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Staples

Asus 15.6" laptop, $319.99 @ staples

  • Last Updated:
  • Aug 28th, 2012 11:09 am
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23 replies
Member
Jul 13, 2012
330 posts
52 upvotes
SCARBOROUGH
the lenovo refurb deal is much better. even the acer one is better i think
Member
Aug 31, 2007
313 posts
116 upvotes
Calgary
bursilym wrote: the lenovo refurb deal is much better. even the acer one is better i think
What is the lenovo refurb you speak of? The current ones are all about twice the cost.
Jr. Member
User avatar
Jul 18, 2010
174 posts
7 upvotes
Has a decent keyboard though? An english one. But if all you need it for is to watch youtube vids/listen to music/type and do homework it would be fine no? And it's a better brand then acer? Deciding if I should return it (Problem is there's no futureshop in my area)
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Feb 1, 2012
2223 posts
628 upvotes
GTA
oatclusters wrote: Has a decent keyboard though? An english one. But if all you need it for is to watch youtube vids/listen to music/type and do homework it would be fine no? And it's a better brand then acer? Deciding if I should return it (Problem is there's no futureshop in my area)
I would say it is definitely overpriced... yes asus is good but im not sure if i want to pay premium on this s***
the processor is very very slow.. yes it will do job fine like youtube, music and homework. but even a pentium III computer can do that i believe
Jr. Member
User avatar
Jul 18, 2010
174 posts
7 upvotes
Well ya, no way it would work for me personally cause im a gamer, but the person im buying a laptop for just needs it for homework and stuff. Basically at this price its either this or a $350 acer at walmart I guess
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User avatar
Jun 18, 2003
2726 posts
151 upvotes
DragOnT wrote: Totally agree
For those NEW to BUYING laptops/computer - quick GUIDE:
- decide how critical portability is. Carrying around house doesn't count. Smaller/lighter/thinner = more expensive.
- 14" and 15.6" have DVD/Blu-ray... smaller more portable sizes often dont. Consider 17" only if never moving much and/or cant see small screen well.
- ergonomics and built-in features are critical - some people can't stand a bilingual keyboard, lack of light, or no dock support.
- if gaming (SC2, Diablo3 etc not farmville), dedicated GeForce or Radeon is highly recommended.
- DONT focus too much on #GB of RAM, or #GB HDD. They're cheap to upgrade. Likewise, virtually all laptops come with WebCams, Ethernet, WiFi and HDMI.

CPU Performance - you need this for ripping music/videos, 3D games, excel/powerpoint:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/midlow_range_cpus.html

CPU performance comparison PASSMARK - you find these at FutureShop, BestBuy, Staples (higher is better):
4208 - AMD A8 4500M
>4000 such fast processors are hot and expensive
3781 - Intel i5 2540M
2715 - Intel i3 2330M
2300 - AMD A6-3420M
<2000 = slow with many programs running or in games - but many OK for playing HD movies.
1857 - Intel B940
1150 - Intel Core2Duo T7200 (old 2008)
734 - AMD E450
577 - AMD E1 1200
<500 old 2004 laptops like PentiumM and 10" Netbooks using Atom. tablets like iPad and Google Nexus also around this performance level.
501 - Intel PentiumM 2Ghz
319 - Intel Atom N450

With slick advertising, its tempting to jump on the 10" netbook or tablet bandwagon.
But, the high portability and battery life comes at expense of performance.
Although more bulky and heavier, general consensus on forums is that 14-15.6" Intel i3, i5, and AMD A6 laptops provide best value.

Finally, dozens of friends/family always come to me for advice on new laptop. 95% of time, spyware/malware is choking perfectly good system.
Even with fresh Windows install, system will "thrash"(blinking hdd light) trying to open movies or another tab in browser - you will have same problem with new laptop, unless you get a SSD (flash). Many store laptops that have it are expensive >$700. But, your tech savvy friend can buy and install one for <$80. Its a big performance boost and its cheaper than new laptop.
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Banned
User avatar
Jun 29, 2012
475 posts
36 upvotes
Hi Deimos, I like your detailed and informative post. It will help me much to know more about this laptop.
Deal Fanatic
Mar 30, 2011
7270 posts
719 upvotes
Deimos wrote: For those NEW to BUYING laptops/computer - quick GUIDE:
- decide how critical portability is. Carrying around house doesn't count. Smaller/lighter/thinner = more expensive.
- 14" and 15.6" have DVD/Blu-ray... smaller more portable sizes often dont. Consider 17" only if never moving much and/or cant see small screen well.
- ergonomics and built-in features are critical - some people can't stand a bilingual keyboard, lack of light, or no dock support.
- if gaming (SC2, Diablo3 etc not farmville), dedicated GeForce or Radeon is highly recommended.
- DONT focus too much on #GB of RAM, or #GB HDD. They're cheap to upgrade. Likewise, virtually all laptops come with WebCams, Ethernet, WiFi and HDMI.

