2018-06-14 02:39:27

Hello all. So, as most of you may have seen, I posted a few weeks ago about issues I was having with a new computer. So, after sending some emails and getting some things organized, I found out that I can indeed send it back and get a different computer altogether. So, here are some things I would like you to keep in mind, if you are able to recommend me a new brand/type. And, if you can provide links, that would be extra helpful, as I can email my contact with a link to the computer I think would suit me best for college.
1: I'd like to steer clear of HP and Lenovo. Both have given me the most problems and I'd like to not have them again.
2: I would like decent ram and processing power, preferably 8 gigs and up with plenty of Hard Drive space for college assignments, and to compensate for Microsoft Office, a necessity for college.
3: My price range is set at 600 dollars and below, I believe, so somewhere in that range would be best.

Thank you in advance, any recommendations you can give would be fantastic.

Heroes need foes to test them. Not all teachers can afford to be kind, and some lessons must be harsh.

2018-06-14 14:20:28

are you going for a laptop or a desktop?
Let's asoome  that you're going with a laptop. In that tcase you won't be able to find deesont cpu power along with a good amount of harddrive  space unless you go for a hdd drive and a cpu power under 2 ghz duel cor. If that's the case and you're only going to use it for writing and editing and get on the web then you will find laptops with a prize range below 600 dollars easelly. However if you want to be able to run heavyer programs on it you will need to spend more money.

2018-06-14 16:25:14

For desktop, laptop, and server, I'd go with System 76. They're not well-known outside the Open-Source community, which is a shame. I use one of their computers, the Lemur7 (which I don't believe is for sale any more), and its been absolutely amazing. What's even better is that unlike crapple, System 76's computers are user-serviceable. So you don't need to spend 600.00-$900.00 (like the computer store wanted me to pay for my old mac just to fix the damn keyboard).

"On two occasions I have been asked [by members of Parliament!]: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out ?' I am not able rightly to apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."    — Charles Babbage.
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2018-06-14 20:47:07

Hello. I have an idea you may not have thought of. I would say get a Refurbished business machine. I know 2 places there are very good for things like this. The computers are not too old. For instance, I got a Dell optiplex 790 with a very fast i7 2600, 8 GB of ram and 250 GB HDD for 279. You can get similar prices for laptops. I bought my computer from refresh computers here in the Orlando area. I don't know if they ship out of country. There is another one called discount pc.  Here are the links. refresh computers.
https://refreshcomputers.net/shop/
Discount pc
https://discountpc.com/

The thing about discount PC is you can actually customize the computer a bit. Like you can tell them to add more ram or an SSD.

2018-06-14 21:11:33

I bought a refurbished computer from a guy who sells them on the Blind-BST email list, and I would highly recommend him. He does normally sell HP's, though, which is fine by me since it's Del computers that I have a huge grudge against personally, and all the HP's I've ever owned have been workhorses that have lasted me for years. Anyway, if you're looking for a laptop he sometimes carries other brands. His computers are extremely reasonably priced. PM me if you're interested, and I can pass his contact info along.

The glass is neither half empty nor half full. It's just holding half the amount it can potentially hold.

2018-06-14 22:59:43

I had a Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P for years, and it was a big, heavy workhorse. Had to replace the keyboard once, but that was after about 3.5 years of hard use or thereabouts. Almost everything on it is falling apart now, but the damn thing still works.

My new laptop is a sleek, lightweight HP ProBook. And my only real complaint with it, sadly, is its keyboard. I've had it since November, and I'm about to have the keyboard replaced for the second time already. In both cases, the up-arrow key came loose and broke, making the keyboard much harder to deal with. There's also a really, really strange issue on this machine for some reason where the g key stops working - it's always done this - usually after I close and then open the lid. It is related to Jaws, however, as when I quit out and restart Jaws, the problem is gone. It's the most random glitch I've ever seen.

Anyway, I can't help you directly, but I, too, recommend maybe trying to get something refurbished at a discount rather than trying to buy new at your pricepoint.

Check out my Manamon text walkthrough at the following link:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/z8ls3rc3f4mkb … n.txt?dl=1

2018-06-15 03:04:19 (edited by defender 2018-06-15 03:18:39)

The refurbished suggestion is a good one, and you may also be able to get a student discount in some places, usually the manufacturer's store it's self, but sometimes reseller sites may have an even better deal.
Another thing to consider are those flash deals that last a day or 2, like this one, but you need the money in hand and if you don't do some research before hand you may end up with a crappy product that they were just trying to get rid of anyway
https://www.dealnews.com/Dell-Kaby-Lake … 90090.html
A better bet would be the Holiday sales, either on the reseller sites or on the manufacturer sites, both usually have them.
It can be anything from Easter to Father's day, back to school or cyber Monday.
Good trustworthy resellers include Newegg, B&H, Best Buy, Costco, and Amazon if the item is fulfilled by them and not a third party, but almost every manufacturer site will also have both a clearance and deals section.
Just do your research on the model and the return policy of the store your buying from and you'll be fine.
Asus VivoBook and Acer Inspire E and Spin series are probably going to be your best bets, but every model line has bad models in it so don't just assume it'll be good.
Good research sites include notebookcheck, Laptopmag, Trusted Reviews, and Thom's Hardware, as well as any good in depth verified buyer review between 2 and 4 stars on any retail site.