Cheap laptops?

[evoeata]

Laptop has decided that after a few years of hard porn it doesn't want to play the game anymore, so it will be meeting an axe when I get home. Anyway, who has any hook ups for laptops? Want to spend between 7-800. Just needs a good size hard drive and be good enough to watch movies and shit. Don't really play games on it so doesn't need an off its nipples graphics card. Is old mate who works at jb hifi the best to see? Or is online somewhere better?


Cheers

Matt

[mischief1]

I'd look at the laptops at JB, see if you like any then check the prices online. JB are pretty decently price and I'll usually buy there out of convenience.
Few guys on here work at several stores around the place, I'm sure they chime in soon enough.

Personally I have a laptop with an SSD in it, starts up within seconds, and I have a 1tb USB 3.0 drive to store stuff on.

[ED40]

PLE computers got cheap laptops..

[TJ]

I have an asus 5 months old. Paid 700 on sale from 899.

Used literally 2 hours a day for a week in malaysia.

Would sell it for 4-500 if you are interested.

[thommo]

Is it a thin ultra book?

[cplagz]

http://msy.com.au/Parts/notebook.pdf

Also keep an eye out for EOFY sales to start soon.

[Brockas]

It's a decent time to check out the online Sony store too... I just picked up a top-line S-series which is usually about ~$2k, for $1,499 on an EOFY sale.

Rang the local Sony store and they couldn't price match it. They said that was below their cost price. There's a number of good Vaio's out there for the price range you're looking at.

[coFF33]

Well all the Samsung and HP range at JB Hifi look great.
Im personally a fan of ultrabooks, light, fast Solid state HDD (which can also take a physical beating in a bag etc without fucking up, ie, no moving parts)
And in 2 days (the 26th of June) Windows 8.1 update will be available to download for free, for all those poor people with windows 8 installed on their laptops.

[TheChad]

Grays online worked great for me.

[evo5aurus]

You will usually find that PC/online stores are cheaper than places like JB.

[Brett_J]

Well all the Samsung and HP range at JB Hifi look great.
Im personally a fan of ultrabooks, light, fast Solid state HDD (which can also take a physical beating in a bag etc without fucking up, ie, no moving parts)
And in 2 days (the 26th of June) Windows 8.1 update will be available to download for free, for all those poor people with windows 8 installed on their laptops.

What's the deal with the update, I have a ASUS Ultrabook with touchscreen I got for around 700 from JB earlier in the year, has Win8 on it, but I don't use the app side of things, I use Start8 to get the Start button back, apart from that, no issues.

[Dr.J]

Samsung are definitely better than they were, but still have a way to go with regards to durability.
I have seen more failed HP laptops than any other brand combined, so I'd never in good conscience recommend. I've also owned 2 myself.
Sony tend to be overpriced for what you get, and they don't make the units themselves. Some are very pretty though including a range you can get in pink... :)
Toshiba or Asus for dependability and reliability.
Asus would be my pick for around the $750 - $800 price range.

[evoeata]

Samsung are definitely better than they were, but still have a way to go with regards to durability.
I have seen more failed HP laptops than any other brand combined, so I'd never in good conscience recommend. I've also owned 2 myself.
Sony tend to be overpriced for what you get, and they don't make the units themselves. Some are very pretty though including a range you can get in pink... :)
Toshiba or Asus for dependability and reliability.
Asus would be my pick for around the $750 - $800 price range.

Mine is a hp. Have had dramas with it for awhile now. It would randomly lock up and windows wouldn't load properly all the time requiring a restart. I need one that will be fine in a backpack as I work away and it gets knocked around in my bag.

[Brockas]

Sony tend to be overpriced for what you get, and they don't make the units themselves.
The reason I bought a VAIO again was because I'm currently using a Z-series from about 5 years ago and it's still faultless. If I didn't need more than 4GB of ram, I wouldn't have bothered to buy a new one. Prior to this VAIO I was buying laptops every 12-18 months because they'd get horribly slow regardless of how little I had installed on them.

[shifted]

Both Toshiba's I've had so far have lasted 5yrs+ each. Wouldn't go anywhere else personally.

On that note... my current laptop is on it's way out - randomly the screen won't turn on, or the mouse pad won't work, the case is starting to show its age with random cracks... though it's hasn't had the easiest life.

Need it to be able to handle CAD/Design software - any recommendations on what to look out for over the next few weeks and what to wait out for if there are new models coming? I'll probably go back to Toshiba, just trust the brand but I don't mind having a look - won't ever look at a HP/Compaq - they've been shit since the days I've worked at Harvey's stores.

Last laptop cost $2k (from $2900) and it's lasted a solid 5.5 years at the moment with only 1 battery replacement.

Are we stuck with using Windows 8?


Mine is a hp. Have had dramas with it for awhile now. It would randomly lock up and windows wouldn't load properly all the time requiring a restart. I need one that will be fine in a backpack as I work away and it gets knocked around in my bag.

Have a look at the Targus backpacks - the one I bought came with an extra padded slip case for the laptop and sits inside the backpack. It's been doing very well for myself.

[-Luke-]

I've had two Toshiba Qosmio's both died just after the end of the warranty period. Would not buy again.

Have a lenovo net book now for car tuning and use a tablet for movies etc when travelling.

[Dr.J]

Interesting about the Toshiba Qosmios! I'd be keen to hear more about your troubles if you have the time/inclination...

Anyway, I quite like Toshiba myself and I'm using my 8 year old M60 right now, but even the best have moments of less than brilliant performance.

[Pav]

http://www.affordablelaptops.com.au/

Local guys with great prices!

[Lonewolf]

seen all brands fail, currently using a dell and its been good (business line).
SSD is the way to go, ultrabooks are good and cheap.

spend 1/2 as much, replace 2x as often

[Fukushima]

got an asus at ple last year for 299... higher specs and better battery than my missus laptop she spent 1600 on five years ago

is perfect for what we use it for... streaming/network media player / take on holidays and download torrents to watch over hotel wifi / plug into the car and pretend I'm a wizard at race wars

I have an ssd sitting on my desk to put in it and could probably up the ram for $30 but really cant be fucked as it aint broke (except for the keys my dog chewed off)

[-Luke-]

Interesting about the Toshiba Qosmios! I'd be keen to hear more about your troubles if you have the time/inclination...

Anyway, I quite like Toshiba myself and I'm using my 8 year old M60 right now, but even the best have moments of less than brilliant performance.

Both began to run hot and suffered gpu failures requiring motherboard replacement at near on 80% of new price. The cooling systems where too small and the high heat levels over time killed them. They worked very well until the overheating stopped play.

[Dr.J]

Both began to run hot and suffered gpu failures requiring motherboard replacement at near on 80% of new price. The cooling systems where too small and the high heat levels over time killed them. They worked very well until the overheating stopped play.

Were they being overclocked at all?

[-Luke-]

Nah totally stock mate. Only used for web browsing and media centre recording/playback. Light use would be an understatement. One was a q45 the other a q70 both ran vista

Having said what I have said about toshi laptops my Dad's had a Tegra (sp?) for several years with no issue.

[evoeata]

Ended up getting an asus r500vd-sx918p from jay (dr j on here) at his shop tech toyz in Morley. Got me the laptop for a good price and price matched it for me. Excellent service. Stoked with it! Windows 8 is going to take a little getting used to but ill manage haha