Buying a Laptop ?
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One thing you shouldn't do is buy Acer. Other than that I can only recommend HP, Dell or Apple (of those I've tried myself).
apoltix wrote:
One thing you shouldn't do is buy Acer.
Why :confused:
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apoltix wrote:
One thing you shouldn't do is buy Acer.
Why :confused:
I had an Acer TravelMate for three years. I take very much care of my things, so I know it's not my treatment that caused the need of several repairs. Everyone in my high school class (between 2005 and 2008) had the exact same model, and everyone (literally!) had to have it repaired at least once. The most common problem was the screen hinges breaking off after common use. Given that it's a TravelMate, it should be able to be travelled with. How ironic.
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I had an Acer TravelMate for three years. I take very much care of my things, so I know it's not my treatment that caused the need of several repairs. Everyone in my high school class (between 2005 and 2008) had the exact same model, and everyone (literally!) had to have it repaired at least once. The most common problem was the screen hinges breaking off after common use. Given that it's a TravelMate, it should be able to be travelled with. How ironic.
Thanks a lot apoltix. What about Asus, Is it a good Laptop ? Actually, I expect a must laptop work for 4 or 5 years !
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Thanks a lot apoltix. What about Asus, Is it a good Laptop ? Actually, I expect a must laptop work for 4 or 5 years !
Sorry, I haven't worked with ASUS laptops, but I know their motherboards are very decent. That said, I don't know their laptops. I believe Lenovo and IBM are praised as very solid laptops. If you've got the money, you could buy a new aluminium MacBook or MacBook Pro, both of which are very solid and durable, and then throw Windows on it (if you dare :laugh:).
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Hello there. I'm going to buy a laptop around $1600. Could you offer me some choices , please ? Thanks
Of course for every brand someone recommends, there will be someone else who's had bad experiences...but...I love my Dell(s). My current machine is a loaded Studio 15 which I got for $1300 6 months ago. The great thing about Dell is they have the most flexible configurations I've found, especially when it comes to screens. If you do any coding, you probably want hi-res (I know *I* do) and this 15.4" model has a full 1920x1200(!!). I never miss my desktop...
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But I advise you to get a decent insurance plan. (Maybe 2 years?) Not two months after our warranty expired, one of our cats puked on the keyboard. Somehow, this has created a $1300 repair estimate, even though an external USB keyboard still works fine. So we are planning to keep using it and buy a new laptop later on for roughly the same amount.
Don't let my name fool you. That's my job.
Laptop keyboards are usually only held on by a couple of screws from the top, or 4 or 5 from the bottom. And they can be found online for not quite insane prices. Also unless it's a compaq, you can get 99% of the tools you'd need from a $10 mini screwdriver set.
The true man wants two things: danger and play. For that reason he wants woman, as the most dangerous plaything.
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Hello there. I'm going to buy a laptop around $1600. Could you offer me some choices , please ? Thanks
Personally I'd say Sager, simply because I've dealt with them in the past. Although it's been quite a few years. Most people haven't heard of them because they didn't offer a model with their brand on it for a lot of years, they'd sell as Dell, Compaq, Toshiba or whoever ordered the laptop. So chances are you've seen one of their laptops and never known it. These days they advertise their gaming laptops though, and personally I haven't seen a decent gaming laptop from any brand. High end video cards suck up too much power, generate too much heat or cost WAY too much to justify putting them in a laptop.
The true man wants two things: danger and play. For that reason he wants woman, as the most dangerous plaything.
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Hello there. I'm going to buy a laptop around $1600. Could you offer me some choices , please ? Thanks
I bought a Lenovo about 2 years ago for my wife. As I write this, it sits in the repair shop because the hard drive failed. I'm disappointed! I bought the Lenovo because it was recommended as durable. She doesn't need super speed / raw processing power; she just needs it to work. I thought that's what I was buying, but now I know better. :mad:
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Thanks a lot apoltix. What about Asus, Is it a good Laptop ? Actually, I expect a must laptop work for 4 or 5 years !
Asus gaming laptops have a good rep. Most gamers probably don't keep their laptops that long though so the endorsements probably don't go much past 2ish years of quality.
