I am looking for an inexpensive multimedia laptop

zurik

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Oct 10, 2009
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I am looking to buy a budget laptop for my family that will mainly be used to hook up to a 50" TV for watching things on hulu, youtube and watching DVDs. Other than that, i just want it to be reliable for occasional business usage outside the home. I haven't really considered blue ray until very recently and it would be a welcome extra if it's possible to find in my price range and doesn't jack up the price too much. I have an older HP laptop that works just fine for this purpose (non bluray viewing), I'm really not sure if I'd need a substantially better laptop to handle blue ray and other high definition media. If it is considerably more expensive, I can do without.

1. What is your budget?

Around $500, though that can change if need be, main consideration is its usage.

2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering?

17", but can go up or down a bit if there is reason.

3. What screen resolution do you want?

Realistically, resolution doesn't matter as it will be used by my older parents and younger (15 y/o) siblings.

4. Do you need a portable
or desktop replacement laptop?


Doesn't really matter, but I would probably prefer a laptop with some portability.

5. How much battery life do you need?

Not crucial, should be able to plug it in anywhere I take it.

6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)?

No.

7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.)

Simple tasks. Internet surfing, document editing.

8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need?


Doesn't really matter to me, most things will be streamed/saved on an external HD. Nothing too small though (under 200gb, if they still make them that small)

9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links.

Nothing yet. I like newegg, but anywhere is fair game.

10. How long do you want to keep your laptop?


I would like to keep it as long as possible. I will need a laptop for this purpose for an indefinite amount of time.

11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ?


Dvd reader at the least, possibly a bluray as stated in my first paragraph.

12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons.

I hate Dell and HP as I've had bad experiences with both (outside of those two, I've built all my PCs). I'd prefer a solid, functional laptop. I like ASUS right now, but am open to suggestions.

13. What country do you live in?


United States.

14. Please tell us any additional information if needed.


I think most of the information is at the top of my post. Thank you guys in advance, I have found these forums to be tremendously helpful.