Need Help choosing between this 2 Laptops

[Ladic]

Hi guys, I need help buying a laptop, and I'm no computer genious, so I'm not sure which is better, I have around $1200 to spend and I am going to buy it from Best Buy cause I need it by wednesday.

I've norrowed my search to this 2 PC's, could someone tell me which one is better? It's for my brother and he will be using it mostly for gaming.

Toshiba: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...43&type=product

HP: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...duct&cmp=%20%20

thanks for any info

[gnollman]

Hmmm... Site not found, and site not found.

Try creating the links again, but this time fill in the entire address... the "...." in the middle of the link shows missing data, not actual address.

Laptop's aren't generally all that hot for gaming, anyway....

[Ladic]

I know desktop is better, but the thing is my brother is gonna be moving around for the next 2 years, so he needs something he can carry with him.

Sites Again:

Toshiba: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?j=...43&type=product

HP: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id...pe=product&cmp=

[gnollman]

The Toshiba will run faster, and will likely make up for the difference in graphics. I'd say go for the Toshiba.

Unless space is a premium, I'd still encourage him to go for the desktop. I've moved mine multiple times, and I've got five of them.... it isn't that much of a hassle....

Edited November 4, 2003 by gnollman

[skunkobot]

I'll give you the same responce a Best Buy employee would give you. Without looking at the specific laptops. Go with the Toshiba.

[nemesis120]

If it's almost exclusively for gaming, I'd go with the H-P. It's got the superior processor (in terms of speed, although the P4 runs cooler) and an actual video card. And the 54g wireless is nice too (that's one of those things I hate about the Centrinos - they only use 802.11b, which sucks compared to what is out now). The Toshiba has Works while the HP has Corel, so I'd take that into account. The Toshiba has a faster system bus though. I'd go with the HP if the price isn't that much. They aren't that different overall, so I'd probably use price as the determinant.

And for people that say laptops aren't good for gaming, you'd be surprised what they will run. I have a Celeron 1.33 GHz with integrated graphics and it runs all these games just fine (games that are about a year old)

[Commander McBride]

Don't buy an HP. My HP laptop has been nonstop trouble since I go tit. Not to mention the fact that I bought it from Best Buy, who took repeated service visits and over a year to make it work.

[BoBe-Patt]

I'd get the toshiba satellite. That thing can render your graphix and play dvd's and do other programs all at once!! That's the only PC laptop I'd buy. And that's coming from a MAC man!!

[Ladic]

thanks for the info guys.

So far I'm leaning more towards the Toshiba. The dude that works at best buy told me I should pick up the Toshiba, and that 32mb vc on the Toshiba was better than the 64mb of the shared memory for the video on HP, is this true?

if you have any more suggestions, keep em coming please.

[drifand]

HP has absorbed Compaq's rep for poor consumer after-sales service. They are really good for corporate purchases though.

[jwinges]

the only laptop I would think of buying is a Dell or Toshiba. Dell preferably. Hp's are a nightmare and compaqs are even worse.

[dna]

I don't know jack about Toshiba, but I do know I would never buy another HP.

[isamu]

I might looking to get a new one myself

[Mechamaniac]

DELL - Meh.

I currently support 3000 DELL Laptops out in the field, and I can tell you that they are - OK.

Pros - Good brand name, informative website and support.

Cons - Bad design, unwillingness to own up to obvious design and manufacturing flaws. Unless you buy a mega-expensive laptop, you will get crap video and sound. Example, our laptops have the same crap 8MB sound and 16 mb video cards that all the Latitude and Inspiron series have. Yes, they use the same freaking card for all those series.

If you get a DELL laptop, you have to go Professional series, and they are big bucks, if you want to do anything closely resembling power computing.

[Isamu Atreides 86]

DELL - Meh.

I currently support 3000 DELL Laptops out in the field, and I can tell you that they are - OK.

Pros - Good brand name, informative website and support.

Cons - Bad design, unwillingness to own up to obvious design and manufacturing flaws. Unless you buy a mega-expensive laptop, you will get crap video and sound. Example, our laptops have the same crap 8MB sound and 16 mb video cards that all the Latitude and Inspiron series have. Yes, they use the same freaking card for all those series.

If you get a DELL laptop, you have to go Professional series, and they are big bucks, if you want to do anything closely resembling power computing.

yeah, i have a dell laptop, and the video and audio problems make it blow, but i use it primarily for word processing and school work, and it seems to be okay at that.

[Anubis]

My HP DVD Writer 300i is a piece of crap. I would hesitate before I buy another HP PC product. Go with the toshiba. They make good stuff.

