I just bought an expensive laptop - was it a $2500 mistake?

[Sunandsurf]

Note that I have not yet booted up this laptop and I am not a gamer.

The base price for this laptop is $1300. I paid $2500 for it because I'm a speed freak. No, I don't need a drug intervention, but thanks anyway, Dr. Drew :)

I customized my brand new laptop for speed. I customized it for work and school projects....9 to 5 stuff. I'm a little schizo. Between 9 to 5 I'm a madman. Or maybe, thanks to genetics and coffee, I have a type A personality between 9 to 5. I'm all business between 9-5, The words "lighten up - take it easy" aren't in my vocabulary between 9-5. America was built with great men who possess the same demeanor. Christopher Columbus was addicted to coffee.

All I know is that when I use the computer to work on a school or work project and I experience a slowdown or blockage, I go mad. I go nuts. I scream. I act like a racehorse who's stuck in quicksand. I have a little meltdown is what I'm saying.

So that's why when I ordered this computer I told myself to emphasize speed, speed and more speed. So I built it with 8 gigs of RAM and a quad core processor. That is the main reason why it went from being a $1300 laptop to a $2500 laptop. (no desktop, thank you - I bought a laptop so I could get out of the house and work away from home 3 or 4 days a week).

So did I make a mistake in ramping up a $1300 laptop to the tune of $2500?

Before you answer that, you need to know what I'll be using it for: I'm going to build websites with Wordpress and Dreamweaver. I might be using several programs at once. Programs like Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Flash. I might even have a web based video tutorial open when I'm using Photoshop or Dreamweaver. In a nutshell: I'll be using a lot of Adobe software.

I'll note that there's no need to point out that I could've gotten far more for my money by buying a desktop. That's a given. That goes without saying. I already have a high performance desktop for work and school. I bought the laptop because I need a portable computer that is easy to transport, a computer that I can place in the back seat of my car, or carry on my back when I ride a bicycle or chopper to work or school.

So now that you know all there is to know, don't hold back with your answer. If I made a mistake just say so. Or maybe I bought the perfect laptop, one that has the type of speed that a busy body like me can utilize? A laptop that'll handle anything a worker bee can throw at it 5 years down the road?

Either way, tell me what you think, because I want THE TRUTH, and unlike Tom, I can handle the truth!



Hard drive: 7200rpm
Memory: 8 gigs of RAM
GPU: 1GB Nvidia GeForce GT 130M
Processor: Intel® Core™2 Quad Processor Q9000 (2.00Ghz)
The Rig Itself: http://www.shopping.hp.com/series/category/notebooks/HDX18t_series/3/computer_store





http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z89/GOCHARGERSGOGOGO/jacknicholson-a_few_good_men.jpg

http://i190.photobucket.com/albums/z89/GOCHARGERSGOGOGO/tomcruise1.gif

[Signa]

...I am not a gamer. ....I paid $2500
Yeah, it was a mistake. Laptops go for $500-$800 easily for the non-gamers.

Before you answer that, you need to know what I'll be using it for: I'm going to build websites with Wordpress and Dreamweaver. I might be using several programs at once. Programs like Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Flash. I might even have a web based video tutorial open when I'm using Photoshop or Dreamweaver. In a nutshell: I'll be using a lot of Adobe software.

I'll note that there's no need to point out that I could've gotten far more for my money by buying a desktop. That's a given. That goes without saying. I already have a high performance desktop for work and school. I bought the laptop because I need a portable computer that is easy to transport, a computer that I can place in the back seat of my car, or carry on my back when I ride a bicycle or chopper to work or school.

In that case, get a $500-$800 laptop, and then use the extra money to buy a desktop of equal or greater value for the extra stuff you do.

[mountain_rage]

If I was going to spend that kind of money on a laptop for graphical work I would of gotten a tablet with a workstation video card. I'd also never get an 18inch screen if I was going to carry it around in a bag, that a huge thing to be lugging around. But that's me, I bought a 12.1" tablet because I wanted the tablet features and small size.

If I was going to do some graphical work in photo shop, or possibly 3d rendering I'd probably get a workstation. For $2500 I would of gotten one of these
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=F2A3EC7C45634AE8AB0F26CCAC867854&menu-id=products

But really, for what you are doing I don't see why you need all that power. You only need the power if you are playing games, rendering video, editing high resolution images with multiple layers, or rendering 3d structures.

