- Aug 4, 2009
- 376
- 84
I've had my current laptop for 3+ years now, and after witnessing the enormous crack in the screen giving birth to a horrific mass of bloody blackness in the upper-right corner of the screen earlier today, I've decided it's time to get serious in the hunt for a replacement.
Currently I'm hoping not to spend more than ~$1000 (not a lot I know, but it's what I have :\).
The specs I'm hunting for based on my research so far:
-Windows 7 OS (shouldn't be too hard to find
) - I don't think 32-bit vs 64-bit is much of a problem
-Intel i5 or i7 processor
-Graphics card that will run most of what I throw at it, possibly even on higher GFX settings (TF2 [runs decently on my current machine], L4D2 [runs like crap], that 2009 Ghostbusters game [doesn't run on my current machine, period]) - is the NVidia GeForce GT420M a good one? How about the ATi Mobilty Radeon 5650? I've seen both in machines I've looked at now, among others
-500GB minimum hard drive
-15" display, preferably - nothing smaller than ~14", might be willing to go up to 17" if needed
-Decent speakers would be nice as I do a lot of audio production stuff.
Dell seems to have something good in the XPS 15, on which most of these expectations for an ideal new machine are based. My current computer is a Dell though, and it hasn't help up terribly well, so I'm slightly hesitant to get another. Still, it's my most-likely candidate right now, and the specs are far superior to my current Inspiron machine.
Anyone have any recommendations within my price range?
Currently I'm hoping not to spend more than ~$1000 (not a lot I know, but it's what I have :\).
The specs I'm hunting for based on my research so far:
-Windows 7 OS (shouldn't be too hard to find
) - I don't think 32-bit vs 64-bit is much of a problem-Intel i5 or i7 processor
-Graphics card that will run most of what I throw at it, possibly even on higher GFX settings (TF2 [runs decently on my current machine], L4D2 [runs like crap], that 2009 Ghostbusters game [doesn't run on my current machine, period]) - is the NVidia GeForce GT420M a good one? How about the ATi Mobilty Radeon 5650? I've seen both in machines I've looked at now, among others
-500GB minimum hard drive
-15" display, preferably - nothing smaller than ~14", might be willing to go up to 17" if needed
-Decent speakers would be nice as I do a lot of audio production stuff.
Dell seems to have something good in the XPS 15, on which most of these expectations for an ideal new machine are based. My current computer is a Dell though, and it hasn't help up terribly well, so I'm slightly hesitant to get another. Still, it's my most-likely candidate right now, and the specs are far superior to my current Inspiron machine.
Anyone have any recommendations within my price range?
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