Buying a laptop this week-any suggestions

[hotspur]

Will have to buy a new laptop very shortly,my current one is 5 years old only has 1 GB RAM,rather slow,and has a few issues.

My budget is up to $1000.

Here are a few I looked at-has anyone one of these or bought from this onlone store?I had heard quite a few people say newer Toshibas have over heating issues.Not sure which ones to look at and consider.

http://www.oo.com.au/Toshiba-Satellite-Pro-C850-PSK_P118493C395.cfm

(from my limited knowledge this looks good)

or this one

http://www.oo.com.au/Acer-TravelMate-TM5760G-Notebo_P117492C395.cfm

does not have a USB 3 port

Thanks for any advice,

[multiweb]

The Toshiba is 4GB RAM and doesn't explicitly say 64bits OS like the other. Might want to doublecheck with the shop you're not getting a 32bit version.

[mithrandir]

Windows 7 retail packs supposedly come with 32 and 64 bit DVDs. OEM Windows builds normally have one of them, if they supply any disk at all.

Ask them which they supply and if 32 bit whether they charge extra to reimage as 64 bit.

It makes little sense these days for shops to default to 32 bit on 64 bit capable systems.

[hotspur]

Thanks,will certainly make the effort to get a 64 bit system,they hardly ever come with a disk these days,which is annoying.I might have to get some help
from one of the 'nerd herders' that come up from DSO nights.

[multiweb]

When I bought my HP notebook with 8GB RAM after a few questions it was shipped with 32bit OS. I paid a little more to get the 64bit version (about $49). Although they advertise 8GB RAM and charge you for it it's little use if you stick with the stock OS so it's worth asking as they won't advertise the fact 32bit OS access 3.5GB RAM max ( per app).

As far as OEM goes be aware that you will have a lot of trouble moving the OS to another machine in the future. It can be done but there's a lot of red tape and BS with Microsoft phone sales/support to go through to get it done (if they feel like it). Same if you virtualise. Depends on your future needs of course but if you're thinking I'm buying one licence of Win7 64bits regardless of what I might migrate it in the future then spend the extra money and get one normal license.

[DavidTrap]

I'd make sure the RAM can be expanded beyond 4Gb - I bought some 3rd party RAM for my laptop and have 16Gb. (It was the same price as 8Gb from the original manufacturer)

DT

[JohnH]

Toshiba are the only manufaturer to put both vsn of Win7 on their machines that I could find - will have 64 bit but you can switch it but booting into the sys partitiion. 32 bit windows is still better supported in that older hardware will not have 64 bit drivers develeoped for it and you may get compatibility issues. 32 bit windows cannot use more than 2 Gb memory though ....so it is good to have the choice.

[hotspur]

Would something like this be a reasonable option?

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/TOSHIBA-2nd-Generation-CORE-i5-15-6-8GB-BLUETOOTH3-0-TURBO-BOOST-LAPTOP-15-16-/200745458803?pt=AU_comp_laptop&hash=item2ebd5c


Or this one -a bit dearer at $985

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Toshiba-Satellite-Laptop-P770-3-10Ghz-17-3-i7-2670QM-8GB-750GB-BLU-RAY-HDMI-/360422450288?pt=AU_comp_laptop&hash=item53eada2470#ht

May be its a 'no-no' to buy of ebay,but thought I'd ask experienced computer uses their opinion on this one.It does appear it can be operated at 64 bit,and the RAM expanded.

Thanks for any advice.

[Colin_Fraser]

Hello Chris,

Seems you do a fair bit of image editing and are looking into DVD authoring you really need to look at something equal to or better than the minimum specs. All new laptops are fast, but things like Windows OS, type of RAM and HDD & graphics all slow it down.
Look for something with at least...
1: Toshiba or Asus.
2: 64bit OS
3: 2nd Gen Intel i5 Processor
4: DEDICATED graphics card - not one with SHARED memory.
5: HDD that runs at 7200rpm or Solid State drive if your budget allows.
6: RAM is dirt cheap, get as much as you can afford. And get the fastest RAM you can afford. Some generic brands are very slow.

Remember, a 64bit OS only allows applications to address memory above 4gb. It does not mean applications will run twice as fast as a 32bit OS.
In reality, if your have a 64bit OS and 128gb RAM, you will not benefit at all if the application cannot address more than 4gb

If your budget allows it and you want trouble free and stable computing, consider an Apple MacBook Pro.

