Which Laptop to buy?

[s_spiff]

Hi,
I plan to buy a Laptop. The budget is around 600 to 700 USD. Any suggestions? Reasons for suggesting the same would be appreciated.
I liked this: HP Pavilion TouchSmart tx2z but was suggested that Touchscreen Lappys are not that great.

Thanks

[gymophett]

The touchscreen lappys are not good. I've experienced one. They're fun to fidgite with, but later you just wanna smash em.
I love my laptop. It is a ToshibaL L305D.
Best Buy is where you will find the best.
This one is my favorite, but my budget was $500 from my parents.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9155601&st=song+vaio&type=product&id=1218038553190
It is a beauty, and its made very well. Check it out, that makes me jealous looking at it now.
Good Luck. :D

[Tipped OuT]

Well HP's are always great laptops IMO, never used a touch screen though.

[montini]

... Laptops break, its what they do...

ThinkPads don't ;)

[RyanthePenguin]

I would do a search of the support forums on any laptop I planned to buy. Had I done that first, I might not have bought an HP dv4, since that series is a little touchier than others when it comes to Ubuntu. (It works just fine now, but getting it up and running was trickier than it needed to be)

[RyanthePenguin]

ThinkPads don't ;)

You, sir, are correct. My university issues all the students ThinkPads as part of our tuition. You just can't beat them for durability and reliability. When I installed Ubuntu on mine, I was blown away at just how easy it was, everything worked! Man, now I wish I had my ThinkPad. On the upside, this August, I get a brand new one when I go back to school!

[n4mgr]

I bought a laptop at Wal-Mart about 2 weeks ago. It is a Toshiba Satellite L355-S7905. I immediately wiped out Microsoft Windows (lack-of)Vista and replaced it with Ubuntu Jaunty 9.04. I am impressed at the ease of installation and true value I got. I spent less than $400US and the pc has 3gb ram, 160gb hdd, atheros wireless supported by Jaunty, not sure on processor speed but over 2.0mhz. I am thoroughly enjoying this computer and my continued freedom from the corporate monster.

[montini]

...My university issues all the students ThinkPads as part of our tuition. You just can't beat them for durability and reliability. When I installed Ubuntu on mine, I was blown away at just how easy it was, everything worked!

Yes, it's just a terrible shame that they fall into stuff of those abusive MicroSoft policies, where they always come with Vista preinstalled = unnecessary waste of money. "Business" tho... :)

BTW, is there already a working solution for R61's fingerprint reader? I know there was a "ThinkFinger", but it didn't work for R61s as far as I know...

[thewolfman]

When buying a new PC make sure that whatever model you buy; it has hardware support for Linux if you plan to install Ubuntu or any other OS it needs to have the min specs for that OS.

I just bought a cheap generic PC from a German company who make their own PC's but it has SIS graphics which only after a bit of hunting around did I manage to find a deb package with the graphics card driver, the sound playback is jumpy under Ubuntu but acceptable.

If you want to play games then don't buy cheap but get a good PC with a decent graphics card because I cannot play even the simplest of games that would normally run under Windows but don't!!!.

Apart from that I am happy with the PC.

Have a good one.

[Screwdriver0815]

Lenovo 3000 N200 or N500

runs with Linux out of the box, just like a Thinkpad.

I have one and it works great.

[ukripper]

Go Dell...

[gn2]

s_spiff, what tasks will you need the laptop to perform?

How portable does it need to be, will you be carrying it around a lot?

How long do you need it to run when powered by battery?

Do you need an optical drive?

[Dragonbite]

Yes, it's just a terrible shame that they fall into stuff of those abusive MicroSoft policies, where they always come with Vista preinstalled = unnecessary waste of money. "Business" tho... :)

BTW, is there already a working solution for R61's fingerprint reader? I know there was a "ThinkFinger", but it didn't work for R61s as far as I know...

There's a Thinkpad thread here (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=645208) which may be able to help you.

[s_spiff]

Hey thanks for all the help. Well gn2: I need the laptop to be compact, preferably less than 17" screen. While I'm not really a gamer, I would expect it to run games like Valve Counter Strike, WoW etc.

