I live in CANADA and I got a question for a new laptop

Hi, I am 16 years old. I am going to buy a laptop for my personal needs and for school homework and project and stuff.

What I am looking for is a good computer which need to

1. Be fast
2. At least 40gb hard drive
3. Average video card
4. Good battery life
5. At least 512mb RAM
6. Around 14-15" monitor
7. Not too heavy , not to light
8. Good Network Card
9. If possible, dvd double layer writer

What do you guys think of this computer ?? http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pr...665000FS10063398&catid=22495&logon=&langid=EN
It is 1399$ CAN after 200$ rebate


And how about this one ?? http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pr...665000FS10046333&catid=22495&logon=&langid=EN
It is 1399$ CAN after 300$ rebate


1 more question, What is the difference between these 2 and which is better ??

Integrated 10/100Base-T Ethernet LAN

10/100, 802.11b/g High-Speed Wireless


If you got any more good laptop at good price now/rebates in Canada, please tell me.

I am probably going to buy Compaq Presario R3240CA, any1 got any comment or opinion on this laptop ??
Thanks a lot guy, I would really appreciate your answers

 

They are fine machines. If you want good battery life from them get the 12 cell battery. A Pentium M or Turion will offer better battery life. The thing that is going to kill performance is the slow hard drive. You might want to get a faster one and throw the old one in an external case for extra storage. Acer 4402 is worth a look. Has much better GPU than the Compaqs.

 

Between the 2 Compaq's, the R4125 is newer & updated version of the R3240. Futureshop lists it(r3240) as being sold out, so I dont think they are available anymore. The major difference between the r4000 & the r3000 is the graphics card, the r4125 uses the newer chipset & graphics card. I would not really recommend the r3000 series(r3240 is a part of this series) especially since it costs the same as the newer upgraded model.

The difference between those is that one is just a adaptor for wired internet connections(1) whereas the other includes wired as well as wireless adaptors(2). 10/100, 802.11b/g High-Speed wired/Wireless is better than just the wired connection.

Here is the offical HP product specification page for the R4125, which also lists the fact that it has wired as well as wireless adaptors.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?lc=en&cc=us&docname=c00392884

 

So if I want to buy this computer , all I need to do to make it better is to upgrade the hardrive and get the 12 cell battery ??

Which other HP computer do you recommend me to buy?? Which model is the best or what you recommend.

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/subclass.asp?logon=&langid=EN&catid=22495
Thanks

 

What is you budget and how big would you like it to be?

 

The 4125ca is a good deal. Get a 1gig stick and replace one of the 256mb sticks they use. Set the video memory in the bios to 256, and if you have a little extra cash yes get a faster drive.

I bought one of these a few weeks ago and I'm fairly impressed with the value, I had the r3000 series as well. The only thing I'm noticing is a little bit of an issue with the keyboad, keys randomly not functioning as they should (the spacebar for sure) I'm going to see if I can get it replaced. The 3000 wasn't like that.

For the money it's a pretty good deal. So far.

 

Rz,

Futureshop's got a few other systems on sale which might meet your needs. Also, they seem to be big sellers.

Compaq V2310 w/AMD Turion64 ML-28 1.6GHz @ $1399.99
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pr...angid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10063268&catid=11520

This should have Wireless integrated into the unit (according to the HP site, but it doesn't seem to list it on Furtureshop's site. Just verify before purchasing)

Gateway 3550GZ Intel Centrino 735 1.7GHz @ $1399.99
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pr...angid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10062706&catid=11520

HP DV1330 Intel Centrino 740 1.73GHz @ $1699.99 after $100 discount (on sale)
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pr...angid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10063228&catid=11520

Toshiba Satellite M50-YK4 Intel Centrino 740 1.73GHz @ $1599.99 after $200 discount (on sale)
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pr...angid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10062582&catid=11520

These units are all 14.1" widescreen LCD models. These unit's also contain either the Intel Pentium M or AMD Turion 64 ML processors. These are currently the most power conserving CPU's on the market (Pentium M still the top). There's no real need to get the larger and heavier 12 cell battery to give you decent runtimes.

Personally, I think the 14" widescreen notebooks are a better fit for your needs. The Compaq R series is a large notebook and might make it difficult if you decide to carry it to school. A slight smaller and much lighter unit will make it easier to be mobile. And definitely the better CPU's will make battery runtimes longer.

Oh and just to mention, all the units I listed above also have a DVD+/-RW Dual Layer burner included.

-Vb-

 

Thanks everyone , I think I am going to wait a bit b4 buying one because my dad don't have the money yet

I am either going to wait for a bit sale on futureshop or bestbuy or buy 1 from dell.ca

 

Oh man, you made my day with that Turion one priced at $1399.. It can be PriceMatched 110% to Best Buy also (Who is selling it for $1299!)

I've been waiting for a cheap turion to come out, and this seems to be it.. Is that Turion a good purchase? Should I purchase a 2 year product plan with it? (It costs friggin $299.99! Is that robbery? What do you all suggest?)

 

You ' re right ... I may try to ask my dad about it ... It looks good

Is looks almost the same as this http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,120200,00.asp

And do you know anywhere in canada to buy the 12 cell battery cheap ?? Or can we upgrade at futureshop or best buy ??

Thanks

 

Duckdown,

People seem to like the Turion CPU's because of it's better runtimes vs the Athlon64 and it's lower heat output.

A 2 year extension would probably be better if you bought directly from HP/Compaq as the BestBuy warranties are really only good at BestBuy stores. They won't authorized the repair anywhere around the world (unless it's at a BestBuy). The HP warranties offer service anywhere aorund the world at either an HP repair facility or an HP Authorized repair facility.