Edited November 4, 2003 by Anubis

[nemesis120]

DELL - Meh.

I currently support 3000 DELL Laptops out in the field, and I can tell you that they are - OK.

Pros - Good brand name, informative website and support.

Cons - Bad design, unwillingness to own up to obvious design and manufacturing flaws. Unless you buy a mega-expensive laptop, you will get crap video and sound. Example, our laptops have the same crap 8MB sound and 16 mb video cards that all the Latitude and Inspiron series have. Yes, they use the same freaking card for all those series.

If you get a DELL laptop, you have to go Professional series, and they are big bucks, if you want to do anything closely resembling power computing.

That's an understatement for Dells. I helped people last year with their computers (I'm at college and I was at a computing site and we took phone calls about crap), and a lot of people have had random crap happen with Dell laptops. Like random freezing - that's not uncommon. And I had someone with a Maxtor HD that tried to put it in and it wouldnt work (they had a new Dell desktop and the HD was new). If you can get a deal on a Dell then it's worth it, otherwise it isn't. And you need to pay a lot or you get crap overall with Dell. The only reason Dell makes money is because they sell people a lot more of a computer than they will need in the next 3 years.

[NERV]

FIRST OF ALL I WOULD SAY AVOID BESTBUY AND BUY FROM A PLACE THAT ACTUALLY KNOWS WHAT THEY DO, LIKE COMPUSA, I BOUGHT MY COMPUTER AT BESTBUY, THE COMPUTER IS FINE IN THE 4 YEARS IVE HAD IT I ONLY HAD TO GET IT SERVICED TWICE, AND ONE TIME WAS BECAUSE MY DVD DRIVE HAD STOPPED WORKING, AND THEY REPLACED IT WITH THIS PIECE OF crap THAT JUST MAKES MY COMP LAG LIKE HELL SO I LEAVE IT DISCONNECTED, I WOULD BRING IT BACK I TIHNK THE SERVICE PLAN HAS EXPIRED

[Knight26]

If you get a laptop from the store, get it from Circuit City, not Best Buy. It might cost a little more but the service department is heck of a lot better. And, get the extended warranty, I know from experience that this is a good idea. Best Buy has really crappy service work, they always ship it out someplace else and it can take up to a month to get it back. Circuit City's for the most part do it all in house, only send them out when they are in super bad shape. But, if you get the extended warranty it can die the day before the warranty is up and as long as you bring it in they will likely replace it, if it is no longer worth saving. Trust me on this, happened to me once, two days before the warranty was up my computer fell off my bike while ont he way to school and was severely damaged, got a brand new model right off the line as a replacement, for no cost.

[Akilae]

I've got a few friends that run Toshibas... it's quite a sight seeing five laptops jacked into the LAN playing UT 2003... dunno which make, but I can say that back then, UT 2003 ran better on his laptop than on my piddly PIII desktop. Not anymore though, hehe =)

Just out of curiosity, a lil bit OT, but somebody mentioned moving desktops. I happen to be needing to relocate, and I'm wondering how do bring my desktop along. I'm a cheapskate, so I thought about cramming it into my luggage on the plane. I've heard enough horror stories about luggage handlers, but I'll remove the HD and take it as carryon with me.

Is FedEx or UPS trustworthy enough to use for ship my computer?

[Commander McBride]

I've got a few friends that run Toshibas... it's quite a sight seeing five laptops jacked into the LAN playing UT 2003... dunno which make, but I can say that back then, UT 2003 ran better on his laptop than on my piddly PIII desktop. Not anymore though, hehe =)

Just out of curiosity, a lil bit OT, but somebody mentioned moving desktops. I happen to be needing to relocate, and I'm wondering how do bring my desktop along. I'm a cheapskate, so I thought about cramming it into my luggage on the plane. I've heard enough horror stories about luggage handlers, but I'll remove the HD and take it as carryon with me.

Is FedEx or UPS trustworthy enough to use for ship my computer?

I'd venture a guess that UPS should be OK, as long as you pack the PC securely. Dell seems to be able to ship PCs through UPS with no problems.

On another note, HP is wierd. They make horrible computers, but yet, at the same time, they make the best PDAs, and pretty good printers, too.

[scand]

If your into small desktop computers look into Shuttle. They are pretty small. Mine is less than the size of a shoe box. The only draw back is that you have to build it your self and you don't have much room for internal expansion. But, it has enough external ports to make up for it. I spent less than 350 bucks for all my parts and have a kick ass computer!