New Laptop or Keep old one

Ok I have an Dell Insprion 15 Laptop that has 3 GB RAM. I have had so much trouble with this laptop. Ive had to wipe everything off my laptop 3 times. It didnt have no viruses. Just it would not log on and the screen would turn black but be on. Ive gotten the blue screen twice. It turns off randomly when I move it slightly it turns off as in it turns off completely and i have to turn it back on. It overheats in 1-2 hours. The charger is kinda broke as in it still charges but sometimes it doesn't recognize it.

Now I'm looking for a laptop in the price range $300-$400. I dont like Dell that much since the customer service is horrible imo. I'd like a laptop that works well and thats with a good or decent company. I dont mind buying the laptop online. Also is this legit?
http://www.win741.com/
If it is I'm going to save some money and get this since I'm a college student.

What im basically asking is
1. Should I keep my shitty laptop or get a new one
2. If I do need to get a new one could you recommend one and please link it.
3. Is that deal about college students getting Windows 7 for 29.99 legit or is it some scam?

Ok anything but a Mac. I have no experince with Macs so id rather stay with PCs

Ever heard of universities subsidizing software for students?

So its true? And I go to a community college

EDIT:Still need help picking a laptop. I would like a Desktop but I have nowhere in my room to put it. I took classes on hardware support so I can take a computer apart and sorta put it back together. But when it comes the the wires I'm totally confused.

Well, for $300-400, its not easy finding a good computer. Can you possibly reuse some parts from your old computer (hard drive, RAM)?

Anyway here are some suggestions:

Acer Aspire Timeline: 1.3GHz dual core (ultra low voltage), 3GB DDR3, Superior 8 Hour Battery Life, 320GB HD: $400
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5590460&Sku=S445-150048

The Acer Aspire Timeline is the best college utility laptop, with a shitload of battery life and fast DDR3 RAM. The processor is a little slow, but personally if I was going to get a school computer, this would be it. Don't expect it to run CPU intensive programs (audio converting, new games) with too much grace, but its dual core processor can handle old games and anything that isn't too CPU intensive.


ASUS: Pentium Dual Core 2.0GHz, 3GB DDR2, 320GB HDD, DVDRW, 15.6", Vista Home Premium: $419
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5250523&CatId=4936

The most powerful overall (and most expensive) is the ASUS Pentium Dual Core. If you get that, you will get a modestly responsive computer with the intel 4500HD. Don't expect it to game much, new games will be out of the question.


Gateway: AMD Dual core QL-62, 250GB HD, Radeon 3200 (equal to 4500HD):$379
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Gateway+-+Laptop+with+AMD+Athlon%26%23153%3B+X2+Dual-Core+Processor+-+Black/9664376.p?id=1218140710154&skuId=9664376

The Gateway is the best performer within in your price range. Its just a weaker version of the ASUS.


MSI Wind: Mystic Black AMD Athlon Neo MV-40(1.60GHz) 12.1" WXGA 2GB Memory 250GB HDD Netbook, Radeon X1250 (weaker than 4500HD): $332
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152141R

The MSI Wind is small and cheap, with enough power to run basic applications.


Hope this helps, and this is just a preliminary selection. Try looking for some laptops yourself on different websites (TigerDirect, Ebay, Best Buy, etc.) $300-$400 is a very difficult range for attempting to find laptops, but if you can't spare anymore, it's fine.

Get a new laptop. I've had bad experiences with Dell laptops, with two no less. I have a HP Pavilion 6700 laptop, and for the two-three years it served me, it's still running even though its graphics card sucks balls compared to standard fare.

I would like to game with the laptop. I play Maple Story but I might start trying to play WoW. Its a laptop so I don't know how to take it apart. They told me how to take out the hard drive but thats about it.

EDIT: I might be able to spare 100 more bucks maybe. Im getting this money from my grant and in all I may get $900+. Last time I got like $1100+ but that was before tuition was increased. But I may get around that amount again. I plan on trying to get a 8GB itouch. Money towards maybe WoW. Laptop, Cooling pad. Might get an entertainment center... and maybe a new TV( most likely not).

Keep in mind that gaming laptops need pretty good graphics card, and nothing less than NVIDIA Geforce 8400m gs.

That sounds like its expensive

You are sure right, it is hard to find laptops with dedicated graphics for under $600.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220638
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220636
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152126

My personal favorite: ASUS G50Vt-X1.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Asus-G50Vt-X1-Core-2-Duo-Windows-Vista-Gaming-Notebook_W0QQitemZ130352412381QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLaptops_Nov05?hash=item1e599bf6dd

Although its expensive, it will handle games like a real gaming computer. Not to mention its killer looks.

I wish I could really help ya, but its really hard to find really good deals on things like these. Black Friday deals are long and gone.

EDIT: However if you play maple story, and don't plan on playing WoW or CS:S, Half Life 2, Dragon Age, Oblivion/Fallout 3, then these laptops would be overkill for your needs.

BTW, do you live in the USA or elsewhere?

In the USA in sweet home alabama :P

First of all the win741 website is not a scam. It is microsoft sanctioned discount only for students with edu addresses and I bought 3 copies of windows 7 for 30 dollars each, 2 professional, and one home via 2 edu addresses. The site has been mentioned on tech blogs ad nauseam on trusted websites such as lifehacker, yahoo etc etc if you want to check.

Second of all, for labtops, I would recommended you invest in some money and buy macbook even though I normally a pc guy. The problems with labtops is that they have engineering issues with heat b/c labtops are naturally compact. Dells have been pretty streaky, old dell labtops like 4-5 years ago had good quality, but the lately Dell seems to have quality control issues with some of my friend's high end company business machines having overheating problems.

SO unless you get a highend Vaio, or lenovo, you will likely have quality control issues buying 500 dollars labtops. Again being a pc guy, I have grudgingly turned to MACBOOKS for my labtop needs because they are just excellently engineered machines with excellent support . If you need windows, then you can dualboot/bootcamp with the 30 dollar copy of windows you bought form that site. If you live near a MICROCENTER they are selling macbooks for 800 dollars after receiving rebates excluding taxes. I think its a worthwhile investment.

http://f.microcentermail.com//asbs/servlet/WebContView?C=16186211&R=1100902185&K=UNNP&BrCs=498&BrCg=16186211&BrRc=1100902185

I was ok until you said $800. I might play WoW idk. I might try a free trial to see if I would enjoy it.

I can vouch for that got my a copy for AU$50 with the Australian offer.
Good thing is it provides you with two licenses so one for the laptop one for the box :D

So I might as well not buy it since im getting a new laptop right?

So I might have to replace the motherboard? Damn. So get windows 7 or not? Also I have a desktop computer. It has a 500MB ram and uses window xp and its slow as a turtle

Nope warrenty has been gone on that desktop