buying a new laptop

Subject: buying a new laptop February 24th 2009, 11:28 pm

Hey there.. With me beggining a multimedia course next march made me thinking that i need a new computer (laptop cause of mobility issues) .. And i'm in between a macbook or an alienware m15-x (or what the hell that is)

> apple = ~1000€
> alienware = ~1200€

Well, for now i'm looking for the alienware one cause it has better specs than any macbook, yet still i'd like to know what do you guys recommend (plz forget about fanboy crap), i'm looking to making it worth the money... And in this price range i don't know any better optons :/

Peace

Ps: the hardest part is convincing my father... But i think i can persuade him... Just dont want to rush things an i don't wNt to buy a crappy piece of technology :/

Subject: Re: buying a new laptop February 24th 2009, 11:31 pm

Well, of course alienware has better specs, BUT, I've heard they aren't too reliable when it comes to them breaking, etc.

If you're looking for a gaming laptop go with the alienware, anything else I would go with the macbook and install windows *just in case*.

Subject: Re: buying a new laptop February 25th 2009, 2:23 am

I'm not particularly fond of either. With "fanboy crap" set aside, I'd say your money is best spent towards a midrange laptop (dual core processor, 2 GB ram, 160 GB HD) for around $500. Save your money; both Alienware and Macbooks are highly overrated.

Resident Artist From : Devon, England OS : Vista

I don't even know why you're asking this question surprised

If I was you, I'd already have bought my MacBook lol

Senior Member From : England OS : XP/Ubuntu

Why don't you go to a local and get one custom built, you'd get a lot more for your money.

Subject: Re: buying a new laptop February 25th 2009, 8:32 am

BOyOfWONDEr wrote:: Why don't you go to a local and get one custom built, you'd get a lot more for your money.

I don't really know where i could get a custom laptop :/

And a 2gb ram laptop is not the option.. Cause i'll be working with video editing and 3d modeling for sure... And i'm leaning towards of these two, cause i haven't seen any other laptop with such good specs and with the same or less price than those 2.. F. Example : i haven't seen a single one with such good graphics card as the alienware one.. At least for that price :/ . The ones with similar graphics card cost more than 1500€... An their design sucks lol

Senior Member From : England OS : XP/Ubuntu

ruipalmeira wrote:

BOyOfWONDEr wrote:: Why don't you go to a local and get one custom built, you'd get a lot more for your money.

I don't really know where i could get a custom laptop :/

And a 2gb ram laptop is not the option.. Cause i'll be working with video editing and 3d modeling for sure... And i'm leaning towards of these two, cause i haven't seen any other laptop with such good specs and with the same or less price than those 2.. F. Example : i haven't seen a single one with such good graphics card as the alienware one.. At least for that price :/ . The ones with similar graphics card cost more than 1500€... An their design sucks lol

*Facepalm*

Note to self, read thread title more thoroughly. Hmmm, perhaps a high spec Dell laptop?

And with the Macbook you may be able to get student discount wink

Subject: Re: buying a new laptop February 25th 2009, 10:07 am

oh and by the way, there's a computer reseler here in town which builds custom laptops. .. i might just get one with the same specs as the alienware one, for 800 or 900€ wink

i was checking the student discount on the macbook.. it's not that much... and the macbook i said to cost 1000€ is the older model ... the white one.. which i don't really like lol..

T____T

Regular Visitor

ruipalmeira wrote:

BOyOfWONDEr wrote:: Why don't you go to a local and get one custom built, you'd get a lot more for your money.

I don't really know where i could get a custom laptop :/

And a 2gb ram laptop is not the option.. Cause i'll be working with video editing and 3d modeling for sure... And i'm leaning towards of these two, cause i haven't seen any other laptop with such good specs and with the same or less price than those 2.. F. Example : i haven't seen a single one with such good graphics card as the alienware one.. At least for that price :/ . The ones with similar graphics card cost more than 1500€... An their design sucks lol

I got myself a desktop for my multi media course, which is a quad core, 3GB Ram monstr. But if your looking for a laptop, then generally: Macs are better for post production, so editing, tweaking videos and images, whereas Computers (namely windows really) is better with 3D modeling and more technical stuff. Thats the case I found, when looking professionally at the industry anyway. Tbh, it depends what you like and how much of what your doing on it.

Moderator From : U.S.A. OS : Leopard

I dont know why youd even consider anything but a mac for this purpose. besides, when you enter any graphics field, do you really think your job will have you working on any sort of 'high end' dell?

Senior Member From : England OS : XP/Ubuntu

StupidGirl wrote:: I dont know why youd even consider anything but a mac for this purpose. besides, when you enter any graphics field, do you really think your job will have you working on any sort of 'high end' dell?

Fair point, the industry do use mainly macs, but if you're on a budget, then perhaps windows is the only way to go. You can always hackintosh it if you REALLY want the mac OS.

