Looking for new computer, any suggestions?

W

wash

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Aug 23, 2015
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I am looking for a computer and external hard drive to use at university in September.

My computer needs to:

- be portable
- write essays
- watch Netflix/Youtube
- play music
- be sturdy
- preferably play some computer games (I like Battlefront 2 and the old Halo's)
- have a SSD

And my external hard drive needs:

- at least 500GB
- USB power source
- preferably be a SSD
 
Last edited:
Not sure how to find a computer that will write your essays for you... ;)

What's your budget?
 
How portable are we talking? Pretty much any computer is portable unless you bolt it to the floor/desk/whatever.
 
My budget is <$1000.

I am looking for something that I can put in my backpack and take to classes with me.

I also realize I made a mistake on my original post: The computer should have a SSD and my ext. hard drive is the one that would "preferably" be a SSD, but doesn't have to be. I have changed it.
 
An external SSD is going to cost a substantial percentage of your budget, whereas one of these has a much better price/GB.

How big is your backpack? Would you be opposed to an older used laptop from ebay with some souping up? At work, we've been having good results with the Lenovo T420s / T530 series. A 256GB SSD + 16GB memory and they tend to fly.
Replacing the DVD drive with a second SSD in a caddy also works very well.
 
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Your description is a little vague but something like this might be of interest http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=34-299-140&utm_medium=Email&utm_source=IGNEFL082315&nm_mc=EMC-IGNEFL082315&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL082315-_-EMC-082315-Index-_-index-_-34-299-140 .

I recently purchased one and was quite pleased. This is just an example, there are many options on very nice refurbished items. I prefer older high end laptops as opposed to newer cheap laptops. This particular computer was pretty solid and it was a cheaper option. There are some pretty good deals on i7 and better refurbs that might give you the bang for the buck you want. You might have some cash in the budget to add some nice options to your bundle. Personally I've had very good fortune with refurbed products. Yes I'm cheap :)

Just my $.02
 
Apple is one of the best to buy if you can. It gives awesome performance. Otherwise dell is also good brand.
 
My vote will go to purchasing a used laptop. Asus makes a great laptop, or an older alienware as much as i hate most Dell products. Doesn't seem to me that you will need much power. You can easily pop a SSD in any of their gaming laptops if it doesn't have one. As for Macbooks... I would honestly avoid as you will pay much much more money for the same performance out of one of the above mentioned laptops. Macbooks are only good for people who don't mind spending a lot of money for an operating system and a cool case.
 
ASUS Zenbooks are well put together and a pretty good deal for what you get. However, they might struggle a little with games as most have integrated graphics, but otherwise be great for everything else you listed.
 
Gameplan, I would highly recommend starting your own thread instead of posting in Wash's thread.

Please be sure to include your use case (gaming / video editing / normal desktop stuff / do you need portability and the like). If you know what you're going to use it for, we can help narrow down a recommendation, but you're going to want to make your own thread for that.
 
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