Buying a new Laptop, Opinions?

[ZebraRampage]

So for the past few months I've been thinking about buying a new computer because mine will be five years old in August. I'm still going to keep this computer and make sure it runs well, so I can have two computers, but I really need a faster machine.

First of all, I'm getting Windows because most of the programs I use in engineering are windows based. So I'm sorry if you MAC users have a problem with that haha. I'm also getting some high end hardware and hardly any software because I have Office 2007 and I have security software that I can use, so there's no need to buy it with the machine. I guess I just wanted to see what you guys think of my decision and if it's a good deal.




So the computer I've decided to get is the HP Pavilion dv7t Quad Edition Series.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=notebooks&a1=Category&v1=High+performance&series_name=dv7tqe_series&jumpid=in_R329_prodexp/hhoslp/psg/notebooks/High_performance/dv7tqe_series


I'm getting the white color scheme because I think it's less offensive and much more subtle, but overall I wish that there wasn't a graphic on this computer. The hardware that I plan to get is as follows:


Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (Considered Professional, but I would only want it for XP Mode, and I already have this desktop to run XP on, so I really don't see a point in spending $75 extra for professional)


Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-720QM Processor (1.6GHz, 6MB L2 Cache, 1333MHz FSB) w/Turbo Boost up to 2.8 GHz (I believe that i7 is a quad core, correct me if I'm wrong, but that would explain the low rate of 1.6GHz)


FREE Upgrade to 4GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) from 3GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm) (pretty good deal in my opinion)


FREE Upgrade to 320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection (I don't really need more than that since I keep my music on my external hard drive. Also, this is an upgrade from 250GB)


1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 230M (No other choice in the matter)


LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-RW with Double Layer Support (Once again, no choice)


Intel Wireless-N Card with Bluetooth (I might want to get a blue tooth mouse to bring along in my laptop bag. Also, Wireless-N is new, but it should be fine right?)


Once again, I'm not getting Microsoft Office, even though it's 50% off, because I already have it.


I'm also not getting Norton.


I do however want to get at least a 2 year warranty. Now, what I'm wondering is which warranty to get, between these two.


2-year HP Care Pack Pick Up and Return Service
2-year HP Care Pack Accidental Damage Protection Service ($60 extra from the first one)



The total cost will come out to be $1273.98 with the first warranty and $1333.98 with the second warranty. (After $200 rebate)

There's also a $200 instant rebate, but the prices I gave you were AFTER the rebate. Also, if it's an instant rebate, I obviously don't have to worry about mailing anything, but they seriously just take off $200 then? It won't be $200 given to me in the form of buying other HP products?



I considered getting a Dell XPS, but I'm kind of sick of Dell and their overpriced computers. They've been going downhill a bit. Also, the XPS that is comparable to this is over $100 more, and it also requires me to get certain things, like an extra battery. I just don't see the incentive in getting an XPS. This high end HP is fine for me, except for the graphics on the color scheme, but I'll deal with it.

So, do you guys think that this is a good deal? Also, should I get the 2 year warrant with or without the accidental damage? Is the $60 worth it? And, regarding the rebate, I don't have to worry about it, correct? I wouldn't want to end up paying an extra $200 just for money toward other HP products.

[Bond]

I know you said you want to use Windows, but you could still get a MacBook or MacBook Pro and dual boot OS X and Vista or Windows 7. I would, personally, go this route. I've had excellent luck with my MBP, and running Windows on it is no problem at all.

[Vampyr]

Or just get a Windows machine and avoid the annoyance. :P

I've really been enjoying my Sony Vaio that I got last semester. It looks really nice, it's very sturdy, and I've never had a problem out of it.

That being said, I had a really really horrible experience with my last laptop, which was an HP. It was manufactured with a flaw in the motherboard which caused it to overheat and destroy the wireless capabilities and caused the video to stop working. The problem was so widespread that they actually issued a recall. However, upon sending the machine back, they tried to tell me that there was a liquid spill inside the machine and that they would not fix it for free.

