What to look for when buying a laptop computer?

[elissa223]

Hi!

I am planning to buy a laptop... I currently have this good old toshiba satellite series that is in dire need of a replacement. So I am scouting for a new laptop to buy, the problem is I don't actually know what to look for in order to get one that has fast internet connection, heavy-duty/durable and yet doesn't cost too much. I asked some of my friends and they told me to look for the one that runs with an Intel i7, I went to some actual computer stores and find some that runs in Intel i3... I am not so sure if I have seen Intel i5. I am not just so tech savvy and I don't know a lot of things about computers.

I think it's a bit tedious to go and browse through lots of websites and read about Intel i3 and Intel i7 and all the specs for each laptop brands and models. I figure, it would be best if I go ask some of you here who might actually have used some of these. Which one should I go for?

Thanks!

[tjthemanto]

Hi!

I am planning to buy a laptop... I currently have this good old toshiba satellite series that is in dire need of a replacement. So I am scouting for a new laptop to buy, the problem is I don't actually know what to look for in order to get one that has fast internet connection, heavy-duty/durable and yet doesn't cost too much. I asked some of my friends and they told me to look for the one that runs with an Intel i7, I went to some actual computer stores and find some that runs in Intel i3... I am not so sure if I have seen Intel i5. I am not just so tech savvy and I don't know a lot of things about computers.

I think it's a bit tedious to go and browse through lots of websites and read about Intel i3 and Intel i7 and all the specs for each laptop brands and models. I figure, it would be best if I go ask some of you here who might actually have used some of these. Which one should I go for?

Thanks!

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...8a655425eeen02

This a very good lap top at only 279.99 ..both the hardware ( processor , RAM , hard drive ) and software ( windows 8 ) are good.

Lenovo ( they bought IBM PC operations ) is a very good brand.

Its now sold out online at FS , but lot of stores still have it , pick one up if you can.

I think BB also has the same sale on that laptop or you can even PM it there

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...6b112c8e51en02

Ofcourse if you spend more you can still get an even better lap top , but for 279.99 this cannot be beat and is very good

FS had 4,000 in stock online and they were all sold out within hours , if they restock it online buy it ..its free shiipping or pick one up in your local store as its still in stock at most locations

[tjthemanto]

It doesn't have Intel processor , but it has a dual core AMD proceesor which is also very good

[tjthemanto]

If you need MS Office along with it ( word , excel , power point , outlook etc ) , you can get it for only 99.99 extra WUB the lap top .

I bought a refurbished Lenovo desktop ( not laptop ) for only 99.99 a yr back from FS and its working very well for me so far

[Tommycoupons]

Ya I bought a customer returned/ refurbished HP laptop from best buy almost 2 years ago and it still works perfect.

[fergieonline]

Personally, I would stay away from the AMD laptop above, it is a cheap price but has extremely weak specs, a Dual Core processor is fine but anything less would be very weak for today's computers. 42% of the people who rated it on Futureshop gave it 1/5, (worst rating). For day to day tasks, and Intel i3 processor would be fine, but i7 is overpowered and very expensive for your tasks in my opinion.

[MrsSunshine]

i ws watching a show the other day and the guy that was doing the report said basically.. look at the lowest price ones.. then the highest.. THEN go to the one in the middle. it will have the best of everything at a better price.

[fergieonline]

That is a good rule of thumb, I would add; limit the highest at about $1000, since some laptops can easily be up to 5K.

[Brad]

What are you going to use this laptop for? The i7 cpu is meant for things like encoding, 3d rendering, and certain scientific applications that require heavy calculating where hyperthreading is useful. If you're just a general user who just uses a laptop to browse the web, office applications, things like that, you will not notice any difference between an i3 and i7. I think even one of the Pentiums like the B980 would be fine. The AMD A6 or A8 would also be good, but the AMD e-series and c-series are a bit weak, although even they're fine if you're not doing anythign heavy and don't mind slightly slower performance.

Make sure it has at least 4 gb ram. I think just about all laptops these days have a gigabit ethernet port and wifi 802.11n so you don't need to worry abotu how fast the internet connection is. Then the only thing to consider is the size you want. Don't worry about whether it's made of metal or plastic, I don't understand why people care about this unless it's an ultrabook and needs to be very light but compact.

The Dell black friday and cyber monday deals would have been good, they had a vostro with the i3 and 4 gb ram for $300, as well as some better laptops for a bit more. I haven't seen any deals as good as that in a store. Maybe they're bring the deal back for boxing day.

