Looking for a laptop under $1,400


Recommended Posts

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.

Link to comment
https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/681696-looking-for-a-laptop-under-1400/
Share on other sites

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Server Summit had a heap of announcements, ADCS changes are baller.
    • Nice, hope they *finally* fixed the issue with the NTFS driver where the system would completely brick during large file copies using the built in driver. It's been broken for years requiring me to use the older, slower, NTFS-3G FUSE driver.
    • Windows 11 KB5094126 BSODing, freezing, forcing BitLocker lockout, breaks OneDrive, and more by Sayan Sen Microsoft released Windows 11 KB5094126 and KB5093998 last week as the latest Patch Tuesday updates. Following that the company also published the accompanying dynamic updates under KB5094149, KB5095971, and KB5094156. While Microsoft has so far not acknowledged any major problems with the release, some users online are running into problems. These range from OneDrive and Dropbox access issues, BitLocker recovery lockouts, to blue screens and BSODs. The most common one seems to be happening with HP systems wherein affected users say they hit 0xc0430001 BSOD (blue screen of death) error code after the KB5094126 update. We wonder if this could be related to the recent bug we covered on HP devices wherein the ongoing Secure Boot certificate updates are leading to similar issues. While we are not certain, users affected by this issue likely need to ensure that the boot.stl file is included on the installation media (such as a USB installer or ISO), if the above-mentioned dynamic updates are deployed. If this file is missing, computers may fail to boot from the installation media and could display the error 0xc0430001. This STL file is used by Secure Boot to verify that the boot files are trusted, so it must match the same Windows version and system architecture. To ensure the file is included, Microsoft recommends using the Update WinPE script, which automatically updates the image and handles the required files. Alternatively, you can manually copy the boot.stl file from the Windows\Boot\EFI folder on a Windows device and place it in the matching folder on your installation media before deploying the updated image. Aside from blue screening some users also note their systems have been freezing following the update. This could be happening to Lenovo PCs specifically. In the case of the OneDrive and Dropbox access issues, a user figured out that there could be a conflict with UAC. He explained: "Okay, so I did some digging, and in our environment KB5094126 breaks OneDrive and Dropbox in Explorer. I went through all our GPOs and found out that the combination of disabling UAC and having my user being a local admin breaks OneDrive in Explorer. ... If I enable UAC again, then it works, even with KB5094126 still installed." Hopefully, Microsoft will look into these issues. Source: Microsoft forum (link1, link2, link3, link4), Reddit (link1, link2, link3, link4)
    • It is when it's a desktop in my house though for a PC that's lightly used and not really important when it is. If it was a laptop, it would be a different story. The real solution is varied and begins starting at post #22 in that thread.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Week One Done
      Jeroen Wilms earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      rolfus earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Leroy Jethro Gibbs earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Conversation Starter
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • One Month Later
      AndreaB earned a badge
      One Month Later
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      508
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      198
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      138
    4. 4
      ATLien_0
      90
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      80
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!