My HP Pavilion is now almost 6 years old and running on its last legs, and I need to get a new one, and I’m requesting the help of any backseat shoppers out there!
My computing needs are definitely more than I needed before; I want something whose uses will include music composition, photo & video editing, and gaming (this is secondary to the other uses, but would be nice to have a decent gaming rig). Thus, I want a decent processor, at least 4 GB RAM, a decent video card, and at least a 320 GB hard drive. I also highly value durability; my Pavilion seems to have had bad heating issues, which has contributed to its decline and made me replace its hard drive twice. This is the hardest factor to judge when I look at internet reviews; how can you judge how long a computer will last if everyone’s only had it for 3-4 months, tops?
And yes, I need a laptop because I don’t have any space for a desktop and I plan on frequently moving between 2-3 different locations. Under $1500 would be great.
I’ve been looking at the Alienware m17x, and this seems perfect, except it’s somewhat tacky, and (more importantly) starts at $1799. The ventilation/cooling system appears top-knotch, and it seems like it would last longer than similarly high-powered machines. Are there machines in its league but at a significantly lower price?
Should I perhaps wait for Windows 7 to come out, which will probably have a ton of manufacturers releasing their new models at the same time?
Any help would be much appreciated, and I’ll give any backseat shoppers the scoop on how the purchase turns out.
Actually, a lot of manufacturers are giving away a free upgrade to Seven when it comes out, so this isn’t a bad time. Plus, then you can install Seven on your own time, after the first service pack. You know, when it actually works right.
Seriously, I recently bought a computer from Acer, and that’s the company that I’m hearing and seeing as the best bang for your buck recently. The one I posted there is well within your price range ($900, though I paid $800 for it a month ago, so I have no idea about the price hike). The only thing that one doesn’t give you is the large hard drive, and externals are cheap. I’m a little dissatisfied by the design (the mousepad is awkward) but I’m generally quite happy.
True, but it seems like a waste of time to upgrade the OS myself, possibly have hardware conflicts and go driver-hunting; I’d rather have the manufacturer do it all for me. Especially since it comes out in a couple weeks. Also, from what I’ve heard, Windows 7 is essentially a glorified Service Pack 2 for Vista, which has seemingly produced more horror stories than Stephen King. Maybe it’s exaggerated at this point, but I’m willing to wait til 10/22.
This page is definitely bookmarked, thank you. External hard drives are significantly slower than internal, due to them having to go through a USB port and wire, no?
USB hard drives are, yes. However, they’re plenty fast enough for data storage. Alternately, get a laptop with an eSATA port. eSATA is the external version of the SATA bus internal hard drives use, and eSATA external drives are just as fast as internal drives.
