laptop recommendation needed

[gaseousclay]

my wife's laptop became infected with a virus and it was determined that it would cost about $300 to fix. the laptop is old so we decided it's not worth paying that much to fix when we can just buy a new one for around the same price.

so, are there any specific laptops any of you can recommend in the $300-500 range? I love Macs but we've ruled them out because we simply don't need something that expensive. are there any PC brands that have a consistently good rating?

any have opinions on the following:

Acer
Toshiba
Sony
HP
Compaq
Gateway
Dell

Thanks!

 

[Y2K]

Just like shaving.... YMMV on what laptop would fit your needs. You should be more specific on what your basic uses will be. Web/Email/Office uses? Or picture/video editing and/or multimedia? Does the size of the screen matter? Do you want it to be ultra-portable or would it be mostly stationary? Here is an example. I have two laptops - one is a Samsung netbook which has a 10" screen and it is a fantastic portable which I take on trips, it is very light, has fantastic battery life, and it is very compact. However, it is not very powerful and when I am at home I use a beefier Lenovo laptop with a bigger screen. So a lot depends on your usage.

Also, getting rid of a virus should not costs $300. Copy all important documents to some backup media (CD/DVD, or portable USB stick) and then reformat the drive and reinstall the operating system. Virus will be gone and you will be able to use your laptop if it still fit your needs.

 

[airplanedoc]

I have a toshiba that I have been really happy with It is going on 4 years old, and I use it alot.

 

[_JP_]

Toshiba and Dell have always been very reliable. Acer is also proving to be a durable product, and HP has greatly improved their stuff in recent years.

 

[gaseousclay]

Just like shaving.... YMMV on what laptop would fit your needs. You should be more specific on what your basic uses will be. Web/Email/Office uses? Or picture/video editing and/or multimedia? Does the size of the screen matter? Do you want it to be ultra-portable or would it be mostly stationary? Here is an example. I have two laptops - one is a Samsung netbook which has a 10" screen and it is a fantastic portable which I take on trips, it is very light, has fantastic battery life, and it is very compact. However, it is not very powerful and when I am at home I use a beefier Lenovo laptop with a bigger screen. So a lot depends on your usage.

Also, getting rid of a virus should not costs $300. Copy all important documents to some backup media (CD/DVD, or portable USB stick) and then reformat the drive and reinstall the operating system. Virus will be gone and you will be able to use your laptop if it still fit your needs.

my wife will be using it for web/email/office use. a 15" screen minimum would be ideal...I don't think she'll go for a laptop with a 10" screen.

as for the cost of repair, I honestly don't know how much it'll cost. my wife's friend told her it would cost that much to fix. I just know her laptop is old and she needs a new one.

 

[DESkydiver]

Just like shaving.... YMMV on what laptop would fit your needs. You should be more specific on what your basic uses will be. Web/Email/Office uses? Or picture/video editing and/or multimedia? Does the size of the screen matter? Do you want it to be ultra-portable or would it be mostly stationary? Here is an example. I have two laptops - one is a Samsung netbook which has a 10" screen and it is a fantastic portable which I take on trips, it is very light, has fantastic battery life, and it is very compact. However, it is not very powerful and when I am at home I use a beefier Lenovo laptop with a bigger screen. So a lot depends on your usage.

Also, getting rid of a virus should not costs $300. Copy all important documents to some backup media (CD/DVD, or portable USB stick) and then reformat the drive and reinstall the operating system. Virus will be gone and you will be able to use your laptop if it still fit your needs.

+1

I know Dell has 1525's (15") laptops in your price range that work great for email, office and surfing, and I have had good experience with; but like Y2k stated you needs to define your expectations out of the system. Is it just for web surfing, email and some documents (low end) or will you be playing games with loads of graphics, or using for videos and presentations. If your not sure, get something that is easier to upgrade later.

Better yet, see if you can be the next "I'm a PC and..." commercial

 

[dbconlin]

I wS fairly happy with my old HP, although the HDD did fail after 2 years and had to be replaced...don't know if they have improved that.

Just bought a replacement and chose a Lenovo. Formerly IBM (maybe you've heard of them?). Best value for the money for what I was looking for, although we managed to get an educational discount due to my wife being in school.

At least another brand to add to your list of comsiderables.

 

[Y2K]

Check this out periodically. You will find a good deal that suits you:

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/992184?highlight_key=y&keyword1=laptop

 

[SUMMERSRL]

my wife will be using it for web/email/office use. a 15" screen minimum would be ideal...I don't think she'll go for a laptop with a 10" screen.

as for the cost of repair, I honestly don't know how much it'll cost. my wife's friend told her it would cost that much to fix. I just know her laptop is old and she needs a new one.

The prior commenter was spot on regarding the outrageousness of the estimate for curing a virus. That said, I can understand wanting to upgrade to something new. I think you'll find that most PCs, regardless of maker, perform similarly within any given price range. So... it often comes down to aesthetics. Color, style, etc. You can't go too wrong with a Gateway, a Dell, a Toshiba, an HP, etc.

Good luck.

 

[perry]

I support HP Business Notebooks at work and I'm typing on one now. The ones that travel from place to place seem to get beat up pretty well and I'm not all that impressed by their quality. They do alright if you keep them at home though.

In the price range you mention, the brands you mention are all about equivalent so find the cheapest w/ the specs you like the best.

If someone at work asked me to take a look at their personal laptop, we'd start at $75 to get me to turn the thing on and figure out what's going on. So, I don't work on many personal computers for those folks. Put a few hours in to it, especially if filled w/ a couple viruses and spyware, and you're up to $300 pretty quickly.

 

[Stubblefield]

Whoa. $300? Wipe the drive and reinstall windows.

Honestly, as a PC user, I'd probably recommend a Mac. While I will always use windows on the desktop, The Macs are pretty nice. And if you have issues, just take it to the Apple store.

OK, now that I have that out of my system, the Toshiba or Dell are probably your best bet if you need to stick to the Windows platform. And a new laptop will net you Win7, which is outstanding. The first Truly Transparent OS i have used.

 

[Uncle Erik]

Have you considerd Linux? It's free and you can keep using the same laptop without having to worry about viruses and other assorted malware.

If you are interested in a Mac, take a look at some of the used white Intel MacBooks. You can find them around $500 these days and they're terrific. I've been using one for the past three years. I upgraded it to a bigger hard drive (ran out of space), but it hasn't had so much as a hiccup since day one.

I also run Linux on my desktop without a lick of trouble. That machine has been up something like four years continuously now.

 

[Leche]

I was in the same place you were a few weeks ago. My old Toshiba which was about 6 years old did me well until I broke the screen. I was in the 500 range so I looked at Asus and Toshiba as they are both very reliable. Asus makes many of the components used in many computers including Apple. I went with this Toshiba which I am quite happy with.

 

[Magnus6208]

Micro Center currently has a special on Dell's for $600. I bought a dell laptop with 4GB ram and 320G hard drive and a dual core processor. Also got 1T or external storage for $70. heck of a deal...

 

[dpm802]

I'm using a Toshiba laptop at home and I'm very happy with it. 17" screen, 4Gig of RAM, 512M DEDICATED video RAM, 320G hard drive, Windows 7 Home Premium. I got it in early November for $799 shipped.

I've only had it for 4 months now, and its in a stationary setting, so I can't comment on long-term reliability and ruggedness in the field. But Toshibas have a good reputation, which is what led me to this particular brand and model.

No matter what brand of laptop you decide to go with, go to www.tigerdirect.com, and get on their mailing list. They have blow-out prices on all sorts of electronics. Just be prepared to jump when they have a sale on what you're looking for, because the sales only last for 2~3 days and many of the items are limited quantities.

Disclaimer: I didn't get this Toshiba laptop from TigerDirect, but from another source. I have ordered other (small) things from TD in the past, and wouldn't hesitate to order a big-ticket item from them at any time in the future.

 

[psychlopath]

Staples has some killer deals that revolve. I took them up on the Dell Inspiron 17. It cost me a little extra because they dont ship to APO. Had to go stateside then come over here.

When I was on leave, though...I bought an Acer Aspire One and I think it's a killer little machine, if you want compact.

Just keep it away from Linux. Ugh.

 

[huntmol]

Lenovo! Ideapads and Thinkpads are built like tanks and are a great value, in my opinion.

My (now) girlfriend and I bought a Thinkpad and a Macbook (guess who bought which) at the same time roughly 4 years ago, and hers has gotten awfully clunky in the past six months, so much so that she's thinking about getting a new laptop this summer. However, seeing how mine's still going strong after all this time has made it easy to convert her to getting a Lenovo! It helps that the one we're looking at is $500 compared to the $1000 it would cost to buy another Macbook.


EDIT: Here's some links!
Lenovo IdeaPad
Lenovo ThinkPad

 

[bigred90gt]

I recommend Acer. They have been around for a very long time, but have managed to fly under the radar with regards to name recognition when compared to HP, Sony, Toshiba, and the like. I have one and love it. It has a 17" HD wide screen, blue ray player, 2gb ram, 250gb HDD,, built in webcam, so forth and so on. I bought it a couple of years ago and paid $900 for it. The comparable HP model was $2400 at the time. Previous to this one, I had an HP and had nothing but problems with it, until the HDD finally crashed beyond repair. I took it to a shop, and they were unable to get any data off of it. So far, this one has been trouble free.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?Recs=10&Nav=|c:17|m:12|&Sort=4

 

[gaseousclay]

thanks for the help everyone. I think the wife and I will probably head to best buy today and have a look at what's available.

 

[koso]

I recently bought a Lenovo G550. Very happy with it.