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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 3152373 times)

Offline aryeh1

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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #420 on: February 22, 2012, 06:22:42 PM »
My boot time is less than 10 sec..

Offline smurf

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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #421 on: February 22, 2012, 07:33:47 PM »
When you write you own OS keep that idea in mind  ;)

I wouldn't be supprised if there is an app that could do this
I vaguely recall reading on downloadsquad about an app that would delay chosen startup apps

Edit:
One program is called "wainpatrol" Alternately you can just write a batch file and have that control your startup programs
« Last Edit: February 22, 2012, 07:41:25 PM by smurf »

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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #422 on: February 22, 2012, 07:57:26 PM »
My boot time is less than 10 sec..
Explain

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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #423 on: February 22, 2012, 07:59:16 PM »
Explain
I'm guessing a chromebook or the like

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Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #424 on: February 22, 2012, 08:02:20 PM »
I'm guessing a chromebook or the like

I'm guessing boot up from sleep mode :P

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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #425 on: February 22, 2012, 09:30:34 PM »
I'm guessing boot up from sleep mode :P
I would say a chrome book, but it could be the full boot time....

Either way - @aryeh1 if it is a chrome book, could you write your feedback about it
I was looking into one, I got an image of the OS and installed it on a virtual machine, and didnt like it

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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #426 on: February 22, 2012, 11:13:14 PM »
My exact boot time on my nearly 2 year old Z12 is 25.5 seconds for my background to load and 28.5 seconds for Chrome to open.
+1, I've got something right around there on my Z12 as well (i7, 8GB, 128GB (64GBx2 RAID)).

I would say a chrome book, but it could be the full boot time....

Either way - @aryeh1 if it is a chrome book, could you write your feedback about it
I was looking into one, I got an image of the OS and installed it on a virtual machine, and didnt like it
I've got 2 of the Google CR-48's and ChromeOS is actually pretty awesome if all you need is a web browser, but that is all it is. I've got Ubuntu running on one of them now. Being as they were prototypes I'm sure the actual Chromebooks are faster etc.

But your probably better off throwing Ubuntu on your transformer... :)

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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #427 on: February 22, 2012, 11:19:35 PM »
+1, I've got something right around there on my Z12 as well (i7, 8GB, 128GB (64GBx2 RAID)).

Your boot times? (now I've gotten curious)

I've got 2 of the Google CR-48's and ChromeOS is actually pretty awesome if all you need is a web browser

And how's the boot on those?

Edit: pretty please :)
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Offline BAHayman

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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #428 on: February 22, 2012, 11:27:16 PM »
Your boot times? (now I've gotten curious)

And how's the boot on those?

Edit: pretty please :)
I'll have to time my Z12 next time I reboot.

CR-48 with Chrome OS is probably around 20 seconds, with Ubuntu 11.10 probably around 35-40 seconds. Both times including me typing my password and logging in.

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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #429 on: February 22, 2012, 11:32:54 PM »
Both times including me typing my password and logging in.

That must explain my long boot-times... :P
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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #430 on: February 22, 2012, 11:36:21 PM »
That must explain my long boot-times... :P
My times are with no password set.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #431 on: February 22, 2012, 11:40:58 PM »
My times are with no password set.

I feel so hip using my fingerprint scanner :P

(in all truth it's annoying and I've never used it for logon, though at a time I did use it to quick-launch things, depending on which finger I scanned).
« Last Edit: February 22, 2012, 11:44:10 PM by AsherO »
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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #432 on: February 22, 2012, 11:45:56 PM »
+1 on the finger scanner just got a laptop with it, its quite cool.
There was an app to selectively delay startup its called soluto but I think they may have changed lately not sure exactly what it does now. filehippo should still  have the old versions.

Offline aryeh1

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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #433 on: February 23, 2012, 12:13:21 AM »
Explain
I'm guessing boot up from sleep mode :P
I'm guessing a chromebook or the like
The secret is its an SSD drive. I actually just got this notebook for free as upgrade from hp since I was having heating issues with my old one and went in for repair 3 times.
« Last Edit: February 23, 2012, 12:25:38 AM by aryeh1 »

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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #434 on: February 23, 2012, 12:14:01 AM »
I'll have to time my Z12 next time I reboot.
34 seconds from powered off to chrome loading the start page, including 2 swipes of my finger to login.

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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #435 on: February 23, 2012, 12:22:27 AM »
I underestimated, I actually just timed my boot time from pressing the power button and it was 12 seconds to get to my desktop. Is this considered fast?
« Last Edit: February 23, 2012, 12:28:05 AM by aryeh1 »

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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #436 on: February 23, 2012, 12:24:57 AM »
I underestimated, I actually just timed my boot time and it was 12 seconds to get to my desktop. Is this considered fast?
what are the specs?

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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #437 on: February 23, 2012, 12:26:52 AM »
what are the specs?
HP Envy 15
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2670QM (2.2 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz
1GB AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7690M GDDR5 Discrete Graphics(TM) [HDMI, DP]
8GB 1600DDR3MHz System Memory (2 Dimm)
160GB (Solid State Drive Flash Module)
No Additional Office Software
8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
15.6-inch diagonal Radiance Full HD Infinity LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080)
SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
HP TrueVision HD Webcam
Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R) with Wireless Display Support
Full-size Radiance backlit keyboard
Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 9 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 9
2 year limited warranty included
« Last Edit: February 23, 2012, 12:36:27 AM by aryeh1 »

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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #438 on: February 23, 2012, 12:27:00 AM »
+1 on the finger scanner just got a laptop with it, its quite cool.
There was an app to selectively delay startup its called soluto but I think they may have changed lately not sure exactly what it does now. filehippo should still  have the old versions.

"Delay" seems to do eactly what I'm looking for, thanks!!!

Now, hopefully it isn't a resource hog :D



HP Envy 15
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
2nd generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2670QM (2.2 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz
1GB AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7690M GDDR5 Discrete Graphics(TM) [HDMI, DP]
8GB 1600DDR3MHz System Memory (2 Dimm)
160GB (Solid State Drive Flash Module)
No Additional Office Software
8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
15.6-inch diagonal Radiance Full HD Infinity LED-backlit Display (1920 x 1080)
SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
HP TrueVision HD Webcam
Intel 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth(R) with Wireless Display Support
Full-size Radiance backlit keyboard
Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) Elements 9 & Adobe Premiere(R) Elements 9
2 year limited warranty included

That thing is a serious beast (or monster, if you prefer)!!
« Last Edit: February 23, 2012, 12:43:21 AM by AsherO »
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Offline aryeh1

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Re: Looking for cheap good Laptop deal
« Reply #439 on: February 23, 2012, 12:47:37 AM »




That thing is a serious beast (or monster, if you prefer)!!
[/quote]

Lol what makes it that ?