I know a lot of laptops can take up Ubuntu with no issues, but I prefer windows when it comes to college as I find MSOffice easier to use than OO :(.

[izizzle]

http://system76.com/index.php?cPath=28

[deltadave]

We have a compaq f700 and an hp 2133 (netbook) that have been good machines so far. I used to hate compaq's because of all the extra crap they have on them with windows but when you just blow it away and install Ubuntu it's great.

I've found that newegg.com, tigerdirect.com/compusa.com have the best prices however I have a Fry's not too far away that I'll buy from if I want to go to an actual store. I don't really go to best buy anymore. I've had good luck with refurbished machines also by the way.

[s_spiff]

@ deltadave (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=377579): Just checked out Tigerdirect. What exactly does 'refurbished' mean? How can I make sure that the Laptop isn't screwed up?

@izizzle (http://ubuntuforums.org/member.php?u=271987): Thanks for that link. But is that cheaper than what, say newegg or deals2buy, can offer with the same configuration?

[s_spiff]

Ok I found System76 to be expensive compared to the deals available on some other site :( I thought Ubuntu and stuff would have made it cheaper!

[gn2]

This should meet your needs: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115539

[Giant Speck]

I'd love to find a laptop that had a 15.4" screen (minimum), 2 or 3 GB of RAM, 320 GB of hard drive space (minimum) and an nVIDIA graphics card for less than $700.

But, alas, I can't find any online. All the cheap laptops have those crappy integrated graphics cards. :(

[gn2]

All the cheap laptops have those crappy integrated graphics cards. :(

Which function perfectly in their intended role, which isn't playing games.....

Gaming + laptops = near guaranteed premature hardware failure

[s_spiff]

I'd love to find a laptop that had a 15.4" screen (minimum), 2 or 3 GB of RAM, 320 GB of hard drive space (minimum) and an nVIDIA graphics card for less than $700.

But, alas, I can't find any online. All the cheap laptops have those crappy integrated graphics cards. :(

Seriously! Everything has some issue or the other. I think I'm going to go for a 1000USD deal, but again, I'm bombarded with crap load of options!

[s_spiff]

Which function perfectly in their intended role, which isn't playing games.....

Gaming + laptops = near guaranteed premature hardware failure

True. But say a touchsmart Tx2z is an awesome config, but still heats up no end as far as reviews go :(. Else I would have bought it with my eyes closed!

[Giant Speck]

Which function perfectly in their intended role, which isn't playing games.....

Gaming + laptops = near guaranteed premature hardware failure

I don't play games on my laptop. I just don't like Intel graphics cards.

[gn2]

I just don't like Intel graphics cards.

Any particular reason?

[Giant Speck]

Any particular reason?

There really is no specific reason for why I don't like Intel when it comes to Windows, but in Linux, their graphics cards will not allow me to use certain Compiz effects, most notably "Blur." Considering I'm a themer, not having the ability to use alpha blur severely limits my theming possibilities.

[gn2]

Sounds fair enough, I don't use Compiz effects and think Intel graphic adapters are excellent.
So much so that when selecting a laptop I would choose Intel over Nvidia.

Don't get me started on ATi, I had a bad experience with an ATi adapter once and I will never buy another.

[ukripper]

Don't get me started on ATi, I had a bad experience with an ATi adapter once and I will never buy another.

+1 ATI supposed to be part of AMD (ironically better supporter of Linux than intel) still lack in good linux drivers; doesn't make sense.

[s_spiff]

I think the main discussion got side lined somewhere... Anyways, I do not intend to use Linux as my primary OS simply because 90% of my dep will be using Windows ( i know you're already puking your guys) and also I need to use Photoshop CS4 or 3 which afaik Linux doesn't run. So if anyone knows something which is withing 1000 USD's let me know.
Appreciate all the help.

[khelben1979]

MSI laptops at Newegg.com (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=50001312%2040000032&Manufactory=1312&SubCategory=32&SpeTabStoreType=0), lowest at 599 $.