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>>> Official Black Friday 2009 LAPTOP & NETBOOK Discussion Thread <<<

Brad

By Brad
in 2009

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yuyi64

yuyi64

Posted
Posted

I wouldn't get too fixated on trying to stay with XP. The machines in our house are all on Win 7 now. One is fast no matter what's run on it....i7 920 @ 4GHz, X58 chipset motherboard, 6GB RAM, etc., etc.....and was fast with Vista Ultimate and is even quicker with Win 7 Ultimate, bot 64-bit OS's.

 

But the other is a more ordinary box....C2D E8200, Gigabyte 965 chipset mb, 4GB RAM, 3870 video card, 500GB hd......and the move to Win 7 made the machine much more responsive than it was while operating on XP Pro. This machine dual boots XP and Win 7, and the responsiveness when running Win 7 has made my wife (it's her machine) completely give up the XP installation. I did the install purposely with a dual boot option because I didn't know which she'd want to keep, XP or 7, and the XP is now history.

 

So, don't irrationally dismiss Win 7 just because a few still cling to the creaking old XP. Instead, go to a store and play with a computer with it installed, or better yet, find a friend with it installed and use his/her computer for a bit. You may be surprised that Win 7 isn't quite the devil as some portray.

I would hardly call either of the two machines you describe an "ordinary box". Their specs indicate they should be able to handle W7 with ease, as you stated they have. I would think the typical "ordinary box" for most consumers is probably two to five years old with 2GR RAM or less, single or dual processor (not core2duo), and integrated graphics. It's on those older underpowered machines that XP performs well and the average person might not see any improvement from W7 (if their hardware can even support it).
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sracer

sracer

Posted
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I'm just wondering how hard it will be to find XP drivers for Win. 7 machines...hmm...

Not too difficult. Especially if you use tools like DriverMax. I bought a 2nd harddrive for my Sony Vaio NW (which normally runs Win7) and installed XP on it. It was a bit tricky finding all of the drivers, but I managed it. (the biggest hurdle is integrating AHCI SATA drivers into the install CD... not a problem for techies, but for the average person it is a bit tricky)

 

There are 2 large issues with going from XP to Win7 that the Microsoft fans won't tell you... first is that the driver model of Vista/Win7 is significantly different than XP and that perfectly fine peripherals like printers and scanners may not work unless the manufacturers provide Vista/Win7 specific drivers.

 

The 2nd is application compatibility. Vista/Win7 no longer provide 16-bit app support. Older programs and games (mostly educational ones) will no longer work.

 

It is all well and good to want the latest and greatest, and Win7 certainly looks pretty... but the cost of moving to Win7 can be much greater than simply the cost of a license. Do your research.

 

Also, claims about how much better Win7 is than XP in terms of battery life on notebooks is turning out to be urban legend. The remedy? Turn off the glitzy Aero effects... which make the sexy Win7 look like WinNT. Performance-wise and battery-life-wise, a system that runs Win7 nicely with run XP blazingly fast.

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floridasun5

floridasun5

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Does anyone have any idea (or a good guess?) on what the cheapest I can expect to find an HP Mini for? My dd ONLY wants the HP and unfortunately the $300 sale? price range is still a bit steep, so Im hoping for something cheaper. I can get a refurbed online for around $200, but if there will be any better deals of around a $250 price range, I'll just wait. All I'm seeing so far are Acers, but my dd is dead set on the HP. Thanks!
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chimeralife

chimeralife

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All I'm seeing so far are Acers, but my dd is dead set on the HP.

So am I, which is why I am so eagerly awaiting the BB ad. I am really hoping for one to be there. So much that I will probly pass rather than get an Acer. Just my druthers.

 

Unfortunately, it seems Acer is the one who provided the pared down version this year because at first glance the OD and rumored OM might have been very similar (As in their initials might be the exact same:g_whistle.)

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Jen8112

Jen8112

Posted
Posted

OKay, best buy ad is out...

Are any of these worth the money?

Compaq Netbook w/Intel Atom Processor, 1GB Memory, 160GB Hard Drive - $179.99

Compaq Netbook w/Intel Atom Processor, 1GB Memory, 250GB Hard Drive - $229.99

I'd rather spend the extra $20 for the one at Sam's, probably shorter line and a better chance to get it. Better yet if you have an OM in your area they *might* have one for $150! ;)

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DaFees

DaFees

Posted
Posted (edited)

Alright, everyone, if I may I'd like to go back to my question from earlier, given now that the Best Buy ad has been posted.

