Need Help Purchasing a Laptop

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s1e9a8n5

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Not sure if this is the correct location. If it's not. Sorry.

I need help choosing a Toshiba laptop. I'm kind of desperate. Been wanting to get one for months. Not a gaming laptop but a laptop that is capable of playing games. I want to make sure it will be able to play Half Life 2+ etc. I also like to do video editing stuff. But I have no idea what to look for. Since I have no credit, QVC.com (I think) is my only option to buy one and pay in increments. I know I at least want a 15.6 or 17.3 screen but other than that, I have no clue what to look for. My price range would be around $1500.

Any help would be appreciated.

Shaun
 
Why Toshiba brand? Go Lenovo!
 
If you can wait a little longer everyone's going to be coming out with some pretty spiffy ultrabooks...
 
TechnoHippyChic said:
If you can wait a little longer everyone's going to be coming out with some pretty spiffy ultrabooks...
Click to expand...
Not an option for QVC.com I can't afford a laptop straight up without saving up for a few months but I need one now. My desktop is clunking out on me and the used Compaq laptop I was given is dying. I just want to purchase my own. Since I have no credit, QVC.com is the only option for me. I know a few people with Toshiba laptops and from what I've been told, their reliable and pretty good.
 
It's the first I noticed on there that has discrete graphics, decent proc. and RAM, etc. The 3D would be a plus for movies and games.
 
TechnoHippyChic said:
It's the first I noticed on there that has discrete graphics, decent proc. and RAM, etc. The 3D would be a plus for movies and games.
Click to expand...
Yea. How would you know what pixel shader it has? It should have the latest, right?
 
Honestly, if you can't afford something, you probably shouldn't buy it
 
kineaesth said:
Honestly, if you can't afford something, you probably shouldn't buy it
Click to expand...
Excuse me? Who are you to say what I can and can't buy? I CAN afford it actually. I have a job and bank account thank you very much. I just don't have credit to get it at a "popular" store (or website) that requires you to have credit history.
 
TechnoHippyChic said:
Yeah, Toshiba's are some of the best.
Click to expand...
Say whaaaat? I mean, maybe the higher end models are ok, but they certainly make some of the shittiest laptops I've worked on. The L5XX, L6XX, and L3XX are some of the biggest pieces of shit I've seen. Just the components in them are cheapo pieces of crap. The 5XX series for instance has a wireless card that blows, a lot of them fail to connect to secured networks and we've had to set up a special unsecured network at work just to get online with them.

I'd go with Lenovo or Asus over Toshiba any day of the week. I mean, maybe its like HP where their pavillion line sucks but their Elitebooks are awesome, but I've not heard or seen much about the Toshiba L7XX series If it were me. I'd stay away and go with a more consistently good brand.
 
I almost never work on Toshibas, because anybody I know that has one just hasn't had a problem with them. But they make a lot of different models, so maybe some are crap, I don't know. Maybe their quality standards are not what they used to be. I have a client with a Lenovo that was fine while it worked, but died before its time. I've messed with more worthless HP's than I can count, but never an Elitebook.

It's always changing. I think a lot of the HP problems were from the stupid AMD / Nvidia / overheating / ball grid desolder issue, hopefully they have that sorted by now.
 
TechnoHippyChic said:
It's always changing. I think a lot of the HP problems were from the stupid AMD / Nvidia / overheating / ball grid desolder issue, hopefully they have that sorted by now.
Click to expand...
Possibly. Though apparently their refurbishing department is full of incompetents to this day. Just this week I had a customer come in with an HP that was overheating and shutting off. She said her original laptop was under warranty so they sent it back and HP gave her a refurb. The ****ing numbnuts that worked on it globbed thermal paste all AROUND the cpu, put none of it actually on it. Like, only a tiny amount of it even was touching the heatsink.

So yeah, don't get an HP pavillion, or I guess any HP computer thats manufacturer refurbished. Also don't get Gateways or Acers. They sometimes dont even use thermal paste just some kind of cut-out square of tin-foil or something.
 
Krynn72 said:
The ****ing numbnuts that worked on it globbed thermal paste all AROUND the cpu, put none of it actually on it. Like, only a tiny amount of it even was touching the heatsink.
Click to expand...

:eek: That's just gross incompetence. Easy lawsuit.
 
I'm a huge PC whore.

That being said though, I really do love my macbook pro. It's a shame that they're so damned expensive though.

/notreallyhelpful

Krynn72 said:
Possibly. Though apparently their refurbishing department is full of incompetents to this day ... The ****ing numbnuts that worked on it globbed thermal paste all AROUND the cpu, put none of it actually on it. Like, only a tiny amount of it even was touching the heatsink.
Click to expand...

Something I thought about while reading this post:

I remember back in middle school, I was doing yard work for some Microsoft businessman my mom was dating, ironically so I could afford to build a gaming PC.

