I am looking for cheaper ($450 - $600) Laptop, so got some questions for you guys.

Is it worth waiting for Windows 7 or should I get a Vista ?
If I get Vista is the Home Premium recommended over Home Basic or does it not matter ?
Is it worth getting it now, or waiting until June when the new models typically start coming and old models go for sale prices ?

Over the past 10 years I had 4 HP/Compaq machines and all have served the purpose well so I have been primarily looking at HP laptops. Also the deals on HP seem to be better than what I see for Dell. Apart from those 2 are there other price effecient brands I should be looking at.

 

I'd wait. Windows 7 should be out by the holidays and I can't even imagine what the holiday shopping season deals will be like this year.

 

if u can wait then yes, windows 7 will be better. if u need one now get vista home over basic which is pretty stripped down. most laptops are really cheap right now because of the economy so if u look around, there is a sale going on somewhere.

if u like hp or compaq then stick with it, especially if u know what their normal prices are so u can look for a deal. the real dell sales are when they give out 15 or 20% coupons for the outlet and then they have killer deals. otherwise, most of the manufacturers offer the same thing in a different style case.

 

hate vista... if i had to get a laptop in that price range, i would get a netbook with XP...

 

Whatever you decide to go with, don't buy anything before checking www.techbargains.com and www.slickdeals.net for deals and coupons.

 

I've read 7 will be RTM in September. If you can wait then I don't see why not.

 

I can wait a month or two, but Holiday season is too far away so I guess Vista it is.

So you are recommending Vista Home Premium . Is there a diff between 32 & 64 bit version.

Also the dell coupons for outlets, is it something you get in E-mail, or are thos the codes in the other websites (Deals2buy, XPbargains, etc)


I initially conidered Netbook, as it is great value for what it is. However decided to get a cheap notebook instead

I have been tracking those and deals2buy, XPBargains, etc

 

Here are the 3 models that interest me. Anything else out there that compares price wise to this.

HP DV4T series - New $570

Espresso Black
Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) (Free upgrade to 64 bit)
Processor Intel(R) Pentium(R) Dual-Core Mobile Processor T4200 (2.0 GHz)
3GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)!
320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection
Graphics card Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
Display 14.1" diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
Webcam Only
Networking Wireless-G Card (w/o bluetooth)
No TV Tuner w/remote control
Keyboard HP Color Matching Keyboard
Primary battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Productivity software Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
FREE HP DESKJET D4360 PRINTER



HP G70t series - New $570

Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic with Service Pack 1 (32-bit) ($30 upgrade to Premium 32/64 bit)
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T6400 (2.0GHz)
3GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm)
250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Graphics card Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD - For Core 2 Duo Processors
Display 17.0" diagonal WXGA+ High-Definition HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1440 x 900)
SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
Microphone + Webcam
Wireless-G Card with Bluetooth
Keyboard HP Color Matching Keyboard
Primary battery 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Productivity software Microsoft(R) Works 9.0
FREE HP DESKJET D4360 PRINTER




HP Pavilion G60-235DX - refurb - $499

Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium
processor 2.00 GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core Mobile Processor T4200
Memory 3072MB (2 Dimm)
Hard Drive 320GB (5400RPM)
Video Graphics Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M
Display 16.0" Diagonal High Definition HP BrightView Display (1366x768)
LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVDR/RW with Double Layer Support
Webcam only
Wireless-G Card (no bluetooth)
6-Cell Lithium-Ion battery
HDMI
No printer

 

+1 for slickdeals.net or techbargains.com

and at that price range, you might want to just check and see what B&M stores like best buy have on sale. they usually have lots of laptops at that price.

 

If you buy your laptop after June 30 you can upgrade from vista to win7 for free

 

if you are going to buy now try to get vista home premium if u can. don't worry about whether it's 32 or 64 bit, just take whichever one comes on the computer or whatever is cheaper.

the dell coupons are emailed out and can be found on slickdeals.net. they have different coupons for the regular sales and outlet sales. if u can get a coupon for the outlet most all of the refurbished units look like new and are much cheaper.

out of the 3 laptops u listed, the middle one is the best because the core 2 duo processors are faster than the dual cores, but try to narrow down what you are looking for because you listed 3 different types of laptops in terms of screen and overall size.

 

actually if you get a new one get the 64 bit version cause it's more future proof. It's expected that Windows7 when it's released that majority of it's sales will be the 64 bit version. 64 bit is almost the standard now a days and it has a slight performance advantage over 32 bit. You can't upgrade from 32 bit to 64 bit so if you get 32 bit Vista you'll be stuck with 32 bit Windows 7 which in couple years might be holding you back so choose 64 bit now. It's better anyways.

 

Guys thanks for your inputs.

I am sorting based on Price, Processor, memory and would prefer to have a webcam and bluetooth. HDD/Screen size are not a priority. I am also leaning towards the G70, as it has everything, but since it doesn't come with Premium that would be an extra bringing it to the top of my price range.

I am using that as my base configuration to see what else compares. So far I am seeing the DELL refurbs w/0 coupon are higher, but if I get a good deal then I would go for it. Especially because I get a 7% disc on top of all on Dell but Nada on HP through my employer.

Is 3GB enough for 64bit processing or does it need to be 4GB. I know when I choose 4GB it required me to upgrade to 64 Bit version of OS, not sure if it is true other way around.

 

be warned on Vista. I have a program I run that is not compatible with Vista Home premium 64 bits.

 

Yes if you run obscure software from a small company than you MAY have a problem with 64bit but the vast majority of software works fine. Eggplants software was written in 16bit code which goes back to like the windows 95 days and 16bit software doesn't work on 64bit systems. But no software is written in 16 bit code anymore and hasn't been for sometime.

64bit doesn't require 4gb of RAM it's just that 32 bit has a limit of how much it can use and 64 bit can make full use of the 4gb of RAM and more.