 

Can any of the laptops in any of the ads play games, and by that I mean can any of the laptops in any of the ads handle games like the Orange Box or the new Call of Duty 6 at 720p (with max settings, and possibly, but not required, high or max AA / AF settings)?

 

EDIT - Should mention brand and such doesn't matter. I am not totally against having either AMD or Intel. It should have at least 2gb of memory. Hard Drive space doesn't matter. An HDMI port is a must, and I'd prefer it if it had an expresscard/54 slot.

 

EDIT - This particular laptop on Newegg, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834157046, is a good example, but can this be beaten. I mean it has everything I would want.

Edited by DaFees
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dmmiller

dmmiller

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I'd rather spend the extra $20 for the one at Sam's, probably shorter line and a better chance to get it. Better yet if you have an OM in your area they *might* have one for $150! ;)

thanks

 

I'm not a member of Sam's. :(

But I'm rethinking the lines at BB. I'm having flashes of Circuit city from 2 years ago. :eek:

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floridasun5

floridasun5

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*sigh* now that BB is posted, not impressed and still no HP Netbook for me anywhere yet. So, that brings me to my next question:

 

Does anyone have, or have any opinions on a refurbished computer?

 

I know with phones for instance, the refurbs are usually better because they replace the few innards, but with computers, there are so many components and no way of knowing whether they replaced something, or just fixed it, that Im worried whether a refurb would hold up. My dd already has a Toshiba full size laptop, but still wants a Netbook, so it wouldnt be the only computer to rely on, but I also dont want to still spend $200 on a refurb, only to have the darn thing die as soon as the short warranty expired. Any thoughts?

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a94

a94

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Go w/Apple!! I love my MacBook Pro......Not one single problem!!!!!!! Well worth the money.

You won't have problems with Windows either if you know what you're doing. I have a White Polycarbonate Macbook w/ Snow Leopard and nothing is better about it than my Windows box. Sure, it may have more eye candy...but who cares about that.

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DLM

DLM

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I am wondering about online too. I just don't know what to do about getting a netbook. I was thinking the lines and chances would be better at Sams or OM, but am not a member at Sams so I would have to get a membership which jacks the price up essentually. I wonder if OM online would be possible or a price match somewhere with one of them? This is frustrating and confusing LOL.
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smooth3d

smooth3d

Posted
Posted

Alright, everyone, if I may I'd like to go back to my question from earlier, given now that the Best Buy ad has been posted.

 

Can any of the laptops in any of the ads play games, and by that I mean can any of the laptops in any of the ads handle games like the Orange Box or the new Call of Duty 6 at 720p (with max settings, and possibly, but not required, high or max AA / AF settings)?

 

EDIT - Should mention brand and such doesn't matter. I am not totally against having either AMD or Intel. It should have at least 2gb of memory. Hard Drive space doesn't matter. An HDMI port is a must, and I'd prefer it if it had an expresscard/54 slot.

 

EDIT - This particular laptop on Newegg, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834157046, is a good example, but can this be beaten. I mean it has everything I would want.

Short answer to your question is no. The long answer is that all the laptops on sale have integrated graphics chips. Now they will play some older games okay on low settings including the orange box, but anything above that including the cod games are out the question.

 

You need a dedicated graphics card like in the newegg laptop you posted, and that's a very good deal on that laptop. As for as the black friday laptops the best I've seen as for as overall value for the money is the sony laptop in bestbuys ad that has the built in bluray player and come with a bluray movie and headphones for 479.99!

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drawlins27

drawlins27

Posted
Posted

Any thoughts on the Toshiba laptop in the BB ad? Anyone know what processor it has? I googled it but couldn't find a clear answer. I think the ad said it had DDR3 memory but its hard to read.

 

I won't be using it for gaming. I will mostly be using it to surf the web, large excel sheets, and massive access databases. I would appreciate thoughts from you experts out there.

 

Its not a doorbuster so I'm thinking I have a pretty good shot of getting it online. I got quite a few non-doorbusters online last year. I don't normally head out to BB until 6 or 7 so it would be great if I can get it online.

 

Thanks!

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chimeralife

chimeralife

Posted
Posted

daftande:

So on the ACER Aspire One 10.1" Netbook at OfficeMax is it possible to buy it now and return/rebuy on BF?

I see the same model/sku is buyable now?

 

I just read on the OM thread that someone asked and finally got a reply that they would NOT price match, refund, etc on BF.

 

Sorry Charlie

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