----------------------------------- implosion Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:48 pm Laptop Help ----------------------------------- Hey so i'm heading off to university and i was thinking of buying this laptop... http://www.bestbuy.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0926INGFS10126090&catid=28239 i was wondering how is this graphics card ? Intel GMA 4500. Every time i try to find out stuff about it i keep ending up with GMA X4500HD or GMA X4500. I don't play on using the laptop as a gaming computer but to play some games on the side (halo or call of duty) and the quality doesn't have to be amazing.. 30 fps is fine. i'm gonna be commuting from home and i got my ps3 to do my hardcore gaming :) Also will this laptop last me for a good solid 4 years ? our home computer is getting pretty crap and my mom was like buy a cheaper computer now, and in a year or 2 give this to your brothers and you can get another one. -- i wanted to customize my dell studio online but my mom doesn't want me to buy online. thanks ----------------------------------- BigBear Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:55 pm RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- Ask what they have for open box laptops first. They will be about half the price as this one ----------------------------------- wtd Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:24 pm RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- Standard advice applies. Buy a Mac, or if you're getting a Windows machine, go with a Thinkpad or Dell or HP business class machine. ----------------------------------- andrew. Fri Sep 04, 2009 9:49 am RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- I agree with wtd. Buy the 13" MacBook Pro. It will last for 4 years and if you don't like OS X, you can install Windows or Linux on it. ----------------------------------- Insectoid Fri Sep 04, 2009 9:52 am RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- Macs are a tab bit more expensive than other laptops, but you pay for what you get. Macbooks are virtually indestructible (with the exception of the air, piece of shit) unless you're trying to kill it. ----------------------------------- DemonWasp Fri Sep 04, 2009 10:05 am RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- ...or unless you use it for 3-4 years, after which my girlfriend's Mac started breaking as follows: hard disk died, front case bottom is loose, keyboard just plain died (without any spills), scratched top case. It's not like she's rough on it either. ----------------------------------- implosion Fri Sep 04, 2009 11:46 am RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- Yeah i've heard good stuff about macs. but they are too pricey. i'm also getting warrenty with the laptop because right now i'm living at home and i have 4 other younger (crazy) siblings. but what about the link i put up for that laptop ? i haven't been able to find any info about the intel gma 4500. Also i've never used a mac before and all my friends & family have pc. ----------------------------------- endless Fri Sep 04, 2009 12:18 pm RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- if you're living at home, the best thing you could do for value is build your own desktop. but if you are set on a laptop for under $1000, i would look into Lenovo. any laptop under $1000 should be expected to break anytime after a year (2 years on average), and Lenovo is easy and cheap to get replacement parts for. they are also generally pretty well built considering the price, and have a metal framework. ----------------------------------- wtd Fri Sep 04, 2009 12:20 pm Re: RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- if you're living at home, the best thing you could do for value is build your own desktop. Desktops hold very little value for students. Students have classes to go to and are frequently away from home. ----------------------------------- endless Fri Sep 04, 2009 12:23 pm RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- here's what i recommend for a laptop for you. Lenovo R400/500 http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/webca/LenovoPortal/en_CA/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087¤t-category-id=17A6B5506A7043E09699EC4CA7D620B2&menu-id=products comes with free windows 7 upgrade too. ----------------------------------- wtd Fri Sep 04, 2009 12:23 pm Re: RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- Yeah i've heard good stuff about macs. but they are too pricey. i'm also getting warrenty with the laptop because right now i'm living at home and i have 4 other younger (crazy) siblings. but what about the link i put up for that laptop ? i haven't been able to find any info about the intel gma 4500. Also i've never used a mac before and all my friends & family have pc. Make sure the warranty covers accidental damage. Most don't. Intel GMA 4500 is integrated graphics. It doesn't