Recommend me a new laptop.

I feel it's time for a new laptop, as my current one just plagues me with problems. It's slow, annoying, and likes to shut itself off. I'll just be sitting here doing something and poof, every goes. Then I have to wait a couple of minutes before it even turns on again. I would think it was overheating, but sometimes it does it even when I try to turn it on. Then it decides it's going to encounter a couple of errors when I finally do get it to turn on, and take ages trying to fix itself. Oh yeah, and my laptop can't hibernate. Every time it tries to come out of it, it encounters a fatal error. Sometimes it also decides to stop charging randomly, which means leaving it on overnight is a risk as I use my laptop as a second alarm clock. Already missed one appointment because it ran out of battery despite being plugged in. To top it all off, I now have 4 important windows updates that refuse to install for no apparent reason at all. It is definitely time for a change. I am, however, a tech-noob and have no idea what I'm looking for.

My current laptop has 2.1 GHz of processor, 2 GB of RAM and around 180GB hard drive space. I'm looking for enough of an increase to be worth spending the money on it. I don't know anything else about it, as I don't know what anything does.

I use my laptop for every day things like the internet and OpenOffice stuff for uni etc. and I also use it for games, obviously. That's how I ended up on a MapleStory forum. I also like to do quite a few things at once, which my laptop finds hard to handle. I also like to webcam with some friends as opposed to just normal chat, but when I do I find my computer lags like hell, and so does the incoming video feed from them. Sometimes it even freezes. Oh yeah, and my webcam is 1.3 megapixel, I would like a laptop with one around this if not better. Being a student just discovering the overwhelming and ridiculous costs of Accounting textbooks, my budget doesn't stretch to the ends of the Earth, and hopefully I can get a laptop on finance (which I'm sure I can), or maybe beg my parents for some help. The most I could possibly spend would be around $1000-1200 NZD (about $700-850 USD). If it's a little out of this, still let me have a look.

Come on Southperry, help a guy out. I've got no idea what I'm doing

This one seems to be cheaper than your budget: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6834114937
Since I have no idea what you're looking for in processing speed or graphic display/speed, this one seems to be a nice cheap alternative.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6834115791
That one has a better processor if you're looking for that.

I've had a good 2 year run with a Dell Studio, they've got a few in your price range.
http://www.dell.com/home/laptops#subcats...&navla=&a=
Yeah, Dell... I know. Some of my friends have had sh'it-awful times with theirs, particularly Inspirons, but the only problems I've had with the Studio that weren't self-inflicted involve some of the media buttons above the keyboard. The volume buttons stopped working for about two months, then fixed themselves, and sometimes the CD eject likes to go off repeatedly for a few minutes on startup. Odd, but not problematic.

Thanks guys. Anyone else wanna chip in some suggestions? All are welcome. My laptop just shut itself off and it took me over an hour to get it back on.

I bought a HP g71-340 laptop with taxes this year and it's been very good to me for only $600 after my rebate. Not the best thing out there
but it does a good job for everyday tasks and games (way better than my old comp was).

I wouldn't recommend HP. From what I heard, HP has many problems. In fact, my sister's HP just broke a few months ago.

My new lappy is the Toshiba L630-S3020, as I've told you. I purchased it from Fry's for 699.99 USD + tax, so its within your budget range. The other one I was considering is the Gateway NV5935u.

The only differences between the Toshiba and the Gateway are:
1. The Gateway has an Intel Core i5-430M. The Toshiba has an Intel Core i5-450M.
2. The Gateway is 15.6 in (39.6 cm). The Toshiba is 13.3 in (33.8 cm).
3. The Gateway weighs 5.84 lbs (2.65 kg). The Toshiba weighs 4.8 lbs (2.18 kg).
4. The Gateway's battery lasts for 4.5 hours. The Toshiba's lasts for 3.4 hours.
5. The Gateway has a built in number pad. There's not enough space for that on the Toshiba.
6. The Gateway has 128MB of dedicated graphics. The Toshiba is completely shared.

I'm not sure about the shipping cost, but I don't think it would be too much. If you don't like either one of these, what you should look for the following:

1. Processor is either Intel Core i5-430M or Intel Core i5-450M - These are the best processors that will fit your budget. The processor determines the speed of your computer. Intel Core i5-430M has two cores both running at 2.26 GHz, so it has a combined total of 4.52 GHz. Additionally, when the Intel Core i5-430M runs into problems, it can temporarily use more energy to boost up to 2.53 GHz per core, for a combined total of 5.06 GHz. Intel Core i5-450M has two cores both running at 2.40 GHz, so it has a combined total of 4.80 GHz. Additionally, when the Intel Core i5-450M runs into problems, it can temporarily use more energy to boost up to 2.66 GHz per core, for a combined total of 5.32 GHz. There are cost differences, but try to look for the i5-450M if it's within your budget.

