Look, they're all decent laptops, and you're spot on about the resolution. When it comes to gaming, you really need to focus on the GPU and the resolution together. Check out the FPS benchmarks over at Notebookcheck—they do a killer job with their testing:
As you can see, for example, you'll be able to run The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim just fine at 768p, but trying to play it at 1080p will be a total nightmare. That's the gap right there...
Verizon’s reputation? Look, I’ve bought from them a few times and everything was five stars. Nobody seems to be complaining, and they’ve been in business forever... people clearly trust them.
Did you even notice that the HP is a Renew unit and only comes with a 12-month warranty? Do you actually realize what that implies? I’m not trying to lecture you, just asking if you have any clue... If you're dead set on it, go ahead and grab it now because there's only one left, which is why it's discounted...
And that cheap Dell is cheap for a reason—it’s got a weaker processor. Those letters like U, H, or Apple-tier specs mean something, and I'm pretty sure the explanation for all that is sitting right there in the top thread...
It feels like those laptops you found aren't fooling you, and since you seem so sure about what you want, maybe you should take a look at these options instead. These are actual gaming laptops:
Go into your sound properties and hit up the playback devices tab. Once you're in there, right-click and make sure you check the box to show all devices, including inactive ones. If your drivers actually installed correctly for once, you should see the analog port pop up. Just set that as your default and you're good to go.
Edward Gray9 said:I'm looking to pick up a 1TB 2.5" drive.
If you absolutely have to pick between those two, go with WD, obviously. But seriously, are there really no other options? And what’s the warranty situation look like? Find me someone offering a longer guarantee. 🤷
Kate Adams51 said:Is this Verbatim drive any good? I only need it for backups. I’ve already got an old one, but it’s only 150GB. It goes on sale at Kroger starting tomorrow. 🤷
Buy it. 👍 Verbatim has been doing its thing for a long damn time now.
Timothy Kim60 said:Would you guys seriously go to Kroger to buy a car and a PC?
I wouldn't touch the PC. I have no idea what kind of junk they shoved inside that thing. 😬 Look, if they're just reselling stuff, why should I care? As long as the price is right, I'm in. Up until now, I've just been picking up lasers at Walmart and cheap disposables at Kroger. 😬 Everything is set. Just picked up my first tablet, a Prestigio from Kroger. It was cheap, I got it on an installment plan, and I even scored some rewards points—unlike what ruggedfox28 says about those useless points being worth nothing. I actually got almost everything back. $67 😬 Warranties are a joke. These big retailers just pass along whatever the importer says; they don't actually handle anything themselves. I was pretty surprised when I picked up a Brother printer at Walmart and they handed me a certified 3-year warranty. The cashier was shuffling through some paperwork and was just like, "Yeah, yeah, the importer provides three years..." 🤷
ruggedfox28 said:I'd probably just swipe a Kroger American Express and rack up enough points to get six months of free groceries.
So, I finally pulled the trigger at Best Buy. Picked up one of those Samsung Galaxy M3 series models—the 1 TB version. It comes with a 36-month warranty, too. $158Not bad. 😬
Look, I think the request is a bit niche. Not every router is designed to bridge over Wi-Fi; usually, you're looking at a dedicated wired port for that. This one, though, has five different operating modes, so it’s actually pretty versatile. It’s not exactly rocket science to just run an extension cord to get it within line-of-sight of the fiber setup for a solid signal. Honestly, any decent Wi-Fi setup should be able to handle a 50m distance without breaking a sweat.
Copyright laws, piracy... It’s all the same nonsense. Every Smart TV out there with built-in recording features just encrypts the footage so it only works on that specific unit. Half the time, even if you grab the exact same model, it won't play back what was recorded because it wasn't filmed on that specific set.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. The second part of this headache is that the TV insists on formatting the storage media itself. I doubt they're reinventing the wheel with the actual file system—that would be pointless—so the TV writes the movie to your USB drive, but when you try to play it back, it's likely looking for specific markers it left on the disk. If it doesn't find its own "signature," it just refuses to cooperate...
I don't think anyone has really dug into this yet. The encryption isn't actually that complex; it wouldn't be hard to crack, but there's zero point in trying if every single TV is basically a unique snowflake...
If you're running low on USB drives and need one device—like an external hard drive—to work for both your PC and your TV, you can just split the drive into two partitions. Use one for your PC and let the TV format the other one. That way, the TV stays in its own lane and uses that partition exclusively.
Man... you might as well have used a sledgehammer...
You basically nuked the drive; there’s no way for macOS to recover itself now. On the bright side, if you actually did what you said you did, your data is probably even more messed up—which means you might be able to salvage it by plugging the drive into another computer. As for your laptop, I don't think anything's going to fix it short of a full macOS reinstall...
You don't buy gear expecting it to fail. External drives are designed for reliability—that’s exactly why they use slower drives with longer lifespans and higher MTBF ratings. But a manufacturer's warranty? That’s just a window into how much they actually trust their own product.
There have been plenty of documented cases where tech companies intentionally swap in one weak component—whether it's TVs, washing machines (Whirlpool did this a few years back), copiers, or printers—just so the thing survives the warranty period and then dies right after. It forces you to buy a replacement. They call it "cultivating a consumer mindset" 😬 but honestly, if a customer doesn't realize it's technically "better" for them to be replacing their TV, stove, washer, and laptop every two years, the manufacturer is more than happy to help them along... 😬
At the end of the day, it's always better to see a company show some actual confidence in what they're selling by offering a longer warranty. That's the only reason that matters...
If you look at the review, the biggest complaints about the M3 series are basically just "slightly poor random write performance" and its "boring appearance." Honestly, who cares if the random write speeds are a bit off when it's being used as a backup drive? It’s not a big deal. It spins at 5,400 RPM—which is pretty much standard for any external drive you'll find—and comes with 16MB of cache.
And yeah, there's a 1TB version available too, if that's enough storage for you.
Of course it matters. A decent seller will always specify which printers the ink is compatible with. Even if your exact model isn't listed, if you see models from the same series, you're usually good to go...
Look at how an honest seller handles this—they won't even sell you the ink until you confirm your specific printer and cartridge model. Manufacturers intentionally design different cartridges with varying color requirements just to stop people from buying third-party ink.
If you aren't careful, you're going to end up with a massive mess on your hands...