Darn 8 year old MAC is dying on me, I need some advice on a replacement

[General of Darkness]

I know I could search the internet nonstop for laptops, but I'm not PC guy, and that's what I want to replace my MAC.

In a nutshell it would cost more to upgrade my 8 year old $3K PowerBook G4 than it's worth.

I've got 1,000 FRNS to burn and I'm only looking for a few things.

17+ screen
Video editing
Fast

A lot of this is going to be used for editing videos, s. I know there's an I7 Intel processor, dunno what that gets me, I know that RAM is the key but then you get into the SSD hard drive or something like that.

In a nut shell, I wouldn't ask unless I didn't have to, and with the brain power here, I know I won't be steered wrong. :)

FYI - Think this might fill the bill, but I just think there has to be better values out there.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i5+Processor+/+17.3%22+Display+/+8GB+Memory+/+750GB+Hard+Drive+-+Dark+Umber/2678499.p?id=1218343867581&skuId=2678499

[JJ.G0ldD0t]

check out a Dell XPS 17

[Olmstein]

If you're used to a mac, you should stay with Apple. Too much pain in the ass learning a new OS.

[Joe King]

If your current computer is really 8 years old, the one in your link would run circles around it and should work just fine for your stated needs.

[General of Darkness]

If you're used to a mac, you should stay with Apple. Too much pain in the ass learning a new OS.

Olm, I use both. I'm actually more use to short cuts on a PC, that's been my biggest frustration with the MAC.

JJ, DELL is jew owned, so I won't spend my money there.

[chad]

don't buy an hp, you'll just help this douche get a bigger bonus:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3965498,00.html

[Joe King]

Can someone post up a list of big companies that aren't trying to screw us over in some form or fashion? It'd make this easier. Thanks in advance. :)

If such a company even exists, that is.

[gunDriller]

check out a Dell XPS 17

from the Dell Outlet store - they are laptops that have been returned. the prices are pretty amazing.

http://www.dell.com/us/dfh/p/studio-xps-laptops?~ck=anav

$800 for a quad-core 15", $900 for a quad-core 17".

XPS 17 - L702X
XPS 15 - L502X

these are the newest quad core, low power consumption.

look for the 2630QM CPU or if you want to spend a little more the 2720QM CPU.


NORMALLY i would suggest boycotting Dell ... Zionist Jew who supported the Bush-Cheney admin that let Israel in the back-door for 9-11.

in any case, if you "click-through", you get a list of about 4 pages of laptops. for comparison if nothing else.


if you decide to Ditch Dell & go for a Toshiba, they have some good laptops too.

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=32

Newegg is a distributor. so is Amazon, if you find a particular model.


one thing to be aware of, if it has a glossy screen ... let's just say i prefer matte. since 8 years ago, the laptop manufacturers have gone on a "glossy screen" binge which i think is stupid. e.g. if you take one to a cafe with wireless, you will have to find "just the right chair" because of the gloss, reflections, etc.

[Ponce]

Got mine here three years ago and I love it.....is like buying a new car......what for?

http://www.usanotebook.com/

[Book]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215120

Intel processors are hebrew. This machine is top rated by the Eggheads.

[General of Darkness]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215120

Intel processors are hebrew. This machine is top rated by the Eggheads.

Great find.

[LuckyStrike]

newegg.com
frys.com
amazon.com

Best deals and no tax.

Dell is overpriced and jew owned like you said.

As far as pre built PC's go I'd always recommended HP, but thanks to Chad that is no more.

FWIW price to performance AMD is superior to intel.

[Shami-Amourae]

I recommend ASUS laptops. They are made for gamers, not sheeple, so they are more solidly built. These things are made with high end video cards so will work best with your video editing.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6624492&CatId=4965

This thing is refurbished, but I wouldn't worry about that. Most things I buy refurbished tend to work even better than the original factory rolled out.

[Shami-Amourae]

performance AMD is superior to intel.

I agree. Get AMD for your CPU (processor) and ATI for your GPU (graphics card) if you can. AMD bought out ATI, and are considered the runner up in the duopoly for this technology. Intel/NVIDIA are overpriced in my opinion.

[Dogman]

AMD rocks, been using their chips for years,

[Ponce]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215120

Intel processors are hebrew. This machine is top rated by the Eggheads.

HEbrew?..............no way Jose.

[platinumdude]

Buy a Dell computer with an Intel chip and a HP printer to go with it.