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Rz,

The V2000 & the V2310 are based on the same series. Only the config has changed (that's why it has a different model #).

I haven't really seen any other shops selling actual HP batteries, but Futureshop or BestBuy may carry it as they sell a lot of HP computers. You can also get it directly from HP.

-Vb-

 

I wouldn't bother buying extended warranty on a laptop as inexpensive as the V2000 series. Use a credit card that will double the manufacturer warranty for free. That way you'll have a 2 year warranty for the same cost as you'd be getting it normally. Paying $300 for warranty on a $1300 system is really expensive (more than 20% of the system cost) - just upgrade sooner if it breaks.

 

That would be excellent, but where can I find such information?

 

I also need information on the 12 Cell battery.. This is most likely the laptop I'm going with

:decision:

 

Duckdown,

Information regarding warranty extensions for purchased products on a credit card can be located from your credit card companies website. Most gold and platinum cards offer this, but I have also seen it in regular cards like Amex.

-Vb-

 

Thanks, but I can't find even the slightest mention of it on visa.ca

(I only have a regular visa anyways, i'm only 21.. no 'platinum' status yet) so I guess thats out of the question... Unless I apply for an Amex.. hmm?

 

In general Amex cards are not easy to get, I think they are almost as difficult as gold/platinum. I actually believe the TD green credit card (offered automatically to students) offers extended warranty. Check that one.

 

AMEX's extra warranty on electronic goods are only available to US cardholders only.

I'm in toronto and if you're looking for a deal, futureshop right now has a sale (started yesterday) where it's $200 off all desktop and notebooks.

I had bought the compaq v2310 just under 2 weeks ago from staples and refunded it b/c they refused to price-match. ended up buying it again from futureshop.

so if you get it from futureshop, it's works out to:

$1399.99 (reg. price) + $200 off (sale) + taxes (if you're in ontario, it's 15% for GST and PST) = $1379.98

you save $115 from what staples is still selling it fore ($1299.99, pre-tax).

warning you now though, there isn't much left - most stores in GTA that i called have said that v2310 is one the fastest-selling. most are down to 2-3 left in their inventory, while some aready sold out. and its sold-out online too, so. the $200 is suppose to be in affect until sept 1st (or so says their website), but the computer dept mgr i spoke to yesterday said that once the stores sell out completely, they won't re-stock it until after the sale.

just an fyi.

 

this post is for both you (duckdown) and rZ_rZ. [duckdown, msg specifically in bottom half]

rZ_rZ, to answer ur criteria from before:


1) so far, the v2310 has been fast - i'm running mulitple programs (torrents, msn, word, winrar), surfing the web, burning dvds, etc., and haven't noticed any lag or drop in overall performance.

2) it comes with 80 gb hdd @ 4200 rpm. it's a bit slow by comparison to the newest harddrives, but for the most part, it's sufficient. part of the drive (i'd say about 10 gig?) is partition for the OS setup files.

3) it's an ATI radeon express m200 128 mb (shared). its a solid card, but don't expect high framerate or excellent power for pure-gaming. it works well for multi-monitor setup and for s-video to tv output.

4) the battery is amazing, even with wi-fi running (and wi-fi - and high-quality display - is a battery killer). while surfing the web, msn chat and watching i,robot, i got about 3 hours on a single charge. the battery charges ridiculously fast - less than an hour when the notebook is off, under 2 hours when its in use. the powernow! technology on AMD chipset utilizes algorithms designed to optimize performance, heat monitoring/dissipation and battery life (supposedly 100% processing speed when plugged to outlet, 80% when running off the battery).

5) it comes with 512 mb ram (2x256). i don't remember if both slots are accessible (i know one of them is for sure), but yeah, upgrade at least one of the slots to 512 or higher, just to give it that extra bit of power.

6) it's 14" hi-def piece of art - the display is clean, crisp and clear. it's got 10 levels of brightness setting. whether its daytime or night, i have yet to go higher than the 4th level of brightness, often either staying at it's lowest or second-lowest level.

7) its under 5.5 lbs (with reg. 6-cell lith-ion battery), so it's considered lighter that a majority of laptops on the market, but on the heavier end of laptops classified as "thin and light" (i believe the criteria is under 6 lbs, thickness at max of 1.5", 14" screen). honestly, it's comparable to the average science textbook at the university level. it feel light enough to carry easily, but heavy enough to feel and know that its build-quality is good.

8) the speed for network (wireless or ethernet) is solid. i have no problems with the speed at all - i'm even getting full connection speed on wi-fi when i'm outside in the backyard or in my basement, and i live in those older, sturdier, denser homes in the GTA. i'm running bell hi-speed and using di-524 wireless router.

9) its dvd & cd burner with dual-layer burning capability. enough said.

hopefully that answers some of your questions, rZ_rZ.


duckdown, the turion processor is AMD's answer to intel's centrino technology. just go online and google AMD althon and/or turion and you can find very comprehensive reviews, as well as cross-comparison of AMD v. intel on desktops and laptops. go to http://zdnet.com.au/reviews and in the search field type "AMD" and you should get a good list of article results.

AMD's althon and turion processor are all 64-bit-ready for windows' upcoming 64-bit OS (an area intel is actually lagging behind in).

most stores in Canada do not carry the 12-cell battery, although you won't really need it. if you do insist on buying it, buy off ebay - it's cheaper than paying almost $300 retail.

 

X,

That's incorrect, I'm in Canada as well and I have an AMEX card and this features is part of the Specialty Services (not optional) with the card, plus the card has no annual fee. It's not available on all cards, but is available in Canada.

-Vb-