Laptop Comparison - Need Advice!

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GreatestOne

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 15, 2005
Messages
488
Ok BestBuy has this great trade-in/recycle deal going on, gave in an old client's Dell XP laptop for $100 credit, + will give my old Galaxy S2 Skyrocket for another $40 and wanting to sell my current HP Athlon X2 for about $70 to a client, so this will be the only time I look for pretty much any decent laptop at BestBuy, and torn between a few (if u cant pick one, at least tell me which u hate):

HP - Geek Squad Certified Refurbished Pavilion 17.3" Laptop - Anodized Silver
HP (-1)
AMD A8 2.1Ghz
4GB (max 8GB)
Cache Memory 4MB on die Level 2
750GB (+1)
AMD Radeon HD 8550G (up to 2GB) (+1)
Win 8 64bit
$340 (Net = $130)

Samsung - Geek Squad Certified Refurbished 15.6" Laptop - Silver
i3 2.4Ghz
4GB (max 8GB)
Cache Memory 3MB on die Level 3
750GB
Win 8 64bit
$350 (Net = $140) + GOOD REVIEWS

HP - Pavilion 17.3" Laptop - Anodized Silver (((Despite HP, I like this best because its new and decent reviews if that 2.8Ghz boost comes true, just need to add 4GB RAM)))
HP (-1)
AMD A8 1.9GHz (with Turbo CORE up to 2.8GHz) <--- REALLY? IF TRUE (+1)
4GB (max 8GB)
Cache Memory 4MB on die Level 2
750GB
Win 8.1 64bit
$400 (Net = $190) + GOOD REVIEWS

HP - Geek Squad Certified Refurbished ENVY 15.6" Laptop - Natural Silver
HP (-1)
i5 2.6GHz (with Turbo Boost up to 3.2GHz) <--- REALLY? IF TRUE (+1)
8GB (max 16GB)
750GB
Win 8 64bit
$400 (Net = $190) + BAD REVIEW (just 1 tho, hmmmm)

This will basically be my throwaway laptop for emergencies, possible road trips, and maybe take to client job sites if I need it for whatever. I MAY install something like Adobe CS2 or something in case I need to do some design on the road, but that would be the extent. Don't care for gaming really on a laptop, esp at low-res, rather play chess or sudoku or something. Might possibly use HDMI out to play some movies, although these graphic cards suck balls. I guess the bottom line is concerning the i3 vs i5 and the 32 bit Win 7 and 4GB cap. I do love the A8 tho, like getting a free graphics card LOL. Wouldnt mind a bigger screen, 17.3", but then again its heavier to carry around so I guess it kinda evens out.

Comments?
 
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If this is a throwaway laptop, the I recommend going with the 15.6" HP Black Licorice and adding RAM to it. Its general specs are comparable to the 15.6" Samsung (remember, you can replace the HDD, RAM, and wireless card) and the Intel HD Graphics can handle 1080p video (even though you have a 720p resolution).

But which of these laptops does your local Best Buy have in stock? You can't purchase all of them online.
 
Romale23 said:
need to list screen resolution, i think its pretty important
Click to expand...

All of the laptops listed have some variant of a 720p resolution. The the 15.6" laptops have a 1366x768 resolution while the 17" laptops have a 1600x900 resolution.

Only the 14" Lenovo T410 lacks a listed resolution. Based on the Lenovo support site, it has either a 1280x800 resolution or a 1440x900 resolution.
 
Honestly resolution is not that important to me... I wont be using this more than maybe an hour a week, if that, and will probably end up selling to another client next year or whatever. In fact I dont mind the sizes being larger at the cost of sharpness. I doubt I'll watch bluray quality movies on this more than once a year.

And BestBuy said I can order whatever I want, as long as I order and pay in store only, then THEY order it and I have to go pick up there when it comes. They are about 10 min away from me so its not a bad option.

My basic dilemma is, mostly among the 8GB RAM capable laptops here, the processor, A8 with the "boost" or i5/i3 with "boost"..... I thought the A8 graphics was much better than that Intel stock one?
 
GreatestOne said:
My basic dilemma is, mostly among the 8GB RAM capable laptops here, the processor, A8 with the "boost" or i5/i3 with "boost"..... I thought the A8 graphics was much better than that Intel stock one?
Click to expand...
For gaming yes. But for HD content? Any onboard video released in the past 3-4 years can do that easily.

Personally, I'd go for the Samsung as I despise HP laptops. Though at least they're not Toshiba.
 
I just wanted to be able to play like SC2 at full and not have to worry about lag IF I wanted to at some point on the road etc.... but again this may happen like once a year so not worries about it.

I obviously agree on the Hp crap, as u can see from my ratings, LMAO... never had a Samsung laptop but cant be worse than HP or Dell.

I guess unless someone has something against the Samsung, I'll just get that, even though I rather have an i5, whatever, it'll be fine with 8GB RAM. Only thing is refurb gives me 90 days warranty instead of 1 yr, hmmmmmm......
 
Apparently I can't read: I though the Lenovo had an i3. In that case, I'd rather have the Lenovo.
 
Me too but that 4GB cap really is pathetic... that pretty much makes any SC2 or Adobe CS2 non-usable in a reasonable amount of responsiveness. I shouldnt have even put that there but the low price kinda tempted me, but nah, ima actually delete it, not worth the time.

Now its def between the Samsung and the new HP A8... tough choice....
 
GreatestOne said:
Me too but that 4GB cap really is pathetic... that pretty much makes any SC2 or Adobe CS2 non-usable in a reasonable amount of responsiveness. I shouldnt have even put that there but the low price kinda tempted me, but nah, ima actually delete it, not worth the time.

Now its def between the Samsung and the new HP A8... tough choice....
Click to expand...

Why? Just upgrade the RAM. How hard is that?
 
LENOVO MAXIMUM RAM is 4GB... I dunno about you but I dunno how to re-manufacture the MB to include another DIMM slot, nor do I have any desire to.
 
The one I read off Bestbuy's specs stated it was max 4GB... I didnt check the Lenovo site but I dont wanna risk ordering that one only to find out BestBuy was right, that would be a major hassle with all the discounts etc., then I would not even be eligible and lose my coupons since they expire on May 5 and lose $75.
 
I think the other problem I had with that was it came with Win 7 32 bit, combined with no DVD-RW, 160GB HD, and no HDMI, yes its cheaper and I dont mind Lenovo and the good CPU, but it would be a distant 3rd choice.
 
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