Laptop questions...

[sirhcyennek81]

Im fairly sure a thread exists on this topic already, but I am far too lazy to look for it. At any rate, my current laptop, a compaq presario is dying a slow death, and its time to replace it. Any recommendations?

Gracias.

And no, this is not going to be a poll.

[That One Guy]

I was a Dell guy but then ventured out to Gateway as I wanted to take a step up in quality... that Gateway sent me right back to Dell like a month or two after my warranty ran out.

I've heard the customer service has gone to **** but the computers are about as durable as any I've used. If I ever run into a DC jack problem again, I'm gonna just loan the computer out on draft day. Never had an issue with my Dells on that.

I've also heard people say Sonys are good and HPs have came way up over what they were 10 years ago when I last personally owned one.

[CSU Husker]

Buy as much RAM as you can, and a 64 bit version of Windows 7. Brand is a matter of personal opinion.

[Killericon]

I've had a Vaio FW140D for over 2 years, and it still runs great. The battery holds no charge, but that's my fault(I used it like a desktop for most of the 2 years). It's a great little machine. The construction feels cheap, but it most certainly is not.

[doof]

http://bensbargains.net/deal/151862/

[Requiem]

It all depends on what you want to do on it. What are your desires? Do you want long battery life? How big of a screen? How portable? Let me know and I'll give you some advice.

[DHallblows]

Netbook. This laptop I'm currently on will be replaced with one when it decides to die (which is probably within a year). I can't see any huge advantage to a laptop over a netbook. If I'm doing heavy computing...things, I'll have a desktop at home. If I want something portable, I'll have my netbook.

Take that how you will, I'm currently not following my advice seeing as how I only own a laptop...

[Blueflame]

Originally Posted by That One Guy

I was a Dell guy but then ventured out to Gateway as I wanted to take a step up in quality... that Gateway sent me right back to Dell like a month or two after my warranty ran out.

I've heard the customer service has gone to **** but the computers are about as durable as any I've used. If I ever run into a DC jack problem again, I'm gonna just loan the computer out on draft day. Never had an issue with my Dells on that.

I've also heard people say Sonys are good and HPs have came way up over what they were 10 years ago when I last personally owned one.

Dell sent me the wrong AC adapter with my laptop... and then it took "customer service" a half hour to understand when I tried to tell him what the problem was. I won't buy another Dell, even though it works fine now that I finally have the correct AC charger for it.

[TDmvp]

Let's put it this way .

I own 2 dell gaming laptops . I have had probs twice on one of them in 5 years...

The first time i called at 9am and they was at my house at 4pm that night replacing the part. "vidcard"


the 2nd time I had a fan issue and I called at 9pm and they was here the next day at noon and replaced the fans ....

Can't beat it... Dell for the win.

[Drek]

Originally Posted by sirhcyennek81

Im fairly sure a thread exists on this topic already, but I am far too lazy to look for it. At any rate, my current laptop, a compaq presario is dying a slow death, and its time to replace it. Any recommendations?

Gracias.

And no, this is not going to be a poll.

Need a lot more than that to go on man.

Provide the following and it'll be much easier on everyone to help you out:

Price range:
Prefer U.S. owned company:
Will this be your primary computer:
Will this laptop spend 75%+ of its time on a desk/table plugged in:
Will you want to play newer video games (~ last 2 years) on this:
Do you want to burn discs off this, if so what kinds (CD/DVD/BRD):
Any external peripherals you need to work with it:
Do you have a wifi network you intent to connect it into:
do you often use a digital camera and transfer photos to your laptop:
How big of a screen would you like:

There are others but that will cover most of it.

[Killericon]

Originally Posted by TDmvp

Let's put it this way .

I own 2 dell gaming laptops . I have had probs twice on one of them in 5 years...

The first time i called at 9am and they was at my house at 4pm that night replacing the part. "vidcard"


the 2nd time I had a fan issue and I called at 9pm and they was here the next day at noon and replaced the fans ....

Can't beat it... Dell for the win.

I can't even begin to tell you how far away your Dell experience is from everyone else's. I've never heard a single good thing about Dell customer service.

[TDmvp]

Originally Posted by Killericon

I can't even begin to tell you how far away your Dell experience is from everyone else's. I've never heard a single good thing about Dell customer service.

Wow ... well I must be the one person they have taken care of then , I have the best warranty you can get for them and for what it cost they should live in my spare room and fix it whenever I need ...

But both times I've had issues the phone call was painless because I always run the test and get the code they need to issue the repair before I call and how quick they was to get here to fix it was just insane ....

[Irish Stout]

I will never buy another HP, Compaq, or Dell. I have had nothing but terrible problems and slow customer service.

I have had good luck with Sony and Apple products, though I am so trained on a pc, I struggle with the mac's operating system.

[Broncoman13]

Take the leap and get a MacBook! The operating system takes a little bit to get accustomed to, but that was a matter of weeks. You can put windows on the mac too if you like. That gives you the same ability as any pc. They also make MS Office for Macs too! The price of a Mac is more than a Laptop because they are better. Significantly better!

[Drunk Monkey]

I have to give Dell credit for their service also. We have the corporate warranty (what ever that is) and they take very good care of us. As for the machine itself I am underwhelmed. Maybe it is all vista's fault but the Fujitsu running XP that I had before was much more stable.

[cmhargrove]

When I read the thread title, I was just sure this thread would get derailed into something less wholesome...

About the OP, there is no way to answer your questions open-ended like that. I think the best way to go computer shopping is always to name your price range first, then find the very best deal within that range (and ususally 10% more than what you expected).

