Can anyone give me their impression on this laptop?

Grifter · Post by **Grifter** » 09 Feb 2009, 13:47

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 8040476935

Still looking for an inexpensive laptop to handle fundemental tasks like surfing the internet and wordprocessing. I'm sure I've posted on this subject before, I can't seem to find the thread. So, a lot of people I know, including my sister, swear by their Toshiba Satellite (varying models of course). The consumer reviews on bestbuy, newegg, and anecdotal from friends and family indicate minor gripes with slow boot-up times, but little else to complain about. I'm typing on my sister's pc right now as a matter of fact. She's owned it for two years. She owns a centrino duo processor model (A205-S4607).

Any thoughts on this laptop? Stay clear? Decent buy? Alternative? Your input is valued and appreciatated as always. THanks!

Softball · Post by **Softball** » 09 Feb 2009, 14:12

That seems like a decent laptop for what you want to do with it. Plenty of HD space and RAM; pretty good for a laptop. One feature you might want to consider is adding Bluetooth capability. The first laptop I bought did not come with BT, and I regretted it. I ended up buying the BT adapter and installing it myself, albiet at a higher cost than if I had it installed initially. The BT really comes in handy for watching movies or listening to music without disturbing anyone. Of course you'll need a BT headset to go with it. The battery life seems a little low (2 hours, 11 minutes) *chuckles on the 11 minutes stat*, you should consider a larger battery for longer up-time while running on battery power.

Make sure you look into the warranty options for it, laptops tend to take more of a beating than a desktop does. My laptop from Dell had an issue with the hard drive, something happened to it (Very slow) where it takes 10 - 15 minutes to boot up. I will likely send it in for repairs once I get the important data off of it (It has a 3year warranty). I may try doing a factory restore to see if that fixes the problem. If not, I'll send it in.

Good luck with your search. Be sure to read consumer reviews on whatever model you decide to go with.

VEGETA · Post by **VEGETA** » 09 Feb 2009, 14:23

AMD Turion is older (i think) processor but its not a gaming pc so not to much a issue there.

3gb ram is a odd number but perfect for xp or vista

250gb big enough to do most things, I got a 3 year old laptop now has 2 * 80 gigs and that dose me no issues.

Actually has a graphics card ATI RADEON 3100 good for a geenral laptop, it shares system memory, but thats normal in a laptop. But with that card it could actually be used for some gaming even

and Toshiba is generally considered a great laptop maker. I love there tough book series myself. and best of all its not a DELL. Not a dell fan to be hoenst, HP for example is passing them in the market.

Note oen pain int he ass thing, the headphone jacks are on the front of the laptop not the side, this could get in the way a bit. Best to have all connectors ont he side of laptops but using a 90degree headphone jack based headphone would make it ok.

I woudl say for price its a good system.

Softball · Post by **Softball** » 09 Feb 2009, 14:38

Dell has pretty good support, at least in my experience. Other's experience may vary.

Buffalo Six · Post by **Buffalo Six** » 09 Feb 2009, 15:04

remember anything you see at best buy is end of life production....meaning that the manufacturer has already moved on to the next model, I found this out on my lap top (and Asus G1) because 2 weeks after I bought it I could not even buy an extra battery for it even from Asus.

I'd go with a Dell, they are up to date, and have good service. Plus you can build what you can afford.

VEGETA · Post by **VEGETA** » 10 Feb 2009, 06:16

dell is VERY famous for shipping out refurbished parts for warranty work. IE if your battery dies you get a refurbished one not a new one. Also seen dell laptops have so many issues that in a 2 year span everything except the hard drive and I mean EVERYTHING, screen, keyboard, plastic case, motherboard fan all die in a 2 year stretch.

Some of there liens are ok some are compleate junk and I don't know which is which.

I own HP laptop, Hondo has one, and I have had several fro work and not a single one has had near the issues of a dell. Also as of late Dells customer support has been lacking from what I keep hearing to the point they have had lawsuit againt them for false advertisement and crap products. Now mind you I have had dell work laptops that worked fine and we have soem at Rogers but even Rogers is moving to HP. The hp site allows just as much customization and I don't hear as much complaints

Now as for the end of life remember the average life of a laptop model meant for consumers (not buisness) is about 6 months.

Grifter · Post by **Grifter** » 10 Feb 2009, 08:06

Have to agree with Veg here in that the one dell machine we had in the household died within a year after we bought it. Not a fan of their tech support, but that's my experience and others here may have had better luck.