Regular Visitor

Like I said, it really depends on what he's doing with it. If your gonna use it for 3D modeling more then I'd recommend Windows-based laptop all the way! But if your going to edit videos and audio tracks then Macs all the way! wink

Subject: Re: buying a new laptop February 26th 2009, 9:17 am

i would go for a make if I could afford it tongue

, the only one which i can reach, is the older model... which i don't like.. i think i'll buy the custom one, since it's not that much, and i can choose anything on it, from casing to graphics and stuff like that smile

PS : since i'm not paying for any of the software i'll be using, windows will be the way to go tongue

, i already got hackintosh running on my desktop lol

Subject: Re: buying a new laptop February 26th 2009, 2:34 pm

My friend got a laptop for $450 with an 8600GT video card, a dual core AMD Turion processor, and 2 GB of DDR2 RAM. Pretty sure it would be fine for video editing =p its a black Acer.

Subject: Re: buying a new laptop February 26th 2009, 2:53 pm

hostile wrote:: My friend got a laptop for $450 with an 8600GT video card, a dual core AMD Turion processor, and 2 GB of DDR2 RAM. Pretty sure it would be fine for video editing =p its a black Acer.

those are nice specs, i just don't want to buy an Acer :\ ... they got major issues with heating up very fast ..

Subject: Re: buying a new laptop February 27th 2009, 12:55 pm

Hmm, his model seems fine. Laptops don't really heat up much unless you block the bottom vents with like fabric, such as the sheets of your bed. The other crappy thing about Acers is:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/931760

Seems as if you're stuck with Vista =\ but there are alternatives. I bought a Toshiba Satellite for $500 and I love it, 2 GB ram, 160 GB hard drive, and an ATI x1200.

Regular Visitor

Vista is quite efficient, but maybe XP will preform better with those specs. That's unless you got a copy of XP floating around wink

Subject: Re: buying a new laptop February 28th 2009, 7:33 pm

on a laptop, vista or xp you will never get your batteries full capability.

I've had three windows based laptops, two HP and one sony, and all have claimed to give me 2-3 hours when i can never get more than 1 hour 30. my macbook on the other hand gives me 3-4 hours when just browsing/working on office for school. and a couple hours doing things on photoshop.

i would suggest going for a mac if your doing things like photo/music/video editing. if your going to be doing anything 3D based wouldn't it just be better for you to have a desktop, more processing power, much better graphics...overall better, apart from mobility that is hehe.

Regular Visitor

If your watching movies, or have aero enabled and doing heavy duty things, its gonna run the battery down faster tongue

Also, the white macbook has just had a graphic update, and its still only £719, same spec as the new lowest alumin one. I'm gonna try and bag me one, but yeah, might be worth looking into as an option? Also I think he said he has a desktop.

Subject: Re: buying a new laptop March 1st 2009, 10:50 am

wow... waytta go for the overpriced hardware there mate wink

go for a gateway FX or a dell XPS. both are great computing machines and much cheaper than the elitests Macintosh computer and the obnoxious gamers alienware. sorry to all of those of you who belive alienware is god. its not. its over priced and dumbed down. you could buy a Voodoo PC also. those are really nice hardware with great power and a sleek design comperable to the new apple macbooks, but these came before xD

http://www.shopping.hp.com/voodoo?jumpid=re_r602_voodoo/voodoo/boutique/psg/products

although that might be out of your price range the quality will last much longer than a macbook or an alienware so in theory its a longerlasting buy :/ but if you need a good laptop computer go for the FX. Even if gateway has died almost its one of the best laptops ive seen for the best price smile

Subject: Re: buying a new laptop March 1st 2009, 10:48 pm

alxmarcond wrote:: wow... waytta go for the overpriced hardware there mate go for a gateway FX or a dell XPS. both are great computing machines and much cheaper than the elitests Macintosh computer and the obnoxious gamers alienware. sorry to all of those of you who belive alienware is god. its not. its over priced and dumbed down. you could buy a Voodoo PC also. those are really nice hardware with great power and a sleek design comperable to the new apple macbooks, but these came before xD

http://www.shopping.hp.com/voodoo?jumpid=re_r602_voodoo/voodoo/boutique/psg/products

although that might be out of your price range the quality will last much longer than a macbook or an alienware so in theory its a longerlasting buy :/ but if you need a good laptop computer go for the FX. Even if gateway has died almost its one of the best laptops ive seen for the best price

Have you ever looked at the Voodoo PC's price tags? lol. They're the most expensive PCs on the market (next to Falcon Northwest) =p I don't think he can afford a $9,000 laptop xD

Subject: Re: buying a new laptop March 2nd 2009, 8:48 am

If i had that much money to spend on a computer... I wouldn't ask for advice, i would just buy them both tongue

And the voodoo laptop hasn't got that awesome specs.. My mother's $350 asus is highly comparable to that voodoo (shared graphics, only 2gb of ram) and it has 250gb hd instead of 64 gb ssd. That price range on the voodoo is somehow overpriced..

Subject: Re: buying a new laptop March 2nd 2009, 11:10 am

which is why i said it might be out of his price range xD and then i went on to furthur recommend the XF wink

Subject: Re: buying a new laptop March 2nd 2009, 2:29 pm

I love you all.

Subject: Re: buying a new laptop March 2nd 2009, 7:46 pm

i quite enjoy your company as well? back on topic now plzzz xD