Colin

[Nortilus]

my toshiba is still running like a boss...it is 4 years old now and no problems...it only has 4gig of ram, dual core 2.4ghz cpu, 320gig hard drive and dedicated ati videocard...runs all my astronomy stuff easy...dont use it for processing though...i move all that to my main pc...
im also able to watch 1080p movies while running the astronomy software in the background...so if thats all your really looking to use it for...then im sure you'll find something in your budget...

[hotspur]

Thanks Colin and Josh.

Thanks for listing those point Colin,I think those two I listed in previous link before your post,might be close,not sure if a dedicated graphics card can be put in either of these.Will check a few out with your list handy.

[Colin_Fraser]

Yes Josh, Toshiba produce great laptops or notebooks as they are now called.
The key is the dedicated graphics card like yours.
Anyone buying a laptop for graphic applications, a dedicated card is essential.

[Kal]

I've bought a fair few items from that online store (although never laptops) and never had any problems with them.

[hotspur]

Thanks Karl.

Looking at either of these ones

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/170774442559?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX: IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_5265wt _1185


or this one

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/200754506953?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX: IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_6686wt _1185

I've always had Toshy's,but I quite like this HP one here,at $849 has dedicated graphics card,8GB ram,and a business model,so may be built a little better.The overall look of it appeals to me more than Toshy,anyone got either of these ones?

[Colin_Fraser]

Hello Chris,

I have not used the Toshiba but a person I tutor has the same HP.
It has a better processor and faster RAM than the Toshiba. The only problem he has had is not with the computer but the crappy software that came bundled with it.
Once we cleaned it out it was blindingly fast.

[stevous67]

If you need long battery performance, don't get one of these - about 1.75hrs. But if you want power and performance:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/ASUS-G73SW-TZ192V-i7-2630QM-17-3-8GB-2X-750GB-SATA-Blu-Ray-Win7-GTX-460-/120911019496?pt=AU_comp_laptop&hash=item1c26dbbde8#ht_4599wt_922

Sometimes eBay you can be a bargain, but just buyer beware. I just bought x3 of these here and all for $825. 12mths manufacturers warranty to boot. Nearly keeps up with my dads new high powered Alienware unit.

Good luck,

Steve

[2stroke]

I would never buy from ebay lol, there called parallel imports which means your screwed for Australian warranty and will have to send back to whatever corner of the earth they came from. Use static ice for searching for the best price in Australia, if using ebay make sure you check with the seller that the product has Australian warrenty and don't rely on were its being shipped from :)

[stevous67]

eBay is a good source, performance of the seller can be gauged, and you must verify warranty certificates in advance. Like I said, buyer beware.

[hotspur]

Thanks Colin.


Yes,I see the software looks not all that useful,Norton anti virus-the darn thing is a virus.

Have had too much time to look around,but this one does appear about the best I've seen so far,your students' have the same i5 processor?Some have i7 which would be good.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/200754506953?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX: IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_6686wt _1185

This one would certainly be an improvement over my current one,I might even be able to do some PP on an astro image,my DSS files are rather large and have difficulty in PP on my current computer.

[Colin_Fraser]

Hello Chris

One student has the same HP as in the advert. One has a Lenova i3 which I could only describe as crap. The rest have a mixture of brands with similar specs, all bar one is have 2nd generation i5 processors.
One lady has an Asus i7 and it's not noticeably better or faster because of the way it is set up and configured.
The i5 processor is about the best bang for buck, in my opinion.

Like purchasing a telescope, it's a good idea to check it out in the flesh. Drop into a local retailer and have a look. Some laptops "feel" cheap and nasty.

[RobC]

Chris,

Go to Grays On Line. There is always a lot of laptops and desktops up for auction from the big name manufactures with full 12 months warrantry. Also there is no monetary risk with Grays on line.

Suggest you go for an Intel based I7 ( quad core ) with 8GB of memory running at a clock speed equal to or greater than 2.5 GHZ. Also ensure there are a few USB 3.0 ports.

Regards

Rob

[hotspur]

Thanks Rob,and all others.

I ended up ordering a new one that has third generation i7(four cores) and 2GB dedicated Nvida graphics card and has 3 3.0 USB ports and some 2.0 USB ports.It has 6GB of RAM,I felt that was a bit odd-it was 4 and 2,so will be able to take 2 out and replace with another 4-although I am only a basic users-not sure if I'll need that extra,It should be a bit quicker than my 4 1/2 year old Toshy Tecra A9 centrino laptop.

So hopefully,I'll be able to use this new lappy for astro imaging very soon.