Have you considered Dells Alienware series? On their site you can configure your own laptop,but I guess it blows your budget sky high...

http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/default.aspx?c=fr&l=fr&s=gen

I hear they have decent service. How is Asus service when something happens?

Lenovos is like this: The screen on the laptop I'm at now, turned black. I sent an e-mail to Lenovos repair center. After a couple of hours I received an e-mail, with a link to a site where I could order UPS to pick up the Laptop. So I did and the laptop was sent the same day. To the Czech Republic. When the laptop arrived at the service center, I received a new e-mail, saying that they had received the laptop and the work was started. The day after that, I got a new e-mail with a tracking number. The day after that some delivery guy called and asked where I wanted the laptop delivered. Great service!

You need to have a plan B, or a good service organization.

 

@ nerdegutta: Thanks a lot for your comment!

Buying an *Asus* has been ruled out! I am looking around...

 

I think I will go for this one then:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Dell+-+Inspiron+17.3%26%2334%3B+Laptop+-+8GB+Memory+-+1TB+Hard+Drive/7850052.p?id=1218861156197&skuId=7850052

maybe later when i get more money I can buy a better one! But I ll make sure, like nerdegutta said, that they have a *good service organisation* in case something happened!

Thanks all!

 

I think it is the third option on this page:
http://www.dell.com/uk/p/inspiron-1...&baynote_irrank=8&~ck=dellSearch&isredir=true
If it is, then you should easily and cheaply be able to add another drive if you really need more space (the fourth option comes with 2 X 1TB drives, so there must be space in there).

 

You're going to hate me, but.....

Dells are just as bad as Asus, if not worse

Again, this is ONLY in my experience. Look around at reviews, don't go solely by my personal experiences.

Matt

 

You're going to hate me, but.....

Dells are just as bad as Asus, if not worse

Again, this is ONLY in my experience. Look around at reviews, don't go solely by my personal experiences.

Matt

What about this one?:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+...218861099050&skuId=7840365#tab=specifications

is it a durable and strong brand!?

 

What about this one?:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Sony+-+...218861099050&skuId=7840365#tab=specifications

is it a durable and strong brand!?

The Sony VAIO has been a fairly popular choice, and I'm thinking the E series is one of the better ones. Looks okay to me, overall (the turbo boost is a plus ). Again though, please read reviews of any products you consider before making a final decision. It could turn up something very important that you may have missed.

Regards,
Matt

 

