"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit)
08/30/2015 at 13:35 • Filed to: None
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"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit)
08/30/2015 at 13:35 • Filed to: None | 0
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My mom keeps pushing me to buy a Dell laptop. I ask her if she knows of any particular model. She says “Dell Laptop.” Uh, ok, sure. So do you have any recommendations for a “Dell laptop” in the 200-300 range that has more than 32 gigs of memory? Thanks. EDIT: I mean HD space, not RAM memory. No I’m not looking for a gaming laptop, I’d just splurge and get an XB1 or PS4 because PC gaming is dead anyway *beaten into submission by Kotaku staff*
In the meantime I guess I’ll check out CNet, Amazon, NewEgg and etc. for reviews of “Dell laptop” that fit my budget (Thanks for your awesome specificity, mom).
Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
08/30/2015 at 13:48 |
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Just don’t get a Toshiba or the HP I bought, it’ll be fine. Although my wife’s Dell has had several drivers fail in 3 years.
qbeezy
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
08/30/2015 at 13:54 |
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Get an HP. Don’t get a Toshiba like someone else said.
Eric @ opposite-lock.com
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
08/30/2015 at 13:59 |
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200-300? I don’t think there’s anything that would last you a year in that price range, except maybe a netbook, but that will be very restrictive. You need to spend at least $700 on one, probably more, if you want it to last.
Monkey B
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
08/30/2015 at 14:04 |
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Having had a number of HP’s and them failing prematurely, experience with friends and family members with Toshiba’s that perform terribly I am a huge Dell fan. My current desktop is a Studio Hybrid from 09 that just keeps ticking....though hardly used as much more than a music server and storage it is running Windows 10. I have an Inspiron tablet for work and a smaller 8” windows tablet I just nabbed for 1/2 price as a work backup. I bought my son an 8” Android tablet and he abuses it. Along with working well they are of solid build quality. He broke a screen which they replaced the whole unit with another for me being a good customer (business acct) Just remembered my mom bought a top of the line laptop in 08 and it still performs at a very high level...I find it’s still has snappy performance, I just have to remove all the junk she “doesn’t download” every 6 months. Lenovo is another solid choice, but I think Dell wins with pricing. I usually spot good Dell buys here: http://www.edealinfo.com/ and they have good outlet buys at Dell.com
Phyrxes once again has a wagon!
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
08/30/2015 at 14:05 |
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The Mrs. has a Dell that isn’t horrible but it would be at least $500 starting out, Latitude or Insperion I am not really sure which one it is.
I have an 4+ year old HP that is still kicking, the original HD failed so I replaced it an swapped to ubuntu but the battery is about worthless and the plastic shell is starting to fail so its on a deathwatch.
Slant6
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
08/30/2015 at 14:06 |
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http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales…
Dell Outlet is pretty good. Same warranty and stuff. This is pretty good at $229.
AthomSfere
> Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
08/30/2015 at 14:08 |
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I assume you meant drives, not drivers?
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Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
> AthomSfere
08/30/2015 at 14:09 |
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Sure why not
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Slant6
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
08/30/2015 at 14:11 |
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http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnlineSales…
This is actually a better value.
Jake Huitt - Two Alfas And A Nissan, Not A Single Running Car
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
08/30/2015 at 14:13 |
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I’d get the Asus x551m.
Not dell, but the best laptop in that price range, by far.
SLK
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
08/30/2015 at 14:14 |
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I used to work for geek squad, by far the computers I saw the least were lenovo and asus. Avoid toshiba at all costs.
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AthomSfere
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
08/30/2015 at 14:17 |
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My thoughts:
Why do you need 32GB of RAM? Especially in a laptop?
If you need a laptop and something with 32GB of RAM, then I would encourage getting a cheaper laptop and a good desktop, it will be cheaper.
Dell: Look at Lattitude and / or Precision.
HP: I am not crazy for HPs, they aren’t across the board any better or worse than Dell but they seem to be missing so of the good design elements from a UX perspective that Dell has.
Lenovo: Good, not sure if I would buy them with the price premiums they command for being so ugly.
Toshiba: Avoid! Hardware wise, nothing wrong but they have their own software to control all the drivers and it becomes a resource hog. Trying to roll onto native drivers is a PITA too, because you never know what depends on what and kills drivers that should be unrelated.
Sony: Avoid. Huge price premium, difficult to work on and really nothing special.
On your tight budget:
Look for refurbs or cheap models, but get an SSD. Nothing is going to make a bigger difference at any price range. For example:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/S…
I think that one can go to 16GB RAM (2 x 8GB)
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AthomSfere
> Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
08/30/2015 at 14:19 |
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?
Well drivers failing is generally minor. Drives failing is a cost / PITA / physical issue...
WhereAreMyPants
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
08/30/2015 at 14:48 |
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Why on earth would you want 32GB of RAM in a laptop? Really, in anything other than an ultra-high end gaming desktop?
