If you were me, would you buy this?

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Essentia

Essentia

Jax Chinchilla Rescue
Joined
Jan 29, 2009
Messages
4,312
Location
Jacksonville, FL
I am looking for opinions form people who know more about computers than I do. I have one person on facebook saying no, and another person saying it's a great deal so I really don't know.

I am looking for a new laptop. I bought one on a whim last year because it was cheap, but it is a big ol' piece of crapola. Because of this I have been looking for a new one. Basically the best I can get for under $400.00, which I know is my problem. This computer has triple everything my current computer has. Space, memory...everything. What I don't know though, are if the rest of the specs are up to par. Please keep in mind that this is a $400 laptop so I know everything is not top of the line. I will only really be doing a few things on it. Playing a few games (Cafe World, Sims 2, etc.), surfing the internet, watching some movies, etc. My current computer does ok with these items, but with only 1 gig of ram and a 120gb hard drive there is only so much I can do.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3870280

It says it is sold out online (it is also in store for tomorrow), but I will be going to radioshack at 4am tomorrow if this is something that actually is a good deal. I know some people were saying the price online was showing $549, so in case it does, the actual price tomorrow is $399. So, let me know your opinions!
 
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Definitely not a good deal, IMO. It's ok, but not worth the rush. I've been building computers since I was a teenager and Radioshack is somewhere you want to stay away from when it comes to computers.

Acer's are a cheap brand. Make sure you get something that is going to last. I made the mistake of getting a Gateway one time and I was highly disappointed. I stick to HP personally, but that's just preference.

AMD processors blow - I stick to Intel if possible. AMD is much slower, and you end up with a lot of problems from them. 1.2 Ghz is pretty darn slow, even for a Dual Core. I have a 3.0 Ghz Dual Core and most of the time I'm unhappy with it's speed. I'm much happier with a Quad Core.

DDR2 ram is becoming outdated (well, I think it's already outdated). I'd shoot for DDR3. I multitask, so I take up a ton of memory. Games also take up tons of memory, so think about that.

Even though you think the hard drive will give you a ton of space - you can get terabyte external drives for pretty cheap now, so I never look at a hard drive when I'm purchasing a computer.

I can try to look for a good deal for you if you'd like, just give me your price limit.
 
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My hubby is also into computers but he's mainly into desktops. My thing is, what can I find for the price? I can keep the one I have now, but it's more horrible and I paid the exact same, and purchased a 2 yr. warranty on it. >.< So in your opinion I should hang on to the one I have now for awhile longer and see if any good deals pop up? I'm not opposed to that, just making sure I'm not missing something decent for actually being under my $400.
 
I can try to look for a good deal for you if you'd like, just give me your price limit.
Click to expand...

This is my issue...my price limit is $400. Think you can work miracles? :p

Oh, and my current laptop is also an Acer. So far it's been pretty good to me, but that may change now that I have said it. My last laptop was a higher end one (Toshiba Satellite, though now I don't remember the model) and the motherboard croaked right after the warranty ended. Figures.
 
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I don't know a ton about computers but have always had good luck with Dell, they have netbooks for under $400- they are tiny but I think they are essentially for what you're describing.
Someone correct me if I'm totally wrong though I've only had their laptops but they've been awesome
 
Do you qualify for employee pricing for any of the companies? For example I work for the state of Maine, so all the laptop companies will give me the state pricing as long as I pay the taxes. This is except for Sony, which will do student pricing. Or do you know anyone that does qualify? I bought a laptop that retails for around $700 last year for about $400 through Lenovo. They also have an outlet online, and they have some decent prices. If you have renters or homeowners insurance you can put an insurance policy on your laptop for a LOT cheaper than what comes with it - that is for complete breakage or being stolen. Or you can do a combo. But usually a cheap laptop is not worth the warranty - that usually costs more or almost half the laptop price through the company.

I personally prefer going direct to a company over an intermediary - sometimes you can talk them into a better price, by going direct you eliminate the payment to the middleman and therefore there is usually some wiggle room on pricing. I would make some phone calls and talk to people. I would personally stay away from anything RadioShack was selling.
 
I definitely don't qualify for employee pricing. I don't think anyone I know would either. I can call some of the companies though and see what happens. I always worry they will try to sell me whatever since I am not through in my laptop knowledge, but that could happen in a store as well. Ack. I hate spending large amounts of money and getting crap.
 
