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xplosv57
29th November 2009, 02:46 PM
Hey gang,

Looking at buying a laptop, basically for copying cds, and saving data from work, might also use it later on to connect to cars for diagnostic work (OBDII).

Now i know sweet FA about computers, my knowledge starts and ends with the power button!!

Had a quick look at JB hifi and theres so many options, basically i want a cd/dvd burner, something with good in built speakers for music playback and obviously something with 1/2 decent memory for the data that will be saved on it!!

The smaller the laptop, the easier it'll be to lug around too!!

Preferably under $1000 if possible, any ideas techies??

Calibrated
29th November 2009, 03:03 PM
ASUS K50IJ

/thread
best $1000 notebook available imo. its can be had at a tad under $1000, if you dont buy it, you deserve the wrath of murphy

melave
29th November 2009, 03:17 PM
i've found the asus don't have good speakers. sound tinny. plus that one is a 15.6"? pain in the butt to lug around

Trouble is you can get good cheap laptops, but most are 15"+

I have a toshiba m300. its 14" easy to lug around plus has harmon kardon speakers which sound awesome compared to my old asus. Problem is 13 and 14" lappies are expensive, over $1000


have a look here
http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/?tag=notebooks%20wiki

do you know what size you want?

Calibrated
29th November 2009, 04:22 PM
i've found the asus don't have good speakers. sound tinny. plus that one is a 15.6"? pain in the butt to lug around

Trouble is you can get good cheap laptops, but most are 15"+

I have a toshiba m300. its 14" easy to lug around plus has harmon kardon speakers which sound awesome compared to my old asus. Problem is 13 and 14" lappies are expensive, over $1000


have a look here
http://whirlpool.net.au/wiki/?tag=notebooks%20wiki

do you know what size you want?
a 14" is easy to lug around and a 15.6" isnt? 1st time i've heard that. if you want compact, then 10-13" is where you want to be. i just bought an HP DV2 for that reason. its a 12.1" and very light. but its purely for on-site work, and has no cd-rom (use an external usb one).

as for sound, any sub $2000 lappy is going to have very average sound quality regardless of the brand. even my "altec lansing" speakered DV9000 pavillion had crap sound.

i'm afraid to admit this, but the best sounding laptops i have heard, have been the macbook pro's.

Jerram
29th November 2009, 04:35 PM
i'm afraid to admit this, but the best sounding laptops i have heard, have been the macbook pro's.

+1 to that

but I certainly don't buy a laptop for the quality of the onboard speakers (and loled profusely at a mate who bought a laptop with a built in 2" "subwoofer")

melave
29th November 2009, 04:38 PM
a 14" is easy to lug around and a 15.6" isnt? .

just my observations. the 15 was just a bit too big and heavy the 14 is easier. But i am just a piss weak chick


i'm afraid to admit this, but the best sounding laptops i have heard, have been the macbook pro's. I agree, great machines, but definately not less than $1k

AfterBurner
29th November 2009, 04:45 PM
How much do you wanna spend???

I can get ex business lappies for a good price..

PM me if u like...;)

JohnBu
29th November 2009, 05:26 PM
Hi steve.

I can't recommend a laptop but make sue you ask payroll if you can salary sacrifice it as you will also use it for work related purposes.

If you can it will put a couple of hundred back into your pocket.

hazrd
29th November 2009, 05:57 PM
if that fails u can always claim it ;)

Vectracious
29th November 2009, 08:40 PM
make sue you ask payroll if you can salary sacrifice it as you will also use it for work related purposes.



if that fails u can always claim it ;)

Same same, just get the money in your pocket straight away with salary sacrifice. Depends how nice your payroll wants to be, and generally payroll is not nice at all :(

poita
29th November 2009, 09:01 PM
would like to add, if you are wanting to run diagnostics software you will either need windows xp, or run windows 7 pro/ultimate so you can run virtual xp mode.

