Laptop input

exalted512

My dell from 2006 has been messed up for about a year now, so I think it's time to replace it.

Looking for a 15-ish" screen

• needs to be able to play 720P, 60FPS video off of a camera. The website for this camera recommends:
  3GHz Intel Pentium 4 or faster; 2GB of RAM; Video card with a minimum of 512MB of RAM

• Blu ray player with HDMI to play blu rays on my tv

• back-lit KEYBOARD (not screen)

• low price ($600 or less):cheesygrin:

• blue tooth would be a plus

I've been thinking of buying off of woot, but most of their deals are HP, and almost all of them have TERRIBLE reviews, so I'm concerned with buying HP. That, and I wasn't really impressed with their customer service when I had issues with my printer.

Other concern is the website for the camera lists 3GHz P4, but how does that compare to a dual-core 2.4, etc?

So I was just wondering what you guys think about particular brands and if there's any specific models (or just a series) I should be looking into. Toshiba, Lenovo, etc

It seems my biggest limiting factor is the back-lit keyboard. It's not completely necessary, but it is something that I'd really, really like to have.

Thanks!
-Cody

brettw22

IMO, you should up the budget and get an everything laptop so you aren't regretting it in 5 months.......

I have a Lenovo Think pad and love the thing. I didn't want a cd player though, but some of their newer thinkpad models have dvd's and are as slim as the macbook pro's........

exalted512

but what's an 'everything' laptop?

Really, my old laptop, if it was still working, would be perfect for 99% of the stuff I'd use it for...and its several years old. It's the occasional occurrence of watching video off my camera at the track or watching a blu ray in the bedroom is where the other features i want come in handy.
-Cody

dudeinaroom

Got an Acer Aspire 5745 and have no problem doing what you are looking to do. Not top of line, or brand new but paid just under 500.

Syndil

I'm surprised at the camera recommendations. 3GHz just for playing video? That's absurd. Any modern processor should be able to handle it.

To me it sounds like you don't need anything special. I'd just start looking for a bargain that tickles your fancy.

http://dealnews.com/c49/Computers/Laptops/

BeefJerky

Syndil wrote: »

I'm surprised at the camera recommendations. 3GHz just for playing video? That's absurd. Any modern processor should be able to handle it.

Well, the recommendation was referring to a 3GHz Pentium4 processor. The P4's weren't exactly known for their efficiency in terms of clock speed, in fact, they made for a large drop in terms of efficiency compared to the P3's. The PentiumM series of Intel processors were really a game changer, and they only continued to improve after that. In addition, he is talking 60fps 720p video, which does take more CPU power than the more common 30fps 720p video

However, let's put this into perspective with modern processors. I'll use Passmark CPU test results for reference since they are easily available with nearly any CPU that's even remotely modern. I realize benchmarks aren't the end-all be-all, but they are still good for comparison's sake.

The P4 3GHz scores a meager 491.
The Pentium M at 2GHz scores nearly identical with 500.
The Core2 Solo at 1.4GHz also compares similarly with a score of 501.

I'm skipping the original Core series because they weren't even around long enough to make good comparisons. In addition, there were only a few processor releases in this series, and they were all mobile-only. At any rate, over essentially 3 generations, the clock-efficiency became slightly more than doubled. That's impressive, and I haven't even gotten around to any dual-core processors yet.

A Core2Duo at 1.06GHz scores 546, which slightly beats the previous ones, and at an even lower clock speed. This was the lowest dual-core score I could find.
A Core i3 (Intel's low-range CPU) at 1.2GHz scores 1204 - that's a 120% increase in performance for only a 13% increase in clock speed; quite impressive.
A Core i5 (Intel's mid-range CPU) at 1.2GHz scores 1428 - that's mainly due to larger L3 cache
A Core i7 (Intel's high-range CPU) at 1.2GHz scores 1593 - again, mainly due to larger L3 cache

Now, the Core i3, i5 and i7 I mentioned were all the previous generation Arrandale based CPUs. The newest Sandy Bridge ones are even faster.
The current Core i7 dual-core at 2.2GHz scores 2664
The highest end Core i7 at 3.3GHz scores 15345 - this one is a six-core CPU

Yes, I realize I went off on a tangent, and this was somewhat out of my own curiosity in terms of comparisons.

To me it sounds like you don't need anything special. I'd just start looking for a bargain that tickles your fancy.

http://dealnews.com/c49/Computers/Laptops/

I agree with this. If you want a current laptop with a core i3/i5/i7 CPU, you can pick any and you'd be good to go. If you went with a prior-gen Core2 laptop, you'd be fine as long as you got a Core2Solo at 1.4GHz+ or any Core2Duo or Core2Quad. You'd even be safe with a PentiumM laptop as long as you went with a higher tier 2GHz+.

