Need help with buying a new laptop
 

Hey guys,

I'm buying a new laptop for my dad and I'm having a hard time figuring out exactly what brand/model I should go for so I was wondering if any of you could help me out find the best laptop to meet my dad's requirements...

Here's what he needs:

-Minimum screen size of 15", preferably 17", matte if possible
-DVD writer
-At least 3G of RAM
-A good CPU to be able to play HD videos
-Decent video card (not for gaming, but for Win7 and playing HD videos)
-HD of at least 250G
-Integrated Webcam with mic
-Integrated Wireless-N
-Neutral color (not red, etc..)
-HDMI connection
-Don't need good speakers

Basically, it's gonna be his PC to watch movies on a LCD TV and listen to music on his home stereo. I don't want to buy anything cheap that will break in the first year. He's not gonna move it very much so I don't care about battery life or it's weight.

He's looking to spend around 1500$ (between 1000 and 2000, ya know.. could be less too)

Also, if you know of any good review sites for laptops (ones that give you a list of the most popular laptops or the best laptops reviewed, etc...) I'd be interested.

Thanks!!

Well if he's not going to be moving it, why get a laptop?

It's likely to be used primarily as a screen / media storage, but I'm sure he wants the option to take it with him on, say, road trips, or even to another house to be hassle-free.

Is this http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,1932136,00.asp what you're looking for?

1500$ jeezus u can buy a stompin lappy for that much!

I just pulled the trigger on this prettyhshttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220707&Tpk=g71gx

Well, I meant that he's not really going to travel with it or bring it to work so the weight is not a problem... when it'll move, it'll be from room to room or to backyard and that's about it...

Also, it takes less space and he's concerned by that too.

Sort of...

I actually found something quite interesting on bestbuy.com.

It's the Samsung R580. It's damn ugly but spec-wise it looks awesome for the price and reviews are good. It's not yet available in Canada unfortunately (with i5 and blu-ray).

Is that $1500 CAD or USD?
Because $1.5K USD is a lot for a laptop (or garbage if you get a mac).

Right now, 1500CAN = 1540.50US... so whatever.

1500$ isn't that much for a good laptop actually from what I've seen so far.

Some models start at 2000$ and quickly go up as you add options. Of course you can always get an Acer piece of crap for much less but I don't wanna buy garbage.

But I found another one that looks good too and offer more options like a SSD which I would prefer... it's the F1190 from Sony. I built one that I liked for just under 1500$ shipped. Only thing that puts me off on this one is the fact that there are a lot of overheating problems on forums... it's a Quad after all..

http://www.staples.com/HP-Pavilion-d...?cmArea=SEARCH

it has an hdmi port on the left side.