CPU Performance - you need this for ripping music/videos, 3D games, excel/powerpoint:
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/midlow_range_cpus.html

CPU performance comparison PASSMARK - you find these at FutureShop, BestBuy, Staples (higher is better):
4208 - AMD A8 4500M
>4000 such fast processors are hot and expensive
3781 - Intel i5 2540M
2715 - Intel i3 2330M
2300 - AMD A6-3420M
<2000 = slow with many programs running or in games - but many OK for playing HD movies.
1857 - Intel B940
1150 - Intel Core2Duo T7200 (old 2008)
734 - AMD E450
577 - AMD E1 1200
<500 old 2004 laptops like PentiumM and 10" Netbooks using Atom. tablets like iPad and Google Nexus also around this performance level.
501 - Intel PentiumM 2Ghz
319 - Intel Atom N450

With slick advertising, its tempting to jump on the 10" netbook or tablet bandwagon.
But, the high portability and battery life comes at expense of performance.
Although more bulky and heavier, general consensus on forums is that 14-15.6" Intel i3, i5, and AMD A6 laptops provide best value.

Finally, dozens of friends/family always come to me for advice on new laptop. 95% of time, spyware/malware is choking perfectly good system.
Even with fresh Windows install, system will "thrash"(blinking hdd light) trying to open movies or another tab in browser - you will have same problem with new laptop, unless you get a SSD (flash). Many store laptops that have it are expensive >$700. But, your tech savvy friend can buy and install one for <$80. Its a big performance boost and its cheaper than new laptop.
Very informative but I have to disagree with the performance thing.

I am using a T9300 based system for development(visual studio etc.) and it doesn't feel slow. No gaming so can't tell there.

But for something that is not about gaming, even a 5 years old CPU(from Intel) is good enough for 95% of the task. Video/Photo editing may be the exception. Just give it enough RAM(and possibly a SSD if you have lots of programs open and need to swap in/out a lot).
Deal Addict
Sep 19, 2004
1116 posts
150 upvotes
chimp wrote: Very informative but I have to disagree with the performance thing.

I am using a T9300 based system for development(visual studio etc.) and it doesn't feel slow. No gaming so can't tell there.

But for something that is not about gaming, even a 5 years old CPU(from Intel) is good enough for 95% of the task. Video/Photo editing may be the exception. Just give it enough RAM(and possibly a SSD if you have lots of programs open and need to swap in/out a lot).

That was a very nice guide from Deimos for the regular buyers. And you are right, a 5 year old CPU is good enough for 95% of the tasks. But it has to be the higher end CPU from 5 years ago. For example, a celeron from 5 years ago would never be suitable for today. So i still would emphasize more on the processing power. Almost 100% of users whom purchased those low end CPU would complain about slow computer.
When it comes to buying a computer, CPU is still everything. These low end CPU are just not good enough.
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Jun 18, 2003
2726 posts
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galantgtz99 wrote: That was a very nice guide from Deimos for the regular buyers. And you are right, a 5 year old CPU is good enough for 95% of the tasks. But it has to be the higher end CPU from 5 years ago. For example, a celeron from 5 years ago would never be suitable for today. So i still would emphasize more on the processing power. Almost 100% of users whom purchased those low end CPU would complain about slow computer.
When it comes to buying a computer, CPU is still everything. These low end CPU are just not good enough.
Agree.. T7200 is just general cut-off... since that is when Intel started supporting HW video decoding of H264 (for HD movies).
I know dozens (but like millions) of folks get by with single core Sempron or Celeron - whether for classwork or team presentations, they get "buy"... at least not spending $2000 for newest MacBook Pro - aka the dedicated Facebook system.

T9300 is 45nm 2.5Ghz 6MB cache Core2Duo (release Jan 2008)
T7200 is older 65nm 2.0Ghz 4MB cache Core2Duo (released Aug 2006)

They should have relatively similar (good) performance. As I stated before, way too many people are ditching good laptops like this because they're overgrown with pr*n weeds. A clean install on SSD can revitilize your browsing experience.
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Deal Addict
Mar 7, 2007
1736 posts
158 upvotes
Toronto
its only c60, too expensive for how much CPU u are getting. Its just the laptop formfactor that makes it semi-attractive. 249,99 would be warm.
Nintendo Switch vibes
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Feb 12, 2002
4150 posts
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Toronto
No question it's overpriced at staples regular at $400
This $320 "sale" seems about where it should be retail.

With the 10% off "corporate" coupon,
staples-additional-10-your-purchase-aug ... d-1218311/
it bumps down to $288 (exp. aug 26)
which is decent and would fit the bill for the majority of non-application specific (i.e. photoshop) users who just need to get on the net or type papers, who would barely notice how "slow" this cpu is...like myself....

Our main family PC is still a 1.3ghz Duron w/ 1gig or ram, winXP
still works for non-hd youtube for the kids, and for my wife to type/email/facebook.

My main laptop for work is an 11yr old dell 900mhz celeron w/ 512mb ram, winXP, Office2K
Rock stable with a solid keyboard and good enough for typing my docs, basic excel and powerpoint, PDF's.
The only downside was toting around this beast during the occasional starbucks visit, definitely got some stares from the ipad crowd :o
i'd still continue to use it if the exhaust fan didnt finally die causing it to overheat and lock-up this past week...

I'm looking for an inexpensive replacement thats not Acer...so I'm actually considering this at $288 this weekend.

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