Laptops Arena

Like I always say, if a laptop is good for gaming, it’s good for about anything else. This is because new and top of the line games require the most powerful components that determine good speed and high video quality during game play. This is why, in order to find the best laptop under 2k, I looked for a cheap gaming machine. I did my homework and I’m here to show you the Dell Studio XPS 16.
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Why do I think that this is the best laptop under 2k? Well, it is powered by a 2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P8600 processor. It runs with 4 GB of DDR3 which you know that it offers high transfer rate. You have 320 GB of disk storage space with this laptop and the graphics card is the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3670 with 512 MB of video memory. The starting price for this laptop is around $1200 but if you want specs like the ones in this reviewed unit, you have to come up with $1804.

When it comes to the design of this laptop, you are going to love it. With touches of brushed aluminum and some sleek lines, this Dell makes a beautiful desktop replacement so make sure you put in the living room for every guest to admire. It has a solid built in design with hinges that keep the display in place. Over the hinge area, Dell has added a nice touch of leather which makes another nice touch. There was no flex noticed in any of the keys area where flex is normally an issue. If you want to gain access to the RAM, hard drive and other components inside the laptop, on the bottom of the XPS 16 you will find one big access panel that reveals all upgradeable components. This is unusual because most laptops have separate access panels for each of those components. It could be annoying to keep removing 10 screws only to remove 1 RAM chip. The 16 inch display must be one of the most beautiful ones you have ever seen. The RGBLED LCD allows you to enjoy some high definition movies using the integrated Blu-Ray optical drive. The screen has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and the horizontal viewing angles are great if you want to watch a movie with a couple more friends.



The keyboard on this laptop is definitely one of the nicest we have ever come across. We would have liked a numerical pad as well but it have cramped things up I guess. A numerical pad would have also prevented the 2 speakers to be located on the left and right side of the keyboard. The keys are flatter than what you are used to see on Dell laptops but the LED backlight function is one big plus for this model. Typing in the dark is now much easier. The touchpad is ok, although it may be considered a little too small compared to the whole size of the laptop. The left and right mouse buttons are ok when you press them/ the texture feel very good so it’s won’t be too tiring for your fingertips if you use the touchpad for long continuous hours. As for the ports and connection, the Dell XPS 16 has 3 USB ports (one of which is also an eSATA port), a TV tuner antenna jack which is hidden under a rubber cover, an Ethernet port, an Express Card slot, a security lock slot, a Display port, one VGA out, a HDMI port, a card reader plus FireWire and the regular headphones out and microphone in jacks. We always like laptops with HDMI ports because they provide both audio and video output. The truth is this laptop has enough ports and connections to increase the total functionality of your laptop.



Since it’s a desktop replacement, I don’t find speakers that important because you can always use a set of external speakers with a laptop which will probably never leave the house. However, compared to other notebooks, the sound quality coming out of the speakers is decent. Maybe because along with 2 stereo speakers, this laptop also has a subwoofer. When it comes to performance, this laptop has proven to be the best one under 2k. The 3DMark06 test has given us a 4855 score for this unit which is even better than the HP HDX 18t (you know, that big new monster from HP). If there is one thing that bothers people about this laptop, it is the heat output. Due to the powerful components inside, temperatures get a little too high for our taste. This means that this laptop is not to be used on your lap. Noise, on the other hand, in no problem. When you have some extra background noise, you’ll barely be able to hear the cooling fans.



Another thing I personally don’t find important in a desktop replacement is the battery life. I mean, why should we care about the battery performance if this laptop stays on my desk all the time so I can keep it connected to a power outlet all of the time? Anyway, you can never expect amazing battery life from a unit with powerful specs. If you have the 9 cell battery on this unit, you can get about 2 hours and 50 minutes of laptop usage with the “balanced” power mode under Windows Vista, the screen brightness adjusted to 80% and with the wireless function turned on. Smaller laptops with weaker components can provide even better battery life.



