Looking for a laptop under $1,400

By Kondrath
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Kondrath

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Hello, all. At a friend's request who was about to be ripped off by buying an overpriced dell, he would now like me to consult "real" computer users to get an good opinion.

This laptop will be used for mainly video and photo editing, audio work (Sonar, Reason, etc.), and possibly some gaming as well. He's looking for it to have Windows XP, if possible. Maximum price range should be around $1400.

He wants around 4 gigs of ram... But I recall XP only being able to recognize 3.25, unless on the 64bit edition. However, don't many programs not function correctly in the 64 bit version? I'm not entirely sure.

So, pretty much the biggest powerhouse he can get for under $1,400.

Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance.

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Grand Master

Mindovermaster Global Moderator

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Get a desktop. You can get it for way less than any laptop will give you.

Any version of x64 will see 4gb and up.

Most programs have parted over to the x64 architecture, but x32 programs should work fine.

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Kondrath

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Get a desktop. You can get it for way less than any laptop will give you.

Any version of x64 will see 4gb and up.

Most programs have parted over to the x64 architecture, but x32 programs should work fine.

If it were up to me, I'd get a desktop. But this is my friend, who specifically wants a laptop. Thanks for the info about 64bit, though.

Grand Master

Mindovermaster Global Moderator

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unless you get a good video card, you wont be able to game as he wants. I'd say get an ASUS or Sony.

Why did he get overpriced on a Dell? If you use the coupons, it's manageable.

Grand Master

Mindovermaster Global Moderator

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Hmm? Most programs? Can you back that statement up?

* VirtualBox 2.0.2 for Windows hosts x86 | AMD64 (only on Windows x64!)

The 2007 Microsoft Office system programs client is a 32-bit application and can run on a Windows 64-bit platform (Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Vista) but there may be some feature limitations as noted in the system requirements below.

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Kondrath

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unless you get a good video card, you wont be able to game as he wants. I'd say get an ASUS or Sony.

Why did he get overpriced on a Dell? If you use the coupons, it's manageable.

He showed me the laptop he was getting, and it didn't seem all that great for the price.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/con...ured_xpsnb_deal

HP has a HP dv5t customizable with a 30% off coupon with orders over $999. I'm considering that, maybe.

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realmccoy

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Is price the only thing your friend is look at? How about if your friend buys a $700.00 HP with a a 17inch screen and a OK video card and then build a desktop PC with the rest of the money. This way she/he can have the best of both worlds.

This may sound strange like a strange suggestion but I did it and really like it. I use my desktop as a backup machine as well as play games on it.

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Kondrath

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I got myself this one from Best Buy when it went on sale for $1,250.

Gateway P-7811FX

I love the 17" 1920x1200 screen with the 9800GTS video.

The video card on that looks pretty nice...

Before I decide on one of these, are there still any places to customize an XP laptop?

I thought about customizing this one from http://www.adkproaudio.com/systems/viewsys...fm?recordid=119

I myself will probably get one of those some time in the future, but I don't know if the specs will meet his video editing needs.

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