I'd just recommend sticking to a good name brand such as Lenovo, Toshiba or HP.

exalted512

Sweet. So I just need to find a new laptop with a blu ray player and a backlit keyboard and I'll be good. Thanks!
-Cody

dudeinaroom

Forgot to mention the cheapy Acer above has an i3 @ 2.27Ghz which runs circles around my old P4 @ 2.4Ghz which I sometimes run @ 3.2Ghz. But if you want to do a lot of burning I recommend getting an external burner, the one in it is not the best.

exalted512

Dont care to do any burning really. I might put a video or some data on a regular disc sometime, but maybe a couple times a year? I cant remember the last time I've put anything on disc actually...

Too bad all the ones I want are $750+

Looks like I might be waiting for a while...or just do without the backlit keyboard.
-Cody

mark090852

We just bought a Toshiba Satellite 755-S5265 for my wife. It has all the features you are asking for including the backlit keyboard, which was very important to us, too. Office Depot still has it listed at $599 on their website. It was the only one we could find with that feature for under $700.

Gadabout

Cody, might I suggest just this laptop - http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cdetland.to?poid=2000016422

It has what your looking for and it's under $700 w/ the blu ray player upgrade ($599 w/o the blu ray player)

If don't travel much and need a blu ray player on the road, why not just get a cheap blu ray player for the other TV in the house or Office. http://electronics.pricegrabber.com/blu-ray-players/p/2065/ - plenty of players out there cheaper than what comes in a laptop.

Anyway, I have had decent luck with Toshiba's over the years.

Scott

exalted512

mark090852 wrote: »

We just bought a Toshiba Satellite 755-S5265 for my wife. It has all the features you are asking for including the backlit keyboard, which was very important to us, too. Office Depot still has it listed at $599 on their website. It was the only one we could find with that feature for under $700.

I don't see anything about Blu Ray on that particular model?
-Cody

mark090852

exalted512 wrote: »

I don't see anything about Blu Ray on that particular model?
-Cody

You're right, sorry. I just looked at hers and it doesn't play Blu-Ray. I thought it did. We were most concerned about the backlit keyboard when we were shopping. I apologize for the confusion.

exalted512

Gadabout wrote: »

Cody, might I suggest just this laptop - http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cdetland.to?poid=2000016422

It has what your looking for and it's under $700 w/ the blu ray player upgrade ($599 w/o the blu ray player)

If don't travel much and need a blu ray player on the road, why not just get a cheap blu ray player for the other TV in the house or Office. http://electronics.pricegrabber.com/blu-ray-players/p/2065/ - plenty of players out there cheaper than what comes in a laptop.

Anyway, I have had decent luck with Toshiba's over the years.

Scott

That looks good. Do you guys think the on-board video cards on these laptops is good enough to play the HD video I'm looking for (720P @ 60 FPS). That's one of the main reasons on purchasing this thing and I want to be certain the video isnt going to be skipping.

mark090852 wrote: »

You're right, sorry. I just looked at hers and it doesn't play Blu-Ray. I thought it did. We were most concerned about the backlit keyboard when we were shopping. I apologize for the confusion.

No problem
-Cody

BeefJerky

exalted512 wrote: »

That looks good. Do you guys think the on-board video cards on these laptops is good enough to play the HD video I'm looking for (720P @ 60 FPS). That's one of the main reasons on purchasing this thing and I want to be certain the video isnt going to be skipping.

The laptop you are looking at uses the newest Sandy Bridge chipset and has the Intel HD3000 graphics. The HD3000 is more than powerful enough for any HD video, including 1080p. You shouldn't really run into any limitations with it unless you plan on running some newer graphics-intensive games.[/QUOTE]

exalted512

Thanks. In your opinion, is that a good deal that we should go ahead and jump on, or wait? I have no problem in waiting a few more months, but I'd like to have it by around May
-Cody

Gadabout

exalted512 wrote: »

Thanks. In your opinion, is that a good deal that we should go ahead and jump on, or wait? I have no problem in waiting a few more months, but I'd like to have it by around May
-Cody

It's a good price, but Toshiba runs deals all the time. That deal I showed you expires the 2nd at 11:50p ET. The last time I saw a similar deal (before the Christmas deals) was around school start time (July & August). I would say if you like the price and it fits your needs go ahead and get it now. Should you decide to wait, sign-up on the Toshiba Direct page for deal emails and they will send you something every couple of weeks.