AfterBurner
29th November 2009, 09:04 PM
would like to add, if you are wanting to run diagnostics software you will either need windows xp, or run windows 7 pro/ultimate so you can run virtual xp mode.

or dual boot... :p

poita
29th November 2009, 09:04 PM
or that too

AfterBurner
29th November 2009, 09:06 PM
It sux bigtime that COM proggies won't work with Vista/WIN7...

XP FTW - although i hate to say that...:eek:

JohnBu
29th November 2009, 09:36 PM
Same but different :)

Sal sac - claim 100% immediately every year you purchase a laptop. Plus the fact you don't need to claim it on your tax return so you also can claim up to $300 without reciepts.

Buy a laptop each year, turn it over annually to reduce costs.

On your tax return - max of 33% depreciation a year proportioned between work/private usage. Won't be able to claim max tax deductions if you change laptops more than once every 3 years.

2002_XC
29th November 2009, 10:33 PM
My two cents... Stay well away from Acer's. I purchased one and within 18 months I was selling it on ebay as parts

poita
29th November 2009, 10:36 PM
My two cents... Stay well away from Acer's. I purchased one and within 18 months I was selling it on ebay as parts

+1

personally, toshiba or hp then maybe asus

Vectracious
30th November 2009, 07:04 AM
On your tax return - max of 33% depreciation a year proportioned between work/private usage. Won't be able to claim max tax deductions if you change laptops more than once every 3 years.

Unless you're some super geek who needs the latest and greatest every year, 1 laptop every 3 years is plenty.

I have no patience dealing with payroll departments. they are full of people who think they are God but completely stupid. my wife used to call them up at least once a month because they have stuffed up her salary packaging - taken too little, too much, lost the receipts, goes on and on.

AfterBurner
30th November 2009, 07:15 AM
My two cents... Stay well away from Acer's. I purchased one and within 18 months I was selling it on ebay as parts

From a Repair Centre POV, stick with IBM 1st, then maybe HP/Toshiba.

They all have their different issues but IBM is by far the most robust...:D

Calibrated
30th November 2009, 08:02 AM
My two cents... Stay well away from Acer's. I purchased one and within 18 months I was selling it on ebay as parts
+2

pretty much everything acer touches turns to shit. they are cheap for a reason people.

hazrd
30th November 2009, 06:48 PM
+3

i dont need to reason.. the above is enough!!

xplosv57
30th November 2009, 06:58 PM
Thanks for all the replies gang!!!

Got an offer for a cheap second hand one, so will look into that, otherwise i'll look into a few that were mentioned by you guys.

As for claiming for work, i'll just do it tax time, if i could do salary sacrifice, stuff the laptop, i'd get a bloody car thru work but wouldn't even bother asking!!!

USC
2nd December 2009, 10:10 PM
From a Repair Centre POV, stick with IBM 1st, then maybe HP/Toshiba.

They all have their different issues but IBM is by far the most robust...:D

IBM dont make laptops anymore...they are all Lenovo and quality has gone down.

AfterBurner
2nd December 2009, 10:16 PM
IBM dont make laptops anymore...they are all Lenovo and quality has gone down.

Lenovo simply bought the IBM name for Hardware as IBM preferred to stay with the Server & Software markets...

As for quality, thats debatable... They (IBM/Lenovo) are still far better than the average like Acer & a few others...

You get what you pay for anyway, as we all know...

USC
2nd December 2009, 10:21 PM
Thats debatable... They are still far better than the average like Acer & a few others...

You get what you pay for anyway, as we all know...

They are definitely better than Acer and some other brands.

Vectracious
2nd December 2009, 10:23 PM
Asus is good value for money, but I'm not happy with the quality of materials in my M51v - just feels a bit cheap and nasty - next laptop will definately be a Toshi again or a Dell.

USC
2nd December 2009, 10:23 PM
Lenovo simply bought the IBM name for Hardware as IBM preferred to stay with the Server & Software markets...



Lenovo did NOT buy the IBM name. IBM sold their hardware business to Lenovo but still own the patents for the technologies etc.

USC
2nd December 2009, 10:24 PM
Asus is good value for money, but I'm not happy with the quality of materials in my M51v - just feels a bit cheap and nasty - next laptop will definately be a Toshi again or a Dell.

