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Please, when posting a link to a laptop listing, make sure to include the price at time of posting. It helps.
Requesting help with a purchase? Please post here: https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=135662.msg2794782#msg2794782

Dell:
Precision - Very powerful desktop replacements - great warranty, ridiculously expensive - Usually overpriced or overkill

Latitude - Good Laptops - Great warranty! Highly recommended for any Business environment - Sometimes expensive.

Vostro  - Lower end Business Machines - Better Priced - still durable - Usually 1 Year warranty.

XPS - The nicer looking dell machines, Some are better than others...

Inspiron - YMMV Every model is different

(Plain) Insprion Series - Dells lowest end laptop
(R) Insprion Series - Perfect Home use, dependable, decent build quality, recommended
(Z) Insprion Series - A little slimmer than the R series, Some are Ultrabooks (Very often don't include Optical Drives)

HP:

Spectre - Top of the line personal (dragonfly is the top of the line for business) - lightest laptops, and beautiful!

Pavilion - YMMV (Some better than others)

Probook - Stable durable business systems - Usually a little on the heavy side.

Elitebook - Business Higher end systems, usually pretty expensive

ENVY - Used to be the HP sleek and nicer systems, they pretty much replaced most of the standard pavilions now and call them either ENVY or sleekbooks

Sleekbook - like it sounds slimmer line of laptops

Lenovo:

Thinkpad Series - Very Dependable Business Machine, Expensive (Not Pretty but Durable)

IdeaPad Series -

S Series
U Series - Usually the slimmer line Ultrabooks, Doesn't always include DVD Drive
Y Series - Nice machines with good specs and features (Cool Backlit Keyboards)
Z Series - Step up from the G Series, all around decent build, priced nicely, great home use laptop
G Series - Lower end

Samsung:

Series 3
Series 5
Series 7
Series 9 - The nicest, sleekest looking laptops I've seen in a long time - Can pass for a Macbook!!


HT: Dh Data Recovery & Name Changed


A great post by caliheat:
I believe that there are many factors when deciding what laptop to purchase.
1) What is your intended use and necessary features. e.g. light use vs. heavy use & optical drive, computer speed etc.
2) As mentioned several times in this thread, RAM itself is very easy to upgrade after you purchase.
3) Brand - IMHO this is pretty important as well - which do your prefer vs. which brand do people recommend.
4) Price - you should decide a price range that best suits your needs.
5) Operating System - Many people like myself prefer Windows 7 vs. 8.1, so this would be another consideration.
6) Warranty - does it include 1 year or more, cost for extending warranty.
7) Detailed Specs:
  Processor  - model and speed i3, i5, & i7 2.0 Ghz, 3.0 Ghz etc.
  RAM - This IMHO should be minimum 8GB, especially if running 8.1, however can be added easily.
  Hard Drive - SATA vs. SSD, the latter being much faster. SATA itself offers 5400 RPM vs. 7200 RPM again, the latter being faster.
  Screen Size - this is a personal preference as you can always attach a larger screen in an office setting.
  Battery & Weight - overall laptop weight preference & battery life.
  Graphics - Integrated graphics vs. dedicated graphics, e.g. Intel 4400 vs. Nvidia GTX etc.

In summary, you have to decide what are you priorities, what can be upgraded and what you are flexible on.



Excellent article about the differences between the Intel processor suffixes.

Excellent "Laptop Buying Guide" by @dailykasha, written for Black Friday 2021, updated for holidays 2023

Author Topic: Laptop Deals Master Thread  (Read 3283879 times)

Offline etech0

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8720 on: October 24, 2015, 11:26:41 PM »
What specs (ram, processor, anything else) are recommended for a laptop for graphics (mostly InDesign), and a little bit of web browsing?

TY
Using photoshop?
once in a blue
BUMP, thanks!
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Offline Yehuda25

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8721 on: October 24, 2015, 11:33:50 PM »
I would jump on this hp right now its a great price for the rebate + 5% back from Amex + some other stuff back. Mainly need a fingerprint reader.
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Offline Yehuda25

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8722 on: October 25, 2015, 01:13:19 AM »
this is getting better and better - you can stack with this this $50 off

 http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=11567.msg1294444#msg1294444
“To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.”


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Offline Work-for-ur-muny

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8723 on: October 25, 2015, 01:23:40 AM »
I would jump on this hp right now its a great price for the rebate + 5% back from Amex + some other stuff back. Mainly need a fingerprint reader.
If you are referring to this:
What specs (ram, processor, anything else) are recommended for a laptop for graphics (mostly InDesign), and a little bit of web browsing?

TY
then -1. A13.3" screen is a bit small for graphics. (Especially InDesign where you need to be able to view big parts of the document at once.

