I needs a laptop

[Somebody]

I need something able to play RA2. Good for multitasking. Maybe good enough for a few other games. Only needs 250gbs or less hard drive. Needs to be uber-reliable. Can't be a netbook.
I have $350 to spend, although I might be able to get a bit more money out of my parents.


Any suggestions?

[Sage]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10388551-1.html

See if that helps. more money would be nice. $500 is usually a good minimum for a decent laptop.

[Hydro]

Get the one that doesn't suck.

[Serge]

Meh. You won't be able to get a good laptop for $500. Wait 'till you have more, buy a macbook. inb4 mac hate: It's gonna lat you forever (the typical Acer is made to last three years). You can install Windows (XP/Vista/7) on it.

[Sage]

Mac Comp + Windows OS = best option out there.

[Somebody]

I can tell you now that I am not getting a Macbook. I doubt I can get a good Macbook for cheap anyways (heard they are very expensive). The highest I could convince my parents to maybe go would be to match my money, basically $700.

Also, what I was looking at was the Compaq Presario CQ60-615DX (I think). Its $299 at Best Buy. Rated 4.5 stars in 463 reviews on their site. Problem is, every bad review talks about failures like battery is fried, will not start, etc. and how crappy COmpaq customer service is.

[Sage]

I got a presario. it died right after the warranty ran out (just after a year). go with something better.

[frezal]

I can tell you now that I am not getting a Macbook. I doubt I can get a good Macbook for cheap anyways (heard they are very expensive). The highest I could convince my parents to maybe go would be to match my money, basically $700.

Also, what I was looking at was the Compaq Presario CQ60-615DX (I think). Its $299 at Best Buy. Rated 4.5 stars in 463 reviews on their site. Problem is, every bad review talks about failures like battery is fried, will not start, etc. and how crappy COmpaq customer service is.

Buy used.
http://www.themacstore.com/parts/show/c-u69644

You may not be near any of these stores, but I'm sure you can find a store that sells used Macs for similar prices nearby.

[Somebody]

Thats what a lot of them said too. All of the good ones just said: "I GOT THIS YESTERDAY AND I LOVE IT ITS SO GREAT".

[Natef]

Mac Comp + Windows OS = best option out there.

Agreed.

[Trovaner]

I was recently looking into a new laptop and after making up my mind, I found this study. The three year study which was released in Nov. of 2009 was conducted by a computer warranty company, SquareTrade, and concluded that ASUS and Toshiba were the most reliable laptops.

If you plan to be multitasking, you want as much ram/memory as you can get.

[123savethewhales]

How much you want to pay depends on how often you want to update your laptop.  Laptop gets outdated quite fast, and can become obsolete even if it is still operational.

So if you want to update every 2 - 3 years, buy a cheap laptop.

[SKBT]

This might help.

http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/406/best-laptops-under-500/