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Official Black Friday LAPTOP Discussion Thread

Brad

By Brad
in 2014

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riven3d

riven3d

Posted
Posted

Debating between a laptop and desktop. If I'm lucky enough to get the $159 laptop at Walmart and later wish I had gotten a desktop, is it possible to run it as a desktop machine - regular keyboard, monitor and mouse? All I need it for is the internet.

yes it is possible, if the laptop comes with a HDMI port you could use any TV as a monitor for it

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len_mullen

len_mullen

Posted
Posted

Price is not a problem. I want the most computer for the least price. The best deal out there. So many offers from so many stores I really can't decide. Please help me!!!

 

Here's some help...

 

 - make a list of the things you want to do on this computer

 - make a list of app the apps that will do those things

 - note the recommended requirements for each of these apps

 

these are the minimum specs you need to look for in a new computer

 

come back with those specs and we can chat about which of the BF laptops meet your needs for the least amount of money.

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latrischler

latrischler

Posted
Posted

HELP! my mother (70) has a mini HP that is a few years old and pretty much died on her.  She is looking to get a laptop (NOT mini) - preferably online.   :)

 

She uses the computer for:

  • webmail (sbc)
  • placing orders (web also)
  • create/share documents (She has MS Ofc 10)
  • she has a desktop computer that has Win 7 - would a Win 8 laptop be a problem on the same network?

She doesn't play games. :)  It's mostly just for light business use (demonstrator for stampin up)

 

We could use help wading through the computer specs for a good deal.  Are there any online laptop deals for around $300 that are a decent computer - if you don't play games?

Thank you!!!

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len_mullen

len_mullen

Posted
Posted

Is this computer to be used in a single location with power or as a portable.  I ask because a lot of people prefer a portable laptop to a desktop these days.  With these, I like big screens and don't worry about battery life.  What is her preference for screen size?  Does she want a touch screen?  Does she want to stick with Windows 7 or learn Windows 8? 

 

There will be no problems with a windows 7 and a windows 8 client on the same network.

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sm5199

sm5199

Posted
Posted

len_mullen- thank you for posting the info about minecraft. That was super helpful!

 

So I'm looking at the Best Buy HP Envy x360 2 in 1 15.6" touchscreen, core i5, 8GB, 750GB.

It's $799, but marked down to $599.

Minecraft is the main concern- no lag please!

 

What do you think of this one?

 

Thank you. I appreciate your time.

Susan

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len_mullen

len_mullen

Posted
Posted (edited)

len_mullen- thank you for posting the info about minecraft. That was super helpful!

 

So I'm looking at the Best Buy HP Envy x360 2 in 1 15.6" touchscreen, core i5, 8GB, 750GB.

It's $799, but marked down to $599.

Minecraft is the main concern- no lag please!

 

What do you think of this one?

 

Thank you. I appreciate your time.

Susan

 

I had my kid install minecraft on a similar laptop except that the i5 is gen 3.  He says it runs fine.  We also installed it on a t100 and that ran pretty well too.  The graphics were lower resolution, but the game did not hang up.  Of course, his desktop has a $400 video card and he recommends that above the rest.  Also, our worlds are not very built up and that makes things worse.

 

I think this will work just fine for you.

 

He says things bog down when you get in weather.

Edited by len_mullen
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Pnambic

Pnambic

Posted
Posted

Len theres an hp envy 15.6 with 8gb & 1 TB at office depot now & also a Lenovo same size, also 8gb 1 TB REAL SIMILAR PRICE, NOT used for GAMING, just for college classes, youtube, photos, shopping, email

do you have any thoughts on which is better?

I know you asked Len, but in my experience using quite a few HPs and Lenovos (and others) over the years, I've had better luck with the Lenovo line.

 

What processors are in the laptops you're looking at?

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sm5199

sm5199

Posted
Posted

I had my kid install minecraft on a similar laptop except that the i5 is gen 3.  He says it runs fine.  We also installed it on a t100 and that ran pretty well too.  The graphics were lower resolution, but the game did not hang up.  Of course, his desktop has a $400 video card and he recommends that above the rest.  Also, our worlds are not very built up and that makes things worse.

 

I think this will work just fine for you.

 

He says things bog down when you get in weather.

 

OK, thanks. I wouldn't want my boys to get bogged down in weather. We've had enough of that (just a little humor--we're in Buffalo!)

