laptops

[Irish_Alley]

ok i know this is an old topic but shopping for a new laptop. the hp that i got after this original post think i paid $700 had started acting up think it was a virus then i cracked the screen, tried to replace that but my caveman style of working on thing kind of broke the motherboard. got a new motherboard but its old and havnt put it back together yet, but when i do i think ill just let the little ones play with it. so with the new technology thats came out and maybe new members that have opinions on what to get. price range is 700 or below atleast thats what i think is reasonable.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c02674540&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en

i use photoshop and surf online, dont really play games on them so it doesnt need to be a gaming laptop. dont need touchscreen (would be a waist)

[VileZambonie]

Why not clean up your existing laptop and get an iPad or a tablet?

[Irish_Alley]

Want the kid to be able to play learning games online like ABC mouse.for some reason I really hate anything apple makes. Could keep the laptop for myself but its over 3 years and its outdated. If I can get her running good again I might keep her just so I won't be waisting money.

[bake74]

     I have a Acer laptop like the one in the link.
     I use it for my forums, searching the internet, and my small business I have on the side.  It works great for me and never has given me problems. 

[Irish_Alley]

I also hate windows 8 lol. Maybe cause I'm not used to it but love regular windows. That Acer is probably a little better than the HP and cheaper

[bake74]

    I believe you can still request windows 7 on it.  But any new laptop is going to come with windows 8.

[roundhouse]

We got a couple dells  from new egg
One new and one used refurbished 

There is also one other site that sells used refirbs
Can't remember the name though

[VileZambonie]

My daughter just turned 1 and has an iPhone (in airplane mode) and an iPad. She started playing with them when she was 5 months old. By 8 months she could hold and tap now she handles them like a pro. My woman's grandmother is 86 and uses iPad as well. No one can convince me that they aren't user friendly. All of our teachers use iPads and all of our students get iPads. My laptop rarely gets used anymore.

Do you have a scan tool? Use your iPad as an OBDII scan tool. I use it in the garage, for work, for school, for tunes, surfing the web and a plethora of great apps. Kids love them too. My laptop sits mostly in my briefcase unless I'm working with excel on the go. I'm not saying it's right for you but if you already have a laptop that does what a laptop does why get another when you have other perhaps better options?

[bake74]

     I use my laptop for my day job and a whole lot of other stuff, I personally prefer to surf the web and be on the forums on my laptop though.

[roundhouse]

You tried an iPad ?

The other place we get used stuff from is tigerdirect.com

[blazing816]

I also hate windows 8 lol. Maybe cause I'm not used to it but love regular windows. That Acer is probably a little better than the HP and cheaper

With Windows 8 (because I believe stop selling Windows 7 so do not think you can get it anymore), most people can not get use to the "modern screen" (titled screen that pops up when you boot). You can install a program called classic shell (free) or Start8 (better, $5) and you get your standard Windows 7 start menu back and can disable the modern screen from being first thing you see. The modern screen is still accessible if you want it, you just do not have to use it.

As far as brands, they really like cars some brand new ones can be lemons and other will last a life time and they could be same brand. I use the saying "you get what you pay for" more. Hp are good, but got a bad rap because of a bunch of motherboard recalls they had to do few years back (like Toyota and the gas pedal). Right now I think who has the best bang for buck is ASUS, but again that is my opinion. After that it is your preference....ultrabooks are light but cost more and standard laptop you will get more for less money, etc.

I have been a computer tech over 10 years (between fixing, selling, graphic/web design) and I have own ASUS, HPs, Alienware, MacBook Pro (own a 7 year old one right now and she is still running the newest software), Dell (own XPS 12 convertible right now) and I do not have a preference in brand.

If you want it to last (specs wise), I would get a Quad core at least (AMD quad, i5 or i7), get at least 4gb RAM, and if you got the money I would get a 256gb (or bigger) SSD (solid state drive). My windows 8 machine (i7, 8gb ram, and 256gb ssd) boots from dead cold off to log in screen in 3 seconds. I do a lot of photoshop and stuff also, I just use an external/networked hard drive for my project so they do not fill my laptop drive up (because of smaller size). But depends on how much work you do.

I know it was long, but hope it helps

[Irish_Alley]

OK blazing. Got a question for you put my HP back together after replacing screen and motherboard. Fist time really messing with the insides of a computer (second if you count the first attempt where I broke the motherboard ) but anyway its a HP pavilion dv7-4276nr. Well now when you press the power all that happens is the power and WiFi led will flash and keep on flashing 6+ times. The fan doesn't come on, the caps or number lock doesn't come on. I get nothing any suggestions?

[Irish_Alley]

The two LEDs on the side also flash (power and cdplayer?)

[VileZambonie]

Did you plug the ribbon cable back in all the way?

[Irish_Alley]

think so. when i switch mother boards i had to switch the cpu, memory and wireless adapters along with the fan and heat sink. took it back apart this morning and saw i didnt plug the fan back in, figured a safety prevented it from starting due to an in-op fan or at least i hoped. well thats not the problem took it apart again removed the memory, cpu and everything i could thinking a bad connection. but it all seamed good and put it all back together still no start. did this a couple more times before i went to bed. tomorrow ill switch motherboards with the old one and see if it starts back up. the old motherboard would work just the keyboard wouldn't