I'm thinking of buying a laptop, but not sure of all the specs I need. Basically, I'll use it for the internet, some word docs, and maybe dreamweaver\website updates. CD\DVD player would be nice too, but I assume they are standard. All of that is pretty basic, so I'll need enough to handle PS and pic editing. I'm thinking a ~ 15" screen should be enough.
I was thinking $500-600. I was told about TigerDirect.com for a great place to buy computers and related stuff. So my questions are:
1. Is Tiger a good place to fing deals, or does anyone know of a better site?
2. New or Refurbished?
3. What are the minimum specs I would need - ram, processor, etc?
Thanks!
Jim
Hey,
I might be able to answer at least the two latter questions, but also give you another point of view.
Q/A first:
1.) I live in Finland, so actually I don't know anything about TigerDirect. You'll have to take someone elses word on this one.
2.) Definitely go with a new one and test it out right away. This is mainly because manufacturers DOA - times aren't that long and as it seems, a some kind of percentage of the computers delivered are broken from the start.
3.) You'll want as much memory as possible, 4Gb or more (seen a couple with 6-8Gb, but not in this price range). A fast dual core or "average" quad core should be enough and if you're doing a lot of photoshop work, try to find one with a non- glossy display. Also an "external" (not integrated) GPU should be on your list.
If you want to know something about different brands (you might have more/different brands than we do here in Finland, so I'll just list the most common), I can tell you a few things at least when the computer breaks down and you'll have to RMA it. I work for a reseller and do computer maintenance there, so all the laptops that break down go trough my hands to the manufacturers maintenance.
-Asus: RMA goes smoothly and you get a lot of machine for your money, but somehow it seems that they break a bit too often for my taste.
-Acer: Cheaper laptops are flimsy and they do break down, so I wouldn't go with this brand. RMA goes pretty well with a few niggles here and there, but good overall.
-HP: Only a few HP:s have gone trough my hands, so either they don't break down or the quantities are smaller and thus the RMA cases are fewer in numbers. RMA and customer service is a pain in the you know what, I'd avoid this also.
-Lenovo: Cheaper laptops are quite good, but not that common. Don't know about the RMA.
-Sony: We have a few models on sale only from Sony, but from what I hear they are quite good, but on the other hand there have been quite a lot of problems with some models.
-Samsung: Mostly small laptops go through my hands, probably the volume is so small compared to other brands.
-Fujitsu-Siemens: They make kind of the middle-of-the-road - models. Not too flimsy, but not too powerful either. Don't know much about the RMA here either.
All in all, I'd probably still go with Asus, since you get a more powerful machine for the money than with any of the other brands mentioned here. Also I'd go with new one and test it thoroughly during the first few days (DOA-time). And I think Asus even offers 2 year warranty all around the world, so that's not bad.
Hopefully this helped even a bit.
Janne Aavasalo
