looking for best deal on some laptop shit

Minion · Post by **Minion** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 12:29 pm

i need a laptop with at least enough machine to run premiere 6.5 and the rest fo the adobe suit. must have dvd drive with burner.
must have wifi

need external hd for an ok price. at least 150 gigs

need laptop case to hold the above mentioned items. preferably a hard top with som water resistance.

Minion · Post by **Minion** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 12:29 pm

my budget is like 800-900. no ebay/other used shit.
got links?

Kariudo · Post by **Kariudo** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 1:59 pm

been doing some searching...but I didn't find anything to get excited about

but a few guidelines to aid you:
1:get a laptop with dedicated video memory (at least 128MB, 256MB even better)
this will definately help when you're trying to run resource-intensive programs like premiere

2: for the processor, I'd choose in this order. Core2 duo, Core2, Core duo (centrino duo), Core solo (centrino), Turion 64, Turion 64 X2, Sempron.
Avoid Pentium 4, Pentium M and Celeron M

3: memory, at least 512MB (1GB reccomended). Depending on how much memory you udse now you might want to go to 2GB, but 1GB should be fine.
DDR2 is becoming better...but you still need pc5400 before you see any improvement over DDR. So go with what's cheapest

4: last I heard, you need xp professional to have the OS recognize dual-core cpus...but this could have changed (though I doubt it)

5: Hard drive, bigger is nice...but this is where you can cut corners. My 80GB drive does fine. But if you can, look for one that spins at 5400 rpm.
faster spin = lower read/write latency for the drive.
(can improve program/system startup)

with that said, here's a possibility
(click customize and choose XP home, core solo T1350, 256MB Nvidia GeForece Go 7400 and 1GB DDR2, system recover cd for XP home...and all the free upgrades)
total comes to $863.99 after rebates

as for the external HDD, if you don't like the prices, you can always get an internal drive and an external drive enclosure for it.
Western Digital, Seagate aand Maxor are all good brands (though I am partial to WD)
I'd look into this one but here's the link to all of them: http://www.newegg.com/ProductSort/SubCa ... tegory=414

some hard cases...not sure about water resistance

Minion · Post by **Minion** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 11:47 pm

that was 800 for the cost of everything. including external hd and case.

doesn't need to have crazy processing speed. my geek machine at home runs premiere and all of my other aps fine with 512 ram and a 3200 athlon.

i'm not very hardware savy. i can replace shit inside of the computer, but thats more of cause i'm mechanically inclined.

HD space means little to me, since i'm gonna have the external HD.

i know it's a stretch, but are there any "bang for you buck" deals out there that could come somewhat close to my geek machine? (nickname for my home PC)

links?
preferably not dell

Kariudo · Post by **Kariudo** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 12:06 am

oof, that makes it a little harder.

some options:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications ... CatId=1897
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... rchInDesc=

all of those should be able to run premiere 6.5 as requested, have a dvd burner and have wireless b/g 802.11

Minion · Post by **Minion** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 12:10 am

not gonna use a celeron in any layer of hell.
already did that before on my last compy. with windows ME, no less.

so i guess it's the acer

Minion · Post by **Minion** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 12:14 am

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6834147299

i'm looking at this one right now.
i really like how HP's new laptop keyboards feel
only thing i see wrong with it is 128 video memory. ya think thats too little?

Kariudo · Post by **Kariudo** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 12:30 am

it'l do. I have 128MB dedicated, and I can run AE and pro 1.5 at the same time
(I can switch between the two without much difficulty...but can't render in pro while running AE)

the thing about shared memory is that it tends to be slower than dedicated video memory (higher latency/lower clock speed) and it takes a chunk of your system memory. (so in this case, you'd have 418MB ram for running windows/other apps and 128 for the video card)

the comobnation of the two doesn't really bode well for resource intensive apps...but you should still be able to run permiere 6.5.
If you end up getting this and want to use premiere (beyond simple cutting of clips) I'd reccomend saving up for some more ram later on.

replacing memory in laptops is even more fun than in desktops (if you're not afraid of voiding your warranty you can do this by yourself with relative ease)

Kariudo · Post by **Kariudo** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 12:34 am

Kariudo wrote:(so in this case, you'd have 384MB ram for running windows/other apps and 128 for the video card)

384 +128 = 512
whoops.

this would be cutting it close for memory for premiere (giving power-hungry XP 256MB to run and 128 for the graphics)

TaranT · Post by **TaranT** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 3:24 am

As long as you're in a metropolitan area, you may find a good deal by making the rounds of the usual suspects: Best Buy, Staples, Office Depot, Circuit City, OfficeMax, etc.

Christmas is approaching, the new Core Duo and Core 2 Duo machines are on the shelves, and that means older models are on clearance. I was at BB this evening and saw a nice 15" 80GB Toshiba (or HP/Compaq?) for a clearance price of $579 (new in box, no rebates). Office Depot has had some models as low as $400.

Laptops are commodity items; a couple dozen different models go on sale every week. Online is not necessarily where you'll find the best prices.

Kariudo makes a good point about RAM. Suggest budgeting for a RAM expansion card (512MB or more if the machine can handle it). Should be around $100 or so. If you buy local, they'll probably install it for you if you ask.