I ended up arguing with them for a few days (I even found links online from other people they had sold the exact same story to), and they fixed it.

However, upon fixing it, the only "change" they make to prevent the problem from occurring in the future is to change a setting in the BIOS which caused the fan to spin more.

The computer failed again about 6 months later from the same issue, and I bought a Vaio.

Also, if you're going to be using that machine to play video games or run high end computer aided design software, your video card will be the bottle neck since you have shared memory and not dedicated.

If you have the cash I would probably go for the accidental warranty...just for peace of mind.

[Bond]

Or just get a Windows machine and avoid the annoyance. :P

I've really been enjoying my Sony Vaio that I got last semester. It looks really nice, it's very sturdy, and I've never had a problem out of it.

That being said, I had a really really horrible experience with my last laptop, which was an HP. It was manufactured with a flaw in the motherboard which caused it to overheat and destroy the wireless capabilities and caused the video to stop working. The problem was so widespread that they actually issued a recall. However, upon sending the machine back, they tried to tell me that there was a liquid spill inside the machine and that they would not fix it for free.

I ended up arguing with them for a few days (I even found links online from other people they had sold the exact same story to), and they fixed it.

However, upon fixing it, the only "change" they make to prevent the problem from occurring in the future is to change a setting in the BIOS which caused the fan to spin more.

The computer failed again about 6 months later from the same issue, and I bought a Vaio.

Also, if you're going to be using that machine to play video games or run high end computer aided design software, your video card will be the bottle neck since you have shared memory and not dedicated.

If you have the cash I would probably go for the accidental warranty...just for peace of mind.
Annoyance? I'd rather go through the "annoyance" of installing Windows on a mac than go through what you did.

I like both macs and pcs, but the reliability of a macbook cannot be beat - especially when you're on the go.

[Professor S]

I'd avoid HP laptops. My work gets them and for the last 2 years they've had nothing but problems. They drive our Ops team nuts.

Maybe Lenovo?

And I'd love a Macbook as well if I was independently wealthy...

[Vampyr]

Annoyance? I'd rather go through the "annoyance" of installing Windows on a mac than go through what you did.

I like both macs and pcs, but the reliability of a macbook cannot be beat - especially when you're on the go.

Windows isn't why my machine failed.

And there's nothing special about the hardware in macs, and I've heard quite a few stories of them failing as well.

And even if the hardware is more reliable than the average PC (I know now to never buy an HP again, I'll probably stick with Vaio's), I would rather not endure the annoyance of having the Mac OS for the lifetime of the computer.

[Bond]

Windows isn't why my machine failed.
Where did I say Windows was why your machine failed?

As I said, I like both macs and pcs, but I think macbooks are superior for mobile computing.

[ZebraRampage]

I know you said you want to use Windows, but you could still get a MacBook or MacBook Pro and dual boot OS X and Vista or Windows 7. I would, personally, go this route. I've had excellent luck with my MBP, and running Windows on it is no problem at all.

Just for the record, I'm not going to get a Mac. One of the main reasons is because I WANT a keypad. I use keypads so much for calculations and entering formulas into excel. I know that keypads can be bought separately and hooked up via usb, but I honestly do not want to do that. I also want a big screen, so that automatically makes a Macbook Pro out of my price range. The Macbook isn't big enough either.



That being said, I had a really really horrible experience with my last laptop, which was an HP. It was manufactured with a flaw in the motherboard which caused it to overheat and destroy the wireless capabilities and caused the video to stop working. The problem was so widespread that they actually issued a recall. However, upon sending the machine back, they tried to tell me that there was a liquid spill inside the machine and that they would not fix it for free.

I ended up arguing with them for a few days (I even found links online from other people they had sold the exact same story to), and they fixed it.

However, upon fixing it, the only "change" they make to prevent the problem from occurring in the future is to change a setting in the BIOS which caused the fan to spin more.

