Brit on Holiday in the states

L

lothburn

n00b
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Feb 17, 2007
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Hi Chaps.

Need urgent advice, I have two weeks left on my holiday (vacation to you lot :p)

Originally going to buy macbook pro, now decided windows based. I mainly game EverQuest (since 1999, sad old fart) and rfactor.. I do know ati mobility x1600 sucks as this will not play EQ. (bombs out at the start) I do not want to start messing around with drivers, if the manufactures can not provide support from the start (well I cant repeat what I would really like to say in a forum, just like real life no free speech, but thatÕs another story)

At the current exchange rate of 1 uk pound = 1.95 funny money :)

I require a gaming laptop, (midrange) in the uk a 1k $ lappy = at least 1k £, you can see from that we are shafted on price.
e.g. a no name lappy with 2ghz core2 duo plus ati x1600 512mb 1gb single sim 17 inch 1440x900 would cost in the uk 699 or nearly double in $

I will be in LA. Seattle and Vegas. Which state has the lowest sales tax?

Willing to spend around 2k funny money inlc all tax:) would rather spend 1400k or less

Is it possible to buy something half decent for the price?
Would rather go nvidia as I really believe ati suck (Without omega drivers and before I get ati fan boys flaming I use both in my desktops. 1 with nvidia 7900gtx other with xt800

1 donÕt mean to be rude, by nature brits are sarcastic FFS we have Tony Blair (bush little puppet, Bill hicks would turn in his grave)
I support the Taliban, by smoking a little often. (How else can we keep the peace)
I/m in the British Army so you may ignore my last statement: P

Any help would be nice, thank you in advance :)


UPDATED>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


Wow, Thank you all for the good advice.

I have decided on one of the ASUS models that come with a 2-year global warranty.
For those that missed the irony, I can only assume you are young and do not know much about international affairs ☺

Like I said I’m in the British army and have seen many of my friends die, Until the USA and UK decide that Iraq, Iran and bloody Afghanistan are no longer a threat people like myself who are grunts for this so called illusion of democracy will continue to to die in vain ☹

I apologise for my last paragraph but I’m due back in Afghanistan in 9 days,
Ones perspective of life changes dramatically after you have been under enemy fire ☹

Peace to you all and I truly hope you achieve your dreams in life ☺
 
One important question you should research is whether or not the company whose laptop you buy will honor the warranty outside of the US. In many cases they'll do so for laptops, but you don't want to find that you're out a few hundred quid just because you were eager to get a bargain early on.

The tricky bit is finding what you want at a store, since obviously you wouldn't want to customize one online and wait.

I would initially point to Toshibas, but they tend to be a bit cheaply built if you're not looking at the higher end. I'd rather go for an HP dv9000t -- if you can find a version of it with the dedicated graphics at a retail shop (such as the dv9220us). A 256MB GeForce Go 7600 would be fast enough if you don't expect miracles.

Can't comment on tax issues, because I'm Canadian. I suspect California will be the most expensive.
 
Not sure exactly about sales taxes, but I think Seattle is the highest, something around 9% i think. Here in L.A. it's 8.25% and Vegas is something around 6% I believe.
 
Not sure how this works, but when I was in college I worked at an upscale department store in Tucson, Arizona. Well-to-do Mexican nationals used to drive north of the border to shop there. All they had to do was show proof of residency in Mexico and they didn't have to pay Arizona sales tax. Always got my goat. :mad:
 
well you get theft protection in the UK. id offer you my laptop if you swung by seattle but since its going overseas i dont know if its transferable
 
bestbuy have an HP dv9235nr for $1500 + taxes. SKU is 8223282. They show they have some in the West LA store, maybe others (you can search for yourself at bestbuy.com.)Specs are C2D T5200, 2gb PC4200, 160gb HD, 17" screen, Nvidia 7600Go so looks reasonable. There might be better machines out there though. Try looking at the web sites for bestbuy, circuitcity and outpost. Some of the prices will be 'after rebate' but you won't be able to get that, so just look for how much you actually pay.