You're awesome. :) If you don't find anything don't worry about it. I can live the one I have for as long as I need to...I just won't like it. :p
 
That is not a good deal at all. Let me show you the way of Black Friday my friend! Two sub-$200 laptops!!!

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=12347222&sourceid=18727234030423170428

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...page.jsp?type=product&id=1218131714579&loc=01

The Walmart is an e-Machines brand with a decent 1.6Ghz Athlon64-TF mobile processor. It has the 15.6" widescreen LCD that you're looking for, 160GB of hard drive space, 2GB of DDR2 memory, and an ATI HD3200 integrated graphics card that can actually play some older games at pretty decent speed. It also has a DVD burner and 802.11 b/g wireless network card.

The Best Buy is an HP brand with a 2.2Ghz Celeron mobile processor. It's basically a crippled Intel Core 2 Duo, so a really amazing processor. It also has the 15.6" widescreen LCD that you want, also has 160GB of hard drive space, also has 2GB of DDR2 memory. Its GMA4500 integrated graphics card is not good enough to play high-end games, but it will play simple games and DVD movies just fine. It also has a DVD burner and 802.11 b/g wireless network card.

Put it simply, these are the two computers to buy this Black Friday. Both sub-$200 laptops with a beautiful widescreen LCD, 5-6 hours of battery life, and plenty of hard drive space to store all your chinchilla pictures, music, movies, and whatever else on. I'm totally tempted to camp out at Walmart for the e-Machines computer myself.

From past experience, I'd get the Best Buy one. I love how they issue coupons for these products at 3 a.m., and you can just go pick it up at their car audio garage and bypass having to rush in the store. I also hear that Walmart has improved their Black Friday practices. They're keeping the store open all night and you can actually line up inside for your product, rather than rush in the store at 5 a.m.

Must...have...Therese...help...me...resist...a laptop...gah...the torture! :hair:
 
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+La...lack/9617193.p?id=1218131714579&skuId=9617193

That's the cheapest laptop I found. It's a little slower than I personally like, but it's your best option probably.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+...hite/9568522.p?id=1218125774763&skuId=9568522

This is a pretty good deal - though it's sold out.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pa...lack/9641162.p?id=1218135733005&skuId=9641162

Great deal, but a little out of your price range.


Still looking through SlickDeals..

^ Don't go through Wal-Mart - their warranty just really sucks. I would definitely buy extended warranty on EVERY laptop, but wouldn't go through Wal-Mart. That laptop also has an AMD processor, which I suggest you stay away from. Every laptop I've ever had with an AMD processor has croaked in less than a year and they have pretty bad reviews.
 
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The first option you posted almost seems too cheap...

This is my current laptop? Would you consider the HP you posted an upgrade?
It seems a bit better, but I want to make sure it's worth it.

http://store.acer.com/product.asp?pf_id=1011217775

I also have a $160 extra two year warranty on my current that I would basically be eating the price on if I get the new one as well. I'm ok with this, but I want to make sure the deal I am getting on the other one is worthwhile.
 
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I am using my Black Friday 2007 Best Buy computer right now and I know from experience if you wait until midnight tonight to get in line you will probably be too late. We had to get in line 5pm Thanksgiving night and spent a freezing night outside. Hurry up and get out there LOL
 
I can't. >.< I am at work until 11pm. If that's the case I don't think it's going to happen. I do pass a Best Buy on my way home though so I will check and see if there is a line yet.
 
I wouldn't get the cheapest one due to the one you already have. It's just not worth $200 for that little difference. I honestly would go for the one for $499.99. I'm looking for one cheaper, but I wouldn't get that Acer from Radioshack for sure.
 
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. I think for now I am just going to stick with this one since it at least lets me do everything I need to. I would love to go up to $500, but then I am taking money away from gifts for Christmas which I didn't want to do.

I can be patient and use this one for longer. :) Thank you so much for your help though. You are awesome. Oh, and p.s., I am definitely not getting the one from Radio Shack. Between you and one of my friends on facebook I think you beat it enough into my head to actually stick. :p
 
I'll bet there will be deals on laptops all through this holiday shopping season. Even if you can't get in line for the laptop at Best Buy, just keep an eye out. I'm sure you'll come across another good deal in a week or two.
 
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