I work with computers, and have for a very long time. I wanted a new Laptop to not have to sit in front of my desk at home all the time. I looked at Walmart and saw that they carried Dell. They had an Inspiron 15 R 1521 with a TB HD, and 8 GB ram. It was $688 with Windows 8 on it. Now you did say you want an I7, but unless you plan to do video editing, and stuff like that, you would be better off with a I5. Anyone who thinks that an I7 is an upgrade of an I5 is misinformed. There are some very powerful I5 processors, and they are the top choice for gamers. There are lots of different I5 processors ,and they easily beat AMD any day of the week. The most powerful I5 I've seen is in my sons gaming PC. It draws 77 watts, all alone ,and is a quad core I5. Walmart was going to sell me a 1.8 Ghz duel core I5 for $688. I called Dell, and they tossed in a touch screen for free, and the processor was an I5 that is worded like this. "Up to 2.7 Ghz" What that means is that one of its cores will boost itself to 2.7 gHz on demand. I managed to get a second year of in home service, and a blue tooth mouse, and it cost me $755. I was a bit hesitant on the processor, and the touch screen, but once I got it, I was floored at how fast the machine is, and how well the touch screen works. I use the touch screen with touch apps that exist in an App store for touch apps. I use the laptop to program microcontrollers, browse the internet, and do email. I was warned about Windows 8, but it has not caused me any trouble, and I find it to be a lot like Windows 7, once you drop out of the tiles and to the desktop. I use the tiles for the touch apps, and drop to the desktop when I want to program, and use icons and a mouse. I'm not kidding, the desktop has my icons on it, and it looks every bit like Windows 7. There is a registry hack to bring the Windows 7 interface to you, but I did not find any need to do that. The laptop is very fast, and does all I need it to do. You should only consider an I7 if you have a need for the abilities of an I7. From what I've read in this thread, you do not need an I7. if you buy a Laptop that was made for Windows 8, it will work well. Get the touch screen, I love it, and Dell gave it to me for free. The people who were not happy with Windows 8, fall into several categories. We won't even lump the Linux users into any of those categories, because they gave up on Windows a long time ago. I have a Linux system, and I like it, but there is an awful lot of stuff I can't do in Linux. Even when I can do it, it isn't as refined as what I am use to seeing in Windows.
People who bought Windows 8 and put it on their Windows 7 PC were not so happy. Most didn't like it, and took it off, and went back to Windows 7. Think of Windows 7 as Windows XP, way back when it was updated and refined to perfection. We had the same thing happen with Windows 95, and many people tried the first Windows XP and said it was crap and went right back to Windows 95. The same is happening with Windows 7, and Windows 8. The truth is that Windows 8 is not so different than Windows 7. They took the start button away, and turned it into a desktop of tiles. When you drop to your desktop, which is one of the tiles, you have a desktop that looks like Windows 7, along with all the icons from your installed software. if you want your tiles back, push the Windows button on your keyboard, it will bring the tiles back on top. Select the tiles that says Desktop, and you are back to your desktop. Spend a few minutes with Windows 8, learn a little about what was done to Windows 7, to create Windows 8,and you will be on your way with no problems.
Here is the one thing that Microsoft did, that they did not advertise so well, and only the resellers of Windows 8 computers know it, and won't talk about it unless asked right out. When you buy Windows 8, you are buying the home version. It must say Windows 8 pro, or pro pack. To get to Windows 8 pro from Windows 8, you buy the Windows 8 pro Pack. That cost $100 more. There is no product called Windows 8 Home. When you buy Windows 8 pro pack, it adds Join Domain, Windows media center, and one other things that someone in a business environment needs, but I forgot what it is. You get a Key when you buy the Windows 8 pro Pack. You enter the key and Windows enables all those other features, and downloads anything that may be missing form your configuration to make it happen.
You will not get a Windows 8 DVD with your new computer. No Windows 8 computer will come with a disk of the OS. I pressured Dell to send me one and to my surprise, it came with a USB dongle. That USB dongle said that I can run Windows 8 directly from it, but I also have a DVD of Windows 8, and I imagine that I need that dongle to install it. The OS also reads a chip inside the computer, and it will only work on my Dell computer. Gone are the days of buying a used Dell, and using your new Dell computers Windows 7 disk to install it on your old Dell with no key required. I've typed enough, and probably angered someone along the way. Good luck, Joe

 

I should have mentioned that you may have a credit card that has a warranty extension on it. I do, and I got a third year of in home service with it. Some plans will only extend a one year warranty, some will do two years, and add the third, and some, like American Express, will add one extra year to any warranty up to 4 years, so they would add the 5th year. You can call your credit card company and ask them about that. There are so many benefits of having a good credit card, and most people don't know jack about it. I once wrote an article on the subject that was published in PC magazine. It was many years ago, so that just shows you that this is not new information. Use the card to pay for your new computer no matter where you buy it. Information is Power.

 

Hello,

If you want to compare the i5 and i7 processors, have a look at these pages:
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_i5/index.html
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/Core_i7/index.html

Bertus

 

get an alienware, ok your budget will be blown away but you will have a good laptop for a long time.

i got a M17XR4 recently and like my R3 before that i know what i get for my money. it will run anything with ease and hey ho its good for games and movies too.

do dell have an outlet in the USA for refurbs?

with new haswell CPU on the way IVY bridge based M17X R4s should be reduced now., a IB based alienware is still much better than most of the junk you get in retail stores.

