SillyDog701

[James]

Our laptop died in Maui. We drove over to Costco to pick up an inexpensive replacement... basically for travel and for some work around the home (we already have desktops). It doesn't have to be a game machine... just a reliable, easy-to-read computer for us both. The two being offered by Costco were 15.6 inch.

HP DV6 - 3123CL (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2366968,00.asp) Not quite what Costco is offering but very close.

Gateway - NV59CO9u (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2364413,00.asp)

Both are Win7 Home Premium 64 bit

Both are equally priced.

I'm inclined towards the Gateway but frankly, I need some input. Soon. Thanks.

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[beanboy89]

My friend recently got the HP Pavilion dv7, which is basically a bigger version of the dv6. The aluminum case design is really awesome. It does a pretty good job at dissipating heat from the quad-core Core i7 720Q and 1 GB ATI Radeon HD 5650 inside. The laptop is normally cool to the touch, which is impressive considering the components which are packed inside.

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[Antony]

I would suggest you to check both laptop in person, the feeling is important (played around the keys, and check and adjust the screen settings.

Personally, I would say 5.3 pounds is a bit heavy. (Yes, I found my 15-inch MacBook Pro a bit heavy to carry around.) If you intend to carry the laptop quite frequent, you might want to look for a lighter option.

Based on the short specs provided by PC Mag, I would suggest HP Pavilion DV6, for the Intel Core i5

Just my two cents.

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[iJohnE]

I'd personally go with the HP. Looks like a better comp to me.

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[James]

Thanks, Guys. I sincerely appreciate the input. We talked it over and decided to go with the HP. The reason we narrowed it down to these two is that Costco have a very liberal return policy. In addition, we've had HP desktops in the past and both served us well. We won't be making extensive use of this laptop since we have Dell desktops at home (only two years old) and the laptop will only be used for occasional travel as well as some computing in and around the kitchen periodically.

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[James]

Okay... here's the full story. Recently we were on vacation and took my wife's Dell laptop (XPS m1330) with us. It died after a few days. The screen just went black then a bunch of lines appeared running vertically then it went all white. We turned it off (had to hard shut it off) and then tried again... same thing. A few days later we turned it on and it appeared to work for a short time (a few minutes really) before the exact same thing occurred.

We're home now and looking at replacing it. Today my wife turned the Dell on again and low and behold it fired up (on battery.. not connected to the AC which come to think of it, we had it connected to an AC outlet on the trip). Anyway... we both noticed that the fan was not making a noise so it is probably not running.

The problem is... the XPS while a great laptop is an older laptop and I hate to pour money into it when new laptops with newer technology is available.

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[iJohnE]

Okay... here's the full story. Recently we were on vacation and took my wife's Dell laptop (XPS m1330) with us. It died after a few days. The screen just went black then a bunch of lines appeared running vertically then it went all white. We turned it off (had to hard shut it off) and then tried again... same thing. A few days later we turned it on and it appeared to work for a short time (a few minutes really) before the exact same thing occurred.

We're home now and looking at replacing it. Today my wife turned the Dell on again and low and behold it fired up (on battery.. not connected to the AC which come to think of it, we had it connected to an AC outlet on the trip). Anyway... we both noticed that the fan was not making a noise so it is probably not running.

The problem is... the XPS while a great laptop is an older laptop and I hate to pour money into it when new laptops with newer technology is available.

Yeah, sounds like some of the issues I've had with my Studio laptop from Dell. Not blaming Dell directly, more so myself for not doing research. Considering the fact that this is one of the WORST models they've ever sold. :/

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[Antony]

The problem is... the XPS while a great laptop is an older laptop and I hate to pour money into it when new laptops with newer technology is available.

That's pretty true these days. It's usually making more sense to just get a new one.

Remember to feel it first. The feeling is important.

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[richard mitnick]

James, I think all that may be wrong with the one that quit is the video connector. I have had this probelm on a Chembook and a Dell. It's a really quick fix.

Also, why do I seem to remember you traveling with a netbook. I remember that someone had one, like my Acer 150-1635. I finally gave up on it and got a Dell Studio14. So far, very happy.

But, on your oldie, get that connector checked.

>>RSM

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