[Sunandsurf]

Yeah, it was a mistake.

What deems this aquisition a mistake? Please be specific by citing the flaw or flaws in technical terms. For instance, was customizing it with a quad core processor a mistake and if so, why?

[Sunandsurf]

If I was going to spend that kind of money on a laptop for graphical work I would of gotten a tablet with a workstation video card. I'd also never get an 18inch screen if I was going to carry it around in a bag, that a huge thing to be lugging around. But that's me, I bought a 12.1" tablet because I wanted the tablet features and small size.

If I was going to do some graphical work in photo shop, or possibly 3d rendering I'd probably get a workstation. For $2500 I would of gotten one of these
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/controller/e/web/LenovoPortal/en_US/catalog.workflow:category.details?current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=F2A3EC7C45634AE8AB0F26CCAC867854&menu-id=products


I took a look at those Lenovo's and they look nice. Unfortunately, Costco doesn't sell Lenovo's. At this point in time there are too many upsides to buying a computer from Costco. And none of those upsides have anything to do with price.

http://www.costco.com/Common/Category.aspx?whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|84&N=4017745&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=56670&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1

[Potato]

Even though an $800 laptop could probably do what you want to do, it probably wouldn't last as long.... I hope.

Hard to tell if $2500 was a mistake. If I were to spend that much on a computer, I'd build a desktop.



But... if you're second-guessing yourself, you probably spent too much. :)

[mountain_rage]

I took a look at those Lenovo's and they look nice. Unfortunately, Costco doesn't sell Lenovo's. At this point in time there are too many upsides to buying a computer from Costco. And none of those upsides have anything to do with price.

http://www.costco.com/Common/Category.aspx?whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC|84&N=4017745&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=56670&Ns=P_Price|1||P_SignDesc1 (http://www.costco.com/Common/Category.aspx?whse=BC&Ne=4000000&eCat=BC%7C84&N=4017745&Nr=P_CatalogName:BC&cat=56670&Ns=P_Price%7C1%7C%7CP_SignDesc1)

Was pointing you to workstation systems, that are designed for graphical tasks. The video cards on a workstation machine are optimized for design tasks rather than gaming. In fact they perform like crap for games. If you have ever used some of the high end 3d rendering software you would be aware that many features can only be turned on with a workstation card. But again, chances are this is beyond what you need, much like the machine you purchased.

Anyway all manufacturers have mobile workstations.

Dell
http://www.dell.com/content/products/category.aspx/precnnb?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd

HP
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/sm/WF25a/321957-321957-64295-3329741-3329741-3781677.html?jumpid=re_r552_ca/smb/psg/volumeLead_prod_ref/landing/workstations/b4
http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/sm/WF25a/321957-321957-64295-3329741-3329741-3784202.html?jumpid=re_r552_ca/smb/psg/volumeLead_prod_ref/landing/workstations/b4

[Mels_Smileys45]

HUGE waste of money. I have computers 10 years old that would all those programs and not even burp. IN fact, I have a 10 year old pc with all 10 year old components and I can play SOF2 (video game) and run those programs at the same time.

The only thing I would have upgraded on the PC would have been the memory and an solid state hard drive. If you would have added an solid state drive instead of the other mess your laptop would have been a lot better. Watch this video and then go kick your self in the nuts http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9q9I4k8D7Y

[Signa]

What deems this aquisition a mistake? Please be specific by citing the flaw or flaws in technical terms. For instance, was customizing it with a quad core processor a mistake and if so, why?
It's more of the price-for-features than the specs of the machine. Nothing wrong with getting a quad core, but like I said before, you could spend the same amount of money, and have 2 computers dedicated to doing the specific tasks at hand. A single laptop isn't good for all those things you want to do. It WILL work, but a cheaper one would do 95% of the same stuff. It's like what Potato said, if you are second-guessing yourself...

Really, I'm looking at building a new gaming machine for under a grand. You nearly tripled my cost, and have a drastically inferior machine.

EDIT: Ok, not "drastic" but you would expect it to be on par, or at least ahead of the curve for that price. They probably would be pretty evenly matched in raw processing power, but the video card would still get beat. Not to mention the upgradeability of my PC over your laptop.

[Aaron_Walkhouse]

If the money's spend then just enjoy it and forget what anybody says about it.

One thing, though. Get a power adapter for your car and keep the 110 volt adapter
handy because the extras you added will eat up the battery time quickly.

