which one would you guys say is the best value for general purpose use?

triblehelix wrote:which one would you guys say is the best value for general purpose use?

I would say the HP with the intel i7 processor is a great deal. 6gb memory with a 750gb hd and 2 usb 3.0 / 2.0. One downside I see is no bluetooth D:

triblehelix wrote:which one would you guys say is the best value for general purpose use?

Hard to say... they're all gigantic. None of which would be particularly easy to throw into a backpack and take places.

So unless this thing will spend 90% of the time sitting on a desk, i would skip these.

Hirshy wrote:I would say the HP with the intel i7 processor is a great deal. 6gb memory with a 750gb hd and 2 usb 3.0 / 2.0. One downside I see is no bluetooth D:

thanks. bluetooth not a deal killer. its actually a replacement laptop for a friend. he might prefer the lower cost options. which of the ones in the $400 range do you like?

triblehelix wrote:thanks. bluetooth not a deal killer. its actually a replacement laptop for a friend. he might prefer the lower cost options. which of the ones in the $400 range do you like?

The toshiba's with the i3 processors are decent. But take a look at this before you decide to seal the deal:

http://www.laptopmag.com/mobile-life/best-brands-overall-scorecard-2012.aspx

http://www.laptopmag.com/mobile-life/toshiba-brand-rating-2012.aspx

I've never owned a Toshiba so I can't really comment...

Hirshy wrote:The toshiba's with the i3 processors are decent. But take a look at this before you decide to seal the deal:

http://www.laptopmag.com/mobile-life/best-brands-overall-scorecard-2012.aspx

http://www.laptopmag.com/mobile-life/toshiba-brand-rating-2012.aspx

I've never owned a Toshiba so I can't really comment...

hp ranks 3rd in that list. are the tosh specs much better?

ghost650 wrote:Hard to say... they're all gigantic. None of which would be particularly easy to throw into a backpack and take places.

So unless this thing will spend 90% of the time sitting on a desk, i would skip these.

yeah, the big screen is a plus for him.

I'm looking into getting a gaming laptop does anyone know how capable any of these would run newer games with no issue???

I used one on these monster screen laptops (Toshiba 17.3) for quite awhile and came to love the screen size. I got quite used to carrying it around and find that my current one (15.4) just seems small now. A backpack designed for a large laptop does a good job of distributing the weight with plenty of room for other school or work essentials.

A desktop computer can be eliminated in many circumstances with one of these.

Toshiba's are crap, in my experience. If you want one of these, buy the HP.

baldar798 wrote:I'm looking into getting a gaming laptop does anyone know how capable any of these would run newer games with no issue???

Ditto! Where can I get one that will play the newest Skyrim. I mean, If I completely forget to load anything else on it.

Moueska wrote:Ditto! Where can I get one that will play the newest Skyrim. I mean, If I completely forget to load anything else on it.

None of these laptops are designed for gaming. I bet they could only play games that were developed until 2008. If you really want a gaming laptop then go look for MSI/Asus brands. Shouldn't be hard to find them in online retailers, just pick one that suits your budget.

ruxia wrote:None of these laptops are designed for gaming. I bet they could only play games that were developed until 2008. If you really want a gaming laptop then go look for MSI/Asus brands. Shouldn't be hard to find them in online retailers, just pick one that suits your budget.

+1 to this. Most newer games require a 2.3 ghz or better dual core CPU to run at medium settings. 4 core can actually process more information, faster, but the ghz is what game designers look for these days. If you were going to be doing video or photo editing, then 4 cores and 6 to 8 megs of ram would work fine, but for gaming, these are a no go, especially since the video on these laptops is processed thru the motherboard, greatly limiting how fast the graphics is processed.

Would this be good for rendering xbox game play from a hdpvr? Also would this play Minecraft?

I want this laptop for my study. how do I get it?


thank you.

Is this a factory refurbished or just going to be a big gamble?

chalion wrote:+1 to this. Most newer games require a 2.3 ghz or better dual core CPU to run at medium settings. 4 core can actually process more information, faster, but the ghz is what game designers look for these days. If you were going to be doing video or photo editing, then 4 cores and 6 to 8 megs of ram would work fine, but for gaming, these are a no go, especially since the video on these laptops is processed thru the motherboard, greatly limiting how fast the graphics is processed.

most of this info is false, you seem somewhat misinformed.

these are not "gaming" laptops and you would be better off getting a sager for example, but they will run something like skyrim on pretty high settings. basically it would work for all games now, but towards the end of 4 years from now it might have a bit of trouble with the newest games.

most modern games support 4 cores and ghz is not what matters - more cores clocked lower would be better than less cores clocked higher. 6-8 gigs (and its gigs not megs) of ram works just fine - more is obviously better and more future proof.

and the graphics are not from the motherboard....
the hp has a Radeon HD 6520G which isnt the best card right now, but it easily beats my high end card from 3 years ago and i play all games with pretty high settings (usually the only thing i cant turn up is anti aliasing past 2x)

Thank you for your knowledge!! When will this ship?

igorthrus wrote:most of this info is false, you seem somewhat misinformed.

these are not "gaming" laptops and you would be better off getting a sager for example, but they will run something like skyrim on pretty high settings. basically it would work for all games now, but towards the end of 4 years from now it might have a bit of trouble with the newest games.

most modern games support 4 cores and ghz is not what matters - more cores clocked lower would be better than less cores clocked higher. 6-8 gigs (and its gigs not megs) of ram works just fine - more is obviously better and more future proof.

and the graphics are not from the motherboard....
the hp has a Radeon HD 6520G which isnt the best card right now, but it easily beats my high end card from 3 years ago and i play all games with pretty high settings (usually the only thing i cant turn up is anti aliasing past 2x)

... :D

Okay, now the soul-searching comes, sometime before/after the rest of my school funding comes through - which is hopefully before the deal ends. Too bad Woot doesn't offer financing...

Moueska wrote:... :D

Okay, now the soul-searching comes, sometime before/after the rest of my school funding comes through - which is hopefully before the deal ends. Too bad Woot doesn't offer financing...

By this Christmas I bet you can find a good i7 laptop for about the same price