[Book]

http://www.ixbt.com/cm/intel-israel-dec2k5/slide5.jpg

[big country]

I concur. Go with an ASUS laptop. I bought mine from http://gentechpc.com/ and I would recommend them. I clicked on online upgrade for the RAM on their website, they called me and told me that that upgrade wasn't ideally suited for the processor and wouldn't give me any speed advantages so they actually recommended staying with the default option since there was no performance boost with the laptop which saved me $100. They could have easily sold the upgrade w/o a peep and I wouldn't have known any better.

My ASUS has been great, though the battery life has been less then poor. My laptop has a desktop sized i7 so I knew the battery would be poor going into it. I get about 54 minutes on my battery and that was BRAND NEW. I would highly recommend an i7 or and i5 both are outstanding processors. Intel processors currently beat the pants off of comparable AMD offerings and I used to be a HUGE AMD fan (with a caveat that AMD might have released something within the last few months that I am not aware of -- of so please let me know)

If you're running Windows 7, make sure you get a 64-bit OS so you can use more then 4GBs of RAM. 32bit OS is limited to 4GB max. I would reccomend atleast 8GB of ram for modern computers.

If you really want to research and compare laptops I would check out:
http://www.notebookreview.com/
They have WAY more information then anyone can possibly read so narrow down to a few options before you read about them. Their forums have a wealth of computing information as well.

[gunDriller]

I concur. Go with an ASUS laptop.

i have an Asus now.

but i have to say - that deal on the Acer is THE BEST DEAL ON A COMPUTER I'VE EVER SEEN !

i wonder if it can be upgraded to more RAM.

[Glass]

Please don't buy Acer. Yes their deals do look good and they border on too good to be true. Yes they do pack their laptops with all the hottest out of the box new tech but a lot of it has teething problems or is poorly implemented. There are better more reliable computers to choose from. Acers die young and it's not good. They tend to fail piece by piece.

My recommendations are:Toshiba, HP and then Lenovo.

These companies usually have 2 product streams. A business range/stream and a consumer range/stream. You get the consumer range at the discount stores. You would have to look around and see who supplies business units. The consumer range will have: less substantial chassis, slower non ecc ram, slower hard drives. I've heard a fair few complaints about Toshiba from people in the US. In Australia they are top 3 for reliability and I think probably No 1. There is a difference between consumer and business products.

I have seen a few ASUS units, all of which had done a few years service and I haven't seen any with problems with them. The ones I have seen do run hot so cooling fans could need replacing more often than other brands.

[Buddha]

I agree with ASUS. Quality laptops.

This looks pretty good: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220821

The ASUS have Intel processors however. If you can deal with that.

Sell the free Tron blue ray and DVD on ebay and get a little more money back.

[gunDriller]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145283

good DDR3-format memory for upgrading the Acer to 8 GB total.

$29 for 4 GB, not sure if laptops need them in matching pairs.

[DMac]

ASUS and Toshiba are the best lower end (price wise) laptops these days, IMO.

Regarding processors, the more you spend the better Intel performs. If you can find a laptop with AMD that has a good video card, you will probably save $ and not suffer performance degradation. When buying a laptop in the $1k+ range I think Intel has better technology. AMD is more bang for your buck when shopping in the 200-700 range.

Your biggest bottleneck for video stuff will be to make sure your video card is not some integrated POS. Other key points when spending that much should be at least 4GB (go for 8GB if possible) RAM. SSD is not 100% required but if you can find a machine in your price range SSD is a no brainer upgrade.

*EDIT*
Do yourself a favor and DO NOT BUY ACER. They are chinese crap.

[big country]

One thing to keep in mind when buying a laptop is that RARELY do you get any specs on a motherboard. A quality motherboard is an ESSENTIAL piece of the whole puzzle as all communication between components is facilitated in the motherboard. IF there are two computers with the exact same components and one is cheaper guess where the price cuts came from?

ASUS is a WELL KNOWN motherboard maker, that happens to make laptops. Most other companies make laptops and just get the cheapest bid for a motherboard. Something to think about.

I have been more then happy with my ASUS...please do not buy ACER. They are JUNK! my previous two laptops were acer and eventually failed in a year or two.

[gunDriller]

once my Asus fell off a table about 3 1/2 feet high, along with a large peach smoothie.

the peach smoothie landed on top of the computer, drenching it.

i cleaned it up & turned it on ... it still worked.

using it right now.

some of the keys in the keyboard died, so i have to use an external keyboard, but that's my fault ... it got rained on.

it would be interesting to subject a Dell, as Acer, etc. to a similar battery of tests.

we could use a berry smoothie, or a chocolate smoothie - whatever you want.