So title pretty much sums it up. I want to buy a laptop and am doing the research right now and need some help since I'm not exactly computer savvy. It doesn't have to be amazing but I want something decent to do some video editing, photoshop, school projects, and gaming (emphasis on gaming). I want to keep it under $500 but $600 isn't out of the question if the laptop is really just a great deal. I've been looking at the Dell Inspiron 15, it has really good reviews too. I know there's people who know their stuff on computers/laptops and I'd like to hopefully get some opinions on the matter before I dish out money for this.
dell inspiron isnt very good for gaming unless you get a good videocard. uhm anything toshiba makes is a great deal. all of my family has different toshibas. all of the are AMAZING but toshiba or like acer.
You can pretty much forget gaming for anything in that price range. You'll handle older games on low settings, but that's about it. Also, low end Toshibas are built like bricks (not necessarily a good thing), and Acers are so shit you'd be better off just using pencil and paper.
acers are like amazing. my cousin has one i dont know the model but its ultra fast and has a great video card preinstallled. and great memory. and toshibas? how can u say low end toshibas are like a brick. you need to read up more my friend. all toshibas are great. you must have been thinking of an older one.
Acers are one of the crappiest brands ever. It's probably ultra fast because its added weight adds extra speed when you're throwing out the window.
heheh well in their new models they have like the fastest memory i have chips i have ever used. and when it comes to the harddrive space its pretty decent. i think my cuzins had around 300gigs
All those consumer brands use pretty much exactly the same hardware, and are mostly all built in the same factories. An Acer with the same video card, same amount of RAM, and same processor will be exactly the same as any other brand with the same specs. The difference is in the build quality and attention to detail. In which case, Acers are seriously lacking. Cheap plastic parts, poor design, and in most cases, really ugly design. I used to work as tech support in a computer department for a big Department store, and Acers had the highest rate, by far, of people having problems with damaged/broken laptops. Toshibas are just ugly and bulky. It's these considerations which led me to buy a MacBook Pro. Best Windows based Laptop is probably a Lenovo or a Dell XPS. Low end, just buy whatever has the best graphics card. (At <$600, you'll be lucky to avoid onboard)
Hehe, thanks you two for your insights. In the end this will be mainly used for school so I guess I can't have the best of both worlds with my budget. My parents made the conversion to Macs and after testing them both out I just can't bring myself to swap; I love PCs (not that I could afford to switch anyway). But thanks again =)
@ inverse you are saying that example: acers are built in same factory as a dell. no they arent. maybe people in your area just are stupid and drop alot of laptops but ive seen a few acers. and all seem to hold up just fine. ive seen their content, and acer has a much better processor then most macs. and its like half the price. also really now ur trying to tell me a toshiba is bulky and ugly or whatever you said? i currently have a toshiba satellite, its a very sleek design, and lightweight. i would recomment it actually. great piece of programming!
*sigh* Why do you offer tech advice when you obviously barely know what computers are, let alone how they work.
this is the cheapest laptop of acceptable build quality that I can find which can sorta kinda game... sorta http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220735 it's hard to get a gaming laptop for under $1000. Especially from a reputable manufacturer. Asus, Apple, Sony, Toshiba and Dell tend to have the lowest failure rates, but of those, only Asus prices all that competitively(likely because half the time the others actually contract Asus to make their laptops and then act as marketing companies form there) that said, anyone who says X brand is better than another should try to learn how the industry works. Noone makes their own parts with few exceptions, product quality can vary greatly between one line and another and in the end price is king if units are similar and of comparable build quality. Generally there is some interaction between OEMs, ODMs and retail operations(EG: apple would have certain design requirements that either ASUStek(engineers and manufactures apple's entry level products) or Quanta(designs and engineers their highend products) are required to meet in their designs) and there depending on requirements, build quality can and will differ out of the same factory and even in the same product line between revisions. Acer has nearly the worst failure rate in the industry and they really cheap out on other areas that are deemed non critical(exterior casing, screen, memory type, trackpad, keyboard). Their only strong point is pricing and even then... http://www.electronista.com/articles/09/11/17/reliability.study.has.apple.4th.place/
ok well this advice isnt towards you. ive never worked in a big department store or whatever you did. but im learning how to make computers. and programs, so i know computers inside and out you are just a dude with a nametag.