He told me that one day in the near future, the IT industry would begin to (socially) parallel the automotive repair industry, where lower grade workers like Computer Repair Techs could be likened to Midas employees or your average grease monkey, and higher tier positions (networking? **** if I know) would be like new age ASE certified mechanics, except for computers.

Krynn72 said:
So yeah, don't get an HP pavillion, or I guess any HP computer thats manufacturer refurbished. Also don't get Gateways or Acers. They sometimes dont even use thermal paste just some kind of cut-out square of tin-foil or something.
Click to expand...

IDK if it's different for CPUs, but they say that for other sorts of semiconductors (mosfets and shit), a heatpad with thermal paste on each side actually has superior heat conductance than just thermal paste.

This is all hearsay though (meaning that you're hearing me say it and I don't have a source :p)
 
You guys are confusing me. A friend of mine told me the 3D Toshiba one that I was thinking about was a bit on the expensive side and with the 3D capabilities on a 15.6 screen was... okay. With the 3 year contract for spills and drops, he told me to find an HP equivalent. Now you're telling me to go with an ASUS. So complicating. lol
 
In my personal experience, here's how I'd lay out the brands, in general.

Asus > Sony > Samsung > Lenovo > Dell > Toshiba > Acer > Gateway > HP/Compaq

I'd be fine with buying any of the ones above the Dell line. How important is the bluray and 3D capabilities to you? Though a 3 year warranty for spills and drops is pretty good actually. Though I'm sure it takes several weeks for them to replace it for you.
 
Krynn72 said:
In my personal experience, here's how I'd lay out the brands, in general.

Asus > Sony > Samsung > Lenovo > Dell > Toshiba > Acer > Gateway > HP/Compaq

I'd be fine with buying any of the ones above the Dell line. How important is the bluray and 3D capabilities to you? Though a 3 year warranty for spills and drops is pretty good actually. Though I'm sure it takes several weeks for them to replace it for you.
Click to expand...
The 3D and blu-ray isn't important to me at all honestly. I just want a quality computer that is capable of playing the latest games if I choose to.
 
Well my current laptop is made by Sager (I believe they have some affiliation with Dell, but I forget). I bought it 3 years ago, wasn't the top-of-the-line model at the time but it could play most games maxed out back then and can still do that for some games nowadays (aside from Metro 2033, Witcher 2, and Battlefield 3 which all struggle to remain playable). It was also quite a bit cheaper than other laptops with similar caliber parts if I recall correctly.

No regrets buying this one, but I'm pretty sure Sager only sells laptops through their website...
 
Yea. I have to stick to QVC.com Which only has HP, Toshiba, Asus, Dell, and Sony I believe.
 
I love my Asus. Best customer support ever. Sent mine in when the charging port on the laptop broke, they fixed it the day it got it (didn't even charge me) and sent it back within a week.
 
Krynn72 said:
Asus > Sony > Samsung > Lenovo > Dell > Toshiba > Acer > Gateway > HP/Compaq
Click to expand...
Whuuutt? Sony suck balls for laptops. In my experience, they've been filled with cheap, shoddy parts that break easily. I've had 2 Sony laptops and both had crappy internal parts like fans that had to be replaced, not even after a decent time because they just stopped working. Warranty or not, that shit is lame.

I have to stick to QVC.com Which only has HP, Toshiba, Asus, Dell, and Sony I believe.
Click to expand...
I'd recommend going for a Tosh or Dell. The Dell I have at the moment has served me brilliantly but if you're going for a Toshiba, go with TechnoHippyChic's recommendation. My Bro had a Tosh and it lasted him years without problems. Trooped like a tank.
 
You shouldn't buy based on brands but models. Acer has made a few great laptops, similarly Apple Asus and Lenovo have made a few junk ones. That said, I'm a freak when it comes to laptops and I generally keep track of what comes out. If you can make a list of "priorities" what your laptop should be good at we know what you need. Think of:
- Screen resolution
- Screen quality: brightness, contrast, colors, matte/glossy
- Keyboard quality
- Touchpad quality/size
- Case build quality
- Noise/temperature
- Speaker quality
- Thickness
- General use performance(program load times, responsiveness)
- Gaming performance
 
A couple of suggestions...

All the latest games? Then you're looking at a i5/i7 processor, discrete graphics, and 6-8gbs of RAM.

Who cares about Blu-Ray. Download everything.

Read the reviews. You don't want to buy a laptop that doubles as an electric range.
 
I would go with the 3D one that TechnoHippyChic recommended but I don't feel satisfied with the 15.6 screen for that. If it were a 17.3, I'd go for it. But I'll keep all your recommendations in mind when I purchase one. I'm going to have to wait a month and some change given that the (spills and drops contract) is a separate charge (that can range from $200-$400+) and not included with the overall increment payments so I'm saving up to cover that and the first payment. Thanks again for all the advice. I really REALLY appreciate it.
 
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