Gonna need a new laptop...

[Melomaniacal]

So, I've had a pavilion DV8 laptop for about two years now. It worked really well, ran just about anything I threw at it very well. The only issues were the size (something like 18.5 inches), and some issues with the touch-sensitive bars (volume, wifi, etc.). Well, a friend of mine spilled some water on it. A lot of water. So, I'm probably gonna need a new laptop now.

My question is... what brand, or even better, what laptop? I'm not very knowledgeable with the laptop world, so I could use some recommendations. I'm looking for a laptop that can run a few games (Starcraft 2 is probably as advanced as I'll go), but most importantly is reliable - I'm a college student. I don't want to deal with any more hardware issues like I had with my last one. With that said, I also don't want a Mac. As far as price range goes... I'm not sure, so any suggestion is a good one. As long as it isn't Alienware overpriced.

 

[Dastrn]

All I can say, and I hope I get the point across loud and clear is this:

DON'T BUY HP!!!!!

I don't use the 5 exclamation point much, but this time, I busted it out, cause it's worth it.


Don't buy HP.

Whatever you do.

I recently got an Asus and I LOVE it. Mine is the G74sx, but it's massive. You can get the G54 series instead if 15 inches is your thing.

Asus has the best engineers on the planet when it comes to laptops. Hands down.

HP has the WORST engineers. They constantly overheat. They design their motherboards SO poorly. They will run the heat from your video card on the same heat sink as the CPU, and run the heat straight passed the CPU on it's way to the worst fans in laptop history. Constant overheating problems and video card recalls and everything.
They will also rip you off on repairs. They stole a hard drive out of my laptop once and put a much smaller, slower one in it's place.
They sold me a warranty, and then when I needed a repair, they told me they had no record of me buying a warranty in their system.

I could (and have on several occasions) write a whole BOOK about my bad experiences with them, but long story short:

DON'T BUY HP!

Do yourself a favor and find an ASUS that fits your needs and go for it.
I promise you will not be disappointed.

 

[Melomaniacal]

Haha, I've definitely heard that before. To be fair, while my HP did have some issues, it ran extremely well and was a very powerful machine for a reasonable price. I mean... it was capable of maxing out Skyrim and Mass Effect 3 with little issue.

I'll definitely look into Asus laptops, though. Thank you for the suggestion.

 

[joe.]

Personally, from extended personal experience, as well as from a professional standpoint, when it comes to laptops, there is minimal difference.

Most manufacturers use Software suites, etc, etc. to differentiate themselves from competitors for the average consumer (aka: all the bloatware they can offer). When you look at hardware, more or less, you are going to get the same thing across the board, no matter what.
Computer manufacturers aren't going to be producing their own mother boards, etc. All they do is buy wholesale, put it together, and send it to you. Sure, some models may have clear issues, due to lack of vents, etc, but in the long run, all the hardware is the same. (Obviously depending on what hardware you get...) I would say just find something that suites you, your price range, and your needs. Anything you get nowadays will have a good warranty on it to cover any issues; and any major price differentiation will be from spec increases and fancy bloatware.

 

[Dastrn]

Just don't buy HP.

 

[TL?]

HP is decent. Every company ever will rip you off on computer repairs lol. I prefer Dell though. And laptops in general often have cooling problems. Make sure you do your research on that no matter what company you go with. I would reccommend getting a desktop instead since they a much better value if you don't need to take your computer with you everywhere.

 

[Melomaniacal]

HP is decent. Every company ever will rip you off on computer repairs lol. I prefer Dell though. And laptops in general often have cooling problems. Make sure you do your research on that no matter what company you go with. I would reccommend getting a desktop instead since they a much better value if you don't need to take your computer with you everywhere.

I would normally go with a desktop, but I'm a college student. I do have a nice desktop that me and my brother built at home, though.

At this point I'm looking into Asus laptops. I found some of their more upper-end models refurbished for pretty cheap (<$600). What can anyone say about refurbished laptops? Reliable? Risky?

 

[Dastrn]

Depends on the warranty they give you.

TL? I'm sorry, but you don't know what you're talking about when it comes to brands.

HP is not decent. They are sleezy.
Not every manufacturer rips you off on warranty repairs. HP is the king of that. Dell is slightly better, but not by enough.

Not all laptops have cooling issues. That depends entirely on engineering. My Asus is blazing fast, and has ZERO cooling issues because it is so well ventilated. Look up the construction of the G74sx, and then look up heat comparisons between it and a "comparable" HP in terms of speed and video capabilities.

 

[N.A.G.A.C.E]

I personally dont know much about laptops, but i have also recently been looking to buy a new laptop so i asked a very tech savy friend of mine what brands to look into and he told me

Lenovo, asus, and sony (he said sony is good but expansive) r the brands to look into.

 

[Deleted member]

Well I have an Acer computer and it has no heating problems, runs almost everything, works with pretty much any capture card device, and ive had it go on for 5 days of rendering HD videos without turning it off and it stayed perfect. Its not all that expensive either.

 

[Dastrn]

Acer makes great consumer laptops at good prices. They have good engineers.

 

[M@v]

ASUS and Dell XPS laptops are pretty good. The price for alienware laptops is a little more justified than their tower counterparts, since you cant build laptops. Rest assured the towers are total ripoffs. I've seen decent ibuypower laptops too.

I have owned 2 dell laptops. The first was an XPS that lasts me about 2 and 1/2 years of constant use and abuse. I'm an Information Technology major and an avid gamer, so I used the **** out of that thing. Now I've upgraded to a home built tower, so for my portable needs I didn't go super high end for my current laptop. Its a dell inspiron series worth about $500, got it cheaper than that on a sale. Its decent too; cant really run games, but other wise good. Only complaint is I'm second guessing if I should of dropped the extra 100 bucks for an i5 sandybridge over the current i3 sandybridge it has. Oh well it still does its job.

EDIT: Don't have much experience with Acer, but I haven't heard any bad things about them.