New Notebook Computer
 

I'm getting a notebook for graduation. Me and my dad were at Best Buy looking at a Toshiba with Intel Centrino. It was $899. A guy came over to "assist" us and he recommended one that was $799- A Gateway with AMD processor. Really, I'm just using my notebook for music, videos, internet, and work for college. I need it to last but I want something good. Which is better? Intel Centrino or AMD?

The Centrino processor will make your battery life last a lot longer, so unless you plan on any sort of gaming, that would be the best for you. AMD, depending on whether it is the sempron line or the 64-bit line, will be more powerful, but sacrifices battery life.

In my experience Intel has never been anything but a relentless workhorse. Although, most people I know who have AMD laptops have been raving about them, so I guess you could go either way if all you're going to use it for is school work. I would go with the Intel machine mainly because I've had pretty good experiences with the machines myself.

Personally, I'm a Mac fiend and I have only "broken tradition" once with the one Windows laptop that I have (Dell Inspiron 8200, P4 2.3 ghz, 1GB RAM) and I can't really complain too much about it. It's rock solid and really haven't had TOO MANY problems with it. It's lasted me about 3 years and surprisingly enough it's still in one piece.

This is a better buy, I think.
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...620&oc=d80508r

Limited time offer though.

I'm trying to stay away from Dells =/ I'm not a dell person at all. MY COMPUTER CAN EAT DELLS FOR BREAKFAST LUNCH AND DINNER =D

Anyways... two different answers doesn't help. What's the difference anyhow?

So you're trying to get us to TELL YOU which computer to buy?

Shit. You should have said so.

Buy the Intel. Case closed. http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e2.../judgement.gif

Yeah, get the Intel.

First off, it's a Centrino, which has been a good line. Second, it's in a Toshiba, which I've heard are quality. Thirdly, it's not the Gateway.

Heheh, my dad is going to buy a new notebook soon, too... because we had one from siemens and there were always problems.. they always send us the notebook back with new problems , lol.. then we said we dont want this shit anymore and were going to buy a new one from HP. haha

First of all, ignore everything that jsphweid just posted.

Secondly, never, under any circumstances, purchase a Gateway. They are not dependable, and the company could go under any time now, which would seriously and negatively affect any warranties.

Thirdly, everyone I know who owns a Toshiba {and these are tech saavy individuals} have told me very positive things about them.

As far as the Intel vs. AMD thing goes, I have loved my Intels, but have been hearing great things about AMDs. Unfortunately in this case, the AMD is in a Gateway, so that would disqualify it from my consideration.

That was the biggest turn off for me... it's a Gateway. And I'm not big fan of them either. It's not like I WANT my dad to spend 100$ more, but he has a Toshiba and I love it. I really don't think I'll tell the difference anyhow. And my friend asked "power or battery" and... well battery is nice if I'm at the campus.

Throwing in my nod for the Toshiba as well. Mine has survived two vehicle rollover accidents, so I can vouch for it's workmanship, and it's never, ever given me any shit whatsoever.

I dunno what to say other than they are excellent machines easily worth the price.

I'd still suggest a Dell, unless you really really want to buy a system locally for some reason. If you take advantage of their constant sales, you can get very cheap systems, or well-specified machines at midrange prices. If you really don't want a Dell, a Toshiba is usually a safe bet, though I kinda think that their engineering quality's been in a slide lately. Just make sure that you get a Pentium M, Core Solo/Duo, or Turion 64 chip, or you'll have miserable battery life.

Gateway's really going out of business, russ? I know that they've been in bad financial shape for a while, especially after they bought out eMachines, but I didn't think they were that badly-off. :\

Is it just me, or do Best Buy employees always try to recommend the worst products first? Insignia TV's? KLH stereos? Gateways? Kodak cameras? this Insignia TV is the exact same as the Samsung, just cheaper! yeah... >_>

I'd actually say no to the Toshiba.

I have a Toshiba M35-X and... well, it's been love-hate.

First off, it was a thousand bucks. Second off, it only had a Celeron M (What kind of laptop only has a CELERON M FOR A THOUSAND BUCKS?), so it performs... iffily at best.

Third, and most importantly, I have had to reinstall Windows no less than three times in the 10 months I've owned it. The first time literally within weeks of buying it, the second a month or so later, and the third happened just last night.

The second and third times? The EXACT SAME DIRECTORY WENT CORRUPT. Literally. The first might've had the same problem, but I can't remember.

Also, I've had to send it in for hardware issues once. Can't remember exactly what went wrong, but it was annoying as hell. =\

EDIT: Now that I think back... it MIGHT'VE been the motherboard going bad. BLARGH.

So... yeah. Granted, it was a graduation present for me and one that I had no say in, but my laptop has been underpriced, overpowered, and one hassle after another.

And that's not the miscellaneous issues either, such as it using a wonky power adapter that means that my parents can't use the $200 external power supply they bought with this, or the FIRST laptop I had of the exact same model being DOA (although that WAS Circuit City's fault; the first was just a refurbished laptop that had been returned because... it was DOA. =\).

Lord knows I'm not buying from Toshiba again, though.

Then get an iBook.

I think it's the one me and my dad decided on. I don't like dell... but I'm gonna have to just tweek this one to work.

E1505 Dual Core
Intel® Core™ Duo processor T2300 (2MB Cache/1.66GHz/667MHz FSB), Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005

Even better, get the new MacBook that Apple just unveiled. 5x faster than the old iBooks.

PLUS IT CAN RUN WINDOWS USING APPLE'S BOOT CAMP PROGRAM (as long as you have a copy of XP that you can install).

^.^ Well I'm stuck with a Dell. My dad was leaving it up to me, I rather had the Toshiba, but he seemed to want to order the Dell. Plus I get my new printer/scanner. So that's good. The one I have now I won't be able to use.

Because you didn't give a specific price range, I suggest getting an Asus notebook computer. I've used some in the past and they're great, some are good enough to replace current desktops so it's up to you. This is the best I could do, with narrowing down some decent notebooks.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...SubCategory=32

dell was a good choice, i just got my xps m140 and i love it