Hey all! My parents have agreed to get me a new laptop for college, and I'd prefer a Windows 7. Since I live in FL, this weekend is tax-free on all laptops under $750. We're only looking to spend about $575 or so though. So, what is the best laptop for that amount of money (that recognizes the tax-free weekend)? I'd appreciate your input, but I've only got a couple of hours before I need to make a decision (or not get a laptop until late this month).

I have a windows 7 satellite Toshiba Laptop, works great, has a built in web cam came with Google chrome and enternet explorer already installed along with Norton security. Its pretty user friendly and easy to get the hang of using, has 284 GB of memory, built in DVD RW Drive, , 2 USB ports a phone jack and can connect to monitors. It was a gift so I'm not to sure on the price of it but I would guess it would cost $700 or less.

most new laptops are preloaded with the latest o.s, which would bevwindows 8.
since im assuming you dont get tax free for an online bought one you might not have a lot of option to get windows 7 on it.
I would just look around and buy the best one you can find, then buy a copy of windows 7 and do a clean install.
if you ask the seller you might be able to get them to do it just to seal the deal (its nice but im looking for windows 7, another shop has one...).

I have always liked Toshiba. Another good company is Acer. They usually have good processers.

Acer Aspire 4740. It has Intel core i5.
But I think the new ones already have windows 8 as their OS since windows 7 isn't updated anymore. Microsoft already stopped the updates for 7 and shifted their focus on windows 8.
It's a great speedy laptop, but it depends on what you need. What's the purpose of the laptop, for simple research and surfing? Hardcore programming and development? TV and console replacement? Acer aspire could handle hardcore programming and development but isn't great for gaming.

 I think the key here is looking at the specs of the laptops first. Know what you need or what you don't need. If you want a fast computer, then the processor (How high of GHz), the core amount (quad core versus dual core), and the amount of RAM installed (and upgradable) are important things to look at. I have a friend who bought a computer from decent company, but her computer was slower than her old one because she didn't look at how high the GHz was on the processor, (even though it said i5 on the sale title). If you want it to be a gaming computer (like being able to play high quality games), then look at the graphics card. It will most likely have a GeForce graphics card, but most of these computers then to be more on the pricey side. If you want to have more space to put files instead of putting them in an external, then look at the HHD amount. Finally, look at the miscellaneous stuff like features, hardware (like webcam and plugs) and see if they have the essentials that you need to have.

Do your research long and hard before going in to buy a laptop. I liked my new laptop choice, and it is a Toshiba Satellite (I think L series) and it has an i7 quad core processor with a 2.4 GHz each with 8GB of RAM with more room for 8 more if I want to install them. The reason that it is cheaper than the rest is because the harddrive size is only 640 GB and it is smaller than the better version, plus it was on sale at a computer store. So I got it for 600 some dollars. All of this is good for me to play most of the latest games that are not super graphics heavy, and it also is fast enough for me to do some decent editing.

Acer is good, I'm getting one soon. And it's out of the price limit by a longshot, but razorblade is absalutly AMAZIN'.

I have a windows 8 dual core 6 gb ram 750 gb hard drive hp pavilion g6 laptop, and it works amazingly. 




As for windows 7, I would get a Toshiba Sattelite with a 8 gb ram, 750 gigabyte harddrive and 8 core processor, or an alienware laptop witha  32 gb ram, 1.5 TB hard drive, 8 core, a8 vision, with windows 7. (duh)



Overall, the alienware brand is the world's strongest laptop brand. HP is pretty good.