New comp with tax return?

[eersfanpilot]

What do you guys think I should buy? I have not been in the comp market for several years.

Where are all the good places to get deals now?

[Kenneth]

Well, what are you planning on using it for? That's pretty much the main determining factor in what you should buy. I just got a laptop last month, and I did a shitload of research on the topic. If you're looking for something similar to what I was looking for, I can help.

[Energy Vampire]

kenny pegged it. What do you want it to be able to do? Are you a gamer? Will you be doing lots of graphic design/movie editing?

If NOT, then you can get by pretty cheap. Unless you KNOW you'll be wanting to take it with you a lot, get a desktop, much cheaper. But you can get a basic laptop dirt cheap too so really just take into account what you want to do on the thing

[eersfanpilot]

Neither me or my wife are big gamers. We will be using it for your typical run of the mill stuff like checking e-mail and just plain internet surfing.

I have been trying to get Ash off of buying a laptop and look at desk tops but she is pretty stubborn. She likes how compact the current laptop is but since it sits all the time the battery is gone, the keyboard had to be replaced with a USB plug in one, and the screen makes funny colors sometimes. I am sure if there was a big price difference she would be more willing to look at desk tops.

Ash does quite a bit of picture taking and uploading. I like to watch some online videos on hulu ever now and then. That is about it.

What do you guys think?

[Kenneth]

I bought this and love it. It's a 15 inch.

www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9167652&type=product&id=1218041150023

There is also a 14 inch version for $100 less:

www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9167689&st=dv4-1225dx&lp=1&type=product&cp=1&id=1218041150488

Some people will tell you never to buy an HP, but there are people who will tell you that about every company. Personally I'd never buy a Dell again, but that's just me.

At the time I bought this laptop (last month) I couldn't find ANYTHING else out there with similar specs that could compete with this price. It's perfect for watching videos and movies. I actually watch stuff on Hulu all the time, and it works great for that. The 15" version has a 320 GB hard drive, and the 14" has 250 GB. Either way there's a shitload of room for pictures and movies (assuming you're talking about movies off of a digital camera or something). The 15" has a better processor than the 14", but neither of them are top of the line. For what you are looking for though they both should have plenty of power.

It comes with a remote control and a built-in webcam, neither of which I have figured out how to use yet. It has a DVD burner, but virtually every new laptop comes with that now, at least the ones I looked at.

Only negatives:

The battery was redesigned for this model, I guess to help the laptop cool itself, but it actually sticks out the bottom. It's weird, but it hasn't really affected me in a negative way at all yet. It's just something you should know.

It has a really shiny cool finish, but it smudges really easily. It actually comes with a polishing cloth.

As far as negatives go, these ones are pretty good.

Basically my rationale was, I can get a laptop for less that will probably do what I need it to do, but $730 still isn't a lot and it's a significant upgrade from the $400 Acer machine.

Hope this helps.

[eersfanpilot]

Looks pretty good.
Thanks for the link.