Buying a Laptop

I'm making a bet in my head. I'll check when I get back from the gym.

 

looking to do the same. want to also get rid of my desk top and get one computer that I can use everywhere with portable hardrive.

 

Hm. I'm guessing IJAG just won or lost her bet.

 

Serious question on this. Is it wise to purchase one from a pawn shop?

 

Did you say pawn shop or porn shop?

 

Honestly, I got the $449 Compaq at BestBuy last January and haven't had a problem. It has enough storage for my photos and my iTunes, so I'm set.

 

P-A-W-N shop

 

Depends what you use it for. Windows 7 is lovely, but if all you want the computer for is word processing, email and Internet you could get by with a cheap netbook and save a few hundred bucks.

If you want to do much more, consider buying another Sony. I've heard differing opinions on other brands but with Sony and Apple the consensus seems to be positive.

 

This was me, except change the date and place to "October 2007" and "Office Depot."

Until this week, when Windows Vista -- yeah, yeah, I know -- decided it didn't want to load anymore. I get the black screen of death every time I restart in normal mode. (Although for some reason it loads fine in "safe mode with networking.") Tried a System Restore today and that didn't work. Trying a few more fixes first before I take it to the Geek Squad or something.

And add me to the chorus of "I'm getting a Mac next" here. However, when budget's your biggest concern, and you can get three PCs for the price of a Mac ... you do what you have to.

 

What do you plan on doing with this laptop?

I can't think of many personal uses that would justify a $1,000 laptop these days. They've become so much more powerful than they were even a few years ago.

In 2007, I had a desktop PC custom-built to some very nice specs that I researched very thoroughly. It was pretty top of the line in terms of performance.

In 2009, I bought the second-cheapest laptop at Wal-Mart. It blows my desktop away.