My laptop is a crackhead

Joao Sapiro

...overdosed itself to death RIP. ( overheated the hard drive and melted everything )

so hm....im going to buy a new one , but the thing is : i want a powerfull one to be able to work with normal maps etc , what you guys advise ?

Also , if i buy a laptop from the states , how much would i pay shipping, etc ?

P.S - im a noob at laptops.

Joshua Stubbles

You can't buy a new laptop these days without Vista on it (it's sure as hell hard to, anyways). So if you get Vista, make sure you meet some standards:
- DO NOT get Vista home basic (get premium, work or ultimate)
- 2GB ram is preferable for smooth Vista performance

I've seen some HP laptops around the $1000 U.S range, that are pretty good. You can also get good ones from Dell/Alienware, but there are mixed reviews for both. It's a hard choice though. I'd suggest reading a lot of reviews for any laptop you're leaning towards.

flaagan

HP laptops rock... and Toshiba / fujistu aren't half bad either. Dell's quality has hit rock bottom in my opinion, and stay the hell away from Sony. As far as 'specialty' brands like Alienware... buy at your own risk (I'd sooner buy a sony laptop). I've had too many friends get Alienware and then had their systems implode... and then get basic support get denied to them by Alienware.

MoP

Careful if you buy one from the US, read up on your country's import duties and taxes - I don't know if Spain has taxes like the UK does, but technological goods gets a ton of tax slapped on it when imported, so you might be better off buying one from inside the country. Otherwise you might end up with a nasty surprise letter saying "you owe 400 euros in tax before we will ship this to you".

notman

HP Laptops are nice... their support is horrible. I would probably rate it the worst in the industry, but I'm sure someone out there is worse.

I found a great deal at Gateway for my wife's laptop, so give them a look also.

One thing that I consider a must is a ultrabrite or superbrite screen. Depending on who you go with, they will have their own name for it, but you are looking for anything that says 'brite' basically. It's a coating that they apply to the LCD that gives it beautiful contrast and color.

Also, check http://www.cnet.com for reviews on laptops before you buy one. You're best option is to first find a laptop that you're considering, THEN go to CNET and search in their review section for that laptop. They give very informative info on functionality.... like battery life, durability, or the feel of the laptop.

EarthQuake

Arent you visiting the US sometime soon? You should just buy one when you come here.

Joao Sapiro

yeah i might do what EQ said...the thing is , i am divided , i saw some Dell ones taht are expensive as gold, but really awesome, but to have a good middle ground solution would be cool

keep em coming PLEASE !

Daz

Just make sure you understand the rules and regs before doing that. Spending a couple of grand on a laptop in the US that you intend to take back to Europe could get tricky and you're meant to declare it to customs and face some taxes.

"Upon return from outside the EU, travellers are permitted to bring back a litre of spirits, two litres of wine and 200 cigarettes (or 100 cigarillos or 50 cigars or 250g of tobacco), 60ml of perfume and 250ml of eau de toilette, in addition to the £145 worth of other gifts and souvenirs."

I bought the core duo Toshiba satellite. Very happy.

notman

Yeah, but how would customs know if he bought the laptop here? Or do they actually track what you come into the country with? I honestly don't know since I've never left the country other than to Canada. I just imagine they base it more on honesty for something like that.

Daz

They actually wouldn't know of course, the question is whether or not you want to risk it and can be comfortable walking through customs without looking sweaty and nervous.

hawken

[ QUOTE ]
HP Laptops are nice... their support is horrible. I would probably rate it the worst in the industry, but I'm sure someone out there is worse.


[/ QUOTE ]

Nope, they ARE the worst.

[ QUOTE ]

Also, check http://www.cnet.com for reviews on laptops before you buy one. You're best option is to first find a laptop that you're considering, THEN go to CNET and search in their review section for that laptop. They give very informative info on functionality.... like battery life, durability, or the feel of the laptop.

[/ QUOTE ]

I have mixed feelings about this. The HP laptop I bought had blazing reviews for about 10 months into it's life. But as the majority of them started failing due to a design flaw, these reviews changed to slate the laptop. My HP spectacularly melted the graphics card into it's motherboard. After which HP didn't want to know.

My own personal recommendation would be a Fujitsu or Dell. They are built to last, the durability really is top notch. Sony also make very durable laptops.

Of course, this also activates my MAC bias. You can run windows on a macbook pro. Macbook Pro really are at the top if you have the cash. Apple customer service is also insanely good if you're under warranty.

Joao Sapiro

hm..so far im inclined to a dell, but jesus are they expensive !!! might check the hp , my girlfriend has an HP and so far is amazing ! still open to suggestions .

Ozymandias

I just got a Fujitsu Lifebook laptop, and it rocks my socks off. The screen is exceptional, one of the brightest laptop screens I've seen and the colors are incredibly sharp. Its powerful enough to do everything I want. The only drawback is that its a little heavy due to its size, 17".

Justin Meisse

HP has the standard-substandard indian tech support, I always escalate the calls as fast as I can to get a manager who isn't reading from a script.

Apple is great, I managed a mac based office for about 3 years. Apple phone support is great except when you have to return something to get repaired or replaced, then it's "Ok, here's your RMA number, just drop the part off at the closest apple store... hmmm, I see there's one two hours away from you in Tampa"

hawken

Apple are great if you live in a city

They also make the most light-weight 17" notes, with the longest battery life. The gubbins under the hood are meaty too.

My HP was 6kg. Sounds ok right? Until you try carrying that shit around, the powerpack was another 2kg! Admittedly I did take around the world twice. If I could choose again, I would have definitely gone for a macbook pro, considering the ZD7000 HP was $3000 of my cash up in smoke after only 14 months use. Ran HL2 on full settings though, that rocked!