Otherwise, this machine is a grab of a deal.

Offline Yehuda25

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8724 on: October 25, 2015, 09:05:08 AM »
If you are referring to this:then -1. A13.3" screen is a bit small for graphics. (Especially InDesign where you need to be able to view big parts of the document at once.

Otherwise, this machine is a grab of a deal.
What? the laptop i posted has a 15.6 incher
“To avoid criticism say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.”


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Offline Welder

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8725 on: October 25, 2015, 09:10:28 AM »
Can I trust a HP (particularly the one in question) for business and school use?
"We need more welders and less philosophers" — Marco Rubio

Offline avromie7

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8726 on: October 25, 2015, 09:11:36 AM »
Can I trust a HP (particularly the one in question) for business and school use?
Yes
I wonder what people who type "u" instead of "you" do with all their free time.

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8727 on: October 25, 2015, 09:13:35 AM »
Yes
Thanks. I'll think I'll go for that pavilion then!
Anyone know if upgrading the storage to a SSD is possible on that computer and how much it would cost?
"We need more welders and less philosophers" — Marco Rubio

Offline pixi

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8728 on: October 25, 2015, 09:16:04 AM »
Does upgrading the storage to a ssd speeds it that much up?
money doesn't talk......      it SCREAMS !

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8729 on: October 25, 2015, 09:18:01 AM »
Does upgrading the storage to a ssd speeds it that much up?
Yes!! Especially startups and restarts.
"We need more welders and less philosophers" — Marco Rubio

Offline avromie7

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8730 on: October 25, 2015, 09:20:55 AM »


Thanks. I'll think I'll go for that pavilion then!
Anyone know if upgrading the storage to a SSD is possible on that computer and how much it would cost?

Yes, I get 250gb SSDs for about $75
Does upgrading the storage to a ssd speeds it that much up?
Absolutely it's a huge difference
I wonder what people who type "u" instead of "you" do with all their free time.

Offline Welder

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8731 on: October 25, 2015, 09:27:08 AM »
Can I upgrade the storage myself, or do I need a professional to do it?
Will I loose my protection from warranty (due to opening and tinkering with the hardware)?
"We need more welders and less philosophers" — Marco Rubio

Offline avromie7

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8732 on: October 25, 2015, 09:31:30 AM »
Can I upgrade the storage myself, or do I need a professional to do it?
Will I loose my protection from warranty (due to opening and tinkering with the hardware)?
If you have a right hand and are not completely computer illiterate you can do it on your own. As far as the warrenty is concerned you can always keep the hard drive and if you have issues you can put it back in
I wonder what people who type "u" instead of "you" do with all their free time.

Offline Welder

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8733 on: October 25, 2015, 09:33:29 AM »
If you have a right hand and are not completely computer illiterate you can do it on your own. As far as the warrenty is concerned you can always keep the hard drive and if you have issues you can put it back in
Thank you! I appreciate all your guidance here.
"We need more welders and less philosophers" — Marco Rubio

Offline pixi

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8734 on: October 25, 2015, 09:47:08 AM »
Can I upgrade the storage myself, or do I need a professional to do it?
Will I loose my protection from warranty (due to opening and tinkering with the hardware)?
Search on YouTube how to do it.
money doesn't talk......      it SCREAMS !

Offline pixi

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8735 on: October 25, 2015, 09:49:23 AM »
Search on YouTube how to do it.
But if you don't have a right hand I'd suggest you to go to a professional
money doesn't talk......      it SCREAMS !

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8736 on: October 25, 2015, 10:04:08 AM »
But if you don't have a right hand I'd suggest you to go to a professional
As a reference point, I successfully researched and replaced some hardware in my iPod Classic last year (I refuse to let get it go!). Is that any reference, or is PC hardware another league?
"We need more welders and less philosophers" — Marco Rubio

Offline avromie7

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8737 on: October 25, 2015, 10:05:39 AM »
As a reference point, I successfully researched and replaced some hardware in my iPod Classic last year (I refuse to let get it go!). Is that any reference, or is PC hardware another league?
If you did that you should have no issue with computer hardware
I wonder what people who type "u" instead of "you" do with all their free time.

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8738 on: October 25, 2015, 10:22:18 AM »
If you did that you should have no issue with computer hardware
Thanks!
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Offline etech0

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Re: Laptop Deals Master Thread
« Reply #8739 on: October 25, 2015, 10:37:07 AM »
If you are referring to this:then -1. A13.3" screen is a bit small for graphics. (Especially InDesign where you need to be able to view big parts of the document at once.

Otherwise, this machine is a grab of a deal.
Agreed. And maybe I'm wrong, but wouldn't I do better with i7 than with a touchscreen?
Workflowy. You won't know what you're missing until you try it.