1. #1

    Best value laptop

    hey everyone! im searching for a new laptop for school and facebook purposes. Im not purchasing a gaming laptop, but i still want some performance, maybe 2.1+ghz and 4gDDR3. Theres alot of back2school deals arround the internets and i was wondering which laptop is the best for the lowest price? my budget is arround 500 and i live in canada. TY!

  2. #2

  3. #3
    Just so you know, "ghz" isn't a measure of how good the processor is. It's just a scaling factor. Think of it as measuring how fast your car is by the number of laps it can go in an hour... if you don't know how long a lap is... then it means nothing.

    If you can stretch your budget a bit, this is a great laptop for you:
    http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16834246155
    If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One... now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.

  4. #4
    ASUS makes some decent laptops. That refurb ASUS is miles ahead of the Lenovo linked above, the 520M won't play much above low or maybe medium in most games.
    Last edited by chaud; 2011-09-19 at 02:12 AM.

  5. #5
    Deleted
    Well, if this is a notebook mainly for school (and you have a stationary for gaming) I'd recommend getting something smaller with better battery life than most "gaming" oriented laptops. This means less performance, and the computers I suggest below won't run anything modern (at all) but will be perfect for carrying around, writing notes, browsing and watching the occasional HD movie.

    Let me suggest the HP Pavilion DM1:
    Found here: http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/se...computer_store

    It has the AMD Fusion E350 APU which means it's very capable of HD video playback. 4Gb RAM is plenty, the 250Gb HDD is alright (albeit a bit slow, if you got the cash, swap it out for an SSD). It comes with Windows 7 64bit as well, looks good, has nice battery life, has a 11.6" 1366x768 resolution LED "BrightView" screen and doesn't weigh too much.

    There are other choices with similar specs, for example the Samsung NP 350

  6. #6
    I am Murloc! Xuvial's Avatar
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    If it were up to me I would cram a 30-40gb SSD in every laptop I ever got my hands on. Slow laptops (or laptops that slow down over time) = massive headache, I hate it!
    I would compromise on the CPU, RAM and HDD if I could just get an SSD in there somewhere >_< it should always boot quickly and shouldn't stutter or freeze. Carry your work on a usb stick or portable usb-powered HDD if you must :P
    You don't need more than a 2ghz dual-core and 2-4gb RAM for documents, facebook or youtube. Just don't cram it up with billions of programs, keep it clean and it'll remain fast/snappy for a long time
    Last edited by Xuvial; 2011-09-18 at 10:18 PM.
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  7. #7
    Get a thinkpad.

    ---------- Post added 2011-09-18 at 10:18 PM ----------

    Quote Originally Posted by Xuvial View Post
    If it were up to me I would cram a 30-40gb SSD in every laptop I ever got my hands on. Slow laptops (or laptops that slow down over time) = massive headache, I hate it!
    I would compromise on the CPU, RAM and HDD if I could just get an SSD in there somewhere >_< it should always boot quickly and shouldn't stutter or freeze.
    You don't need more than a 2ghz dual-core and 2-4gb RAM for documents, facebook or youtube. Just don't cram it up with billions of programs, keep it clean and it'll remain fast/snappy for a long time
    OR you just put an OS that doesnt have a registry that bloats. ( Like Ubuntu )

  8. #8
    I am Murloc! Xuvial's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Keller View Post
    OR you just put an OS that doesnt have a registry that bloats. ( Like Ubuntu )
    Umm not really an option if you've been a windows user for over a decade, all it means is more troubleshooting headaches to find compatible programs. Getting into that OS without prior knowledge of it's command shell or inner workings isn't a good idea : /
    WoW Character: Wintel - Frostmourne (OCE)
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  9. #9
    I love my Toshiba NB505 netbook. It's perfect for school (word processing, Powerpoint presentations, Facebook, and web browsing). The specs really aren't much (1.67 GHz Atom processor, 2GB DDR3 RAM, 250GB hard drive, no CD/DVD drive, 3 USB ports, and a 10.1" screen). The amusing thing is it feels like it runs faster than my old 2.4GHz dual-core laptop. Upwards of 8 hours of battery life is killer as well.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Xuvial View Post
    If it were up to me I would cram a 30-40gb SSD in every laptop I ever got my hands on. Slow laptops (or laptops that slow down over time) = massive headache, I hate it!
    I would compromise on the CPU, RAM and HDD if I could just get an SSD in there somewhere >_< it should always boot quickly and shouldn't stutter or freeze. Carry your work on a usb stick or portable usb-powered HDD if you must :P
    You don't need more than a 2ghz dual-core and 2-4gb RAM for documents, facebook or youtube. Just don't cram it up with billions of programs, keep it clean and it'll remain fast/snappy for a long time
    Honestly, SSDs are so incredibly good for notebooks it's silly. I'd rather have one in my notebook and not one in my desktop.

    They are less power-consuming meaning longer batterylife. They don't cause vibration, they don't cause heat, they don't cause noise, they are more resistant to hits/bangs/drops, they are lighter. Oh, and to boot, they are faster.

    Rocking an intel 320-series 160GB in my ASUS N43SN (i5-2410M, GT550M, 4+4GiB RAM [I added the second 4]). I lurves it.
    &nbsp;

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by chaud View Post
    ASUS makes some decent laptops. That refurb ASUS is miles ahead of the Lenovo linked above, the 520M won't play much above low or maybe medium in most games.
    "Intel HD graphics" is miles ahead of Geforce 520m? You can't be serious now. The lenovo has a better cpu and better graphics card. And it's new... not refurbished.
    If the radiance of a thousand suns were to burst at once into the sky, that would be like the splendor of the Mighty One... now I am become Death, the Destroyer of Worlds.

  12. #12

  13. #13
    High Overlord
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    First of all, if it is not for gaming then a Sandy Bridge is the way to go. The integrated graphics are more than adequate if you are not looking to play WoW or modern game with high graphics settings.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834215117

    $449 with no taxes and free shipping - Core i3-2310 - 4GB RAM

    Nuff said, if you don't buy this then you are not really looking for what you asked. This is plenty adequate for everyday use and then some. If you are really worried, then you can get 8 GB of ram for under $50 on Newegg as well, but that is not really necessary.

    Trust me just buy this one.
    CPU: Intel Core i7-4770k Cooler: NZXT Kraken X60 Thermal Paste: Coollaboratory Liquid Ultra Mobo: ASUS Maximus VI Formula RAM: 32GB G.Skill TridentX DDR3-2133 SSD: Samsung 840 EVO GPU: GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 WindForce OS: Windows 10 Pro PSU: Corsair AX860 80+ Platinum Case: Corsair Obsidian 750D Monitor: Dell U3415W 34" 21:9 3440x1440 Keyboard: Corsair K70 Cherry MX Blue Mouse: Logitech G502 Headset: Logitech G35 Speakers: Logitech Z53 NAS: Synology DS214 Play (6TB RAID-0) Router: ASUS AC87R

  14. #14
    http://www.bestbuy.com/site/ASUS+-+L...&skuId=2881042

    Thats what i went with because it has a decent graphics card. It has ran every game ive put on it without a hitch on high settings. I also use it for school work and it runs great. i cant comment on how good the specs are as i am no computer wiz, but it has completely exceeded my expectations

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by taekvideo View Post
    "Intel HD graphics" is miles ahead of Geforce 520m? You can't be serious now. The lenovo has a better cpu and better graphics card. And it's new... not refurbished.
    Hm, the link took me to an entirely different laptop earlier with a 555M. This one (ASUS U43F-BBA6) still says "Manufacturer Refurbished" though.

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