You can check sales tax rates here but be aware that they also vary slightly between cities. Don't ask me why, it still seems crazy to me and I've been here 4 years. If you're driving down from Seattle to California, you could buy it in Oregon and then you won't pay any sales tax (there's a Frys/outpost right off the freeway south of Portland.)

Another option would be to maybe call up newegg and see if you can pick a machine up from them. They probably won't let you use your credit card over the internet because your billing address won't match, but they might be able to come to some arrangement. You could then get an asus F3 or something.

Lastly, US keyboards will have the @ and " switched places, and no pound key. If you change the keyboard settings in windows thy will work as expected, but your physical keys will look strange.
 
Go IBM my friend, profit that former england land and buy a good Thinkpad or so.
You like the Taliban? Well, why don´t you go on vacations to Pakistan or Afganisthan and see how niiiice they are?
 
carlos39 said:
Go IBM my friend, profit that former england land and buy a good Thinkpad or so.
You like the Taliban? Well, why don´t you go on vacations to Pakistan or Afganisthan and see how niiiice they are?
Click to expand...

STFU.

Anyway, I'll tell you right now that the sales tax in LA/California is 8.25%. To know more about which notebook graphics to select, go to this site: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=65548

Like some people have suggested, check out best Buy or a Fry's if you're in California. Oh and check out that link to Asus resellers. ASUS notebooks are pretty good.
 
Again, my opinion is: IBM mobile, best sound and best graphichs; and solid like a rock!
Ei Danny something... what´s the meaning of the acronym you wrote above?
Was somehing like Shut up? If so, shut you!
Do you know me from where?
I just went inside this topic because I don´t like to see cowards without any funny, praising guys like the Talibans who are killing their own comrades!
 
His reply was a joke if you hadn't noticed...he's in the army.

Enough of this political talk...this is a forum for laptops, keep it that way.
 
Lots of people from Seattle here (I'm one of them)

Our sales tax is sky high but we also a have a shit-ton of computer stores. Cali probably has us beat if you're willing to go into Silicon Valley or Fremont but you probably won't be leaving LA (yes?)
 
thevelourfog said:
Not sure exactly about sales taxes, but I think Seattle is the highest, something around 9% i think. Here in L.A. it's 8.25% and Vegas is something around 6% I believe.
Click to expand...


nothing beats the 17.5% VAT (ie sales tax) in the UK...

poor overseas student in the UK here... :(
 
the states that don't collect income tax are the highest. i think florida is one of them... like 15% sales tax or something like that... this is just coming from memory that isn't to good, so don't hold me to it.

ohio is 6.75
 
MTXR said:
Does the UK use 220V?
Click to expand...

Yep, good call, budget an extra $50/$60 for a dedicated 220V adapter for your laptop, or a solid transformer to use with the stock adapter. Then again, they are probably readily available in the UK (220V->DC adapters).

OT, Brit Army eh? Saw some SAS guys (I think) wandering around training last week...look like badasses even when not rapelling from helis. :)
 
OT: SAS badass......? Badass is seeing a Delta Operator riding his harley w/ longish hair/facial hair while at jump school in benning or when being asked for directions from a truck full of SEALS while at air assualt school at Campbell. Those dudes are [H]ard.
 
movax said:
Yep, good call, budget an extra $50/$60 for a dedicated 220V adapter for your laptop, or a solid transformer to use with the stock adapter. Then again, they are probably readily available in the UK (220V->DC adapters).
Click to expand...

Most laptops should already have a worldwide power adapter. It'll say something like 100-250V 60-60Hz. Some of the cheaper ones might not, but most of the 'business class' ones do.
 
IanG said:
Most laptops should already have a worldwide power adapter. It'll say something like 100-250V 60-60Hz. Some of the cheaper ones might not, but most of the 'business class' ones do.
Click to expand...

All of the Apple notebooks do, just for measure, but he said he ruled that out so I'm not here to try and loby it, just to inform.
 
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