Today's lesson is brought to you by the word "niggardly". Remember kids, don't attribute to racism what can be explained by Scandinavian language roots. -- Robert Royall
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One thing you shouldn't do is buy Acer. Other than that I can only recommend HP, Dell or Apple (of those I've tried myself).
I'd avoid the Dell. I've a Dell as my work computer. There's something about it that isn't quite right - like half the usual accelerator key strokes don't work. Sometimes. Personally, when I get around to replacing my own (personal) laptop, I'll be replacing it with an Apple - and Windows running in VMWare so I can still run Visual Studio.
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Thanks a lot apoltix. What about Asus, Is it a good Laptop ? Actually, I expect a must laptop work for 4 or 5 years !
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Hello there. I'm going to buy a laptop around $1600. Could you offer me some choices , please ? Thanks
You didn't say if it is your first laptop computer, but I can only say from experience; I bought Toshiba Satellite A210 last summer and it has PERFECT screen :thumbsup: (their "TruBrite" technology, nowadays it probably only gets better), compared to my dad's work laptop - about the same age HP 6715b which has crap screen (and the rest of the old HP models - don't know about the new models though, you have to see them in action yourself). It's true, you can beat HPs with the hammer - my brother once slammed/closed my dad's HP screen so hard that I would have slapped his face for doing that with My Precious (hitting that hard would probably break any other LCD), and we both played through Diablo 2 LOD on his previous HP - after 2 year of keyboard abuse it didn't miss a single keystroke :omg: You will have to google yourself for some info about different manufacturers and their series because they can have a large quality range between in-house model lines (home/business). You also get better parts/overall quality with laptop then with desktop tin cans, but small manufacturer errors can be irritant - one of my external speakers seems to be dead, but I use headphones anyway and needed laptop badly at the time so I didn't want to send it to repair shop as it would leave me without computer probably for a month. Also Toshiba seems to have the longest warranty (at least 2 or 3 years, but that is relative). It's plastic is a bit soft - I have to trim my index finger nail regulary to prevent scratching the "D" key to death :laugh: I did have to upgrade Toshiba's motherboard bios because it had system freeze after wakeup issue with Vista, but it now runs without a glitch, and there is a slight ATI-related video driver thing - they don't upgrade "mobile" chip drivers as they should but there is Mobility Modder.NET program that modifies newest "generic" drivers so they function properly with ATI "mobility" video chips, so no problem there. Btw, after first power-on, you will have to wait for the preloaded Vista to finish installation, but don't worry, Vista is actually really good on laptops. They don't sell Dell in Croatia so I would say Toshiba or IBM/Lenovo (would have been my second choice). As for budget, you either buy insane Alienware or a decent play/work machine for 1000 euros max, because everything over 900-1000€ is a total waste of money, and every year model lines go one step up with performance. I hope I didn't made a boring post :) Be wise and good luck.
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Hello there. I'm going to buy a laptop around $1600. Could you offer me some choices , please ? Thanks
Or you could spec your own and get it built for you: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/[^] I got one of their 12.1" models and it's fantastic - has failed me yet (I work at a IT support company - so I've seen a LOT of laptops - this one's a beauty). Check shipping and keyboard layout though.
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Hello there. I'm going to buy a laptop around $1600. Could you offer me some choices , please ? Thanks
I had a lot of luck in the past with my Toshiba Tecra M9. I went out yesterday to buy a second laptop and settled on the Toshiba Satellite E105. It's sleek, it's small (14.1"), nice processor, 4gb ram, 320gb hd (plenty for development), and according to specs as well as CNET reviews it has an incredible battery life. I haven't tested that yet. Best part is it was only $800. So far, the only complaint I have is a 5400rpm drive when I could have bought a Dell with a 7200rpm and a stronger video card, but I don't plan to game and losing close ot have of the battery time for a slightly faster hd isn't worth it in my book.
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Hello there. I'm going to buy a laptop around $1600. Could you offer me some choices , please ? Thanks
I'd agree with the comment about ACER. We had about a dozen. Only one survived the first year. No common fault - just poor build quality. Generally, Dells have been good for my company although they seem to have lost their marbles with the new Dell Precision. Very ugly for an expensive laptop (unlike the model it superseded) and on the larger screens a power supply like a brick (literally!). Toshiba and Fujitsu seem to be reliable.
