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My current laptop was seven years old, and finally took a big crap.

So I'm in the market for a new one.

I'm looking for your recommendations on brands, makes/models and where to buy.

 

I typically surf various forums, email, HD movies, music, edit pics/video and play WoT and a few other games.

I need a balanced entertainment machine.

 

15-17" screen

Dual or Quad core, Intel I7-4700 HQ or better, 3.0Gz or better

Nvidia GeForce GTX860M to 970m

Nvidia GeForce chipset

8-16gb DDR3 RAM

500-1TB HDD 5400-7200 rpm + 256GB SSD

All the usual wireless, ports & misc.

 

I have up to $2000.00 USD budgeted.

Edited by ChileRelleno
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ASUS makes very affordable and good quality computers. You do not pay for a name. They are built well and last several years, even with kids. Compare specs and you will see the bang for the buck factor. If you want an ass kicker, they make that too. Their flagship model rocks and costs hundreds less than the competition. Make sure you get one without bloatware. Best Buy and other outlets add a bunch of crap software and ads to computers these days. same models from online distributors and eBay are free from the crap.

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I had many different brands of laptops.  I do not advise Alienware.  Too expensive, but good.  I have always had excellent luck with Toshiba, Compaq and HP.  Yes, I said Hp and Compaq.  Sold my Compaq to my buddy and he took it on 3 deployments to the sand pit, still worked.  Do your specs, go on their sites and look for specials.  The days of 'you get what you pay for' just doesn't hold water much these days in IT.  IMO.  I absolutely hate Dell.  Did I say I hate Dell?  If not, I hate Dell. 

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My HP DV3000 refuses to die. I will likely buy another HP with an Intel processor after it does finally shit the bed. It has been a great unit and it has seen it's share of drops and daily traveling. If I am awake, it is getting used. 

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Mac book pro....we have had one for over five years. We have yet to have an issue with it. I cant remember a time we have had to hard reboot it. I was a windows fanboy for a long time but my wife wanted a mac book for the photo software. We got hers and it has worked so well we got another one.

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MacBook pro, we have always used windows and put up with the crashes and lock ups. Bought the wife a Mac desktop with 27" screen, then a iPad, then got me a MacBook pro, and we both have gotten iPhones. Not one single problem or crash out of any of them. She even gave me an iPad air for Christmas, they work a lot better than a windows based product

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A friend of mine was an IT guy and generally was the one in charge of selecting which models the county would purchase and support by the hundreds. So usually they would buy a few of each reasonable option to compare in field before doing the big buy. 

 

His advice to me was roughly this: At a given price point and feature list, the one that is built more strongly probably has more quality parts throughout, and is more likely to have good long term support for the drivers. Once you narrow it down to a few comparable models from good brands, pick the one with the beefiest hinge for the screen. Metal structure throughout is obviously a good thing.

 

I have had mixed luck with dell since I had to buy midrange, but I have helped fix a lot of crappy compaq models. Compaq/hp basically stick a huge variety of whatever leftover parts they have inside a shell, so 5 of the "same model"  could all have 7 combinations of  mix n matched sound cards, video, ram, HDD, optical... So long as the claimed performance numbers are the same... Which means they are often generic with drivers rather than specific to the actual components. Asus makes really good desk top components, and has a so-so laptop line and an awesome laptop line. At the high end, I am generally quite impressed. 

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Chile, I'm an IT guy (since 1989 or so) and I stand behind the Dell recommendation.

 

I know people like to hate on Dell but they are a market leader and a large target.

Just like people hate Chevy. Ford, Maytag, Ruger, etc.

 

I have nothing against HP, ASUS, etc., they make good machines too.

Overall, I still think Dell is a bit better for quality and warranty support.

 

Dell has had some stinker models (as have all brands), mostly at the bottom end.

 

I'll admit the "Alien" branding and badges on the laptop are a little silly, not a big deal though.

The prices on the Dell/Alienware machines are competitive against other brands.

 

Some good suggestions here, but some totally ignore your specs.

Your specs are generally classed as a "Gaming Laptop" so suggestions need to take that into account.

Edited by Spartacus
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Thanks Spartacus,

I'm currently looking very hard at MSI's offerings.

The fact that I play a few games means I have to really pay attention to CPU, GPU and HDD/RAM.

Even though I'm not an avid gamer.

If not for games, I could buy a $500-800. PC and be GtG.

At least by buying up I Future Proof myself a bit as a home & entertainment machine.

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From the IT help desk, my .02

 

We switched from Dell to HP, I've worked on Compaq, HP,Toshibia, Asus and Macs. 

 

I don't particuallry care for the firmware on the HPs, I've seen them lock onto and hold a bad driver in the worst way. Trying to get them to install the correct driver is a pain. I don't care for the BIOS on them.

 

Toshibia, I swear that the thing was going to set itself on fire with how hot it was running. Yes i checked the fans for dust/dirt/lint, the satillite just had some poor air flow dynamics

 

Asus seems to be a good deal for the money, but I haven't been under the hood much with them.

 

I personally like the Dells that we have/had. Solid built chassis, better tech support. Built in BIOS tester is handy. Tool less cases? yes please

 

Price point may kick a decent Mac out of the running, but you won't have to do anything with a Macbook Pro's HDD dies.

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Dont' buy Gateway of Acer. They are identical aside from the label. My brother gave my daughters Acer laptops which the keys broke off and the computers crapped out. The only thing I salvaged were the hard drives which I made external USB drives with an adapter I got at Micro Center. 

 

HP is not my favorite either because their customer service sucks. My daughter got an HP laptop to replace the crappy Acer and it was missing the WiFi driver and when I called HP the tech was a real dickhead and he only agreed to help when I told him that I would return the computer and get a Toshiba.

 

I had good luck with Toshiba and Asus. Lenovo is also good from what I hear.

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Funny that the last post mentions Lenovo.

Since I just pulled the trigger on one.

 

Lenovo Y70-70 Touch - 80DU000HUS - Black:

Qty: 1

4th Generation Intel Core i7-4710HQ Processor (2.50GHz 1600MHz 6MB)

• Windows 8.1 64

• 17.3" FHD LED AntiGlare Multitouch with integrated camera (1920x1080)

• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 860M GDDR5 4GB

• 16.0GB PC3-12800 DDR3L 1600 MHz

• 512GB SSD

• None

• Intel® Dual Band Wireless-AC 3160

• Bluetooth Version 4.0

• One year

• ClickPad

• 4 Cell 54 Watt Hour Li-Polymer

• 3YR In-Home + Accidental Damage Protection

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  • 7 years later...

I have a MacBook Pro; it's almost five years old. So I would definitely choose the MacBook Pro because that's what I've been testing, and I have a lot of apps that work great. But as one of my friends said, it depends on your needs. The Mac Book pro is pretty heavy to carry around, whereas the Air is lighter. But I take it wherever I go, and it works at its best. I also lost important files from it, and I didn't know how to recover them. But I found the guys on salvagedata.com who solved my problem in a few hours.

Edited by GerrandoT1981
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