[kerrylj]

Personally, I would stay away from the AMD laptop above, it is a cheap price but has extremely weak specs, a Dual Core processor is fine but anything less would be very weak for today's computers. 42% of the people who rated it on Futureshop gave it 1/5, (worst rating). For day to day tasks, and Intel i3 processor would be fine, but i7 is overpowered and very expensive for your tasks in my opinion.

A year and a half ago I bought a Samsung AMD laptop. It has a hardware/software flaw that causes the graphics card to stop work and reset. It happens randomly so it was something that would have been very difficult for them to detect if I had sent it in for repair and it was my work computer so I would have had to do without it for about a month while they looked into it. Likely a few times because of the random nature of it. It is flaw on the AMD computers of all makes and models. It makes them unstable and there is nothing AMD is doing about it.

I have had to replace the laptop with another computer and it is now my spare. I will NEVER buy another AMD. Their tech support is useless. I bought an I5 desltop and it rocks. I wish I had gotten an intel in the first place and saved my money.

I would recommend an I5. You can get some of the earlier models for some really good prices (ie 2nd Gen) and in some cases they are more powerful than the newer ones.

I would HIGHLY recommend getting a laptop from a place like Furture Shop or Bestbuy that have an extended warranty that you take it to them to get repairs instead of dealing with the manufacturer. My son did this for his school computer and he had harddrive issues (very common for laptops if they are transported alot). After 3 repairs he got a new computer and just had to pay a little to extend the warranty. It was worth the money because without that it would have meant alot more costs and their repair staff was/are great when we needed help. My son is in a computer program so his computer is his life. He says that alot of his classmates have had similar experiences.


With a warranty like that you can get a refurbushed computer and not have to worry about it because it will have the fully warranty as if it was new. An added bonus is that the refurbished computers (and electronics) don't get charged the eco fee which is a nice bonus.

2 things that can help you get more bang for your buck with a laptop is getting a fast SD card (class 10) and then use readyboost in windows (assuming you are using windows). it gives the computer cache a boost and make the computer faster for multitasking.

Also if you can wait the boxing day/ week sales can be very good.

[elissa223]

i ws watching a show the other day and the guy that was doing the report said basically.. look at the lowest price ones.. then the highest.. THEN go to the one in the middle. it will have the best of everything at a better price.

I actually thought of this too! I think this is really a great idea... I don't have the budget to buy an expensive laptop but I don't think going for a cheap one would be a nice idea either.

[i_forget]

i want speed with my laptop. there is nothing that annoys me more than waiting. i have a sony vaio, i7, 17 inch screen with a blueray player. it is 3 years old and has taken a beating from my kids. the only issue that i have is that i have to always be plugged in because my battery is done and i cannot get a replacement battery for a decent price. aside from a bulb going in my screen once, i have never had any issues with it. i could probably go down to an i5, but the i7 has spoiled me.

[KrazE]

i want speed with my laptop. there is nothing that annoys me more than waiting. i have a sony vaio, i7, 17 inch screen with a blueray player. it is 3 years old and has taken a beating from my kids. the only issue that i have is that i have to always be plugged in because my battery is done and i cannot get a replacement battery for a decent price. aside from a bulb going in my screen once, i have never had any issues with it. i could probably go down to an i5, but the i7 has spoiled me.

Have you checked newegg.ca, batteries-sales.com, or tigerdirect.ca?

[scam-master]

http://www.futureshop.ca/en-CA/produ...8a655425eeen02

This a very good lap top at only 279.99 ..both the hardware ( processor , RAM , hard drive ) and software ( windows 8 ) are good.

Lenovo ( they bought IBM PC operations ) is a very good brand.

Its now sold out online at FS , but lot of stores still have it , pick one up if you can.

I think BB also has the same sale on that laptop or you can even PM it there

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product/...6b112c8e51en02

Ofcourse if you spend more you can still get an even better lap top , but for 279.99 this cannot be beat and is very good

FS had 4,000 in stock online and they were all sold out within hours , if they restock it online buy it ..its free shiipping or pick one up in your local store as its still in stock at most locations

I would not recommend either of these laptops.
1. Processor speed of 1.3 ghz is awfully slow, you should have at least 2.0ghz
2. Ram specs show 2 gb. You should have at least 6gb these days.

For $500 you can get an intel i3 processor with 6gb Ram and 750 gb hard drive and it'll be twice the laptop of these models.

[Johnnyjohnp25]

just go to cnet.com and there you will find reviews on all types of laptops.

in the end it depends on what you ant to use the laptop for. if you are mainly interested in internet connectivity and you are part of or willing to join the google ecosystem then get the new chrome book, it comes with a 320GB hard drive and access to google's cloud storage, its a great device for only 199$ but the screen is only 12 inches, bit at least its a beautiful and solid design.