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I'd agree with the comment about ACER. We had about a dozen. Only one survived the first year. No common fault - just poor build quality. Generally, Dells have been good for my company although they seem to have lost their marbles with the new Dell Precision. Very ugly for an expensive laptop (unlike the model it superseded) and on the larger screens a power supply like a brick (literally!). Toshiba and Fujitsu seem to be reliable.
Thanks
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Or you could spec your own and get it built for you: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/[^] I got one of their 12.1" models and it's fantastic - has failed me yet (I work at a IT support company - so I've seen a LOT of laptops - this one's a beauty). Check shipping and keyboard layout though.
neonlight27 wrote:
Or you could spec your own and get it built for you: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/\[^\]
Thanks
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You didn't say if it is your first laptop computer, but I can only say from experience; I bought Toshiba Satellite A210 last summer and it has PERFECT screen :thumbsup: (their "TruBrite" technology, nowadays it probably only gets better), compared to my dad's work laptop - about the same age HP 6715b which has crap screen (and the rest of the old HP models - don't know about the new models though, you have to see them in action yourself). It's true, you can beat HPs with the hammer - my brother once slammed/closed my dad's HP screen so hard that I would have slapped his face for doing that with My Precious (hitting that hard would probably break any other LCD), and we both played through Diablo 2 LOD on his previous HP - after 2 year of keyboard abuse it didn't miss a single keystroke :omg: You will have to google yourself for some info about different manufacturers and their series because they can have a large quality range between in-house model lines (home/business). You also get better parts/overall quality with laptop then with desktop tin cans, but small manufacturer errors can be irritant - one of my external speakers seems to be dead, but I use headphones anyway and needed laptop badly at the time so I didn't want to send it to repair shop as it would leave me without computer probably for a month. Also Toshiba seems to have the longest warranty (at least 2 or 3 years, but that is relative). It's plastic is a bit soft - I have to trim my index finger nail regulary to prevent scratching the "D" key to death :laugh: I did have to upgrade Toshiba's motherboard bios because it had system freeze after wakeup issue with Vista, but it now runs without a glitch, and there is a slight ATI-related video driver thing - they don't upgrade "mobile" chip drivers as they should but there is Mobility Modder.NET program that modifies newest "generic" drivers so they function properly with ATI "mobility" video chips, so no problem there. Btw, after first power-on, you will have to wait for the preloaded Vista to finish installation, but don't worry, Vista is actually really good on laptops. They don't sell Dell in Croatia so I would say Toshiba or IBM/Lenovo (would have been my second choice). As for budget, you either buy insane Alienware or a decent play/work machine for 1000 euros max, because everything over 900-1000€ is a total waste of money, and every year model lines go one step up with performance. I hope I didn't made a boring post :) Be wise and good luck.
Thank you
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Hello there. I'm going to buy a laptop around $1600. Could you offer me some choices , please ? Thanks
If reliability is important then get a Toshiba I've had 6 or 7 since 1994, none of which has spent a day at the repair shop, I've been able to do memory and disk upgrades myself. I've tried Compaq and Dell neither of which was as reliable as the Tosh's. The Dell spent more time with the mechanics that the Jaguar car I used to run. My business partner got a fancy HP a couple of years ago (US$3.5K+), it too was always at the repair shop, so much she eventually left there and went across the street and bought a Toshiba. I currently have Satellite Pro P500 & a Portege R500, no problems with either. I will never buy anything but Tosh, I no longer bother with extended warranty. You should be able to get a decent Satellite Pro for $1600, assuming your $'s are of the US variety and not the Zim variety :-D Make sure you you look after it - get a decent carry case, don't leave it hot cars, and tell the cat to get its own computer. Good luck
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I bought a Lenovo about 2 years ago for my wife. As I write this, it sits in the repair shop because the hard drive failed. I'm disappointed! I bought the Lenovo because it was recommended as durable. She doesn't need super speed / raw processing power; she just needs it to work. I thought that's what I was buying, but now I know better. :mad:
Well, hard drives fail and Lenovo doesn't make the drive. Replacing a notebook drive is (usually) simply a matter of buying a new one, undoing a few screws, and swapping them out. I have a 4 year old Gateway and the drive failed 2 years ago. I replaced it with a bigger, faster drive and it's still going strong (running Linux :-\).