If I were you, I’d take the battery out of the unit while I keep it plugged in. not only does this move improve the battery life but you should know by now that when the laptop battery charges, it generated a considerable amount of heat which contributes to the overall temperature of the unit. With some minor cons, this laptop has given us many reasons to consider it the best laptop under $2000. Since there are $4000 gaming units on the market right now, I’d go with the Dell XPS 16… just to save some money.

If anyone ever tells you that choosing a laptop for you is easy is either a person specialized in the IT field or a crazy person. People that have basic knowledge as far as computers go know that it’s hard to buy the right laptop especially with all the models that are available on the market right now and keep in mind that new laptop models are being developed every day, even now as we speak. The right laptop for you depends mostly on what you need a laptop for. There are basic laptops that cover the basic computing needs. There are office laptops which can run several applications to help you get your work done faster. There are multimedia laptops for those that use notebooks mostly to listen to music and to watch movies. There are laptop that have excellent battery life for those that are always and the do and gaming laptops for those that have some extra money to spend on a powerful gaming unit.
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This is why it’s very difficult for us to tell you which is the best laptop or which is the right laptop for you because that answer depends. It depends on what you are looking for in a laptop. Does it have to look nice? Does it have to be cheap? Maybe you just want a laptop so you can watch movies while you travel, in which case you need long battery life. This is why this article is going to be a general review of a laptop components and what they are good for. By knowing what each component does you can choose the right components for your laptop. After that, you can build your own laptop or look for one that has the components you need.

Let’s start with the laptop RAM. RAM stands for random access memory and it’s the component that allows you to run multiple applications on your laptop. When it comes to RAM, all I can say is: the more, the merrier. Today’s modern laptop comes with at least 2 GB of RAM and most of them can be upgraded. Lots of RAM is necessary especially for laptops meant to be used in the office that need several applications to be run simultaneously and they it is also important for gaming laptops because combined with the processor, it determines the speed at which your games will run. Speaking of laptop processors, they are another type of components which are vital for the laptop. Think of them as the brain of your unit. The central processing unit, also known as a CPU, is the components which carries most of the computer’s functions.  The CPU, or the processor, executes all of your computer’s applications. It decodes the instructions and writes back the results to us users. As you know, there are lots of CPU models out there. One very good choice is a Dual Core Processor. Dual core means that the CPU has two hearts instead of one and it can execute the commands at twice the speed of regular single core processor.



The GPU is the graphics processing unit which is in fact the video card of your laptop. Here we have two concepts that you need to know and understand when you choose a laptop with a certain graphics card. Graphic cards are in need of some memory so they can operate. This is why we have 2 different types of graphics card. First, there is the integrated video card which is part of the motherboard and is uses some RAM to run. These video cards are slower and not recommended for users that are seeking gaming laptops because the performance can be disappointing. On the other hand, we have the dedicated video cards that run on separate memory and they are recommended for gamers and people that have to use 3D applications. A decent video card should have about 256 MB or 512 MB of video memory. There are gaming laptops, like certain Alienware models that even come with 1 GB of video memory. You can’t even imagine what the price tag of these laptops is.



Disk space is another problem when you choose a laptop. If your new laptop is going to be used as a primary computer, it means you are going to store all kinds of files on it, like pictures, documents, games, music, movies and many more. This means that you should have lots of free disk space available. Your laptop should have at least 160 GB of disk storage if not even more. You can always buy an external hard drive if you feel that there isn’t enough space for you on your disk. If you have an optical drive, such as a DVD burner, you can copy files on your DVDs and then delete them from the laptop to free some disk space.



The number of ports and connections is also important when you buy a laptop. A good laptop should have at least 2 USB ports, an Ethernet port which is mandatory, a HDMI out and maybe a good card reader. If you picked out a cheaper laptop that does not have sufficient ports and connections, you could always buy a docking station. We have previously written an article about docking station and if you read it, you will see that it’s a reliable solution for laptops with few ports.



Think about the other laptop features that available and determine whether you are going to use them or not. Why should you pay extra for a laptop with an integrated Bluetooth if you have no need of quick transfer of files between your laptop and your mobile phone? Or why should you pay for a laptop with a webcam if you never use video chat programs? You could always talk to a friend that knows a bit more about laptops that you do, so he can join you in purchasing the right laptop for you. Personally, I don’t trust laptop sales people; they always try to sell the most expensive models with features you’re probably never going to use.

