Laptop needed...help!

[matrix82]

Okay, here goes.

Due to my schooling me and DH will have to move, anywhere across Canada, we don't know until mid-may. It is for an 8 month internship. Because we are moving, we are limited to taking basically what can fit into the trunk of a car. This means that we can't take his computer (it is also 9 years old, so it is going to go dead one day).

He is going to change his position with his company and work from home as a customer service rep. We are thinking of getting a laptop, just because of portability.

The problem is that funds are very limited for us. So we are looking for something new (not refurbished) and around $600.

It will be used for running his work program (which from my understanding his computer connects over the internet to a computer at his work). So email, typing, etc.

He uses it a lot for downloading music, but not for gaming.

Basically we want a stable system, around $600, that can be left on for say 9 hrs a day straight (work day) without worrying about over heating etc. Something a little tough would be good, as he is a bit hard on computers.

Currently I have a dell laptop that is 4 years old. I've had no issues with it. His desktop is a dell that is 9-10 years old and we haven't had any issues with it, outside of some software issues once in a while.

If you could please help us with this, as both of us are limited in our knowledge of laptops.

Plus we are living in Nova Scotia right now, so it has to be an online store, or a store located in Halifax or Sydney.

[valeriey]

What area of NS are you in?
We have some small computer stores that might have something in your price range.

[miztia]

I got mine new from future shop about 6 months ago. It is a toshiba.
Its got dvd burner/webcam/card reader. It was on sale for 399, reg 499. I wasnt sure if it would be a piece of crap or not, but Im totally happy with it! I usually leave it on for days on end, no problems. Hope that helps a bit.

[Ashley01]

I have one I'm trying to sell lol but its in PEI

[fire_earth_air]

Here is one that I would personally recommend, they fall within your price range, I would also definitely recommend a warranty which you can use at any of the Futureshop/Best Buy stores so you can still use it if you move around within the country.

I would recommend a HP or Compaq one, Acers & Toshibas tend to heat up faster, but that's my opinion.

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...gon=&langid=EN

[Scooter]

My buddy just picked up this Dell Latitude:

http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/738836-post1.html

It's the lowest price with the most features I've seen. Now the unit is refurbished, but comes with a 1-year warranty with the option to buy extended warranty. Most refurbs are only 30 or 90 day limited warranty... so you know someone is standing behind this laptop.

My friend loves it, and added some extra RAM just for good measure.

[FallenPixels]

I got mine new from future shop about 6 months ago. It is a toshiba.
Its got dvd burner/webcam/card reader. It was on sale for 399, reg 499. I wasnt sure if it would be a piece of crap or not, but Im totally happy with it! I usually leave it on for days on end, no problems. Hope that helps a bit.

I bought that too (well probably the same one)

If you are worried about overheating, try a cooling pad

[matrix82]

Thanks for all the advice. I was just talking to my uncle who does some computer work for the government, apparently his department all used HP laptops. His has been treated roughly, and has seen much of the world, with no issues. He is picking us up a cooling pad.

I am leery of toshiba just because both my sisters have had issues with over heating, and two friends have had issues with overheating.

What is the service like with futureshop if an issue arose while under warentee?

Thanks fallenpixels, that laptop we were looking at, but the worry is that when running Vista, it is only 1 gig ram which I have heard isn't enough with Vista.

Just wondering if you had any issues with that?

[FallenPixels]

Oh not mine then, mine has 2GB RAM and I would imagine Vista would be slower on 1GB but I have used it on someone elses puter on 1GB without a problem. I wouldn't go lower than that with Vista though.

As for service, mine was broken when I got it (the battery plug in had shifted and I couldn't charge it) and they replaced for free and threw in the printer which was the deal that week. I haven't had a problem since so dont know what the service would be - but I imagine your service agreement would be with Toshiba as FutureShop will try to sell you on theirs. I know they told me theirs covered more but wasn't listening. For a $400 laptop I dont expect it to last forever