Need laptop advice

[Grimm]

A friend of mine just asked advice about purchasing a laptop. I don't know jack about laptops. I can build a gaming rig from misc parts but laptops have never been my thing.

So, what's good and what sux?

[ski]

What's cool:
-Widescreen (WSXGA+... WUXGA is REALLY hard to view at 1900xwhatever)
-Centrino, Athlon 64 (eMachines)
-Built-in Bluetooth (Dell, HP, Compaq)
-5400RPM hard drives and up
-128MB Radeon 9600 Mobile GPU

What's Not Cool:
-Celeron
-4200RPM hard drives
-Thick (over 1.5" height) and heavy (over 7 lbs.)

Hope that's a start :)

[gear02]

what's really not cool:

Making a laptop so thin, it can't take a cd/dvd drive and requires another dock to have one.

My cousin bought a IBM x31 and she was kinda mad when she didn't have a place to put her ultrabay dvd drive, instead requiring a dock that costs $150 more.

[Grimm]

I was hoping more for a "Sony Good, e-Machines Bad" kinda list.

[ray]

Dell

[Nija]

Sony Vaio's and IBM's are great.

Toshiba's and HP are the next lower level. Still good though.

Dell is average.

However, none of this matters, unless we know what the laptop is gonna be used for.

is it just a work machine? Gaming? Desktop replacement?

That way we can give you better information.

[Jeffbx]

(IMHO & experiences):

The best, but expensive: IBM Thinkpad T series. Very durable, excellent support, will last 5 years under heavy use

Great: Dell Latitudes, other Thinkpads - also very durable & dependable. Latitudes are cheaper than IBM, but not the cheapest out there.

Good: Dell Inspiron, Toshiba. I've had mixed experiences with Toshiba - some good some bad. Overall it's a pricey but durable machine. The Inspiron is very affordable & will last a long time.

Not good: Sony. Too proprietary. Expensive. Pretty to look at but not a good business machine. Don't drop it!
Compaq/HP: the home line is crap, just like the desktop line. The business line is better, but for the price you're better off with Dell or IBM.

Gateway - I don't know anyone who even owns a Gateway laptop. Don't know if it's good or bad.

[ray]

I stated Dell earlier because most people that I know who use a Dell treat it well. I think with any laptop, as long as you regularly maintain it and don't drop it or knock it around it will last for many years.

And for Dell's price, you can't really beat what the notebooks offer and the warranty.

[ski]

WARRANTY:

No one beats Dell (to my knowledge). I got free accidental damage protection. Absurd example: If I'm poolside and while I get up, I drop my laptop on the ground, which tumbles into the water, I won't have to pay any repair fees. Dell's standard warranty and every other manufacturer's warranties will pretty much say, "It's going to cost $800 to fix because you were a dumba**." With my Dell, I don't have to give the two ****s about carrying my laptop around like it's a scalding hot cup of coffee. If your laptop gets knocked off a table by a swinging bookbag or something, and the screen, chassis, etc. cracks, more often than not, you'll be whipping out your checkbook to pay for it.

All of this is for accidental coverage, so basically, no matter who you go with (and I went with Dell as this was a major plus), check if they have an accidental damage warranty. It's worth it if you take your laptop around with you, and in my case, for free, it was definitely worth it :P

[Jeffbx]

:stupid:


Oops, I forgot Apple! I'd put it in the 'great, but expensive' category as well. If you can get the education discount (and you're not a Mac hater!), it's worth a look.

[Nija]

i don't recommend Macs, because I've never worked on them. Can't say anything about them, so I don't say anything at all.

[gwilks98]

Originally posted by chosenfool
/paraphrase "I heart apple." /paraphrase

I heard their keyboards tend to die before the actual computer.

I work on an IBM thinkpad and I wish it would die so I can get a new computer. Damned thing's just too durable. Well worth the money, and if you're getting a docking station, they're pretty cheap. (under $200)

Stay away from Compaq. Support sux and the add ons are expensive from what I've heard.

[gwilks98]

Originally posted by chosenfool


either you dont know how to papraphrase correctly, or you just suck at it. :hehehmm:
anyways, just thought i'd make that correction. i just dont like my words twisted to something different or wrong. if i truly *heart* something, i will say it. no paraphrasing necessary.

:P I knew I'd hit a button with that. :laugh:

[caribiner23]

Another vote for the IBM T Series ThinkPads.

My personal ThinkPad has been all over the country in all kinds of weather and all kinds of conditions since early '01. The dang thing just taunted me again by booting up again flawlessly. :D

[Dave_7]

A happy IBM T40 user here.



Dave.

[ribitch]

i have used the follwoing as day to day computers at some point in the past few years:

IBM t series
IBM a series

Dell latitude

Misc HP and Compaq

Apple Powerbook and Apple iBook

I prefer apple.

IBM builds good machines that are easy to work on in the event of a failed component. The IBM A series suck though due to their weight. I have a powerbook and an iBook in my laptop case right now and it weighs about the same as the a31 i was using.

HP and Compaq are so so. I have seen rock solid systems from them, as well as complete crap. I used to do warranty repair for them, and I saw tons of bad displays. The dont come near the design quality of IBM in terms of service.

I hate dell, and would never recommend a dell unless you were on a really tight budget.

[gwilks98]

Originally posted by ribitch
i The IBM A series suck though due to their weight.

:stupid: Go with the T series if you go IBM. I don't know about the current models, but the T-23's and T-30's had built in wireless cards w/ antennas in the screens whereas their A series counterparts did not.

[blazinginferno]

never go with an hp serioisly theirs laptopssuck id go with a dell or if you dont mind spending like $5000 on a laptop then get a mac

[ribitch]

Originally posted by blazinginferno
never go with an hp serioisly theirs laptopssuck id go with a dell or if you dont mind spending like $5000 on a laptop then get a mac


5k is a bit far fetched, but doable with a powerbook and some additional accessories:

• 1.33GHz PowerPC G4
• 2GB DDR333 SDRAM - 2 SO-DIMMs
• 80GB Ultra ATA drive @ 5400rpm
• SuperDrive (DVD-R/CD-RW)
• AirPort Extreme Card
• Backlit Keyboard/Mac OS - U.S. English
• iPod - 40GB
• iSight
• AirPort Extreme Base Station (without modem and antenna port)
• 17-inch TFT Display
Subtotal $5,071.00

Back to reality though, Apple portables are not that much more expensive:

iBook - $1099-1499
powerbook - $1699-2999

If you are in college, you can get additional money off for the edu discount.