buying a laptop

[junior_719]

Hey!
I want to buy a computer (possibly a laptop) as soon as I get money. My budget will be under $700.

I want a laptop that I can watch and make movies, record movies, and watch TV.

Is this a decent laptop? http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Acer-Aspire-15-4-Widescreen-Notebook-PC-5100-3357/sem/rpsm/oid/176217/catOid/-12963/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

I know it doesn't have a TV tuner, or the size of hard drive I want, but I think I will buy a TV tuner and an external hard drive.

I would like to know where to buy those. I want cheap as possible for the TV tuner and it could not be internal because of that being a laptop.

I want a 250gb external hard drive if possible but from what I have seen, that size generally is not portable, and if it is it is really expensive. So cheap as possible, if not portable, I can live with it, but preferably portable.

If anyone knows of a better laptop for near the same price, please respond to this.

 

[fidgewinkle]

That is most definitely a good notebook for the money. You are correct regarding the HDDs on notebooks, they are very expensive for their capacity. If you just want a drive for media files, an external will work fine. As for using an add-on TV tuner, I have no idea if it this system will work out for you.

 

[lostandwandering]

It's not bad. I just couldn't help but laugh at the part where they say "powerful ATi graphics" and then mention it's ATi express 1100. That just made me laugh.

 

[will14]

for a laptop that is pretty good tho...
Really anything under $700 with 1GB ram and core 2 duo is what I recommend. Bonus for dedicated graphics. Choose your size external off newegg and TBH I don't know much on tv tuners that fit pcmia(sp?) slots.

 

[will14]

for a laptop that is pretty good tho...
Really anything under $700 with 1GB ram and core 2 duo is what I recommend. Bonus for dedicated graphics(mine with the intel dedicated will play games decently nothing compared to my 1950 Pro/desktop tho). Choose your size external off newegg and TBH I don't know much on tv tuners that fit pcmia(sp?) slots.

 

[lostandwandering]

I thought it was good, but I couldn't help but laugh when they tried to call integrated "powerful". The two don't belong together.

 

[billdcat4]

I have a bunch of the Western Digital Externals, and with no issues.

Get either a 250gb WD mybook for $95 or a 500gb essential for 150.


My WD externals:
2x 80gb
2x250gb mybook essential
2x320gb
1x 500gb essential
1x500gb premium

ha ha terabytes

 

[vanka]

Seems like a pretty decent laptop; I personally would want to get something with a dual-core processor for faster multi-tasking. As for a TV tuner, there are many different USB tuners available. Just search on Pricewatch and Pricegrabber for what you want; same for an external hard drive.

 

[will14]

Personally the Turion my friend has is incredibly slow compared to the A64 3800 my laptop had.
Mine smooooooooked his.
I would agree on an AM2/Core2.

 

[fidgewinkle]

Personally the Turion my friend has is incredibly slow compared to the A64 3800 my laptop had.
Mine smooooooooked his.
I would agree on an AM2/Core2.

Actually, my Core Duo T2400 @ 1.83GHz seems to be roughly equal in processor performance to my A64 X2 3800. I haven't run any benchmarks, so that is merely my impression.

 

[junior_719]

Thanx for the help everyone. I said this but it was not very clear. I want an external hard drive but I think I want it to be portable. If I remember right (correct me if I am wrong) but if it is portable it does not have to be plugged into an outlet correct? Help me find a 250gb portable hard drive. I don't want it to be more than $100. If that is not possible, find a normal external one that is around $80 dollars and if you find one that is bigger than 250gb for near $80 dollars, that would be even better.

 

[fidgewinkle]

Seems like a pretty decent laptop; I personally would want to get something with a dual-core processor for faster multi-tasking. As for a TV tuner, there are many different USB tuners available. Just search on Pricewatch and Pricegrabber for what you want; same for an external hard drive.

I really took it for granted that it was dual core. I don't know why. That has changed my impression of this system.

I would say that it is often difficult to find the best deals on complete systems using those vendor search engines. I found that looking at individual sites and using a regular google search worked better. Two good places for the OP to look are at HP and Tiger Direct. In December, I got my HP Core Duo T2400, GMA45, 1GB RAM, XP Professional, 40GB HDD for $700 at Tiger Direct. There were two down sides. The HDD is small and they sent me a system with the password already activated, no system discs, and a non-functioning restore partition. It took a month to get everything sorted out because the people that work at Tiger Direct are idiots.

 

[billdcat4]

Thanx for the help everyone. I said this but it was not very clear. I want an external hard drive but I think I want it to be portable. If I remember right (correct me if I am wrong) but if it is portable it does not have to be plugged into an outlet correct? Help me find a 250gb portable hard drive. I don't want it to be more than $100. If that is not possible, find a normal external one that is around $80 dollars and if you find one that is bigger than 250gb for near $80 dollars, that would be even better.

Portable or 2.5" externals do not come in sizes greater than 200gb because they rely n notebook hard drives. You have 3 good options:
a) buy a Western Digital Passport 2 (120gb for $95 is usually the best deal, however, I just saw in today's Best Buy Circular: the same drive in 160gb for $105 w/ no rebates)

b) buy a seagate 2.5" external: they are also supposed to be good

c) build one yourself using a 2.5" enclosure and a notebook hard drive: beware though of cheap ones, I bought a cheap $8 vantec one, and it needs to be plugged in to 2 usb ports at once to get power, and even then it didnt get enough on my desktop

good luck