Is this Tigerdirect laptop really a deal?

TheProdigy · #1 08-26-2006, 12:53 AM

If I were looking to simply play Poker on this and use it for school(mostly no songs or movies on it or highly intensive programs) how does this look?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/...RCCODE=WEM1186C

Is it really as good a deal as they act like it is, or is that just obvious advertising? I was just wondering if this really is a "steal" or not...

Enjoy!

Ibanez8185 · #2 08-26-2006, 02:34 AM

Yeah it is a decent deal. Tigerdirect is a very good place to buy laptops, I got mine there and got it for a great price also. They have a 17 inch Acer that I am looking at for an upgrade which is around $700 after rebate.

LuckyTxGuy · #3 08-26-2006, 01:59 PM

I think it's a pretty good deal but there are a couple things to consider. If you are going to be playing poker, running PT, PAHUD and steaming some music you are going to want to upgrade to 1 GB of RAM. Not saying you can't get by with 512 MB but you'll really notice a major improvement with 1 gig. Also, you won't have a warranty on this laptop. (not sure if TigerDirect offers 3rd party warrantys?). If anything hardware wise goes wrong, even something minor, plan on spending $200-$300 to get it fixed.

That being said, if you aren't interested in a warranty, and just want a good all around, general use laptop, I think that's a pretty good deal at $500.

-Jason

Blarg · #4 08-26-2006, 09:57 PM

The Sempron, according to my understanding, is AMD's stripped down CPU, somewhat like the Celeron is for Intel. You may be able to find a significantly more capable chip for not too much more money.

The hard disk is almost certainly 5400 speed, which is quite slow. 7200 has been the standard for a while. Getting a 7200 drive will make everything much faster. You will probably pay a notable premium for it over a slower hard drive, though, anywhere from 60 to 100 or more dollars.

You're looking at a low-end computer, but you're only paying $500. If that's fine with you, then cool. I'm not sure that you couldn't get something significantly better for $150 to $300, but maybe you don't want to spend that much. If you do, you might want to price Dell's when they're on sale or you can get a coupon from fatwallet or slickdeals.

jjshabado · #5 08-26-2006, 11:27 PM

[ QUOTE ]
If you are going to be playing poker, running PT, PAHUD and steaming some music you are going to want to upgrade to 1 GB of RAM. Not saying you can't get by with 512 MB but you'll really notice a major improvement with 1 gig.

[/ QUOTE ]

Plus your video card uses "shared memory" which basically means your 512 MB of RAM has to double as your video card's memory which slows it down a bit more. RAM is definitely one area its not worth it to cheap out on when it comes to computers.