Need help figuring out what laptop i need

General Questions

1) What is your budget? $500-$1000

2) What size notebook would you prefer? not a huge deal, probably mainstream
a. Ultraportable; 10" - 12" screen
c. Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
d. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
e. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen
3) Which country will you buying this notebook? USA

4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like? No real preference, mostly have had HPs or Compaqs
5) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed? NO

6) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook? mostly internet surfing, some games (like emulators Dolphin, N64 etc) not like real "gaming". Also some streaming and/or casting to TV chromecast

7) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both? both, but mostly on desk

8) Will you be playing games on your notebook? (If so, please state which games or types of games?) Not modern gaming, just mostly emulators for older games like NES, N64, Gamecube etc

9) How many hours of battery life do you need? not the biggest issue as its usually plugged in

10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK? online is ok

11) What OS do you prefer? Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Chrome OS, etc. Windows

Screen Specifics

12) What screen resolution(s) would you prefer? (See further below for explanations.) no preference

13) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen? (See further below for explanations.) no preference

Build Quality and Design

14) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you? No

Notebook Components

15) How much hard drive space do you need? i think about 500gb is ok

Timing, Warranty and Longevity

16) When are you buying this laptop? Near future

17) How long do you expect to use this laptop? years (most of mine ive used for about 8-10 years

18) How long could you afford to do without your laptop if it were to fail? have desktop and phone so i could be without for a while

19) Would you be willing to pay significantly extra for on-site warranty, or would it be acceptable to you to have to ship the laptop to the vendor for repair with perhaps a week or more outage? No to extra

Thank you all for any help. My current laptop is a HP DV6z but it is just getting to old and overheating from time to time. would like something newer. I dont think my demands are very much. just something that will run my emulators and cast my movies or sports to the chromecast or TV. One other thing i do a lot of is download things while also trying to play on the internet or do other things, so something that will allow me to do multiple things would be nice as well. Dont really understand all the multiple core things. My current is a QuadCore but honestly dont even know if have it set up, i just do what i need and figure the computer will know what to do.

 

Welcome back. Yes, the Pavilion dv6z is well outdated at this point.

You ought to think about the size you want . Your dv6z is a 15.6" diagonal screen if I recall ...do you want the same size? Bigger? Smaller?

Most laptops in your price range will fit your needs, so don't be afraid to be particular with your requirements - it will help to narrow down the list.

Charles

 

For portability, to fit the purpose of entertainment, light gaming, and surfing, 15/16 inchers will often hit the sweetspot. It's also moderately easy to carry around, as the size and weight is not clumsy to be a hinderence to bring out from home.
Intel's integrated graphics is just sufficient for surfing and show streaming. When some games are played, it's better to go for Ryzen 5 or 7 systems.

 

Thank you both for the responses. im happy with the 15/16 in, dont think i really care too much, but thats probably what i want. i feel like most laptops will do what i need too, my experience lately is that i have trouble casting/streaming, but that may well be just because mine is so old. i never understood how to set it up with the 2 different processors so a lot may have been my fault. i seem to be able to play most anything i want on my dv6z, so my thinking is that anything should be fine that is newer. I like having the SD card slot as well as the CD/DVR but i understand that doesnt really happen much anymore and i can get adapters as needed. I have mostly had AMD as well, but just really coincidence not preference, i guess the cheaper price is why ive always had them.

Mine is also giving me trouble when i am converting big movies files to another type or the same with music. backups to USB seem to always bring mine to a halt now as well, so if im transferring files to a backup source i cant really do anything else while i wait so if its going to be an hour to transfer im kinda stuck right now. it runs fine but i cant really bring up the internet or anything else. I guess i would kinda like to be able to convert that stuff while still being able to browse the internet.

i guess the bottom line is that it sounds like if my current one does (or did) what i wanted then any laptop will because the tech is outdated on mine anyway so anything i buy will be at least as good.

 

The new HP Envy x360 with an AMD Ryzen 4000 series CPU will do everything you ask and more.

 

The only info I can find about ur DV6z is that it was AMD A6 based. What kind of GPU I couldn't determine. So... as time passes, data speed gets faster and video streaming qualities requires more advance GPU to deliver the moving images, u definitely require a new system that can handle the fast streaming movies or programs to ur entertainment.
The Ryzen APUs can deliver the jobs. However, the iGPU also may require bigger RAMs to handle not just the task of entertainment, but also ur conversion of video files.
Since HP/Compaq had served u good in the past ages, go for HP with the latest 4000series Ryzen CPUs. The OMEN can be a good choice!

I personally would like to recommend the Lenovo Legion 5 which i'm using now with 4600H CPU+16GB dual channel RAM+Nvidia 1650 dGPU combo, which can be had at very affordable price point without the sacrifice in performance.
In addition, it runs very cool as well even under stress.
However, the only con that this system lacks, is a dedicated SD/MicroSD slot that could be useful to u on media converting jobs.

 

Thanks, this is one i have actually been looking at as a possibility

 

is this what you were referring to for my GPU. it says 1GB AMD Radeon HD 7690M GDDR5 Discrete Graphics (hdmi,vga)

my brother in law loves lenova so i will have to check that out too. thanks. as far as the SD i can always buy an adapter. i do use it a lot with my WII and i use the CD/DVD player because almost all of my backups and programs are on a disc, but again, i can by an external one if i have to for the times i use it.

 

Found this from my receipt

AMD Quad-Core A8-3550MX Accelerated Processor (2.7GHz/2.0GHz, 4MB L2 Cache)
• 1GB AMD Radeon(TM) HD 7690M GDDR5 Discrete Graphics(TM) [HDMI, VGA]
• FREE UPGRADE to 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
• FREE UPGRADE to 640GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection

 

Maybe you just want to head on over to Best Buy and take a look at some notebooks to see what you like and do not. Look and feeling are important, but subjective. Since your DVz is old, it would seem you like to keep them a long time, so perhaps a business class notebook, which tend to be more durable, would be worth a look. I know you said no to a refurbed notebook, but buying one directly from the manufacturer will typically offer you better bang for your buck. Most are returns sold with a nice discount. Most come with at least a year of warranty directly from the manufacturer, sometimes more depending on the model. I've bought refurbed from HP, Apple, Lenovo And Dell. They always look new, though sometimes you don't get the fancy packaging. If you want to go with something a little more wallet friendly, the Acer Aspire 5 may merit consideration. Good Luck.