Best Laptop

I meant to put a poll in my other thread, but I forgot :frown: So here it is.

In my opinion those are all crap. The three brands I like are Toshiba, IBM/Lenovo, and Apple.

^^ I really do not see how Dell is crap. Why, because they are cheap? Dell is the best IMO. I would far rather have an Dell than an Apple just because Apples are far over priced plus I Mac's really do not cut it for most people unless your into DI or vid editing.

I voted HP, because I have owned 4 of them. Their lineup right now is not that great though, their last generation of laptops from about a year ago were excellent and I still use my zv6000 as my primary rig.

Most major brands are pretty good these days. The key differentiator is Warranty and Support. Go for a minimum 2 year warranty, and upgrade it if you can afford it.

Of the brands you list, I'd stick with Dell, HP and Compaq.

Of the brands you didn't mention, Fujitsu, Lenovo, Acer, NEC, Sony and Toshiba all have pretty solid offerings.

Make sure you try before you buy in store, and load it up with as much RAM as you can.

^^ I really do not see how Dell is crap. Why, because they are cheap? Dell is the best IMO. I would far rather have an Dell than an Apple just because Apples are far over priced plus I Mac's really do not cut it for most people unless your into DI or vid editing.

It's my opinon, I said that right up front. The reason I say that Dell is crap is because, just like their laptops they use the cheapest parts they can find. My brother hates his Dell. I've used it and I can't stand it. If they used quality parts like Apple and IBM then maybe they would be slow and break all the time. I don't know about Toshiba but I love mine so far.

I recently upgraded form a Thinkpad to the new Mac book. Each has there own positives and negatives. Due to ease of use and functionality for what I use a laptop for I would vote Apple in this case. I don't like the heavy light leakage tho..

It's my opinon, I said that right up front. The reason I say that Dell is crap is because, just like their laptops they use the cheapest parts they can find. My brother hates his Dell. I've used it and I can't stand it. If they used quality parts like Apple and IBM then maybe they would be slow and break all the time. I don't know about Toshiba but I love mine so far.

Hmmm, is it a low end Dell? One of the reasons they can make computers for so cheap is the process in which they produce them. They have great business logistics so that they can produce, sell, and ship so many. In fact, I think they are the number one selling coputer which says a lot IMO. I have talked to many other people who love their Dell including my roomate who is a computer technician. You are right though, it can be a matter of opinion and what you like coming from your computer.

Dells sell well because they are cheap and American's are cheap asses. Dell can afford to sell them for so little because they use the cheapest parts they can find. The other manufactures like HP, Gateway, ect are guilty of it as well.

Take this from someone who has worked on more Dells than you can imagine and that includes laptops.

To each his own I guess.

to the average user, Dell (or the any of the others) isn't a bad brand to go for because it is cheap and as implied, the average user isn't going to be doing anything other than surf the internet and play the occasional game.

If you really need a laptop to do serious work, then toshiba, apple and IBM are the only ones you should go for. If you really need to do serious work on a laptop then you'd need a top spec one anyway and from my own searches, Dell don't offer anything like that I would like let alone what I need.
(usual disclaimer of my talking about what is available in the UK)
Of course, I don't actually need a leptop and have since decided to just buy a desktop and forget about those rare occasions when I need to take all work with me. In which case, Dell and the others still don't/can't give me what I want.

By the way.
Dell is the number one seller because they are cheap.
Selling the most doesn't mean they are the best, especially when you take into account
i) the cheap factor
ii) the deals they do selling to businesses

my vote is for the Thoshiba, but here's what consumer reports says: http://shopping.msn.com/content/shp/?ctid=152

I personaly like Asus... try this sitewww.notebookreview.com

Well Toshiba seems to be quite popular on these forums. Does anyone have more information on some of them? Where is the best place to buy them? What are some good models?

We can't choose the computer for you. Each manufacturer will have a range of note books - very light/sub notebooks (ideal if you'll travel with it a lot), mid-range all purpose notebooks, large 17" Multimedia/gaming notebooks etc.

You need to go to a large retailer and try a whole bunch of different models. Then, when you've decided exactly what you want, go price shopping for the best price. Add 1gb RAM and a USB mouse, and a carry case if you don't have one.

Simple, right?

Thanks, Oz for the info. There's just so much information out there and lots of opinions. I don't know what to do! I'll take your advice though! I found an HP on sale but it's only got 512mb RAM...do I really need 1gb? what are the main differences in laptops from brand to brand?

Thanks, Oz for the info. There's just so much information out there and lots of opinions. I don't know what to do! I'll take your advice though! I found an HP on sale but it's only got 512mb RAM...do I really need 1gb? what are the main differences in laptops from brand to brand?

It all depends on what you want to do and your budget. You can get by with 512 MB if your don't do heavy gaming, video editing, etc. Basic internet surfing and using office applications you should be fine.

I've found a computer that I like!! It's the HP dv6000z. It's loaded! 120GB hard drive, 1000+mb RAM. Comes pre-loaded with light scribe. It's got a web cam. DVD/CD burner. There's more, but I forget. It's a little more than I wanted to spend, but with that much memory I'm not complaining. Plus, it will have a free upgrade to Vista when it comes out (though I may not upgrade). Does anyone have any opinions of this computer? Thanks again!

For the record, I will never, ever, EVER, buy a Compaq laptop.

Every single one I've ever encountered has had scores of useless shit loaded on it by Compaq resulting in painfully slow operation.

Called them last night and had it customized (to get it closer to my budget). I stayed with the dv6000z. 80GB hard drive, 1024 RAM, Windows Media Center Edition, (free upgrade to Vista), Duo Core Processor (1.60GHz), TV tuner Card, lightscribe, CD/DVD RW, 1 year accidental damage coverage, Free printer. I think that's the majority of it. I had the hard drive reduced from a 120 Gig to save $100+. After rebates it comes in at just over $1,000.

After rebates it comes in at just over $1,000.

Not a bad price, but you could get a lightly used one for much cheaper.

For the record, I will never, ever, EVER, buy a Compaq laptop.

Every single one I've ever encountered has had scores of useless shit loaded on it by Compaq resulting in painfully slow operation.

How is that different than any other brand of manufacturer? You can always remove the junk or do a clean install...

How is that different than any other brand of manufacturer? You can always remove the junk or do a clean install...

I agree eclipse. They almost always load a lot of extra *trial versions* of software. That's just to let you decide whether or not you like them. After the trial period, if you decide you don't like a program, you can just remove it! However if you did like it, you can buy the full version.

I think the computer I'm working with comes with a Norton Anti virus package. I will probably like it, but because it takes up so much space, I'll likely get something different after the trial period.

The three brands I'd recommend are Acer, Asus, and Lenovo/IBM.

HP Laptops aren't bad either. I've herad some good things about them and their capabilities aren't that bad for a laptop.

what do you guys think of extended warranties? From my experience they seem to be quite useful. The only problem is that from HP they aren't cheap! I'm getting a one year "accidental damage coverage" plan for $99. Apparently this plan covers anything! There are other plans as well: two years for $249 and three years for $349. Because I don't think I'll be to hard on my computer, I just went with the 1 year.