hold a candle performance-wise to the Nvidia 9400 integrated part or ATI's (AMD-originated) 3200 integrated graphics. If you have even a shred of intelligence, you'd have no trouble getting used to a Mac, and likely significantly less trouble after that. ----------------------------------- wtd Fri Sep 04, 2009 12:24 pm Re: RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- ...or unless you use it for 3-4 years, after which my girlfriend's Mac started breaking as follows: hard disk died, front case bottom is loose, keyboard just plain died (without any spills), scratched top case. It's not like she's rough on it either. Most laptops start doing those things after 6 months to a year, without being abused. ----------------------------------- wtd Fri Sep 04, 2009 12:39 pm Re: RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- here's what i recommend for a laptop for you. Lenovo R400/500 http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/webca/LenovoPortal/en_CA/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087¤t-category-id=17A6B5506A7043E09699EC4CA7D620B2&menu-id=products comes with free windows 7 upgrade too. Anything shipping with Vista now will have a free upgrade to Windows 7. Also, of the two, only consider the R400. The R500 is too big. ----------------------------------- ecookman Fri Sep 04, 2009 1:10 pm Re: RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- Macs are a tab bit more expensive than other laptops, but you pay for what you get. Macbooks are virtually indestructible (with the exception of the air, piece of shit) unless you're trying to kill it. Isn't getting a mac a bit of a problem, if everything in the school is windows based? ----------------------------------- DtY Fri Sep 04, 2009 1:22 pm Re: RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- Macs are a tab bit more expensive than other laptops, but you pay for what you get. Macbooks are virtually indestructible (with the exception of the air, piece of shit) unless you're trying to kill it. Isn't getting a mac a bit of a problem, if everything in the school is windows based? I don't think there's much software that schools use that wont run on a Mac, at my school anyway the computers have: Turing - This would be the exception >_> Python - Comes with OS X Some Java IDE - Not a big step to learn to compile from the command line (or get a java IDE for Mac, I'm pretty sure Eclipse works on Mac OS) Office - You can get for Mac (Or you can even go a step further and get a free office suite) Audacity - Not sure if any classes specifically use this, but it's FLOSS, you can get it for Mac OS Gamemaker - You can't get it for Mac, but I don't know that any classes have used it (Might have been used for CS in the past) Photoshop - You can get for Mac, our school even has a Mac lab for media arts That's all I can think of that you might need for school, but if there's anything else you can use Wine, or just run Windows. ----------------------------------- endless Fri Sep 04, 2009 1:24 pm Re: RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- Macs are a tab bit more expensive than other laptops, but you pay for what you get. Macbooks are virtually indestructible (with the exception of the air, piece of shit) unless you're trying to kill it. Isn't getting a mac a bit of a problem, if everything in the school is windows based? no, it is extremely easy to set up a windows partition on mac, so you have the option of booting up in windows. it is also even easier to use Crossover/Wine or Parallels. and i'd like to see a school that uses much windows only programs since macs are higher in population at most schools. ----------------------------------- andrew. Fri Sep 04, 2009 1:31 pm RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- http://www.joewilcox.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/macs-missouri-500x312.jpg ----------------------------------- Dan Fri Sep 04, 2009 3:52 pm Re: RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- http://www.joewilcox.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/macs-missouri-500x312.jpg Argumentum ad populum: An argumentum ad populum (Latin: "appeal to the people"), in logic, is a fallacious argument that concludes a proposition to be true because many or all people believe it; it alleges, "If many believe so, it is so."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_the_majority ----------------------------------- [Gandalf] Fri Sep 04, 2009 3:58 pm RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- Probably an arts class. :) ----------------------------------- wtd Fri Sep 04, 2009 4:36 pm Re: RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- http://www.joewilcox.