The computer failed again about 6 months later from the same issue, and I bought a Vaio.

I have heard from some people that HP laptops aren't reliable, and then I've heard the exact opposite about them. I hear the same thing for almost every company. Some say that they suck, and others say that they're great. Personally, I've never had any major problems with any of the computers that I've owned. The only major issue I had was with a Dell Monitor that had to be replaced twice.



Also, if you're going to be using that machine to play video games or run high end computer aided design software, your video card will be the bottle neck since you have shared memory and not dedicated.

If you have the cash I would probably go for the accidental warranty...just for peace of mind.

Another point to make is that this laptop will not be used for playing games. My desktop is setup nicely with a new video card to handle this. Maybe if I get a game in the future that can only run on Windows 7 I'll use it for this purpose, but seeing as I'm not a big PC gamer, I don't think I will have to worry about this.



I've really been enjoying my Sony Vaio that I got last semester. It looks really nice, it's very sturdy, and I've never had a problem out of it.

Do you know if there's a Vaio that is a comparable price for the specs that I stated above?



I'd avoid HP laptops. My work gets them and for the last 2 years they've had nothing but problems. They drive our Ops team nuts.

Maybe Lenovo?

And I'd love a Macbook as well if I was independently wealthy...

Were the HP laptops high end, or were they just average machines? I know that this might not matter, but I'm still curious. Also, I've seen some Lenovo stuff. Do they also have a comparable machine?


I will probably look into Sony and Lenovo, but I really like the what I'm seeing with this HP. I've talked to two computer programmers that I know (Yes, I realize that they don't know as much about hardware as they know about software), and they seem to think that this computer's a good deal and should be fine. Is it a general consensus that HP laptops are bad?

[Vampyr]

A Sony with the same specs will probably be more expensive - that was the reason I bought my original HP laptop...for the price it had the best specs of any brand.

But I guess you get what you pay for. There seem to be far more horror stories of HP computers than any other brand.

Here is an article on some research done just a few months ago:

http://www.ditii.com/2009/11/18/asus-and-toshiba-most-reliable-laptop-brands-dell-and-hp-worst/

I've actually heard really great things about Asus machines from people I know who own them, maybe you could check them out.

(note that Sony is higher than Apple :p)

[ZebraRampage]

I was looking at the Sony Vaio F-Seires, and it seems to be comparable. I just don't know what the wireless card is, and if there's bluetooth, when I customize. That link you sent me does make one think twice about getting an HP Laptop. I've been putting this purchase off for months now, comparing everything. I guess I haven't looked at some companies, but I always thought that HP was somewhat reliable. Do you think that the bigger companies tend to get more malfunctions because more people who don't know what they're doing with computers get them from the bigger companies? I really want to make this decision in the next few days because I'm tired of waiting.

[Vampyr]

I guess that's possible, but I'm a Computer Science major and I had terrible issues. My girlfriends best friend is also very tech savvy, and I know she has sworn off of HP's as well, plus the people at Prof's work that he mentioned.

I think with Sony you end up paying a little more for style, similar to how you pay more to own a mac because of how it looks.

If that's not something you care about, I would probably take a serious look at Asus laptops. If I didn't have a sony I would probably get one of those.

[ZebraRampage]

Vampyr, I've been looking into Sony, and I like the F-Series a lot. Also, if I upgrade to Windows 7 Professional, it has that Fresh Start Option, where it doesn't put any of those trial programs on.

I am struggling with two things. The first one is the video card.

16.4" VAIO Display (1600x900) with NVIDIA® GeForce® 310M GPU (512MB VRAM) [subtract $150.00]

or

# 16.4" VAIO Premium Display (1920x1080) with NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU (1GB VRAM)

The second one costs an extra $150.00, but it has 1 GB of VRAM, which would be ideal.