Dell is one of my favourites :)

Vectracious
2nd December 2009, 10:25 PM
Lenovo did NOT buy the IBM name. IBM sold their hardware business to Lenovo but still own the patents for the technologies etc.

+1 - thats my understanding of it as well.

Vectracious
2nd December 2009, 10:30 PM
Dell is one of my favourites :)

When I bought my Asus a year ago it was the only brand that made a 15" laptop with a numeric keypad - the Dell ones were 17" and too big for me - of course what happened 3 months later - EVERYONE brought out a 15" laptop with numeric keypads... :rolleyes:

and just in terms of quality - I'm currently on my wifes 6 year old Toshiba which has been dropped, kicked, water splashed on, taken around Europe and several other trips - and hasn't missed a beat - plus feels a lot better to type with than my Asus which is only 1 year old and has already had 1 resinstallation because the HDD crapped itself. The Toshi's only had a memory upgrade, otherwise it is all OEM. :)

AfterBurner
2nd December 2009, 10:31 PM
Lenovo did NOT buy the IBM name. IBM sold their hardware business to Lenovo but still own the patents for the technologies etc.

Same thing, that's wot i was meaning, just came out wrong..

IBM is IBM & always will be... They are moving more towards the logistics market but keeping the server too as they make a killing with those. Some servers i see at work are valued at over $30k & up to build.

I agree that the Lenovo takeover of the laptop's & desktop's is not great but they are still a very reliable machine, a few yrs back nearly all Mobo's had bad batches of caps, whether it be ASUS, IBM, Gigabyte they were mostly all affected.

USC
2nd December 2009, 10:34 PM
IBM is IBM & always will be... They are moving more towards the logistics market but keeping the server too as they make a killing with those. Some servers i see at work are valued at over $30k & up to build.




yes I know..I work for IBM:)

We make even more cash in software though.

AfterBurner
2nd December 2009, 10:38 PM
yes I know..I work for IBM:)

Ahah... As do i but not directly, we are a repair subby but have dealt with IBM for over 20yrs.

JohnBu
3rd December 2009, 03:09 PM
So what you end up getting Steve?

Personally not a fan of Dell laptops.

Had one and it didn't feel great, worked ok.

I'm currently using a HP Compaq and it feels very solid and has never crashed.

I'm going overseas in easter to the US.

alot of their electronics seem cheap, so was thinking of getting small laptop for myself, i.e. 11-13inch while over there.

What brands have international warranties?

I would also like it to have an 1920x1080 HDMI output and decent 4hr plus battery life.

Any suggestions?

I can only recall Asus having international warranties.

xplosv57
3rd December 2009, 08:50 PM
ok ended up getting a hp/compaq nc6400 from a fellow member, so far its pretty good!

He can correct me on this but its 4ghz dual core, has dvd burner and windows 7 pro, also came with docking station and other bits!

Was a great deal, thanks all for your help!

Ps. John waved at ya histerically this morning!

Ice
4th December 2009, 07:25 AM
ok ended up getting a hp/compaq nc6400 from a fellow member, so far its pretty good!

He can correct me on this but its 4ghz dual core, has dvd burner and windows 7 pro, also came with docking station and other bits!

Was a great deal, thanks all for your help!

Ps. John waved at ya histerically this morning!


Dual core 2ghz, 4 gig ram.
and Windows 7 Ultimate, Steve you doofus, haha

JohnBu
4th December 2009, 08:35 AM
Good choice, I have a similar HP Compaq.

well made, I can't fault it.

Sorry Steve, didn't see you.

Where did our paths cross?

hazrd
5th December 2009, 02:11 PM
Dual core 2ghz, 4 gig ram.
and Windows 7 Ultimate, Steve you doofus, haha

LOL
leave the poor boy alone... he got closer than a LOT of other people ive seen when in the industry :lol:

now u can spam even faster steve :D

xplosv57
5th December 2009, 06:38 PM
i could if it was connected to the net!

john, you were going towards the yarra blvd roundabout in toorak, i wasnt in my car tho.