New Laptop

Sorry for the double post, but i have another question.

The bestbuy guy wanted me to spend snother $130 for antivirus/spyware, defective parts check, vista updates, and a geek squad service. Is this worth it? Can't I download most of that stuff online for much cheaper. What do you guys suggest.
 
don't do geeksquad.. it's horrible for the price and service imo..
You can get a really good firewall/antivirus/spyware all in one package called norton internet security or kaspersky 7.0 for about $50-$70.

The laptop is good overall. If you plan for it to last more than a year, and will be doing any amount of gaming/dvd watching I would strongly recommend not getting this. It has an integrated graphics card. My current laptop does (m15x shipping not done) and it won't run vista aero well..

If you just want it for basic tasks like web browsing and typing reports it would be good. It also has a large hard drive for music and programs. You shouldn't need to upgrade the ram either, and it has a good overall processor.

It won't be really slow, but I would recommend looking at other options like dell or hp before you order. An integrated graphics card overall will not run vista fast.

Dell.com/notebooks
Hp.com/notebooks

The dell vostro 1500 looks like a good notebook for you. It will cost more (just under $1000 for good specs) but it will have a good *dedicated* graphics card which will strongly increase the longevity of it. You could also look at lenovo notebooks. In general, unless you get a REALLY good deal on a notebook with a DEDICATED graphics card, it is not worth getting one without one, unless you need a LOT of battery life, and plan to move around a lot.
 
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I just recently bought a Lenovo R61I with ...

  1. Windows vista home ultimate (32 bit)
  2. 2 GB ram
  3. 160 GB Hard drive
  4. cd/dvd + cdr/dvdr 52x drive
  5. Intel core 2 duo (default) processor
I forgot the rest of the specs but if anyone really cares I will look it up and tell you. I really just posted that for the sake of saying "I like it" and on a scale from 0-10 (0 being horrid and 10 being no errors aka dream machine) I would rate it at about a 6. It has errors but not very often and it has only crashed one time (which is because I installed some win xp software and screwed up). But overall it don't lag or chop the audio much although I won't lie about it. It has done both in the past.

Anyway ... thats my opinion on Lenovo R61I if it helps.
 
Don't listen to people who say things like "don't get a dell/hp/asus ect."

In your price range and uses, you can get a good dell/hp/sager/asus/lenovo laptop. The people that say things like don't get a certain brand are usually people who have had bad expierences with them. Overall, they are all name brand companies and are all good places to get a computer.

@op, if you want to find a laptop with a dedicated graphics card, it will say something like "nvidia 8400/8600/8700/8800/9500". A non-dedicated or "integrated" graphics card will say something like "graphics accellerator/x3100 or GMA"

Anything with 128mb+ graphics ram dedicated should run vista well. Others may say it works fine with an integrated card, but you really can't expierence the full Vista Expiereice withount good graphics. It will also increase the overall value of the computer in the future.
 
referring to the computer security, I would say that its not worth it AT ALL to buy antivirus, adware, or firewall software etc. Everything you could want is free and just as good.
 
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