My grandparents, bless their old geezer hearts, decided to give me some money to buy myself a laptop as an early Christmas present. Since I know virtually nothing about laptops, I was wondering was folks around here were using and what would be recommended. I'd like something with a CD/DVD player (which I think is pretty standard anyway), wireless interent capabilities (again, standard), good memory, long battery life, and possibly a webcam. I'm not a gamer, but I like surfing the web, watching some videos, and listening to some music. I've got around $500 to spend from my grandparents, but would possibly be willing to add some out of my own pocket if necessary.

Also, I'd like to take into consideration the likelihood of Black Friday sales comming up, but the closest retailers to me are Wal-Mart and Fred Meyer, so I'm pretty much stuck with those two or an internet retailer if I want to take advantage of any sales. Otherwise, I'm looking at a two hour drive to get close to a Best Buy, Costco, or whatever.

Thanks for any words of wisdom!

 

1. Toshiba
2. Acer
3. HP

If you want an Apple, then you'll need more money. I'm assuming you are a PC user.

 

Apple MacBook

$999.00

I know it's a bit more than you're looking to spend, but 7 hour battery life? A must look at detail for a laptop.

 

The compaq prescerio (spelling?) is a good laptop and not too pricey. I had my mom get one so she wouldn't have any problems.

 

Fail rates of the top Laptop makers - Take a look here: http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/null__17/null-433611030-1258568892.jpg?ym9CdOCDx4zfPH74

If you are getting a laptop, how important in portability?

For basic everyday use and a few extras you might have a good time with this:http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba...lver/9548983.p?id=1218122295102&skuId=9548983

 

I'm using an old MacBook Pro and I love it to death.

I'd get the new MacBook Pro if I were you. Apple has the best laptops if money isn't a huge issue.

 

I have a really old HP ze2500. I recommend something besides what I have.

 

Two words: MAC BOOK

 

ok I take care of my sister's fairly new laptop all the time (bought this year)

and I recommend a HP G70 series

it's super fast has all the features you want all for 500. .....when i mean super fast even superman can't catch up with it's speed.

it's been upgraded http://www.amazon.com/HP-G71t-Custo...ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=pc&qid=1259155573&sr=1-2

 

What's the most powerful laptop/notebook you can get for $500?
And one you can easily upgrade down the road?

So many laptops it's confusing. . Something that has a few usb & other ports, powerful enough for gaming, lots of memory for pics /programs and a good mousepad sounds like what you need.
That's my main beef with mine, the mouse pad is very sensitive and It's hard just to drag/drop/copy/paste etc...
It's an old Toshiba and it's a tank, doubt it'll never die.

You can always get a cheap laptop and remove the hard drive. You won't be able to save anything, but you can't get any viruses from porn either  

 

For the kind of stuff you're talking about using a laptop for, $500 is more than enough. As we're in the Christmas season, keep an eye out for what Staples/Walmart/Bestbuy are offering.

My aunt picked up a nice Acer laptop with a dual core processor, 3GB of RAM, 250 GB hard drive and a nice wide screen for $350 on sale. Granted the processor speed isn't the greatest, but for listening to music, watching videos and surfing the web, it'll fit the bill quite nicely.

Acer Aspire AS5517-1643 Laptop | Staples®

 

For Black Friday there are some sales for the MacBook, one of which is here:

MacConnection MacBook $884.99

 

If you can get it for 350...then that would be a nice find...although Acer has a 23% fail rate (due to hardware problems) in the first 3 years...1 out of about 4 sucks especially for a brand new comp. To all the mac users, I agree that Mac books are awesome...but they are not the most cost effective way to go - never have been when I went looking...and at a 350 price tag, that gives you an extra 150 to save for later. I use a Toshiba Satellite A105 and have taken care of it since Sept. of 2006 - No problems. I use it for music, DVD's, Dreamweaver CS3, MS Office, Creating/editing movies and songs and for low power games like NES, SNES and genesis emulators - oh and I never had to replace the battery like I had to with my wife's Dell. The Dell Battery died after a year. Wouldn't hold the charge anymore.

 

IBM makes the only laptops worth buying in my opinion. I would say Mac's are worth it as well but like everything they do I find them horrendously overpriced for what you get. On the other hand when buying a laptop I would rather pay for the quality then buy something shitty your going to have issues with down the road.

 

I have A Sony Vaio

I would have gotten a mac book but i wasn't paying a grand for a 13 inch screen

 

No one should buy a Mac. Windows 7 FTW!

 

Laptops are much of a muchness as long as your buying from a reputable manufacturer, decide on a spec or price and then go to some shops to see what you can get that matches what you want.

Don't bother with a MacBook unless you have no grasp of the value of money.

IBM don't make laptops anymore, they hawked thier PC business to Lenovo about 4 years ago.

 

HP 15.6" Intel Pentium Dual Core T4300 will be switching to a Mac Book Pro next year.... my buddy sold me on it.

 

I say go with a Mac Book or Mac Book Pro. Just keep in mind when you compare it another laptop all ways compare to a comparable pc. Since the Mac will always be cheaper. The problem is, not everyone needs video editing or photo editing software. But you are also paying for the best customer service and most reliable computer in the industry.

If you have to go with a pc go with hp, there tech support is a joke. I have to deal with at least once a week and as hard is it for me to say dells is better. It is just that dell makes junk.