We have decided to write this article because each of us has had, at some point, the quality of being a consumer. When you are a consumer, you can be exposed to different fraud simply because people in our days come up with the most intelligent and illegal ways of making money. Frauds have been reported in numerous domains: police and FBI have dealt with credit card crimes, e-mail scams, phone scams, Green Card lottery scams and yes, there even are laptop sales consumer frauds.
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This is why there is an online Consumer Fraud Reporting system that has the role and responsibility to warn the masses about different types of financial scams or they even give us a chance to report if we have been victims or witness of any kind of consumer frauds. Pay attention to everything around you, read a contract 10 times if you have to before you sign it, do some research before buying products that look extremely cheap and be careful who you buy things from. Don’t trust just anyone that offers you a dream job and don’t enter your personal information on suspicious websites. Don’t trust e-mails from banks that are redirecting you to clone websites and you have to enter personal information like your credit card number. A trustworthy bank will never ask you to update your personal information online; they will require you to go the bank personally. This article is not meant to convert you into a paranoiac individual; we just want to inform you that there are lots of criminals out there who are looking for opportunities to get their hands on your money.

When it comes to laptop sales consumer frauds, we are talking about scam shopping deals that you definitely should refuse. One very suspicious website that may be coverage for a big fraud is www.getmyfreelaptop.com. This website tells you that you could win some free laptops or other gadgets if you complete certain requirements. If you read carefully what is written in small letters at the bottom of the page, you will see that there are some steps you have to follow. First you have to register with valid information and then complete some user surveys. And here comes the scam. In order to “receive” your so called prize, you have to complete certain offers that require you to buy some products which I’m sure that normally you would not consider buying. When a seller offers something for free, it’s supposed to be for free and it should not require any purchase unless it’s obviously presented in the offer. For instance, it’s one thing when HP has an offer that says “if you buy our new X laptop, you will receive this free laptop protection bag” because the free prize is cheaper for the company to give out and they don’t make any super financial sacrifices. But when someone offers you a free laptop for doing nothing at all, that is quite suspicious. Currently, this website seems to be under investigation so let’s wait and see what happens.



While searching on the internet to give you more information about laptop sales consumer frauds, we came across a post written by a very angry Walmart customer. This consumer said he waited for a laptop sale to begin on Walmart’s website at 3 a.m. at that particular hour, the website has an “out of stock” tag for the laptop our consumer wanted. He continued to refresh the page until 3:32 when the laptop finally appeared to be in their stock and available for purchase. After that, he added the laptop to his cart and when he wanted to pay for it, he got a new message from the website saying the laptop was out of stock at 3:30.



In our quest, we also found an article about Chinese sellers that commit laptop frauds on eBay. These sellers make eBay identities for themselves so they can sell counterfeit and fraudulent laptops from respectable manufacturers like Dell or Toshiba to the people in Europe or in the USA. Those of you that buy products from eBay may have noticed that every seller can receive feedback from the people that purchased products from them. These Chinese sellers have their own way of getting positive feedback. They have about 10 quick transactions where the buyers are also people from China and the objects of the transaction are cheap. This way, the buyers can give all positive ratings so when you visit one Chinese seller profile, it will show 100% positive feedback. This makes people trust that seller and buy expensive objects that are in fact, pieces of junk. But be careful, because these pieces of junk cost hundreds and even thousands of dollars. In most cases, these items are never delivered to the customer or you may get other items than the ones you paid for. Of course, when the transaction is complete, the profile of the seller disappears so it’s very difficult to get hold of the perpetrator.



Personally, I blame the website a lot more than I blame the sellers. They should have some kind of identification system that helps prevent any suspicious individual from making a seller account and then scam people using it. One idea could be the following: the website could send a letter to the address that sellers use when they make their accounts. The envelope could contain a validation code that needs to be typed in order to complete the making of the profile. That way, the websites could have a more accurate database with home addresses that are actually real so they can have some connection in case one of the sellers is reported as a fraud. Be careful, laptops are not the only expensive items that these people sell. If you find designer clothes or expensive perfumes, they could also be fake. Try to avoid buying any really expensive product from such websites and buy them from authorized dealers and manufacturers. Remember that it is your duty as a responsible citizen to report any kind of frauds to prevent other from being scammed as well.