Also, there's no option for choosing the wireless card. I see nothing about that at all. And I can't find anywhere on the site that tells me the specs of the computer, so I can see which types of ports it has. If I could see all sides of the laptop, that wouldn't be a problem.


I've also been looking at Dell's Studio XPS laptops, but they don't have the keypads, which really sucks.


Just for the record, I've pretty much decided not to get the HP, even though it's the best deal with everything I want. I don't mind spending a little extra money on a Sony, Dell, or some other company, to get a more reliable laptop.

[Vampyr]

I don't know if this page will load but here are specs:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666067742#specifications

I just clicked on the computer I was interested in and there was a "specifications" tab on the page.

One cool thing about those F series is that they have quad core processors in them.

[ZebraRampage]

I don't know if this page will load but here are specs:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666067742#specifications

I just clicked on the computer I was interested in and there was a "specifications" tab on the page.

One cool thing about those F series is that they have quad core processors in them.


Thanks. The reason I couldn't view the specs is because I was customizing, and not just clicking on one of the pre-made computers.

All right, well I am probably going to go with the F-series then. It has the keypad too, which is nice. I will also go with the 1 GB of VRAM, because I think it'll make it much better.


The wireless options are the same no matter what the price is, it seems.

* Bluetooth® Technology : Integrated Stereo A2DP (2.1 + EDR)15
* Ethernet Protocol : 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T
* Ethernet Speed : Fast Ethernet (RJ-45)
* Wi-Fi : 802.11 b/g/n

Thanks for the help. I'm not buying it yet, because I have to wait for some checks to go from pending to actually being available in my checking account, but I'll be buying it soon.

[ZebraRampage]

Here, I'll put what I'm getting with this computer.

Intel® Core™ i7-720QM processor (1.60GHz) with Turbo Boost up to 2.80GHz
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit
320GB Hard Disk Drive (5400rpm)
4GB (2GBx2) DDR3-SDRAM-1333
CD/DVD burner
16.4" VAIO Premium Display (1920x1080) with NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU (1GB VRAM)
Standard Capacity Battery, Estimated Battery Life : Up to 4 hours Standard
No Keyboard Backlight (Is it worth it? I don't really plan on using this in the dark.)
2 Year Express Ship Service Plan with ADH for Notebooks

* Bluetooth® Technology : Integrated Stereo A2DP (2.1 + EDR)15
* Ethernet Protocol : 10Base-T/100Base-TX/1000Base-T
* Ethernet Speed : Fast Ethernet (RJ-45)
* Wi-Fi : 802.11 b/g/n (Does this mean that it has b, g, and n capabilities?)

*Sound System : Intel® High Definition Audio w/ Dolby® Home Theather® v3

* DC-In : 1
* Ethernet Connection(s) : 1
* HDMI™ Output : 1
* Headphone Jack : 1
* Internal Microphone : 1
* Microphone Input : 1
* S/PDIF Output(s) : 1
* USB Port(s) : 2 (2.0 compliant)
* VGA Output(s) : 1
* i.LINK® Connection : 1 (4pin) i.LINK® connector (IEEE 1394)

* 10-Key Numeric Pad : Yes
* Backlit Keyboard : Yes
* Camera : Built-in MOTION EYE® camera and microphone with face-tracking technology
* Keyboard : QWERTY, 103 keys with 2.0mm stroke and 19.05mm pitch

*Multimedia Card Reader : One Memory Stick PRO™ (STD / Duo) media slot with MagicGate® functionality One ExpressCard® /34 media slot One Secure Digital (SD memory card) media slot

* Resolution : 1920 x 1080
* Screen Size : 16.4"4
* Technology : Full HD


This should all come out to around $1399.98, so $1400. All of the stuff with asterisks was from the specifications section. I couldn't choose any of these from the customize section.

[Jason1]

My brother has basically that exact same HP laptop, got it on Woot.com a few months ago, refurbished, for 630 dollars. He has not had any problems with it yet.

