Need laptop ideas

[Skiz]

You guys have delivered nicely on my past two needs so I'll push my luck a bit.

My sister sent an email today asking me for laptop ideas.

"I need to get a laptop here in the next month. Can you recommend one & where to get it? Also, what stuff i should have on the laptop? It will be for work & personal. I've been told that I can access my work stuff from My PC.com but I'll still be storing files on there. As far as home, I'll use it for iTunes, pics, and other basic tasks. I'm not sure on screen size but I'd think around no smaller than 17."

EDIT:

Talked to more today and she's fully prepared to pay $1K for a laptop, so that opens things up quite a bit. She also mentioned interest in one with a BluRay drive (which surprised me), so I guess it needs decent graphics. Though I guess it's worth mentioning that no game will ever be played on this laptop.

I told her I would look for laptops with and without BluRay drives and give her pricing that way as she may not want to pay for it once she sees the price that comes with BluRay.

I thought this was decent but what do I know?

[Detale]

Sorry bud, I'm not in the laptop game. Personally I hate them so hopefully someone else would know more than I.

[fedora]

I'm not in the laptop game. also

[Skiz]

I'm not in the laptop game. also

[deceptorx]

She could get a pretty descent laptop for 1K. I would check out techbargains or other tech price comparators (just google it). AMD cpus are on the cheap side and offer a descent performance, which she really doesn't need. Windows 7 not Vista, and at least 2 gigs she should be good to go.

[Artemis]

I am nowhere near the U.S. so you probably know far more local retailers than I anyway (apart from the obvious online ones). Never underestimate the store specials though, you can walk into a shop these days and get a substantial saving since they are competing directly with the online stores.
If you give us more of an idea of specs then maybe we can give you a better idea of models you should be looking at.

[beansis]

I have an hp hdx16 that I'm perfectly content with, it came with a free bluray upgrade, but I've actually never even held a bluray disk before, lol

imo, if she wants bluray, then it will need good graphics, 1080p screen, ect > $1K

anyways if she's related to skizo shouldn't she be downloading blurays by now?

[Morpheus]

A strict BD Combo + 17" - 17.3" display only returns six results. The newegg link in the OP happens to be one of them and I would recommend it. [this is actually one of the budget laptops announced by acer for their new line last month] (four of the other results are ≈ $1400 - 1600) Plus it's an excellent price for what it gives.

Keep in mind that standard laptop fare is 15.6", 4GB DDR2, 320GB HDD for ≈ $600
For roughly $150 more you get a blu-ray player and a boost in every category.
There should be no worries regarding a integrated graphics card.

The Intel GMA HD is one of the few things Intel got right regarding integrated graphics. It's meant for video playback. It sucks for gaming. Despite popular belief, you don't actually need a high end [for desktops] or dedicated [laptops] graphics card to play blu-ray [1080p].

Even outdated ATI HD 3xxx cards will run 1080p videos smoothly if the processor is enough. Even a i3 core at the lower end murders standard core 2 duos.

In terms of what she should have on the laptop, just the standard stuff.

CCleaner, Microsoft Security Essentials (since she'll have a legit Windows OS anyway), Firefox, etc, etc. Freeware will cover most things.

For file storage and work related documents, go for Dropbox. It provides 2GB of storage for free. It'll sync and backup your documents across multiple computers and you'll obviously be able to access them from any browser.

[QPD]

You guys have delivered nicely on my past two needs so I'll push my luck a bit.

My sister sent an email today asking me for laptop ideas.

"I need to get a laptop here in the next month. Can you recommend one & where to get it? Also, what stuff i should have on the laptop? It will be for work & personal. I've been told that I can access my work stuff from My PC.com but I'll still be storing files on there. As far as home, I'll use it for iTunes, pics, and other basic tasks. I'm not sure on screen size but I'd think around no smaller than 17."

EDIT:

Talked to more today and she's fully prepared to pay $1K for a laptop, so that opens things up quite a bit. She also mentioned interest in one with a BluRay drive (which surprised me), so I guess it needs decent graphics. Though I guess it's worth mentioning that no game will ever be played on this laptop.

I told her I would look for laptops with and without BluRay drives and give her pricing that way as she may not want to pay for it once she sees the price that comes with BluRay.

I thought this was decent but what do I know?

i'd buy this instantly
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834127045

You lucky americans....I paid @ 2500 euro for my PC here in .Ro . I could have had it under 2000$ in USA.

[Daydream]

I dont like personally 17" laptops. They don't look like mobile computer, its just too big for laptop! Its not comfortable to move it around or put it on your lap.
For me, the best choice is 15.4" or 15.6" screen. Not too small (like the netbooks) not too big (like 17" monster).
If your sister doesnt want to hear about smaller screen, check out this models:
ACER ASPIRE AS7736ZG-433G50MN (no operating system installed, you can install anyone on it)
FUJITSU SIEMENS AMILO XA3530
I am Fujitsu user, so I recommend it. I have no experience with other brands than Fujitsu (personal laptop) and Toshiba (at the office).
Acer look like a cheapest solution to get 17" laptop.