Which would you choose?

Question

I will be purchasing a laptop to take online classes. Ive narrowed it down to two laptops

HP 15.6" Pavilion DV6-3120US Entertainment Laptop PC:
Key Features & Benefits:

* AMD Turion II Dual-Core Mobile P540 processor
2.40GHz L2 Cache

* 4GB DDR3 SDRAM system memory (expandable up to 8GB)
Gives you the power to handle most power hungry applications and tons of multimedia work

* 500GB SATA hard drive
Store 333,000 photos, 142,000 songs or 263 hours of HD video and more

* SuperMulti 8X DVD+/-R/RW with Double Layer Support
Watch movies, and read and write CDs and DVDs in multiple formats

* 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN, 802.11b/g/n Wireless LAN
Connect to a broadband modem with wired Ethernet or wirelessly connect to a Wi-Fi signal or hotspot with the 802.11b/g/n connection built into your PC

* 15.6" diagonal high-definition HP BrightView LED display
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 Graphics with 128MB display cache memory with 128MB DDR3 (sideport memory) with up to 2045MB total graphics memory

Additional Features:

* HP TrueVision webcam
* 5-in-1 digital media reader
* 4 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x HDMI port, 1 x eSATA port, 1 x headphone-out, 1 x microphone-in, 1 x RJ-45 port
* 6-cell lithium-ion battery

Software:

* Genuine Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Edition (To learn more about the features of Windows 7, click here)
* Microsoft Office 2010 (purchase of a Product Key required to activate a full Office 2010 suite)
* Symantec Norton Internet Security 2011 (60-day trial)
* HP MediaSmart Suite, HP Games
* HP Support Assistant, HP Advisor and HP Recovery Manager

Support and Warranty:

* 1-year limited hardware warranty with toll free support; 1-year free hardware technical support; 30-days free limited software support
* Restore discs are no longer included with PCs. We recommend you use the installed software to create your own restore & backup DVD the first week you use the computer.

What's In The Box:

* Power supply and power cord
* 6-cell lithium-ion battery
* Quick Start Guide


OR


Sony 15.5" VAIO VPC-EE23FX Laptop PC with AMD Athlon II Processor & Windows 7 Home Premium

Key Features & Benefits:

* AMD Athlon II X2 P320 processor
2.10GHz, 1MB L2 Cache

* 4GB DDR3 system memory
Gives you the power to handle most power-hungry applications and tons of multimedia work

* 320GB SATA hard drive
Store 213,000 photos, 91,000 songs or 168 hours of HD video and more

* Multi-format DVD burner
Watch DVD movies on your computer; read and write CDs and DVDs in multiple formats.

* 10/100/1000 Ethernet, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi
Connect to a broadband modem or a wired broadband router with wired Ethernet, or wirelessly connect to a Wi-Fi signal or hotspot with the 802.11b/g/n connection built into your PC

* 15.5" diagonal HD widescreen display
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4250 graphics

Additional Features:

* Built-in MOTION EYE Webcam and microphone with face-tracking technology
* Digital media card reader
* 4 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x HDMI port, 1 x VGA output, 1 x headphone jack, 1 x microphone jack, 1 x RJ-45 Ethernet port
* Standard capacity lithium-ion battery pack

Software:

* Genuine Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Edition (To learn more about the features of Windows 7, click here)
* Microsoft Office 2010 Starter
* Norton Internet Security 2010 (30-day trial)
* Sony Creativity Suite
* VAIO Care system diagnostics and maintenance

Support and Warranty:

* 1-year limited warranty; 1 year toll-free 24/7 technical assistance
* Restore discs are no longer included with PCs. We recommend you use the installed software to create your own restore & backup DVD the first week you use the computer.

What's In The Box:

* Power supply and power cord
* Standard capacity Li-Ion battery
* Quick Start Guide and documentation

Answer 1

Hi There,



Either computer would probably fit your needs. I have had good luck with HP laptop and desktop computers. Have not used a Sony VAIO so really can not comment about it but it should be fine.



Here is how I would compare their specs:

The HP has a larger hard drive (500 gigs vs. 320 gigs)......nod to HP



HP has a 6 cell battery while the Sony has a "standard" battery ( probably the HP battery will last longer)......nod to HP



The HP has a dual layer DVD burner but Sony does not advertise dual layer capability...nod to HP



Both have the same video adapter ....that's a tie.



Both have webcams.....which you probably do not even need .....tie



Microsfft Office 2010....HP has a trial version while Sony has Office Starter... detail here...http://www.zdnet.com/blog/bott/office-starter-2010-drops-the-crapware-adds-ads/2220



Personally I do not like either a trial version or the feature limited starter edition.



My suggestion would be either to download and install the free Open Office for your work or if you really want MS Office; just buy a full boxed version. By buying the full boxed version you will have the programs on a DVD including a valid activation key. The reason for the boxed version is because you will need to reinstall in the future and it will be much easier than trying to remember where the key is loocated and downloading again. I have MS Office and have had to reinstall about five times ( avg. once per year). Since I have the boxed version it is no trouble to reinstall to fix a software glitch in one of the office apps.



Both computers have only trial versions of Norton Antivirus. Sony has a 30 day trial and HP has a 60 day trial period. Both computers fail in this catagory.



Norton is a good antivirus but will cost about $70- for one year. My suggestion is to use Microsoft Security Essentials. It is a free antivirus and anti spyware (includes Windows Defender) MSE diwnloads and installs in about 15 minutes and has been doing a very good job for me on my (Windows 7 Home Premium) computer



Another suggestion: as soon as you get your computer "up and running" make the restore and backup DVDs. You will definitely need both of these in the future whenever your operating system has a problem. Whatever you do....make the restore and backup disks.



Final suggestion: buy an external hard drive for backing up your online classwork. You can also save a "system image" (using Windows 7) which will make it easy to restore your computer in case of a system crash.



Hope this has been helpful,

Al

Answer 2

It looks like the HP Pavilion has more of the bells & whistles. But how about their prices? Whichever is cheaper then go for that one.

Answer 3

I would choose from the choices I was given to choose from.

Answer 4

I go for the Sony VAIO. Expensive but their customer service is the best. They even have international warranty.

Answer 5

Hp without a doubt.

Answer 6

go for Sony 15.5" as my sister Hp battery was dead in less that 3 month and it really is suck

Answer 7

i recomment HP, cuz i use it.