After looking at the specs, I'd say you got a good workhorse there.
That screen is definitely not available on the cheap laptops and should
prevent eyestrain on those long days on the job.

[mountain_rage]

Still think for some people more expensive machines are justified, it just depends on the task you plan to complete. There is no reason an average user would need a $2000 rig. But having done some cad and video editing I can see the advantage of some workstation machines. But still, unless you are running a business and are guaranteed a return on the investment workstation machines are a little pricey. But if you want to render 3d video you need a workstation, hell it would take my desktop a week to render a 4 minute clip in Solidworks.

[DrewWilson]

Sound production is actually another thing you can do that would soak up a lot of RAM and disc space. 3 Gigs of RAM on a Duo Core and it has a habit of using pretty much all of it by the time I get to the end of a fully functional tune. Mind you, I use a fair number of VSTs as well - the amount of RAM doing that can add up quickly.

[1cooldude]

not sure I understand your question? You've already spent $2500 on the laptop. If you've dressed the machine to the tune of an additional $1200 and you didn't have any monetary limits to push this boundary, why would it matter what anyone else thinks. It seems to me that you are well off with this purchase and not likely that you will be returning the laptop. Enjoy the new toy and perhaps consider getting a "rider" policy for the item.

[malaprop]

I dont think it necessarily sounds like a waste of money. Mind you get a good warranty on the machine. The extra parts will generate heat that may not help with how long it lasts. I just picked up an LED dell studio xps which is a very nice laptop. Again probably more expensive than they need to be but its what I wanted.

[drtoker]

Jeebus, my gaming desktop only ran me ~$400 for quad core and the works...

I also agree you could have easily gotten away with under 1k for something that would run all you needed on a laptop. But then again, as said, you did future proof yourself very well, so instead of needing a new laptop in 1-2 years, you'll be set. Maybe need a new hard drive in a few years if it takes a lot of abuse.

[Hath]

NEVER BUY HP LAPTOPS!!! Seriously, I have owned three over the past few years, and they all overheated so bad, the fried the insides. Seriously.

I just bought an Asus laptop a few days ago. I love it so far. Best $800 I've ever spent.

Anyways, yeah, you way over paid.

[mountain_rage]

NEVER BUY HP LAPTOPS!!! Seriously, I have owned three over the past few years, and they all overheated so bad, the fried the insides. Seriously.

I just bought an Asus laptop a few days ago. I love it so far. Best $800 I've ever spent.

Anyways, yeah, you way over paid.

Did they have Nvidia GPU's? One line of Nvidia GPU had serious issues that fried a ton of systems. Anyway, I have an HP, and so does my brother and my dad, no issues here.

Pretty much all manufacturers have similar ratings when it comes to reliability. That is so long as you don't buy their bargain brands, such as HP's Compaq line, or Acers Emachines.

[Signa]

In my very limited experience, Toshiba has impressed me the most, and HP the least.

[Hath]

Did they have Nvidia GPU's? One line of Nvidia GPU had serious issues that fried a ton of systems. Anyway, I have an HP, and so does my brother and my dad, no issues here.

Pretty much all manufacturers have similar ratings when it comes to reliability. That is so long as you don't buy their bargain brands, such as HP's Compaq line, or Acers Emachines.

It was three differnt HP lap top models. Yeah, they had NVIDIA graphics cards, but what are the odds that 3 cards = 3 duds?

[mountain_rage]

It was three differnt HP lap top models. Yeah, they had NVIDIA graphics cards, but what are the odds that 3 cards = 3 duds?

Well here is a short story on the subject
http://www.slashgear.com/nvidia-gpu-over-heat-problem-affecting-all-chips-notebook-desktop-1012483/

If you search the internet the problem is/was far reaching. Last year a ton of laptops with Nvidia gpu's went way below original price, and this was why. From what my research uncovered it affected their entire line, and it was just a matter of time before your laptop would fail if it had the faulty GPU. The problem is that Nvidia has been hush hush and no one knows which GPU's have problems. Since they have not announced which chips are a problem, I would still stay away from the Nvidia GPU laptops (if you can even find one in stores these days).

[1cooldude]

It was three differnt HP lap top models. Yeah, they had NVIDIA graphics cards, but what are the odds that 3 cards = 3 duds?

was there a reason why you stuck with HP after the first one crashed and burned? :dunno: