[game_ethic]

I have a budget of $800 right now and I'm looking for a top quality laptop. I do a lot of music production, video streaming/editing, and programming(for my Computer Science class), so I need something that's extremely fast. I wanted a MacBook but they're too expensive. Checked Bestbuy, Walmart, etc, and wasn't really happy with the results—a lot of high priced laptops with shitty processors. Do you guys have any good suggestions?

[ThePianoMan]

I personally feel you can't do all that well with video editing without a Macbook pro or a strong desktop. See if you can squeeze out a few extra hundred bucks and get a refurbished model. Also if you're a student you can get a small discount. Otherwise, ebay or craigslist might be your best bet for a discounted macbook.

[Virtus]

http://www.macbreaker.com/2014/04/the-be...-2014.html

http://www.hackintosh.com/

[HawkWrites]

I run an Acer Aspire V3-771G laptop right now that I got about a year ago for roughly $800. It handles anything I throw at it without hesitation. Occasionally I need to switch the default graphics driver to the nVidia chipset as opposed to the integrated graphics for some things (Dead Island, for example) but other than that I've had no problem.

I get really creative with this thing and actually use it as my de-facto desktop; I have an HDMI output running to a converted DVI input that goes to a 24" touch-screen monitor on my desk. I then run a USB hub into it through which I connect both a USB keyboard (AmazonBasics brand) and mouse (Logitech) to give the overall feeling of a desktop machine that only takes up the space of a laptop. It works swimmingly well for its purpose.

It came default with a Windows 7 x64 Home Premium installation, 6 GB memory, i5 quad-core processor that can boost to around 3.0-3.2 GHz, 500 GB HDD, and an nVidia card with 1 GB VRAM by default.

As a fellow programmer / IT guy, I can run Eclipse, Photoshop, WAMP, and iTunes (hey, I have to listen to music when I'm writing software) concurrently without issue.

[game_ethic]

@HawkWrites

Where'd you get it? Just checked Newegg and it's sold out. Amazon has it for $989 but I'm trying to avoid paying over $850. I also did a Google search and I can't find it anywhere.

[HawkWrites]

Give Amazon a check. I got it stock and then added a warranty to it. The machine itself should only run around $800.

It looks like it's out-of-stock for the 17.3" screen unfortunately.

Anything with those specs or better for Acer should serve your needs, though. If you need to sacrifice, though, you'll want to do it on processor speed.

Fuck it, I can't leave a fellow programmer out in the cold. This one may be close to what you want in terms of in-stock items: http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Aspire-NX-RZG...words=acer

[the-dream]

I've got a Lenovo Z500 right now which is pretty perfect and great specs that I got for £400 but is usually worth about £650. I don't know if they have it in the US but on the UK Amazon, they have "Amazon Warehouse Deals" which is products that have fell off the palettes in the warehouses etc that they can't sell as new so they sell which is how I got it so cheap and they have some other great deals on there too. You can return them if you're not satisfied too but mine supposedly had a scratch on it but I can't find it anywhere and it's good as new.

[Saweeep]

I think you should go ask this in some coffee shops

[frenchcorporation]

buy a second hand macbook, check it out before you hand over money for it

[Patriarch]

What kind of specs are you looking at if you're solely going to be programming? My laptop is 6 years old and I'm looking to upgrade.

[Parlay44]

I'm happy with my Asus. It's a macbook clone. It has a 15.6" inch touch screen, chicklet keys and windows 8.
It also has 2 hard drive slots. One is sata and is mini pcie with a small msata ssd in it. They use the small ssd
as a cache drive to help speed it up.

I replaced the 24GB ssd with a 120GB for $100 and reinstalled windows 8 to it and now it flies.

The higher end Asus laptops have dual ssd drives with a raid controller. So you can run them in Raid 0 and have
a ridiculously fast computer. They also have a screen res of 2500x1600. Awesome.

My cheapo Asus s500 vivobook cost me about $450. $40 to bump the ram to 8GB and $100 for a new ssd.

[8ball]

(06-19-2014 06:42 PM)game_ethic Wrote:  

I have a budget of $800 right now and I'm looking for a top quality laptop. I do a lot of music production, video streaming/editing, and programming(for my Computer Science class), so I need something that's extremely fast. I wanted a MacBook but they're too expensive. Checked Bestbuy, Walmart, etc, and wasn't really happy with the results—a lot of high priced laptops with shitty processors. Do you guys have any good suggestions?

What do you use for editing or music production?

If aren't getting a mac then you can't use Final Cut and other software designed for mac.

You are pretty much stuck using Adobe products.

[game_ethic]

^ I use FL Studio 11.

[TonySandos]

Fruityloops shouldn't be bogging down your memory even on a laptop. I recommend acer computers also. I look for quad processors, large gig drives and high end graphic/sound cards that come factory. Avoid macbooks and just use cracked software versions if it's that important to you. I looked into music programming software on Microsoft systems last year for my drum set and there wasn't a lack of quality production software available.

[Inspired]

I think most laptops today are going to be able to handle your needs. I for an HP about two years ago and it is the best computer I've ever owned. I have the i5 processor, 8 gigs of ram, and Windows 7. I regularly have like hundreds of internet tabs open in multiple browsers, 30+ pdf's open, 50+ office documents open, and everything works great and speedy.

However I must say, I am starting to get a slowdown. It is not as speedy or perfect as it used to be. And Windows sucks because when you have many files with long file names, it makes them very difficult or nearly impossible to back up. So I find myself in a situation where I want to reformat the machine but I can't because I will lose thousands of files that have names that are too long. The "filepath is too long" thing is bullshit and these little issues are what piss me off about Microsoft.

[Parlay44]

Just left click on the drive, go to properties and choose cleanup. It'll delete all the temp and junk files. Then do a defrag and you're good.

[TonySandos]

If you're still speed concerned after that, learn how to spot viruses manually and get a rootkit clean up program. Those tend to help.

I bought a hp compaq in 2009 that I'm still using. It's a good deal slower, but likely due to having it loaded to the brim in physical memory. If you're like me, you need a large external drive (2 terabytes and up) to keep your videos, pictures, records, school documents and extra programs that you don't use much anymore.

[OMYG]

Just go to the nearest starbucks or coffee shop and wait for a cute girl with a laptop to set up and ask her if "that's a good laptop".

Im sure you'll get some good suggestions.

[game_ethic]

Decided to get a MacBook Air instead. Thanks for the suggestions anyways.

[Stun]

What do you guys think of this laptop?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00I3DO...PDKIKX0DER

I'm looking for Windows 7, HDMI, and a good-sized screen, and to stay around $500-650.

[game_ethic]

If you're going to be doing performance intensive tasks, like editing videos or music production, then it's not good enough. If you're just using it for casual stuff, like browsing the web, checking emails, watching videos, then I would get it. $466 is actually pretty good.

[Cattle Rustler]

Get on craigslist.

I found a late 2012 HP laptop, 2nd gen i5, 6GB RAM, 500GB HDD, aluminum, and a full keyboard.

How much?

275 from some kid that I met at a McDonalds at 11pm.

[BIGINJAPAN]

Why not find a guy to build you a custom computer ?

[KC4]

Building a pc is not really hard, done it myself twice.
And you save some money

[Cattle Rustler]

I'm guessing he wants it for mobility purposes. Can't really carry a rig outside.

This is my rig:
50 for the case
80 for ram
Free DVDROM old computer
120 for a 4th gen i3-4410
35 for a 1GB graphics card
40 for a 450W power supply.
60 for an micro ITC motherboard.
Free HDD from an old laptop

Total: 385.

Cat: 20 bucks