I still would like an Asus model when the new AMD Trinity APU platform is out full force

[allfiredup]

Toshiba Satellite L750D

Check out this Toshiba Satellite L750D configurable model from Toshiba Direct! It starts at $399 and the basic config is impressive for the price and doesn't really need any upgrades to be a strong performer!

Win 7 Home Premium
AMD A6-3420M Quad-Core
AMD Radeon HD 6520G graphics
4GB DDR3-1333 RAM
320GB 5400rpm hard drive
DVD-RW
15.6" TruBrite HD (1366x768) LED Display
Webcam
WiFi-N, Memory Card Reader, HDMI,
6-cell Battery

[glc]

Not a fan of Toshibas either.

[allfiredup]

Originally Posted by glc Not a fan of Toshibas either.

Why is that? Toshiba (and ASUS) rank highly on most of the reliability rating for 2009-2011. I still have a Satellite M45 from 2005 that works fine (for a laptoip with a 1.6GHz Pentium M, 1GB RAM and XP).

Personally, I hate all "consumer grade" laptops. I was a ThinkPad man for a long time. In 2007, I got an R61 that was a major LEMON! Lenovo's warranty service and tech non-support really shocked me and sent me packing...

I've been using Dell Latitudes for the last five years and I'm planning to order my next one later this month. I'm typing this on a Latitude E6400 that I've had since October 2008. It has survived numerous drops including an 8-foot fall onto a concrete floor, landing on it's front edge with only a small dent. It booted instantly. I've replaced the keyboard (under warranty) three times, but that's my fault. Spill-resistant doesn't mean that the keyboard is immune to damage from liquids (beer, diet soda and water, if i recall correctly)...especially since it's a backlit keyboard...but it keeps the motherboard and internal components dry long enough to yank the power cord and battery befiore it gets fried...

A consumer laptop wouldn't last a month with me...

[Preston]

Originally Posted by glc Not a fan of Toshibas either.

I used to like them, but not anymore... The last two that I have owned have been lousy. Between them, failed touchpad (and horrible warranty support for that), failed webcam, and failed mic.

[jdeb]

I see a lot of Toshiba's and they are marginal at best. It is 50/50 chance at getting one. Check out the Dell outlet or Lenovo outlet for deals. In regards to your bad experience with the R61, it happens is all I can say. That is not the norm, especially with those heavy built monsters.