^ Not to complain, but I really wouldn't recommend an Acer. They aren't well made, are failure-prone, offer laughable customer support, and are generally cheap for a reason. Dell, Gateway, HP - I'd suggest avoiding those too. Personally, I feel Toshiba laptops are quite good and I haven't had a problem with mine in five years (compare to a brand new Sony Vaio whose stock RAID failed within a year of purchase), but I may just be lucky. I'd recommend an ASUS or Lenovo at the moment since they blend superior craftsmanship with affordability and good product support.
This one's in the same range as that Acer -
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834246628 . Not saying 'You should buy that one", but it's a good processor and video card for under a thousand bucks and has the RAM to cover the recommended amount for most modern games. It's got a number pad as well. I don't know how to check the availability of that particular Costco in Montana, but there are a few comparable machines on their website with only a slight markup,
like this one.Remember that laptops are rather harder to upgrade than desktops, much more so, in fact (it can be done, but it's often a more involved process that can easily damage the computer by accident). The neighborhood of $1000 should get you something that will last a long time and won't be too quickly outdated. Whatever you buy is going to be cheaper before very long, so it doesn't pay to get the top-of-the-line-for-now, when all you need is the working-and-dependable.
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Topic: Getting a Laptop (Read 2248 times)