<p>So yesterday, my 3 and a half year old HP Dv2000 laptop gave out. After taking it to Best Buy, we found out that it would cost $300 to replace the motherboard, which had been the part causing the trouble. A part that is worth more than twice of the computer's actual value.</p>
<p>Well you see, I have a college fund set up as a CD, and with my mother's permission, I can access however much of it I want. </p>
<p>By her suggestion, I decided I should take some out for a new laptop. I have my eyes on a new HP Dv6qte, customized with all the high end parts from the HP website, totaling almost $2000.
I know that's a lot, but with all the specs maxed out, I am ensured that it will last me well into college (from which I'm a year away from going into), as compared to my now broken one, that we got at Best Buy in Dec. '07, packed with the most basic of parts (I can't even run Adobe CS3 on it). </p>
<p>My mom however thinks I should try my best to repair the old one, which I think is a waste of time and money, and even though this new one is pricey, it will LAST.</p>
<p>Spending $2000 on a laptop is not a good investment. I would say to wait a year before getting something new, but if there aren’t any other computers you can use at home, a $500 desktop is a better more cost effective short term solution, and it will last a long time too. A $1500 laptop 14 months from now will likely be better than a $2000 laptop from now with 14 months of wear.</p>
<p>Actually, I had planned to buy a new laptop as a graduation present to myself, but seeing as how my current one broke down prematurely, and I need one ASAP (especially with 4 big end of the year projects due in a month), I really need it now.</p>
<p>And a desktop is not an option, because I need the mobility that the laptop gives me.</p>
<p>Well I frequently take it (my current one before it broke) back and forth between my mom and dad’s houses, sometimes to school, sometimes to a friend’s house when we’re working on a project together for school.</p>
<p>And if I buy a laptop now, it will most definitely be the one I use for at least my first 3-4 years of college, and the needed mobility there is obvious.</p>
<p>I see. I still think you would be better off with something cheaper that will likely get better battery life. No matter how much you spend now, you will probably want something new 3 or 4 years down the line, especially if you really need the specs you would pay $2000 for.</p>
<p>That’s true, but the higher the specs are right now, the less of a need for a new one 3-4 years down the road will be, instead it will be more a want.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t pull 2k out of your college fund to buy a laptop. If you were really wealthy and you could just charge it on your credit card and your parents wouldn’t notice, then it would be fine. But this is important money. You can get many good laptops for <$1000 just look online for good deals. Pricey laptops don’t last any longer than cheap ones. Breaking the laptop is a bigger risk than the machinery becoming obsolete.</p>
<p>Remember Moore’s law (I know, it’s supposed to be for computer chips. It applies on a more general level to full computers also.) - one and a half years from now, you can get a laptop that is half the size and twice as powerful for half as much as if you bought it today.</p>
<p>You can buy a cheap netbook right now that will last you a year, then buy the long term laptop when you’re ready to go to college and it’s guaranteed to be better than if you bought it now.</p>
<p>I absolutely reccomend a Mac Book! They are THE best. My family owns two Mac Books (an '06 which is mine, and an '09 which is my younger sister’s) and two Mac OSX desktops, and they have never received any viruses or given us any problems. We refuse to buy any other kind of computer. :)</p>
<p>Yeah, if you want to spend $2000 for a laptop, go for a Macbook Pro. I’m not going to go into the merits of the old PC vs. Mac debate, but let me just say that it will probably last longer–and Mac OS X is infinitely more efficient than any Windows OS ever produced since 2000.</p>
<p>Oh, and taking that money out of your college fund is … iffy, but if your mother allows it … meh.</p>
<p>I’ve always felt that you have to be seriously n00bie to have virus problems very often. It’s probably one of the silliest reasons to choose a Mac over a PC.</p>
<p>If you’re sure you need a laptop, you can get an excellent mid-ranged one for <$1000.</p>
<p>Truthfully, you could get a new motherboard for under $100, however, most likely it doesn’t even need a new motherboard, instead there’s probably capacitor plague or something similar(which is easily fixed). Since it is an HP I’m pretty sure that it is just a simple motherboard problem that could be fixed easily. I would reccomend taking it to any place, besides the geek squad, and ask them to fix it. It should just require some soldering.</p>
<p>BTW, Thinkpad X220 + camera can be purchased for $806 until tomorrow. It’s probably a better option than a $2000 laptop with a big graphics card.</p>
<p>I think that entirely depends on the person. Some people (such as myself) are perfectly content with 4±year-old technology as long as it still works fine. I’ll shell out big bucks for quality electronics, but then keep them for 5-7 years.</p>
<p>For the record, my macbook is 5 years old and I have had no problems whatsoever with it aside from having to replace the CD drive–which they did at the Apple store for free. Couldn’t be happier with my Mac. My PC got viruses all the time. Maybe it’s because I’m a n00b but considering I am not a computer GEEK (and have no desire to spend the time or energy becoming one) I am happy to be virus-free. It’s not like I was going on different shady websites on the PC vs. the Mac; in fact, I probably go on sketchier sites now than I did as a fourth-grader with a PC. YMMV.</p>
<p>Thes users are telling you the truth, and I used to be like you wanting to max out on processor use and stuff, but truth is, you’ll never even use most of these things, and let’s not confuse “sophisticated computer usage” with heavy hardware usage. You’ll be fine with almost anything 600+, I highly recommend macbook pro, you can get last year’s version for 700, which will last you for many years!!</p>
They are THE best. My family owns two Mac Books (an '06 which is mine, and an '09 which is my younger sister’s) and two Mac OSX desktops, and they have never received any viruses or given us any problems. We refuse to buy any other kind of computer. :)</p>
My PC got viruses all the time. Maybe it’s because I’m a n00b but considering I am not a computer GEEK (and have no desire to spend the time or energy becoming one) I am happy to be virus-free. It’s not like I was going on different shady websites on the PC vs. the Mac; in fact, I probably go on sketchier sites now than I did as a fourth-grader with a PC. YMMV.</p>