I Need a New Laptop

One of our laptops at home bit the big-one, so I need to get a replacement. Has anyone purchased a new laptop recently that they can recommend?

belive it or not my dad find em cheap at gargae sales but there only like 500 mhz but he payed like 75 bucks i like dells.i guess it maters what ya need to do with the laptop

My sister just got a Dell Inspiron 600M (I helped her spec one out) a few months ago and has been very happy with it. Now, I know there are people who have had bad experiences with Dell products. But everyone I know who has bought a Dell has been happy with their products.

IBM I think also has a pretty good reputation.

Mike

I've liked my eMachines M5310 (they upgraded to M5312 now)
but it seem like eMachines has a kind of hit & miss record
(nill on the help! too! But I knew I wouldn't need help /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif )

I got a Gateway 450X not so long ago and love it. Before I bought it, my only concern was the integrated 32MB video card. I can tell you though, that I can play HALO (a good graphics game), on a good resolution and quality, with no quirks....just pure smooth graphics.

So you might not like that model; maybe it doesn't suit your needs, or you don't like Gateway (I like Gateway FYI)....but let me make one recommendation for you when buying a laptop.

GO CENTRINO!!! Centrino does a lot for you.

It uses Pentium M processors. When I bought my laptop, the guy at the store said a Pentium 4 at 3ghz, is like a Pentium M at about 2.2ghz. I thought he was nuts....I believe him now! The processor actually shuts down when you aren't using it, so battery life is increased.

Centrino also has 802.11b, which is an excellent speed for browsing the web. I can do streaming videos with no problem at all. 802.11b is great at the house...but if you don't use it around the house, 802.11b is also used around the country. Hotspots can be located all over the place. They can be found in parks, hotels, restaurants, Starbucks, libraries, Borders, and computer cafes. Hotspots are great! Check out hotspots here.

Centrino means a whole lot of things. Check Centrino out here.

If you have any other questions, feel free to post, PM, or e-mail me, as I would be glad to answer any questions you may have.

Centrino is just a marketing scheme for Pentium M + Intel's 802.11b chipset + Intel's motherboard chipset. The only piece of that pie that really buys you anything is the Pentium M processor (NOT the same as a Pentium 4 M, just to keep you on your toes). Intel's 802.11b chipset isn't anything special, and many non-centrino laptops with the Pentium M ship with faster 802.11g chipsets.

As for manufacturers, they're all roughly the same when it comes to consumer stuff. No matter who you pick, someone will come out of the woodwork with a horror story. I'd just stay away from Sony as I've noticed a general deterioration in their quality lately across all of their consumer electronics lines, without an accompanying decrease in price.

If you really want a well-built laptop and don't mind paying more, go with a business model from HP (Evo) or IBM (thinkpad). You get higher quality components and better support.

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_Mike_ said:
...everyone I know who has bought a Dell has been happy with their products...


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I own a Dell Laptop and is happy also! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

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Commander said:
[ QUOTE ]
_Mike_ said:
...everyone I know who has bought a Dell has been happy with their products...


[/ QUOTE ]

I own a Dell Laptop and is happy also! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbsup.gif

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Ditto. Mine is an Inspiron, which is not as well built as the Lattitudes (but also less $$). I also have an IBM, which is much nicer in terms of construction, but more $$ /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif

TIN--it really depends on what criteria you have in terms of laptops: price, size, performance, screen size, etc.

As mentioned above, the Pentium M is better for battery life and a slew of other things, in general.

You can find some general reviews of laptops on CNET. Not very techie reviews, but some good pics /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/popcorn.gif

I don't have a particular model to recommend, because I haven't been keeping up with laptop technology as much.

Good luck.

I thought someone would say it but
I'll added that last I heard Toshiba had the
best reacord world wide! (Followed by IBM, then HP, Then Dell)

Sorry, I cannot recommend Toshiba, in fact, it is one of the few I would definitely not own. My former company (who has a JV with a Toshiba company) actually now has a corporate policy of "no more toshiba." They sell well, but somehow just don't hold up, and repair costs are astonomical.

My beef with Sony, is that they are really a media company, and their big focus is preventing people from using music / movies in any "non standard" way. I am not a pirate, but I do feel I should be able to record the music and movies I own on my laptop, so I can watch them when I travel. (which is a lot) Sony does not agree, so they go to some length to prevent this in their products.