As most of you may already know, an internet connection is a physical connection that you establish between the internet and you hosting provider. Generally, you need an internet cable which is plugged into the computer’s dedicated port but when it comes to laptops, we can also have a wireless connection.
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In this article we are going to explain how you hook up a laptop to the internet whether you want to establish a wireless connection or not. Let’s start with the wireless connection. Unlike regular internet connections where you have to plug in the internet cable into your laptop, a wireless connection uses radio frequency signals that are sent from the wireless router to your laptop using an antenna and no wires. Imagine your laptop is a cell phone and the router is your mobile telephone service antenna. The closer you are the antenna, the better signal you will have. It’s about the same with wireless routers. They have only a certain area that they can cover so just because you have a wireless connection at home, doesn’t mean you can use it anywhere you are. Depending on the brand and quality of the wireless router, the coverage areas may vary. A good router (one that you can use at home, I mean) can usually spread the signal around 100 meters.  Wireless internet (and free) is also available in coffee shops, restaurants and some public institutions, like hospitals, universities or train stations.

When you configure your wireless router for the first time, aside from choosing a username, it is also recommended you set up a password. Passwords are important to keep you protected because your internet connection can also be hijacked. This means that an outsider can access the internet using your wireless connection without you approval. It’s like stealing water from your fountain. Needless to say that the more people that use the same wireless connections, the slower the internet speed will become. This is because there is a general internet speed, for example 10 MB per second which is divided to the number of laptops that are using that connection. You also have to be careful when you connect to public wireless networks because the information on your computer may become visible to strangers.



The most popular form of internet connection is broadband. This is also the fastest way to get around the internet. While a wireless connection may be slow and a dial up connection is going to keep those phone lines busy, a broadband internet connection is simple to set up, it’s fast, it’s also rather cheap and most importantly, it’s available everywhere. Whether you are using it at home or at the office, broadband internet is a very good choice. The first thing you have to do to hook up a laptop to the internet using a broadband connection is getting the right Internet Service Provider (called ISP for short). When you sign a contract with an ISP, one of two things is going to happen next. The provider is going to send you a CD which contains all the instructions, step by step, on how to easily install and make all the necessary settings to use the internet on your laptop or they could send in a team of technicians that will install the connection for you.



One thing that people never worry about when they choose to set up a broadband internet connection is the age of their laptop. Computers and laptops that are older than 5 or 6 years may be too slow for a fast internet connection. Instead of upgrading, these users just blame the ISP because the connection is too slow. You must pay attention to this detail and ask someone who knows things about computers if your laptop is not by any chance too old for a broadband connection. When you choose your internet service provider, you also have to check if you get any kind of support if there is ever something wrong with your internet connection. Most people never consider this factor. If something goes wrong and the internet stops working, how fast can you get any help? Will they solve the problem in that same day or is it going to take a week? Can you survive one week without internet? Most broadband service providers will give you a paper with your username and password that you need to set up when establishing the internet connection. If your ISP will send technicians over, they will do this process for you the first time so you can learn from them how to do it. memorize the process because you need to set up this connection using the username and password every time you format your laptop. The technicians will not come and do this for you every time. Some ISPs have a special customer service line and if you are experiencing difficulties in setting up the connection, they can explain the steps by phone.



We are going to explain how to set up your broadband internet connection if you are using Windows XP. Click on the Start button -> Control Panel -> Network Connections. On the left of the window there is column where you select “Create a new connection”. The dedicated wizard will appear and you have to click “Next”. Click the first option (“Connect to the internet”) and click “Next” again. In the next window, choose “Set up my connection manually” and click “Next”. After that, you have to choose one of three ways to connect to the internet. If you have been provided with a user name and password, click the second option and click “Next” again. The next windows will require for you to type in the username and the password and that about does the job. Click “Next” and the last window will ask if you want to add a shortcut to the connection on your desktop. Now, every time you turn on your laptop and wish to use the internet, double click that shortcut on your desktop, press “Connect” and there you go: fresh and ready to use broadband internet connection.

