need some advice on buying a laptop in the US

[xeb]

first off before anyone gives me the mercuryengine spiel, i posted this over there and no-ones answering...

am heading stateside in a week and gonna get me a laptop while over there and after some advice on stores to hit.

i'm after something for mucis production and believe that 5400rpm hard drive is what i want. most come standard with 4200 unfortunatly.

so what i'm after is a high street type store that will customise with a faster drive and turn it around in a day or so.... all that i've found so far that customise are purely mail order.

either that, or i'm after a high street store that has good prices on laptop drives and i'll just buy an extra drive and sell the old one or something.

i'll be in new york, denver and san fran. not likely to get much shopping time in denver though.

have already been suggested or found myself bestbuy, compusa, datavision , circuitcity and rcs. they all look great for the laptop, but not for customising or buying a drive seperate.

any more suggestions?

also, NYC sales tax... whats this all about? on mail order stores looks like you're charged extra sales tax just for living in NYC? is that the case? would i be better buying in SF or denver?

thanks in advance

[Huggie Smiles]

Re: need some advice on buying a laptop in the US

shouldnt this be in.............................arf arf

will you be able to charge it when you get back to blighty tho??? different plug for the wall/ amps /voltage etc

im no computer boff - so i'll leave it for some nerd who knows what theyre talking about


how did you get a visa when laurent garnier cant?? hahaha

and make sure you save your receipts cos you can claim all yor sales tax when you leave the country

[audiotherapy]

it cost more to purchase a laptop from retail stores than say online order from Dell. if your in CA, you might wanna chk out Fry's they usually have good deals in computers.

you can chk online bargain sites (www.bensbargains.net, fatwallet.com, techbargain.com... etc) and everynow and then they have good deals that you'd end up saving a few hundred USD. and have a buddy in US ship it to your country.

its probably more cost effective to get lows specs and then upgrade the HD.
also you might wanna chk online to see if the laptop model has any hardware conflict with your audio interface or other DAW hardware...

[PsynceFiction[MS]]

www.mercuryengine.com :wink:

-Psynce-

[xeb]

Re: need some advice on buying a laptop in the US

psynce don't MAKE ME COME OVER THERE AND WHUP YO PUNK ASS :wink:

how did you get a visa when laurent garnier cant?? hahaha

what visa? you ain't seen nothing, right

besides, i ain't no commie frenchman :wink:


thanks audiotherapy, will check them

[PsynceFiction[MS]]

Will you play an exclusive dj set for me aswell?

-Psynce-

[lopark]

I got this one from hp.com and I love it. Sound card sucks though, but almost every laptop has this problem (I'm solving it with a firewire audio device.)

http://www.shopping.hp.com/cgi-bin/hpdirect/shopping/scripts/product_detail/product_detail_view.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0172237304.1107909863@@@@&BV_EngineID=ccciadddkliiflmcfngcfkmdfondfgf.0&landing=computers&category=notebooks/hp_pavilion/zv5000t_series&subcat1=rts&product_code=PR443UA%23ABA&catLevel=4

[mixu]

Don't get stung at customs on the way back. You know the drill ? "I got it for Christmas..." :wink:

[miketpoto]

Re: need some advice on buying a laptop in the US

Go to the Apple store while in new york and do one of the smartest things you've ever done. Get a powerbook. Backlash aside, backlash aside, I live here in NYC, I would be glad to let u use mine in NYC to play with and with music at my place, and will go to the Apple store with you. Unless you are a big gamer there is no reason these days to say that you "wont be able to" do anything with the macintosh. Serious offer here, I am tired of friends having to buy 2 computers after their pc's piss them off and their laptops are huge and clunky and they realize i have all the same software....

No I do not work for apple.... I like em, so does sasha.

michael

msieben@gmail.com

[drthundr]

I just got this from work...P4 1.60Ghz, 1GB RAM

http://h71016.www7.hp.com/dstore/ctoBases.asp?ProductLineId=430&FamilyId=1682&LowBaseId=12580&jumpid=re_r329_search/internal/smb_nc6000

I'm impressed with mine. Although HP has recalled many of these models due to faulty hard drives. But the hard drives are made by a separate company anyway, so it's not HP's fault.

[xeb]

Re: need some advice on buying a laptop in the US

thats a very kind offer mike but i'm a PC boy through and through. i have a PC desktop at home.. this is for the girlfriend and to use on the road... we both use PCs at work as well... i need to be able to network this laptop with my home PC so don't want to go down the mac road

[rewing3]

good xeb. I am sure you will find something. Keep looking online. your best bet might be to order it online. I know a lot of place have online exclusive specials. So you might actually get a better deal that way.

[Kamal]

http://www.mercuryengine.com/forums/...hp?p=2394#2394

[Nigel Harkness]

Go Dell, They have great prices and are very reliable.

[Civic_Zen]

good xeb. I am sure you will find something. Keep looking online. your best bet might be to order it online. I know a lot of place have online exclusive specials. So you might actually get a better deal that way.

Not that I'm trying to talk you into buying a MAC, but as for networking them, Apples are really easy to network with Windows machines. Like 2 clicks and your done easy.