New Laptop - What do i need?

Shopping for a laptop. Max $800.

I think 15" screen is what i want (Should be enough to watch a movie in the place/on the bed) or should i get a 17?

How much gig of memory do i need ? 4?

It will be used for work and fun. (Excel, SPSS, Picasa, Email, Watching movies and Internet).

What brand is good? I had a Dell and it was very good.

Is Sony good? What about HP (I know they are killing their PC division).

 

I have a 17" HP laptop, over time it broke the screen surrounds and now it's a permanent desktop, I can get on my bed and use it as a TV, and am about 2 and a half feet a way from it and it's a perfect size for me.

DELL is awesome, but I'm obligated to say that since I live (in Austin) 2 miles away from them But really, their computers are really good, they stand the test of time and last pretty long, my uncle uses it as his work laptop and my school in Texas had them as our lab computers and laptops.

I really like Asus, they seem like great computers for the money and are spec'd out pretty decently.

I've had an Acer laptop and a Toshiba laptop, great laptops at the time, but they weren't that reliable and I'm not sure how the newer ones are. My Acer laptop still works but it has a few issues with the battery plug needing to be a certain way before it charges. Also, Sony laptops seem really nice, but they are $$$, IMO.

Remember, memory can be easily, and I mean SUPER EASILY a baby can do it, changed.

 

I have a 17 Inspiron Dell that i loved but was not really portable (heavy and big). Not sure how often i will need to carry it around.

I wonder if a 15 screen will be enough to watch movies if and when i take it around/on trips.

 

I hated watching movies on my old laptop (15"). The new laptop is good audio, and a superb screen (17" 1080p). Of course, The base version of this computer is $300 over your existing budget. For $800, you can get a good machine. Don't get less than 6 gb of ram, and look for a lower end i7 processor. If you aren't going to play any 3d games, don't get anything special for hardware acceleration.

It's my understanding that HP is spinning off the computer building division; not axing it like the HP Touchpad. Think of what Visteon became after Ford spun it off...

 

If you take it on a plane, I've had such a hard time using my 17". It doesn't fit on the tray tables and the way you have to make it work is very awkward. Depending on where you take it and how far away from the screen you'll be, the 15" may not be too bad.

 

The current 15.4" widescreens are more than enough to comfortably watch movies on while on the go, while also being significantly lighter than most 17" laptops.

I have a 15.4" HP dv6t laptop at home that I've had for a year and am very pleased with it.

My girlfriend also has a 15.4" HP dv6t as well that she bought a few months after me.

Both are midrange spec wise. Work fine for the standard things, but no so great if you want to play some serious computer games.

She also has a 17" Dell laptop that she bought a few months ago as a work computer (she works from home). Significantly more powerful laptop,but she spent significantly more on it.



For $800 you aren't going to get a high end laptop, but you'll easily be able to buy a solid midrange 15" laptop. Dell and HP are probably the best options at that price range.

Look for intel i5 processors with atleast 4 gigs of ram, if you can get 6, even better. No real need for discreet graphics unless you are planning to play computer games. If you can afford it, and don't need a huge internal hard drive, get an SSD and marvel at the speed of your new laptop

 

There is some great advice right there. If you aren't doing processor hungry applications, than SSD hard drive, and plenty of ram is the way to go.