 

that's not a bad looking system you found, but generally IMHO a lot of the office supply stores I.E best buy, staples, RadioShack are considerably more on most products. that's why I usually prefer Newegg or tiger direct. I know somebody that spent about 1000$ and got a malibal gaming laptop. believe he said had I7, 6or 8 gb ram, 64 bit maybe check those out. not sure what your intended use is for it, but unless you need windows 8 for some reason you'd probably be best to put win 7 on it. I'd sugest making an image of 8 before you go to 7 if you do that so if it don't work out you can upgrade, or find one with no os or Linux or 7 already on it. heard a few people saying they got new laptop and 8 is already on and if they could would have rather had 7. only benefit with 8 I see is touchscreen, but think would get annoying after a while. you can also make 8 look like 7 through setting changes or adding programs.

 

I got my laptop ~ 1.5 month ago...
It came with Windows 8 and it was frustrating at first as there's quite a change...but the good news is that you can make it look and act like Windows 7 with the start button!

SO THERE'S NO NEED TO UNINSTALL WINDOWS8 and INSTALL WINDOWS7 BECAUSE IT'S BASICALLY THE SAME! I would say Windows 8 is another version of Windows 7.

One thing one may do is install Linux on a partition...That's what I am going to do later on when I get the time...

And a part from this Windows 8 bah bah...I am Happy with the performance of this Sony Vaio E series i7...

 

SO THERE'S NO NEED TO UNINSTALL WINDOWS8 and INSTALL WINDOWS7 BECAUSE IT'S BASICALLY THE SAME! I would say Windows 8 is another version of Windows 7.

If all you care about is the look, then sure, don't bother uninstalling 8 and installing 7. But most people use computers to do work, not just to play with. I have found windows 8 to have terrible support for many programs. That's why I recommended just sticking with 7. If I hadn't kept a windows 7 partition when I had windows 8, I would not have been able to get any work done because many of the programs I use on a daily basis were not supported by 8.

 

If all you care about is the look, then sure, don't bother uninstalling 8 and installing 7. But most people use computers to do work, not just to play with.

LOL...

All my programs (Microsoft Visual Studio 2010, Eagle 6.2.0, Mplab, Matlab, utorrent, Daemon Lite,... ) that I use in Windows 7 works in Windows 8 without any problems...

So far the only problem I had with Windows 8 was to play "Need for Speed Pro" that only works with Windows 7.

@DerStrom: which program did you have issue with in Windows 8!?

 

LOL...

All my programs (Microsoft Visual Studio 2010, Eagle 6.2.0, Mplab, Matlab, utorrent, Daemon Lite,... ) that I use in Windows 7 works in Windows 8 without any problems...

So far the only problem I had with Windows 8 was to play "Need for Speed Pro" that only works with Windows 7.

@DerStrom: which program did you have issue with in Windows 8!?

There were several, i can't remember them all. I know among them was Multisim, Proteus, latest version of MPLab, Intel WiDi software, AfterEffects, Mixpad, Solidworks, and many more.

 

Well if you say so...

But as far as I'm concerned I'm good with Windows 8...

I will try to install Solidworks and will let you know if I have any issue with it...
Which version of solidworks should I install!? I've never used it before...but I ll have to learn...as it's an important tool too.

 

Well if you say so...

But as far as I'm concerned I'm good with Windows 8...

I will try to install Solidworks and will let you know if I have any issue with it...
Which version of solidworks should I install!? I've never used it before...but I ll have to learn...as it's an important tool too.

Back when I had windows 8 the most recent version of Solidworks was 11, I think. I can't remember clearly though. Perhaps the newer versions of the programs have better support for windows 8. I just know that I was not impressed when I had it on my machine.

 

Ok Any version of SolidWorks will do...but one thing I must admit is that Windows7 is more user friendly than Windows8.

I remember when I first had this new laptop...I was so close to uninstall it for Windows7...lol

 

That's another thing I liked better about 7 is its easy navigation and modification. I'm used to following directories deep into the system to make changes to things, and those directories were completely different with 8. I would have to learn it all over again, if I was able to find the files and settings at all.