I am a big fan of AMD processors. Their mobile processor actually has variable speed, so it speeds up and slows down automatically to deal with the processor load, vs go / stop of Intel (maybe this has changed). Think about your car, do you floor it then let off the gas, or run variable speed ?

Both of my kids ended up with HP with AMD for college - very happy.

What do I carry - an IBM. I like the little pointer stick and I just hate the little mouse pad. (this is a very personal preference, as everyone else in my family likes the pad).

If you are going to be on the road a lot, IBMs are really tough. If it is mostly for home use, most can work.

I agree with the comments on Centrino, that is just Intel hype. If you want WiFi / 802.11, there are much better add on cards for range and speed than the Intel option.

Wow... that's a first. I've had nothing but Toshibas and nary a problem. I always heard to stick with the Satellite series so that's what I've done.

I just work the hell out of mine with several processor-intensive apps open at once, keeping in mind that I use one of these .

Rich

My Father-in-law has one of the fancier Dell Inspirion (or whatever they are called) the blue case looks almost anodized which is kind of nice, but he's had nothing but trouble with it. It's about to go back to Dell for the second time for a new keyboard.

If you order any of these things you stand the chance of getting a lemon, but for those that get one of the better ones they do seem to work OK if you don't mind how springy the keyboard is on the Dells.

Even when I received my latest laptop, a top of the line Mac Titanium powerbook, it was DOA, not even a flicker or a sound when I went to turn it on. They cross shipped a new one to me though and it only extended my downtime by 2 days. Since then though, the machine has been rock solid.

If you need a windows capable machine, I still like the think pads, though it's been several years since I've owned one.

Thanks everyone.

Ray,

My 4 year old Compaq bit the dust the second day of my 5 week stay on Maui. I asked around for some advise on a lap top that didn't come bundled with a bunch of crap. The choices came down to IBM think pads and Panasonic Tough Books. I ended up going for a Panasonic 73. Been using it for over a week now and am very happy with it. It will live on my kitchen table when I get home so having the splash resistant key board and display is a plus. The magnesium case is also nice. These have a three year warranty which I found refreshing.

You will get a hundred different answers here. First thing to decide is how you will use it. Do you need a real laptop or will a desktop notebook work fine? If you need a real laptop stay away from the fastest processors and ones with the desktop processors in them. For example, my wife thought she would save some $ and buy a Dell Inspiron 1100 and get things like a big screen and dvd. Well the 1100 has a desktop processor so trying to use it on a lap causes the shopvac sounding fans to kick on and even then it will still lock up after a while. Its also heavy, not something you want to hold or carry for a long time. I, on the other hand, outgrew pda's and decided to buy a thin light laptop and bought a dell latitude c400 (would have went tablet but at the time no tablets were under 5lbs). Mine can compile programs at 100% cpu all day long and and turn the fans on but never have a heat problem even sitting inside a case on my lap with half the vents blocked.
Once you have decided how you will use it, decide if you are a gamer or productivity user. Most of the consumer line like the inspiron, presario, pavilion for example will be better at games but don't have as sturdy case or as good as warranty and support (should you require it) as the business line (latitude, Evo, omnibook for example). Most brands you will heard good stories and bad stories. I've hears a lot of bad things about dell, compaq, hp, ibm, etc and heard a lot of god things about them as well. The only brands that seem to have more bad than good are Gateway, Sony and Apple (once you account for the Apple fans that won't say anything objective about them).

Apple G4 17inch laptop /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

if you want quality and style...get an Apple PowerBook...

visit an Apple store and see for yourself...

if you want a PC notebook, then get an IBM...

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this_is_nascar said:
Thanks everyone.

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One way or the other, let us know what you end up with.

Rich

I'm still undecided. I've never used anything other than Compaq before. I currently have an Evo N610C and the wife's laptop that broke was the same.

Ray,

I've gone through three Ccmpaqs and they were all fine for their time and provided good service. The last one had an IR port that never did work right and caused trouble until I disabled it. What buged me was all of the crap software that came loaded with them and it progressively got worse. My latest HP PC also came loaded with a bunch of consumer whoopie poop on it. From here on, I plan to stick with professional "stripped" versons if possible. Whatever you get, make sure you get it protected with virus, internet and spyware protection! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif