laptop deals

[MattNC]

In the market for a new laptop. Anyone aware of any good deals at the moment? I would make the leap to a Mac, but I have to purchase a PC for a variety of reasons. Any suggestions?

[Heidi]

1. I don't know of any deals, but I can tell you

that I've owned an Acer Aspire (1640) for nearly four years, and it is absolutely the best computer I've ever used (besides the Macs I used to use in newsrooms). Mine 1640 has a nice 15.5-inch display, and I typically run in parallel: Firefox, Word, Photoshop CS3, QuarkXPress 8, Qualcom email, Excel, Acrobat Pro Extended and a couple of others with no problem.

Last summer, I had to replace the monitor (about $450) and right now there's something screwy with the CD/DVD drive (which is easily and inexpensively changed out, if CMW or I ever get time to order it and do it).

[jobycom]

2. MSI's are undervalued. And you can find great buys online.

http://shopper.cnet.com/tech-deals/?cats=39,142&sort=hotness&tag=TOCleftColumn.0 scans a lot of sites for the best deals on various things.

Then Newegg and CompUSA.com often have something going.

Check the sites of Best Buy, Office Depot, Office Max, and Staples, plus any local big stores in your area. Look on the front page at the "Weekly Specials" or "Weekly Ads" links. You'd be surprised what they offer sometimes.

MSI, Asus, and Acer are three under-advertised and good brands. I've heard mixed reports on Lenovo, but their desktops are pretty sound from my experience. Plus, they have good keyboards. Fujitsu is the best brand, but usually pricey. They are well constructed. If you can find a Sony that says "Made in Japan," put it on your short list. In fact, and brand still made in Japan should be on your short list. They use higher quality parts with more consistent quality control. That's why Fujitsus are good, and expensive.

Just my thoughts and experiences.

[KeepItReal]

3. I trust CNET reviews to compare models then use the web for the purchase

Here's CNET: http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/

Once you know the model you want you can use Google shopping (www.froogle.com) to get some representative prices.

I have a couple of Sony Vaio laptops and had a Toshiba before them. My next will be a Mac.

'luck!

[burrfoot]

4. I recently purchased an Asus

from

I totally recommend both the brand and the website.

(it's not Acer)

[TreasonousBastard]

5. My work laptop is an HP 2530p which is a little pricey, but rugged and...

definitely does the job. It also has the rare and appreciated little light above the screen, making it very useable in the dark.

Other than that, a trip through OfficeMax, BestBuy and Staples will show you pretty much what the common stuff is and how the market is pricing things. A servicable laptop can be had for as little as 500 bucks, with the sky the limit. Unless high end graphics or extreme conditions are in its future, I'm not sure how much practical difference there is between them.

I don't think I'd buy one online unless I already checked it out physically-- you'll find a big difference in things like keyboards, screen contrast and resolution...

[TheMightyFavog]

6. Bought a Compaq Presario CQ60 for less than $400 from Best Buy last month

Serving me well, and does what I need it to do.

Although, Windows 7, boy they ripped off a bunch of shit from OS X.

[blogslut]

7. ThinkPad, baby!

http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:expandcategory?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087¤t-category-id=8FA114A7D9FF4F38AE8E19B36EC665A7

Sturdy. Reliable. Classic.

ProTip: avoid the SL series - not a true ThinkPad.