I have been thinking of upgrading for awhile, and have considered getting that very computer with the exception that I would take the 7200 RPM hybrid HD. I decided to wait for awhile because the Toshiba I'm running now, is 3.5 years old but still isn't giving me any issues. My only complaint is that I'm tired of Vista, which really can't be blamed on Toshiba ;-). I'll probably upgrade sometime this summer.

Scott

exalted512

Gadabout wrote: »

It's a good price, but Toshiba runs deals all the time. That deal I showed you expires the 2nd at 11:50p ET. The last time I saw a similar deal (before the Christmas deals) was around school start time (July & August). I would say if you like the price and it fits your needs go ahead and get it now. Should you decide to wait, sign-up on the Toshiba Direct page for deal emails and they will send you something every couple of weeks.

I have been thinking of upgrading for awhile, and have considered getting that very computer with the exception that I would take the 7200 RPM hybrid HD. I decided to wait for awhile because the Toshiba I'm running now, is 3.5 years old but still isn't giving me any issues. My only complaint is that I'm tired of Vista, which really can't be blamed on Toshiba ;-). I'll probably upgrade sometime this summer.

Scott

Thanks! It was a little more than I wanted to spend, but I pretty much convinced myself to get it. I had upgraded to the i5 proc. Free shipping, wife was pretty much on board...then the $65 in tax kicked in...crap...haha

So is in your opinion, is the i5 worth the extra money since one of the main purposes of this machine will be watching that HD video off a camera? Or will it not make a big difference in that aspect?
-Cody

Gadabout

Cody,

Not sure what you decided but if your waiting for a better deal. Keep an eye on http://www.techbargains.com/. Usually pretty good deals there to tempt me daily to upgrade.

Scott

chumlie

/\reported/\

exalted512

Gadabout wrote: »

Cody,

Not sure what you decided but if your waiting for a better deal. Keep an eye on http://www.techbargains.com/. Usually pretty good deals there to tempt me daily to upgrade.

Scott

Thanks. I decided to hold off. That's what I wanted, but I was wanting to keep it under $700, maximum. I could convince myself to do it at $767, but not at over $800. We're not in a hurry, so we can wait.

I've been keeping an eye out on all the major 'deal' websites, tigerdirect, TB, slickdeals, and a couple of others. Thanks for the recommendation!
-Cody

exalted512

Is this a good deal? If it's just an average deal I'll keep looking. I'm not a fan of HP.

Seems like everything I want except for the back lit keyboard. I guess I can deal without

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2021970&pagenumber=3&RSort=1&csid=ITD&recordsPerPage=5&body=#ReviewStart

Thanks,
-Cody

BeefJerky

You don't need a backlit keyboard, you just need one of these:
http://www.frys.com/product/6113079?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

But seriously, it seems like a pretty average deal. Not bad, not good, just okay.

exalted512

That's what I figured. The specs seemed up there though

i7
win7 professional
500GB 7200RPM HD
dedicated video with 1GB
Blue tooth
Blu Ray

Pricing out anything else at HP it's over $1100. I guess its an old model?
-Cody

Syndil

It's a Probook, so for that price and those specs I'd say it's a bargain. Anything with an i7 in it is not what I would call old. Plus that's a business model with Win7Pro, so it would have had very little bloatware on it. I would have suggested snagging it, but it seems they are sold out now. Not to worry though, there are always deals to be had on laptops.

BeefJerky

Hmm, I didn't catch that it was a ProBook. Business models like that do have better build quality and tend to be more durable. I'd change my opinion to good deal, but wouldn't go so far as to say a bargain. However, as Syndil said, deals like this come and go on a regular basis, and another one will come along. Maybe the next one will have the backlit keyboard that you want.

exalted512

I'll keep looking. I keep forgetting about tax and it keeps putting stuff out of my budget...haha.
-Cody

Syndil

If you (or anyone else) is still looking for a decent media laptop, woot.com is selling a refurbished HP DV7 w/ all the specs you were asking for except the backlit keyboard for $525 shipped. Also has a fingerprint reader, but apparently lacks Bluetooth.

http://www.woot.com



That backlit keyboard is indeed elusive, but I would suggest learning how to type so you don't need to look at it anyway. ;P

Oh if anyone cares it supposedly has "Great-sounding Beats Audio with Triple Bass Reflex Subwoofer." Marketing BS if you ask me, but...

malvrich

Most Sony Vaios come with a blu ray reader.

exalted512

malvrich wrote: »

Most Sony Vaios come with a blu ray reader.

newegg has a sony vaio on sale that meets all my expectations except for the $950 price tag

-Cody

exalted512

I think if nothing pans out, I'll end up going with this guy. Still not in a rush, but I'll need to order something by May.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834200414

-Cody