For my purposes, I think I'll go with this Toshiba. Seems most people are happy with it. Tom's Hardware benchmarks give it average performance ratings. Nothing spectacular, but then I'm not going to be doing much beyond watching the occasional movie, listening to music, and checking my email. This Toshiba I'm typing on right now does all of that and more well enough. Going to do a bit more research and buy sometime in the next month. It will be good to not be shackled to my desk everytime I want to record grades or do some banking online.

PanzerMeyer · Post by **PanzerMeyer** » 10 Feb 2009, 08:22

I can do an impression of a laptop.

"Well hello there, just look how thin and energy efficient I am! I even have a cool looking screen."

Buffalo Six · Post by **Buffalo Six** » 10 Feb 2009, 09:34

This is what I am about to pull the trigger on for my new build........

Sony Optiarc 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model AD-7220S
Item #:N82E16827118023

OKGEAR 10" SATA II cable with metal latch,UV
Item #:N82E16812123109

OKGEAR 18" SATA II cable with metal latch,UV BLUE
Item #:N82E16812123111

LOGISYS Computer CLK12BL2 12" DUAL COLD CATHODE KIT
Item #:N82E16811994001

Antec Twelve Hundred Black Computer Case With Side Panel Window
Item #:N82E16811129043

Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor
Item #:N82E16819115131

Sony Optiarc Black SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model DDU1675S
Item #:N82E16827118019

Western Digital Caviar SE16 500GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Item #:N82E16822136040

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
Item #:N82E16835100007

ZALMAN CNPS9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler
Item #:N82E16835118019

ASUS Striker II Extreme LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 790i Ultra SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
Item #: N82E16813131274

G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10666CL9D-4GBNQ
Item #: N82E16820231190

VEGETA · Post by **VEGETA** » 10 Feb 2009, 09:36

new build ??? what wrong with current box ??? or u deciding you want more power

also thought u did not like the 1200 case man.

Softball · Post by **Softball** » 10 Feb 2009, 10:42

That's almost a clone of Veg's computer. Why not wait for the i7 Intel CPUs to hit the market? Then the one you want here will drop in price. Either way, looks like a nice build.

VEGETA · Post by **VEGETA** » 10 Feb 2009, 10:47

Softball wrote:That's almost a clone of Veg's computer. Why not wait for the i7 Intel CPUs to hit the market? Then the one you want here will drop in price. Either way, looks like a nice build.

u know you did it right when its copied

O and ya, thread hijacked lol

Buffalo Six · Post by **Buffalo Six** » 10 Feb 2009, 13:48

Softball....i7....have you seen the heat sinks needed for that?
http://www.coolermaster-usa.com/product ... ct_id=2880

Yikes!

and now...I am hung up on a case....

either the Antec 1200, of which I have the Antec 900 so the 1200 is just bigger...which I need
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811129043

or

the CoolerMater HAF 932 which looks really good also and has room for water cooling etc.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811119160

opinions?

VEGETA · Post by **VEGETA** » 10 Feb 2009, 14:33

Antec

I had no issues with space in the 900 to be honest. But go 1200 if u need the extra space.

Gator · Post by **Gator** » 10 Feb 2009, 16:26

I just built an i7 system a week ago ... used the stock heatsink that shipped with it. Was Identical to my core2duo heatsink. You should only need an aftermarmet heatsink if you plan to overclock that proc. BTW - the core i7 i built is sweet -- too bad it's not for home.

Grifter · Post by **Grifter** » 10 Feb 2009, 16:46

well, I think I'm pulling the trigger on this laptop (intend to use it purely to surf the web and do work) unless someone objects here.

VEGETA · Post by **VEGETA** » 11 Feb 2009, 06:15

I Object to this wedding, o wait wrong topic

carry on

O but while on the topic enjoy this one

A Doctor was addressing a large audience in Tampa .

'The material we put into our stomachs is enough to have killed most of us sitting here, years ago. Red meat is awful. Soft drinks corrode your stomach lining. Chinese food is loaded with MSG. High fat diets can be disastrous, and none of us realizes the long-term harm caused by the germs in our drinking water. But there is one thing that is the most dangerous of all and we all have, or will, eat it. Can anyone here tell me what food it is that causes the most grief and suffering for years after eating it?'

After several seconds of quiet, a 75-year-old man in the front row raised his hand, and softly said, 'Wedding Cake?'

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Can anyone give me their impression on this laptop?

Can anyone give me their impression on this laptop?