My new Computer? Please give your thoughts.

[fightingquaker13]

As I posted, my trusty old Toshiba has been running on fumes. I bought it a little time with a new battery, but now it is time for its second career on the range.
Office Depot is offering an HP I5 , 2.66 GHz, 4gig ram, 320 gig hard drive, 15.6" for $500. It seems like a deal. Its the same or less than  an I3. I have heard one tech say the the I3s might have fewer problems, but beyond that the I5 reviews are good. Any reason not to buy this beast?
Thanks
FQ13

[crusader rabbit]

Hi, Quaker.  I've had both the Toshiba and HP products and have found no serious flaw in either.  It looks and sounds like you are getting a reasonable deal on the HP and I would have no serious reservations about making the comittment.  You might check www.Newegg.com to see what you can get it for there.  They usually run enough less that it makes up for the postage and more.  Just a thought.

[Badgersmilk]

For about 12 years I traveled with a laptop all over the country.  Toshiba and Dell were the only ones that didn't completely FAIL.  Both manufactures make excellent products.  My only advise would be avoid HP like the plague!!!  Their cheap, and so are their trash components.  I'm sure many here have their crap (cheap is always popular even if it IS junk).  Having purchased crap, they'll try defend it...  

If your interested in a netbook, Acer, while CHEAP, uses almost ALL Hitachi components.  You can get a really good deal at B&H online.  Even if your only interested in a notebook I'd suggest checking out B&H just for price comparisons.  

Dell & Acer also use Kingston memory and intel chips for the large part.  That's an indicator of better quality in itsself!  Not sure about Toshiba, but they are great machines to.

[fightingquaker13]

I don't know Badger. I've had two Toshibas. The first was a POS that spent as much time at Comp USA as it did with me. They finally replaced it just before it went out of extended warranty, but that was only because my step dad who was an attorney wrote a nasty letter to them mentioning Florida's lemon law. The replacement machine was nice and has lasted about 4 years. OTOH, my mom is still using my step dad's 6 year old HP and it hasn't had a hiccup. My old man's HP is running great as well.  I don't know if its just the luck of the draw, brand to brand or what. Its something that makes me a bit nervous about this one as its almost too cheap, but the specs are the same as any other brand. Its just about 25% cheaper with the sale.
FQ13

[Pathfinder]

The price is excellent for an i5. I paid $350 for a Wally World special Dell dual core Pentium with similar specs to the one you're looking at. It retailed from other vendors for almost $500. I bought it because it was cheap, and i do not expect much from it. And i am not disappointed. Windows 7 burns processors and memory, so plan on rebooting frequently (nightly?) to keep the work files cleaned up and some measure of performance.

I have found no correlations between brand and lifespan. One company I worked for got rid of everything that didn't have HP on it. Another refused all HP and went solely with Dell. The desktop world is so driven by cost cutting that any brand at this point is a crap shoot as to quality and lifespan IMHO.

If you know someone who works for Microsoft, and you want an MS product, they can get it cheap! I paid $60 for MS Office Pro - retails for about $500 MSRP. 

[Sponsor]

[david86440]

The price is excellent for an i5. I paid $350 for a Wally World special Dell dual core Pentium with similar specs to the one you're looking at. It retailed from other vendors for almost $500. I bought it because it was cheap, and i do not expect much from it. And i am not disappointed. Windows 7 burns processors and memory, so plan on rebooting frequently (nightly?) to keep the work files cleaned up and some measure of performance.

I have found no correlations between brand and lifespan. One company I worked for got rid of everything that didn't have HP on it. Another refused all HP and went solely with Dell. The desktop world is so driven by cost cutting that any brand at this point is a crap shoot as to quality and lifespan IMHO.

If you know someone who works for Microsoft, and you want an MS product, they can get it cheap! I paid $60 for MS Office Pro - retails for about $500 MSRP.  

I paid $23.76 for Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010. I could have got it for only $9.95 but I wanted a backup DVD

Product    Product Key    Download Link    Price
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010   27BDB-VYGJ*-46D86-GPWKT-****   Download Link   $ 9.95
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 Backup DVD      $ 12.00
Subtotal:   $ 21.95
Shipping:   $ 0.00
Tax:   $ 1.81
Total:   $ 23.76

I can purchase any or all of these for $9.95 ea . It is a GREAT deal.

Office for Mac 2011, Microsoft Project Professional 2010, Microsoft Visio Premium 2010.
    

[fightingquaker13]

I paid $23.76 for Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010. I could have got it for only $9.95 but I wanted a backup DVD

Product    Product Key    Download Link    Price
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010   27BDB-VYGJ*-46D86-GPWKT-****   Download Link   $ 9.95
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 Backup DVD      $ 12.00
Subtotal:   $ 21.95
Shipping:   $ 0.00
Tax:   $ 1.81
Total:   $ 23.76

I can purchase any or all of these for $9.95 ea . It is a GREAT deal.

Office for Mac 2011, Microsoft Project Professional 2010, Microsoft Visio Premium 2010.
    

So, are you just being a jerk, or trolling for some ammo trades?
FQ13

[Hazcat]

Go to piratebay.org and download any program you like.

[david86440]

Go to piratebay.org and download any program you like.

The company that I work for worked with Microsoft developing the 2010 suites and in turn we are all permitted to purchase any program for $9.95.

There are restrictions (home use only and only have rights as long as employed by XXXX).  Works for me, sucks being you!

BTW FQ13, get a Sony VAIO.

[Hazcat]

I get updates to all of my programs.