 

How about the Dell Inspiron 1500, 4th gen core i5, 15.6", 8gb, 1tb for $579- on their website now.

 

Another option is the Toshiba Satellite at Office Depot, core i7, 15.6" 8gb, 1tb for $599

 

Ok, one more--Dell Inspiron 1400, 4th gen corei5, 14", 8gb, 1tb, in the OD ad for $499.

 

Are any of these better than the others? (Perhaps the cheapest one :)

Thanks again!

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allshoppedout

allshoppedout

Posted
Posted

I know you asked Len, but in my experience using quite a few HPs and Lenovos (and others) over the years, I've had better luck with the Lenovo line.

What processors are in the laptops you're looking at?

Oh appreciate your help & recognize you from answer my Questions in the past so thanks.

The ho Says Intel core I7 4th generation & 4710 ha

And the Lenovo for 539 has Intel core I5 4th generation 421ou

And Lenovo 559 (model59436273) has same as $539, above but also says 1,70 ghz 1600kHz 3mb Intel HD graphics

All these letters are meant to torture the uneducated consumer

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Kanyon71

Kanyon71

Posted
Posted

I think one of the largest limiting factors you're going to see in most consumer brand laptops like those you mention is going to be the graphics that are built in. Intel has always been behind the curve in integrated graphics but usually makes up for it with a little more CPU muscle, the part where that can cause issues is games where they tend to rely more on the card and how it can process scenes. If you can find something with say an nVidia GT XXXM (replace X's with number) or an ATi Dedicated you will get a smoother overall frame rate. Now this will become a bigger issue as they start to want to play more than Minecraft, most modern games will destroy an integrated gpu.

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len_mullen

len_mullen

Posted
Posted

Recommended Requirements:

CPU: Intel Core i3 or AMD Athlon II (K10) 2.8 GHz

RAM: 4GB

GPU: GeForce 2xx Series or AMD Radeon HD 5xxx Series (Excluding Integrated Chipsets) with OpenGL 3.3

HDD: 1GB

Latest release of Java 7 from java.com

 

I think that the general consensus is that a laptop with dedicated graphics is the best bet.  Here are some recommendations and explanations...

 

http://www.toplaptopreview.com/good-and-best-laptops-for-minecraft/

 

As for brand, I think a $300 Lenovo is more like a $300 HP than a $700 Lenovo.  The most expensive laptop I have purchased was an HP -- had it serviced twice under warranty.  I get a lot of Acers.  I had one of these serviced twice under warranty.  Specs, aesthetics, and price matter more than brand.

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sm5199

sm5199

Posted
Posted

I think that the general consensus is that a laptop with dedicated graphics is the best bet.  Here are some recommendations and explanations...

 

http://www.toplaptopreview.com/good-and-best-laptops-for-minecraft/

 

As for brand, I think a $300 Lenovo is more like a $300 HP than a $700 Lenovo.  The most expensive laptop I have purchased was an HP -- had it serviced twice under warranty.  I get a lot of Acers.  I had one of these serviced twice under warranty.  Specs, aesthetics, and price matter more than brand.

 

 

Great, thanks for your help.

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allshoppedout

allshoppedout

Posted
Posted

is there some easy way to look up what is better on laptops that is easily understandable ????

some site ??

something I could refer to that would help me I keep asking people and they either get back to me too late or not at all (not complaining I understand people are busy) but I just not lost another laptop, I got an email that told me it was great, AWESOME processor, go buy it and I go and now it's out of stock at Office Depot.

 

any help would be appreciated I can't tell what all the letters and numbers might mean I know that intel core is good & i want 8 gb but when it comes to the 15 -k h or whatever im screwed.

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msomnipotent

msomnipotent

Posted
Posted

Looks like a good deal on a solid laptop.

Might be large for a 10 year old to tote around though.

Thanks for the advice. I went back and forth so long on the decision that the sale almost ended before I bought it. I think being large is a plus for its longevity. I don't want her dragging this around to her friends' houses and she doesn't need one for school yet. We have an old red Samsung tablet she can carry around. I'm kind of concerned about her getting used to Windows 8 since everything we have is the older versions.