2. At least 4 GB of DDR3 memory - To explain what DDR3 is, I will draw an analogy. Imagine DDR3 is your desk and your hard drive is your bookshelf. Whenever you turn on a program, it's like your computer is pulling a book off of your bookshelf and placing it on your desk so that it can read it. Your computer will open and read all the programs you've turned on at the time, so the more space it has, the more programs it can handle at one time. 4 GB is the standard for DDR3s in Intel Core i5 computers.

3. A dedicated system graphics memory card with at least 512 MB - This is the cheapest way to fix your solution. What the graphics card does is identical to the DDR3. However, it's completely dedicated to graphics (display). Basically, anything that shows up on your screen has to first be processed by a graphics compartment. If your memory card does not have a dedicated space for graphics, then it will share it with the DDR3. What this means is that if don't have a graphics card, and you're running enough programs that you use up 512 MB of space, then your DDR3 will pull out that 0.512 GB from your DDR3, and you will only have 3.488 GB for your other processes. If combined, you hit over 4 GB, your computer will lag.

4. Hard drive space of at lest 320 GB - Since you're always complaining about not having enough memory to store your movies lol.

5. A DVD drive - Make sure you have this. Most 15.6 in (39.6 cm) have it, but you really have to check for anything below 14 in (35.6 cm). I was lucky to find a 13.3 in (33.8 cm) with a DVD drive, which is part of the reason I bought the Toshiba and not the Gateway.

6. (Optional) If you choose not to get a dedicated system graphics memory card with your computer, then you should upgrade your DDR3 memory. Usually, upgrades come at 2 GB at a time. This may or may not be cheaper, depending on what computer laptop you buy. The advantage of this is that, say you upgrade DDR3 memory once; you will have a combined total of 6 GB to process both programs and graphics. However the disadvantage is that the memory is still shared, which means that traffic is higher.

So based on what you said, and the above (6) items to look for, here are some possible laptops you can explore:

Intel Core i5 (2.26-2.4 GHz)
1. Gateway NV59C57u (750 usd)
2. Gateway NV5924u (800 usd)
3. Toshiba L630-ST2G01 (850 usd)
4. Acer Aspire 5070 (Not sure on price)

Intel Core 2 Duo (2.2 GHz)
1. Gateway NV5820u

Intel Core i3 (2.13 GHz)
1. Toshiba L655-S5075 (750 usd)
2. Gateway NV5911u (750 usd)
3. Gateway NV5928u (750 usd)

I'll update the list as I find more.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/feature...ysis_40fps

Here you go ;r Even cheaper down the comments section.

(And there was a price drop so its even cheaper)

Err, I'm looking for a laptop. And building my own computer would be disastrous.

Guys, I found this one. It looks like great value for what it is, and it looks really good. Opinions?

Err, I'm looking for a laptop. And building my own computer would be disastrous.

Guys, I found this one. It looks like great value for what it is, and it looks really good. Opinions?

http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Mobilit...698.0.html

You could use notebookcheck to check little details if you wish.

Err, I'm looking for a laptop. And building my own computer would be disastrous.

Guys, I found this one. It looks like great value for what it is, and it looks really good. Opinions?

I have one like this. I really do enjoy it. It has good key movement, doesn't get hot at all, and it was great for doing school work on in the spring. The one you found has a better processor though, so I'd also recommend it.

Broken link.

Actually, lol @ me, that is the exact model of the laptop I have. The only difference is I have the 17.3" screen. So I wholeheartedly recommend it.

anything from ASUS is going to last you a long time. They probably make the best laptops out there.

anything from ASUS is going to last you a long time. They probably make the best laptops out there.

I know that as an owner of an ASUS laptop (my first ever - and planning on sticking to the brand for a long time coming), I'm probably a bit biased. But going straight to the point - I agree with this. It's been over 2 years time I've had with this laptop. I'm a noob, dont particularly take care of it real well (partially due to my laziness), I didn't spend on a cooler, kept it on 24/7 occasionally restarting every 10 days or so, i keep everything running everythingl at once so that i can easily hop right back to whatever i was working on.. meaning the cpu was constantly being run up but hey - my LAPtop doesnt fry my lap! So I'm pretty happy with this thing - for a mediocre cost, this lasted me 2 years with my sort of abuse. Definitely WAS worth it and definitely DO recommend to anybody. Best thing about ASUS? 2 year GLOBAL warrantee with tech support.

Definitely do check the reviews for everything you're about to buy though. Sometimes, parts get to be glitchy for example, couple years ago there was a line of toshiba laptops with wireless issues that weren't quite resolved and a line of ASUS laptop with a slightly laggy keyboard. Hope everything goes well for you! Best of luck.