We have spoken a lot about the advantages of buying a refurbished laptop. It’s an easy way that helps you get the laptop you have always wanted at a cheaper price than a brand new unit. If people were not convinced about the efficiency of this method, the warranty period was supposed to convince them that they are not buying just any piece of cheap junk, but a laptop that is backed up by the guarantee of the manufacturer that it has been reviewed and all errors and problems have been fixed. Well, another way for you to buy a laptop if you don’t have enough money to spend, is getting a laptop that you can pay monthly fees for.
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Laptop monthly payments mean you pay a fixed sum of money each month, for a predetermined period until you have fully covered the entire cost of the unit (plus some interest).  The advantage is that the sum of money you pay is smaller than the total cost of the laptop so it’s easier for the buyer to include the payment in their monthly budget. Finding a financing solution for a new laptop is easy. Even if it’s simpler to just pay the entire cost of the laptop when you buy rather that complicate your life with another bill, people with a low budget often consider monthly payments as a good option not only for a laptop, but even for a television, washing machine, other house hold items and even for a new car.

Even if you have a bad credit, in our days it is not that difficult to get financing for something. It is easy to find a lender thanks to the internet. Since the online environment has made our life much easier and we can pay our bills online using our credit cards, why shouldn’t be able to find some financing solutions using this very useful tool? Not only can you find a lender on the internet but there are different website that can take care of this entire process for you. Such websites give you the possibility to buy laptops from good and respected manufacturer like HP, Toshiba or Dell. When you find the model that suits you best, it’s only a matter of filling in some online forms and in the end you get everything in your mail. The prices for the laptops on these websites are very ok so basically anyone can afford a new laptop.



If you are the kind of person that likes to check out the merchandise before buying it, it’s easy to get credit though local retailers. You have to visit different stores that sell laptops on monthly payments and then choose which one has the best prices and policy for you. Since stores will do almost anything to sell their items, there are lots of perks even for people that don’t have the best financial situation. There are also stores and offers that give you the possibility to buy a laptop without having to pay anything for a couple of months and start paying later on. When you choose to buy a laptop with monthly payments, make sure your read the policy very carefully as some retailers have huge interest that are written in small letters at the bottom of the contract and you may end up paying lots of money without knowing why. This is why it’s very important to read any type of contract carefully before signing it.  Always be on the lookout for promotion especially now with all this holiday seasons fuss. Stores are offering really good laptop at very good prices and who knows? Maybe you can afford a new one without having to do any kind of monthly payments.  When you go into a store, make sure you consult a specialized sales person that can give you exact and accurate details about that store’s financial plans.



You may not know this, but your credit card is one important tool that helps you get some cheap monthly payments. You can get some useful and nice cash back rewards and some even help you get extensions to warranties. That’s why I love credit cards; they always give me so many possibilities. Some stores even offer discounts if you pay directly with your credit card. Getting a credit card is easy and depending on the emitting bank, it can also be free (anyway, the fee for getting a credit card is very low).



Another way of getting a laptop with monthly payments is the high risk loan. This type of loan is usually given to people with bad credit because it’s the most aggressive type of loan that should only be made in case of emergencies. This payday loan is very drastic and if you don’t make you payments on time, you are risking some very high penalties. The interest is also enormous compared to other types of loan so you had better think twice before adventuring yourself and making such a big step.



If you are a student looking for a laptop, the government offers different financing options that the ones stated above. In some cases, students even have a shot at getting free laptops depending on the school where they study. The corporate environment also gets some pretty good deals on laptop as they normally purchase a large number of units and this generates huge discount and certain advantages on monthly payments. If you have good credit, you shall have no problem in getting a laptop with monthly payments at an interest that isn’t out of this world.It’s up to you to decide if it’s easier for you to just pay all the money at once and not get too complicated with extra papers and interest or if it’s easier to add another small amount of money to your monthly bills. As you can see, monthly payments on laptops are a big area and there are lots of possibilities and option for you to choose from.