You don’t need anything more than 8GB, and realistically, from your other comments about usage, you don’t even need that.
If you’re planning on keeping this for a while, you’ll also want to spring for a Core i3 or i5 if you can afford it. The value Intel processors just arent worth the savings.
Here’s three solid options:
http://www.microcenter.com/product/450296…
http://www.microcenter.com/product/449697…
http://www.microcenter.com/product/443213…
dontbethatguy
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
08/30/2015 at 15:55 |
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I got an ASUS 15” $250 Best Buy special that has lasted me through 3 years of engineering school. It isnt the best but it runs reliably and can do 80% of the stuff i ask it to.
TheD0k_2many toys 2little time
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
08/30/2015 at 16:40 |
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dell isnt bad. sister had an old dell for 5 years about 5 years ago. parents have a desktop dell thats been good too.
My Hp laptop is 3+ years old and still works great. But i also scan for virus and have spybot on it to so it doesnt get to clogged up
SaabStutz
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
08/30/2015 at 17:01 |
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Sounds like all you need is a Chromebook. Check these out. They’ll last longer than some crappy $300 dell made of horrible plastic. Plus it’ll be much lighter and faster.
If dell is the requirement, here: http://www.dell.com/us/p/chromeboo…
This lenovo looks good too: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KS2U95Q/…
There are bigger screen if you need them too. If you can stick with google docs for your writing, these are a good option. Plus you’ll be getting decent hardware that won’t break in a year.
JGrabowMSt
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
08/30/2015 at 17:19 |
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Dell Latitude N5110? Something like that I think.
I mean, I have no trouble with Toshiba myself (but the Satellite models are terrible, the Tecras are much better). I’m no fan of HP or Dell to be honest. When I worked as a computer repair tech, HP and Dell practically kept me in business.
Why not a Chromebook? I’ve asked this before though.
https://system76.com/laptops/lemur
This is out of your price range, but it’s what I would suggest. 1) Linux based. Far more stable and just as easy to navigate as Windows. 2) Not cloud based. 3) I would buy one of these for myself if I were in a position to replace my current laptop.
Now, I would look at what Best Buy or Walmart sells as far as Acer and Asus are concerned. Better quality than a Dell, more reliable than an HP. Well within the same price range. They’re the two brands I saw come in the least, and for the least benign issues (usually caused by the user, such as broken screens or broken casing from drops).
Acer Aspire, Asus models are a little more obscure, but just look around. They’re in your price range with the back to school sales and will work for what you need.
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Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo
> AthomSfere
08/30/2015 at 19:19 |
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I assume I mean drivers as my wife’s wifi, speaker, and speaker adaptor all failed.
boxrocket
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
08/30/2015 at 21:57 |
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The Inspiron 5000 and XPS series are quite good, actually. Both Mrs. BoxRocket and I are enamored with the XPS13 (with the Infinity screen or whatever it’s called) and XPS15, but I personally prefer the Acer R-series, and she the Microsoft Surface Pro 3 (or the 4 coming in a couple months).
Whatever laptop you get for your $500 budget, get the best processor you can as a first priority; most laptops offer upgradeable RAM on the same motherboard, which can be had for cheap and installed in minutes, rather than paying out the wazoo for it at the initial purchase. Ditto hard drive space, though with so many computers coming with free Office 365 with its free 1TB of OneDrive storage, on-board storage is less important. So pick the newest Intel i5 or better (or at least an i3, but compare specs, as some i3s are better than base i5s for less, ditto some i5s better than baser i7s) or an AMD A6 or greater. After processor is graphics and screen, then battery life (though, again, larger batteries are available after the sale). You can get a lot of laptop for your $500. Make sure to go somewhere like a local electronics retailer and try the keyboard and trackpad out. When I was last actively-shopping for a laptop (when Windows 8 was brand new), Sony and Lenovo had the best-feeling keyboards, but at a price, and the Acer and Asus keyboards felt good for the money, but the Samsung, HP/Compaq, Dell, Toshiba, and others, had flimsy, cramped keyboards with illogical tertiary button placement, though they’ve much improved since.
Just don't get an HP or a Toshiba.
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boxrocket
> boxrocket
08/30/2015 at 22:18 |
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I found a few perusing Micro Center:
This might be very close to what you’re looking for:
And there’s others: http://www.microcenter.com/product/444958/G50_156_Laptop_Computer_-_Black?ob=1
http://www.microcenter.com/product/438653/Latitude_E6420_140_Laptop_Computer_Refurbished_-_Gray?ob=1
R Saldana [|Oo|======|oO|] - BTC/ETH/LTC Prophet
> No, I don't thank you for the fish at all
08/31/2015 at 00:48 |
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Go Lenovo from woot or amazon on refurbs. The build quality is so much better there was an i5 8gb memory 128gb SSd version on woot today for $200