Name your price range, then everyone can be more helpful.

[Broncoman13]

Originally Posted by cmhargrove

When I read the thread title, I was just sure this thread would get derailed into something less wholesome...

About the OP, there is no way to answer your questions open-ended like that. I think the best way to go computer shopping is always to name your price range first, then find the very best deal within that range (and ususally 10% more than what you expected).

Name your price range, then everyone can be more helpful.

I agree with this and always expect to add $100-150 for the warranty. In years 1 and 2 that warranty won't be used much, but when your laptop starts to have issues in year 3 and 4, you'll be extremely pleased to have it repaired/replaced with no cost to you.

[orange&blue87]

Originally Posted by TDmvp

Wow ... well I must be the one person they have taken care of then , I have the best warranty you can get for them and for what it cost they should live in my spare room and fix it whenever I need ...

But both times I've had issues the phone call was painless because I always run the test and get the code they need to issue the repair before I call and how quick they was to get here to fix it was just insane ....

I'll have to agree somewhat about Dell's concierge service. I had an Inspiron from 01-05 and it was used heavily. I felt the construction was cheap, but then again they weren't really making the bodies out of anything but cheap plastic then (at least for the masses), and had them come out a total of 8 times during the span I used it. Same day or next day service was always the case. I still have the computer sitting around somewhere, but I don't think it has an original part on it. The service was good, the computer could have been better.

I've found that if a computer isn't going to be needed for much more than simple word processing, email, and browsing the web, netbooks are not a bad choice. Not the fastest in the world, but they are great for the simple things.

[Jay3]

Originally Posted by DHallblows

Netbook. This laptop I'm currently on will be replaced with one when it decides to die (which is probably within a year). I can't see any huge advantage to a laptop over a netbook. If I'm doing heavy computing...things, I'll have a desktop at home. If I want something portable, I'll have my netbook.

Take that how you will, I'm currently not following my advice seeing as how I only own a laptop...

This is good thinking. We have a netbook to supplement, and it does most everything you need if you've got a home or office computer for heavy lifting. Much lighter, handier, and cheaper.

As for what kind of notebook to get if you go that way, I'm an HP guy. They've really gotten their brand together.

[Darkdoc]

There are a lot of laptops to choose from, but their repair history as a group is fairly bad.

The best of all manufacturers has been IBM/Lenovo. I have also had Compaq, Sony, Dell, and Toshiba. The Toshiba was a good laptop as well.

I have all the IBM's/Lenovo still being used by myself or someone in the family. We have had 7 laptops since the first T-40, with the only repairs being a replacement of a hard drive in the oldest one (probably the hardest used as well). These are marketed as business computers and so may not have a large number and variety of ports, or super graphics for games, and they don't usually have the super cheap price levels, though if you hit sales just right, they can be purchased very fairly. Most have a magnesium frame, and high quality parts. They graphics are very high resolution, speakers usually good, and you haven't used a great laptop keyboard if you haven't used an IBM (except the G series).

The newest, a W700, is about 6 months old, and is still superb quality.

My daughter has a year old Dell Inspiron that she spilled a wine cooler on. I took it apart to clean it, and was not at all impressed with the components inside, the connectors or the frame. Still. she has been very happy with it.

I wouldn't bother with anything else than IBM/Lenovo in a laptop.

[Fedaykin]

The most important aspect of quality when choosing a laptop is customer service of the company you buy from. Almost all laptops, regardless of brand, are made by the same manufacturers. The major manufacturers do not build or engineer their own hardware, they merely rebrand stock hardware (and often the major brands offer near identical product lines because of it).

For a list of manufacturers and the brands they sell to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of..._manufacturers

[TonyR]

FWIW, my techie step-father-in-law is a big proponent of Asus.

[oubronco]

Originally Posted by Drek

Need a lot more than that to go on man.

Provide the following and it'll be much easier on everyone to help you out:

Price range:
Prefer U.S. owned company:
Will this be your primary computer: Yes
Will this laptop spend 75%+ of its time on a desk/table plugged in: Yes
Will you want to play newer video games (~ last 2 years) on this: Yes
Do you want to burn discs off this, if so what kinds (CD/DVD/BRD): Yes all
Any external peripherals you need to work with it:
Do you have a wifi network you intent to connect it into: Yes
do you often use a digital camera and transfer photos to your laptop: Yes
How big of a screen would you like: 17" at least

There are others but that will cover most of it.

Bold

[CSU Husker]

Originally Posted by TonyR

FWIW, my techie step-father-in-law is a big proponent of Asus.

Asus is very good. They dont have the mainstream brand image like others, but they have been making hardware for a long time and have a very good reputation.

[sirhcyennek81]

Originally Posted by Drek

Need a lot more than that to go on man.

Provide the following and it'll be much easier on everyone to help you out:

Price range:
Prefer U.S. owned company:
Will this be your primary computer:
Will this laptop spend 75%+ of its time on a desk/table plugged in:
Will you want to play newer video games (~ last 2 years) on this:
Do you want to burn discs off this, if so what kinds (CD/DVD/BRD):
Any external peripherals you need to work with it:
Do you have a wifi network you intent to connect it into:
do you often use a digital camera and transfer photos to your laptop:
How big of a screen would you like:

There are others but that will cover most of it.

Up to $1100
Would be nice but not set in stone.
Yes.
More like 50/50.
Yes.
I dont burn CDs often enough. My current laptop has it, but I dont use it much.
Just a scanner/printer.
Yes.
Yes.
14-17 inches.