Video Cards for Laptops?

[supercow228]

Is it worth paying an extra $300 for the laptop? I customized a Toshiba and it was about $2000 with the ati. But on Tigerdirect there is a refurbished Toshiba with pretty much the same everything except the nvidia graphics card, and it is priced $1700 or so.

 

[StoneBridge]

Hey,

Is the customised Toshiba a brand new one?? If so, go for that one. I am very weary of Refurbished notebooks (I have purchased a few refurbished PC's in the past and they have had problems, and with a laptop the problem would be even harder to fix).
Also, you will find that on the brand new laptop the warranty would be a lot longer.

So pay the $300 extra and go for the brand new one.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[supercow228]

Thanks man. Also, what does the a/b/g mean for wireless lan?

 

[supercow228]

This might sound like a dumb question, but how long do you think laptops usually last? I am going to get a loan, and i dont want to be paying the loan off when the computer doesnt even work. Here is the system I am looking at http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cart.to?afterAdd=1

 

[StoneBridge]

Hey,

With wireless LAN, there are 3 different types. They are 802.11a, 802.11b, and 802.11g. Now, 802.11a hasnt been really around for quite a long time, but 802.11b has been, and is still in use quite a bit. 802.11b only gives you 5.5 or 11Mbps speed though, so it isnt too fast when compared to Wired LANS.
However, 802.11g is the new one out, which supports speeds up to 54Mbps (and even 108Mbps if you have devices that support it).
802.11g is the new standard, and is usually backwards compatible with 802.11a/b, so you shouldnt have any problems.

So, in short, go for the 802.11g.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[StoneBridge]

Hey,

I have been using my laptop now for 2 years without any problems at all (well I have a total of 1 dead pixel, which isnt even noticable lol).

Laptops tend to last quite a while depending on what you use them for.

I believe with Toshiba you can purchase an extended warranty, which brings the length of your warranty up to 3 years (I think the normal warranty is only 1 year). But my laptop has never been back for repair at all, and I use my laptop constantly (I dont use a PC - just my laptop)

Also, that link you provided wont work for anyone else than you, because it uses a cookie as a session variable, and only you have that. So we cannot view the page.

Cheers,
Chris

 

[rakedog]

Supercow they last in good condition about a year more then your warranty. After that, they are still functional, but you need to find your own solutions to problems. And it's really hard to fix hardware on laptops.

 

[supercow228]

So u r saying that if I extend my warranty, then my laptops life is automatically extended...?

 

[supercow228]

I think I am going to get that custom Toshiba Satellite, and buy an extended warranty with it. $2200, it is pretty good.