Member Avatar for hetfield

hey i need a new laptop, I am willing to spend between $600 - $800 USD. I really like the vaios but they're kinda out of my price range. I will be purchasing online and I am kinda leaning more along the lines of an Hp and not really dell.

Any suggestions????

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For a $600–$800 purchase the most useful thing you can do is narrow your real priorities first (portability vs screen size, battery life vs graphics, upgradability vs out‑of‑the‑box speed). That will turn the flood of models into a short list you can compare head‑to‑head. is right to point out use-case as the driver; build the rest of the decision around that.

Check upgradeability and serviceability before you buy. Look up the exact model number on the maker’s support site and find the maintenance/service guide — it will show how many RAM slots there are, the maximum supported memory, and whether the hard drive is user‑replaceable. If a salesperson lists a single RAM module, factor in whether you’ll have to replace it entirely to upgrade. Planning to add memory or a bigger/faster drive yourself is often the cheapest way to get better long‑term value.

Don’t forget the physical details that matter every day: screen finish (matte vs glossy), native resolution, hinge and keyboard feel, port layout (VGA/HDMI, USB count, Ethernet), and cooling/noise. Independent review sites that measure battery life and thermals are more trustworthy than vendor claims. If gaming or video editing is a priority, make discrete graphics and a decent cooling solution non‑negotiable; for travel, prioritize weight and tested battery runtime.

Buying tips: compare authorized retailers for return windows and restocking fees, consider manufacturer‑refurbished business models for better durability and warranties, and price out adding RAM/HDD yourself versus a higher‑spec configuration. Quick checklist: (1) set top 3 priorities, (2) confirm upgrade path in the service manual, (3) read two independent reviews (battery + thermals), (4) verify return/warranty terms before checkout. This will get the best value for your budget without regrettable compromises.

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Member Avatar for zandiago

well, in addition to cost, you may wanna take into consideration what you're going to be using the PC for, for example if you're a PC gamer, you'll want to think about grapics (monitor size), memory, processor speed, weight, wirless and battery power....just to name a few. Personally, i've had no problems with DELL, you can get great deals from them with decent specs. The SONY is pretty kool too.

Member Avatar for dewabo

http://www.newegg.com/ is the best place to start looking for that laptop.just last month my wife and i did the research looking for one with XP\sp2 on it. founded an ASUS that had XP and the price was under 800$. It has a duel core AMD processor, 1gb of memory, 14or 15 inch screen, and an 80gb hdd.She loves it, and besides it looks good too!:)

Member Avatar for jbennet

If it has vista DO NOT get less than 1gb ram. 2GB ram is better

simple ram to performance table

RAM------XP-----------------Vista
256------OK but slow-------Wont even boot
512------Average-----------OK but slow
1gb------Good---------------Average
2gb------Awesome----------Good

and yeah go dual core. A sempron or celeron or something like that will be sloooooow with vista. Also bear in mind that vista will eat hard disk space like anything. 60gb is a minimum to look for (120 is better)

Member Avatar for bored2k

An $800 dollar Toshiba Satellite laptops kicks major booty. I have 2 Satellites (one 15' Core Solo, one 17' Pentium M) and a Dell, and overall, the Toshibas are better.

I recently installed Vista Ultimate on the 1.8GHz Core Solo with 512MB of Ram, and I must say the performance is not really a lot slower than with XP, and it's used regularly for everyday tasks like browsing, movies, office editing (word, ppt) and such, all while using NOD32 as an antivirus (that helps a lot).

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