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NTBoard

NTBoard

Posted
Posted

I just ordered 3 of the Dell™ Inspiron 15 - 3000 Series Laptop Computer With 15.6" HD Touch Screen & AMD A6 Quad-Core Processor, I3541-2002BLK from Office Depot. Got one for me to use at work and 2 for my boys to do school work and play Minecraft. I hope they are at least a bit of an upgrade for them from the $149 Walmart special that I was looking at. Thanks for all of the input on which machines would be best. I wish I had the money to buy laptops with the optimal specifications for my boys but this will have to do for now.

 

+++
Niccole

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len_mullen

len_mullen

Posted
Posted

is there some easy way to look up what is better on laptops that is easily understandable ????

some site ??

something I could refer to that would help me I keep asking people and they either get back to me too late or not at all (not complaining I understand people are busy) but I just not lost another laptop, I got an email that told me it was great, AWESOME processor, go buy it and I go and now it's out of stock at Office Depot.

 

any help would be appreciated I can't tell what all the letters and numbers might mean I know that intel core is good & i want 8 gb but when it comes to the 15 -k h or whatever im screwed.

 

You can compare the components, but that is a lot of work and not particularly helpful if you do not understand how the components impact performance.  

 

There is no 'best' laptop.  By definition, the laptop is a compromise.  If you get a faster cpu or gpu or a larger screen, battery life goes down and price goes up.

 

The best laptop for gaming is a desktop.  A $100 gpu will perform better than most mobile gpus.  You can run things fast and hot because there is no constraint on the power available to heat things up and cool things down.

 

If you want a laptop, the first step is to determine required specs.  You do this by making a list of the recommended specs for each application you want to run.  The highest spec in the list for each characteristic (memory, cpu, gpu) except for disk or storage which is the sum of all requirements.  Then it's simply a matter of comparing the specs of a laptop to your list.

 

If you are mostly interested in running one app well (minecraft), google the word minecraft plus the model of the laptop.  Chance are someone has posed the question, "Can this laptop run this app," and someone who has tried has responded.

 

Generally, if you want to play games on a laptop, you are going to have to get a laptop with discrete graphics.  For those, google the graphics chip plus minecraft to see how things go.  For basic gaming, A8/A10 based configurations do better because they have better integrated GPUs.

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allshoppedout

allshoppedout

Posted
Posted

Thanks lynn I wouldn't know the specs on all the applications my son might want to run but I know its not for gaming I managed to back order the HP 1 terabyte 8 gigabyte 15.6 screen laptop for the price I wanted 499, this morning from Office Depot do you have any idea if I'll actually get this before Christmas I don't have experience ordering from them

I suppose if I had gotten up very early or stayed up very late I might've actually got one but I couldn't do it Thanks.

Ok LEN sorry it wrote lynn...*

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sassyaztec

sassyaztec

Posted
Posted (edited)

Hi everyone-  So we just decided to get my 10 y.o. son a laptop for Christmas, but only if we can do it with a low cost option, like 250 ???. 

 

Super basic needs:

I picked up this at bestbuy, but can return if needed.

 

Asus 11634 Laptop Intel Atom 2GB Memory 32GB Flash Memory Blue seen here

 

I'd prefer to buy online from a major chain, so if I need to return it isn't a big deal. I just want to be done with shopping asap and not totally concerned with getting a killer deal, just a good price. so anyone want to give me their 2 cents?  TIA

Edited by sassyaztec
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Pnambic

Pnambic

Posted
Posted

The Asus you mention is more of a Netbook than an actual Laptop. The Atom processor is very low power and 32gb of storage will go VERY quick in the windows world :)

 

There are still some decent deals out there right now though.

I think I read that windows 8 takes up about 20gb all by itself on these netbooks.

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KBsDarling

KBsDarling

Posted
Posted

i just wanted to let anyone know that was worried re: the $159 laptop. We have 2. One for kid for christmas and one I am typing on now.....while taking a break from world of warcraft. Yes I know WoW and Minecraft are not the same but WoW is a HOG for ram/processor especially on a holiday weekend when all the kidlets are home and playing. I have no lag no glitchy nothing. Have also loaded DDs with her Sims games (3 + 6 expansions) and it went along fine with that. a few years ago we had bought the cheapie walmart special for laptops and it wouldnt run any of the above. 

 

Yes it is NOT an Alienware gaming laptop but for 75% of the people out there it is perfectly fine. 

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