Bought a new cheap laptop

[rridgely]

Ok, so I bought a new laptop...

In the past I was relying on a very old 1.4ghz pentium m laptop that I bought about 4 1/2 years ago right before I was starting college. I only used it sporadically so I elected to not upgrade it and keep on using my desktop as my main pc. I had to get a new one though because I started student teaching this semester and I needed something better to interact with the school's promethean board.(those things are AWESOME by the way, I want one in my house. )

Here is what I got:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway+-+Laptop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Celeron%26%23174%3B+Processor+/+15.6%26%2334%3B+Display+/+2GB+Memory+-+Black/3590335.p?id=1218417135361&skuId=3590335

Yep its a celeron, but its based on the new Sandy Bridge processors. Its got lots of their features disabled but I have to say that for a laptop that was less than $300 I'm pretty impressed with it. I was going to get one based on ATI's E-350 but the processor in this one spanks those.(the graphics on the e-350 are better but the Intel HD 3000 does everything I want it to do anyway and it has HDMI out and usb 3.0)

I wish I could have waited until black friday but I needed something now.

I have a few days where I can still return it but so far I'm liking it a lot. Here is the windows performance screen on it:

[Tr3bg0D]

Yeah that's about the price I am seeing now for laptops. I hope you have good luck with it and don't have to get in touch with their support dept. Acer, Gateway and eMachine are the same company. I have an Acer Netbook and it was hell trying to get in touch with someone to get my battery replaced under warranty.

[rridgely]

I've never dealt with their support so I cant comment on that.

I'm really impressed with this machine for its price. The machine feels well built and the keyboard is great. (not much flex when you press on it, some of the laptops I looked at felt like they would snap in half.)

I bought an AMD V140(I think it was called this) HP laptop about a year ago because it was on clearance. I wanted it because I hated going back to my old Pentium M because it had XP on it, but the PC actually felt slower than my old laptop. I returned it and decided I would keep what I had for a while.

I haven't had much time to try playing HD videos from my camera or netflix yet, but I'm sure they play fine. My old laptop stuttered on HD youtube and this one plays fine.

[Super_Fast]

but the PC actually felt slower than my old laptop. I returned it and decided I would keep what I had for a while.

This is because, in most cases, you need to do this:

- Check amount of RAM > Update if needed

- 7,200 RPM drives are 2x faster than 5,400 drives, & bigger buffer sizes are better. Upgrade if needed

- Tons of trial offers pre installed, along with slow, slow, SLOOOOOWWW A/V solutions. Replace the AV with a lighter one, & remove all trial trash.

- Tons of trash startup items, etc, etc. Reinstall Windows with a CLEAN Windows disk that you bought that is free from all that trash!

- Multiple partitions (OS/Restore/Media) > Merge all partitions when you set up Windows so it regains space + speed.

There are other reasons too, but these are common ones that are easy to fix

[rridgely]

No it wasn't because of any of those reasons. Its because that chip was slow as hell. It was single core and the graphics chip is was paired with was crap too.

The only thing I liked about that pc was that HP has started putting a restore option in their laptops where you can restore without any crapware installed.

BTW, I have plenty of experience with computers. I wasn't really looking for advice on how to fix that machine(I DON"T EVEN HAVE IT ANYMORE)

[Super_Fast]

BTW, I have plenty of experience with computers. I wasn't really looking for advice on how to fix that machine(I DON"T EVEN HAVE IT ANYMORE)

Well, that's one way of fixing the problem!

[rridgely]

Ok so I upgraded this laptop.

I was browsing the bestbuy site yesterday and found this:

http://www.bestbuy.c...0&skuId=3558127

For $20 more I knew I would be crazy not to get it instead.

It doesnt have usb 3 and the webcam sucks, but its got more ram, better processor/graphics and its got a WAY better keyboard. The keyboard on the gateway sucked. This one is also built a lot better.