[ZebraRampage]

Well, I actually just bought the Sony Vaio. It took me a while to hit the "Place Order" button, but I don't regret my purchase. :)

I looked at the HP Pavilion and the Sony Vaio in stores. I realized that there are a lot of things I don't like about the aesthetics of the HP, but those articles about the malfunction rates kind of worried me as well. I do believe that a lot of malfunctions are due to the users though. This laptop is going to be taken care of though.

Thanks for the input everyone. I believe I made a good purchase here.

[ZebraRampage]

I'm going to post some pictures of what I got. This machine really kicks ass, so I'd recommend it if you're planning on getting a new laptop soon. The only issue is that it has a high pitched buzzing noise that goes away when you change some settings for the microphone such as muting it and checking the box that says to listen to the device. That's okay because if it's on mute then the buzzing goes away, and I only use the mic when I'm on the webcam, and when you do that with the mic unmuted, the buzzing noise isn't there too, so it's not really a problem.

Anyway, now for the pictures.


http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs175.snc3/20239_755759060763_14216408_42606071_6569001_n.jpg


http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs195.snc3/20239_756059957763_14216408_42612140_4418587_n.jpg


http://hphotos-snc3.fbcdn.net/hs195.snc3/20239_756059962753_14216408_42612141_4683859_n.jpg


http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs195.snc3/20239_756059967743_14216408_42612142_3957307_n.jpg


http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs195.snc3/20239_756059972733_14216408_42612143_1413379_n.jpg


http://photos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs175.snc3/20239_756059977723_14216408_42612144_2429013_n.jpg


The first three were taken without flash, and the next two were taken with flash. The last one is a shot of the backlit keyboard, which is pretty awesome.

[Vampyr]

I wish my laptop had the backlit keyboard. :(

Looks like a great machine though. My girlfriend bout the Sony Vaio SR a couple of days ago. It's a 13.3 inch laptop with a great graphics card, which is pretty rare.

[Seth]

Congrats zebra. I hope you have nothing but pleasant experiences with your new technology.
Have you played any games on it yet. Impressions

[ZebraRampage]

Congrats zebra. I hope you have nothing but pleasant experiences with your new technology.
Have you played any games on it yet. Impressions

Playing Modern Warfare 2 on it was great. There weren't any problems with it, except for that intermittent wireless problem that I'm having. The game looks GREAT with the Full HD screen.


The processor is so fast on this thing. Whenever I go back to use my desktop, I can't believe I put up with such a slow machine for so long. This is a great laptop if anyone else is thinking about getting one with similar features.

[ZebraRampage]

I thought you guys might like to hear this. So I was testing the processor of this machine to see how much I could push it. I had these 8 programs running.

Firefox(with pandora and facebook open), thunderbird, skype, pidgin, itunes, google earth, steam(client, chat, and friends list), and the task manager. It was averaging only 6% CPU usage, and maxed at around 14% when I was using google earth, which usually almost maxes out the cpu on my desktop. I was also using only 1.8 GB of RAM, and I have 4 GB total. I'm sure I could run some other programs too, and play Modern Warfare 2, and it would be fine. I don't plan on doing that though, because I'm sure it would affect the game a little bit after a while. This computer is really great though, so I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a new one with strong hardware.

The cons are that it has that buzzing noise related to the mic, but when you use the mic it doesn't happen, and it goes away when the mic is set to "listen to this device" and muted. So if I'm not using it, I just do that, and it's fine. The speakers kind of suck too, but it's a laptop, and I just hook it up to my speakers, minus the bass and center speaker outputs, and it's fine. The screen has been said to be washed out, and it certainly looked that way until I turned off the "adjust brightness automatically" option, which allow for me to max out the brightness if I wanted. Everytime that I alter the picture with the Nvidia settings, it changes back to the original settings everytime I restart the computer, so I'm not sure how to take it off default, especially when I've been applying the nvidia settings, but it's not that big of a deal.