Best laptop for around $600 or less?

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Kuyt

Gawd
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Jan 21, 2007
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What are my options? Probably won't game, can go up to $650 or a little more.

Best case scenario = could handle 720p movies.
 
While I'd certainly prefer a Thinkpad, I just helped someone get an HP DV6800 series at Best Buy for $650 + tax. 3gb RAM, 250gb hdd, Turion TL-60, 15.4" and DVD DL.
 
Kuyt said:
Care to elaborate? :)
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The Thinkpads are better built than the HP, but I've had fairly good luck with the DV2,6,9000 models. Used to be a Firedog Technician at Circuit City, had to do warranty work for HP all the time. Most of the problems they came in for were bad DVD drives or harddrives, very seldom was it something more serious. I have a DV9000 that I got for next to nothing, only complaint I have about it is that everything is glossy and smooth. Not a fan of the touchpad, in comparison to the Thinkpad's which is a bit rougher, but yet feels like I can move my finger around more easily.
 
batteriesnotincluded said:
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The Thinkpads are better built than the HP, but I've had fairly good luck with the DV2,6,9000 models. Used to be a Firedog Technician at Circuit City, had to do warranty work for HP all the time. Most of the problems they came in for were bad DVD drives or harddrives, very seldom was it something more serious. I have a DV9000 that I got for next to nothing, only complaint I have about it is that everything is glossy and smooth. Not a fan of the touchpad, in comparison to the Thinkpad's which is a bit rougher, but yet feels like I can move my finger around more easily.
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Wow, I'm sold. Any gripes on that thing? Do you think it could handle 720P?
 
There's also this HP at Walmart for a little less money. It looks like it has the same specs except for a smaller hard drive.
 
It'll handle 720p content. My Core Duo w/ intel integrated handled it, so I see no reason that couldn't either....after all, the GeForce that's in it is actually relatively powerful.


As far as gripes, I have it's 17" brother, and worked on the 15.4" DV6000s at work all the time. Here are the issues I've run into.

1. DV6449US: had issues with showing a black screen for up to 3 minutes between putting in the username and actually showing Vista. Something weird about its setup, as no other HPs did that. It was software related, and I haven't seen it on subsequent models.

2. All DV2,6,9000 models. Everything is glossy and smooth, which makes fingerprints stand out. They give you a cleaning cloth (as well as a remote control and set of ear bud headphones).

3. Related to #2, the touchpad is smooth. I prefer a textured touchpad, but that's just personal preference.

4. Extended batteries raise the unit about an inch instead of sticking out the back. But, 2x the battery life makes it worth it, in my opinion.

Other than that, no real gripes...and those were typically preference issues. Compared to my old Dell E1705, the DV9500 is slim, but is more capable (well, at least it has room for a 2nd harddrive). My model has some scratches on it, but it was a display model, the scratches are from the metal bars used to hold it down and keep it from being stolen, and not an HP issue.

Software gripes for it are bloat and recovery discs needing to be made, but can only be made once.

For the money, it's a good system. It's better than you could get from Lenovo at the same price...it might not survive a fall as well as a Thinkpad, but you shouldn't be dropping it.
 
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