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/macs-missouri-500x312.jpg Argumentum ad populum: An argumentum ad populum (Latin: "appeal to the people"), in logic, is a fallacious argument that concludes a proposition to be true because many or all people believe it; it alleges, "If many believe so, it is so."http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appeal_to_the_majority It's an effective counter to the notion that one will run into trouble "because no one at school uses Macs." It was not, in this instance, in my opinion, intended to address which operating system and which set of corresponding hardware is better. ----------------------------------- Dan Fri Sep 04, 2009 5:48 pm Re: RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- It's an effective counter to the notion that one will run into trouble "because no one at school uses Macs." It was not, in this instance, in my opinion, intended to address which operating system and which set of corresponding hardware is better. No one side "because no one at school uses Macs." just that there school might not support it (application and tech support wise). If they did it would also be a Argumentum ad populum and just as fallacious. ----------------------------------- rizzix Fri Sep 04, 2009 6:24 pm RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- Well I can say here @ McMaster (mac) well pretty much the entire Thode library is filled with macs and nothing else. That is, the library computers are Apple Macs. There are plans to change the computers of the other 3 libraries to macs well. ----------------------------------- implosion Fri Sep 04, 2009 7:58 pm Re: Laptop Help ----------------------------------- here's what i recommend for a laptop for you. Lenovo R400/500 http//shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/webca/LenovoPortal/en_CA/catalog.workflowcategory.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087¤t-category-id=17A6B5506A7043E09699EC4CA7D620B2&menu-id=products comes with free windows 7 upgrade too. yeah my friend was telling me the exact same thing, you get really good specs for a laptop for the price, compared to other laptops.. but the problem is my mom isn't letting me buy my laptop online... if she'd let me, i'd have one since july =P. and i'm not gonna get a macbook because its too expensive and then i'd have to get apple care thing.. and yeah... i'm thinking i'm gonna go with that laptop ? i don't care about the gaming part anymore since i have my ps3... and i'll basically use the laptop now to watch movies on and do my school stuff. or could anyone suggest something else for me from www.bestbuy.ca or www.futureshop.ca thanks ----------------------------------- wtd Fri Sep 04, 2009 8:06 pm RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- A visual apporach. Bad: http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/41660.jpg Toshiba Satellite A350 http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/42628.jpg HP Pavilion DV6 http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/39468.jpg HP HDX 16 http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/45161.jpg Dell Inspiron 15 http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/44417.jpg Dell Studio 15 Good: http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/44269.jpg Apple 13.3" MacBook Pro http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/42215.jpg Lenovo Thinkpad T400 http://www.notebookreview.com/assets/37699.jpg Dell Latitude E6400 ----------------------------------- wtd Fri Sep 04, 2009 8:20 pm Re: Laptop Help ----------------------------------- here's what i recommend for a laptop for you. Lenovo R400/500 http//shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/webca/LenovoPortal/en_CA/catalog.workflowcategory.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087¤t-category-id=17A6B5506A7043E09699EC4CA7D620B2&menu-id=products comes with free windows 7 upgrade too. yeah my friend was telling me the exact same thing, you get really good specs for a laptop for the price, compared to other laptops.. but the problem is my mom isn't letting me buy my laptop online... if she'd let me, i'd have one since july =P. and i'm not gonna get a macbook because its too expensive and then i'd have to get apple care thing.. and yeah... i'm thinking i'm gonna go with that laptop ? i don't care about the gaming part anymore since i have my ps3... and i'll basically use the laptop now to watch movies on and do my school stuff. or could anyone suggest something else for me from www.bestbuy.ca or www.futureshop.ca It's not even so much that Best Buy and Futureshop suck (they do, for what it's worth) but that they don't carry the kind of laptops you should be looking at. As for AppleCare... you should get the manufacturer's extended warranty with any laptop! I know we're programmed by conventional wisdom to think extended warranties are a rip-off, but if you don't, I can fairly safely wager you'll be buying a new notebook in 12-18 months if you don't. ----------------------------------- wtd Sat Sep 05, 2009 1:45 pm RE:Laptop Help ----------------------------------- Also: http://compsci.ca/v3/viewtopic.php?t=21441