looking for new laptop
 

Need a new laptop for my wife (old one has hinges problems developing)
nothing fancy but not sure what brand to get hp ,toshiba, other

what do others have ?

It will be for surfing ,

Hey,

I am an IT guy, own an internet company and buy my stuff from the wholesalers... But when it comes to laptops I just go to Future Shop.

I won't touch HP again, went through 2 of them and the mouse pad was horrible, currently have a Toshiba and have never had a problem. There are alot of great laptops under $1K even under $700

Compaq owns HP, so I don't touch them based on my problems with the HP unit.

Happy Shopping!

Toshiba or a Macbook!

Dell for Notebooks, Acer for NetBooks.

I run an IT Consulting firm also, have the least problems, and best support from both.

Ken

I've heard Toshiba's good but I have Mac Book Pro, it's a great laptop.

Yup, a Mac. You can run windows on it if you absolutely have to as well as Mac OS.

+1 on the Macs. A little more money but you can't go wrong with one.

Not Dell, my laptop is ok but I would not buy one again.

+2 for MacBook or MacBook Pro. At first they look expensive, but you get what you pay for.

Yes, Mac is good but it is expensive. I would go for Asus - made in Taiwan but it is really good. More important, it is cheaper than most of the brands.

BTW. If you open a computer and find that most of the parts are made in Taiwan, then this is definitely of good quality. Most of the stuff are now either made in China or Malaysia.

Agreed stay away from HP/Compaq anything. For business laptop the Lenovos are good and I started buying Dell's business laptop this quarter and I have to say I do like them.

Yes Mac books are nice too.

i got a dell studio 15 with a graphics card, and it runs great. quick delivery also.
the cheaper ones are good deals on their website.

I'm a Manager for large IT company and my we re-sell a variety of computer hardware as well as make our own...here are some of my suggestions.

If you are going business class...Dell and Lenovo are quite good. Dell's support can leave you on hold for quite a while but now that they are re-selling through big box stores, you can get more local support.

If you are looking for a home office model...Asus makes a good laptop as does LG. Toshiba is okay if you move a little more upscale but their support can be as ugly as it gets.

Acer does an all around good job if you don't go too cheap. Their wireless setups are actually very good because they wrap their displays in order to extend their antenna's

Panasonic also makes a very good laptop (not just the toughbook) but they are pricy.

Lastly, I'm not a fan of anything MAC...I've had to support them in the past and it was a complete nightmare (worse than supporting VISTA plus unreasonably expensive).

I have had the least problems with the 2 toshibas i have had.

i had a higher end acer i bought a few years ago, nothinb but problems

I don't mind their displays but i will not buy another one.

Macbook pro now.. its solid slim and working and for me was easy to transition to.

Isn't it pretty much hit or miss? I had a Toshiba it was a piece of crap. I had 2 Dell's 1 was good the other nothin but problems. I bought my wife an HP(good price) and its been running fine.

half of my problems with the acer was the power connector. kept wobbling loose from the board.. they fixed it under warantee but after it was off i could not fix it myself and never really wanted to send it in to have them replace the whole board on my dime.

that is the main reason i started looking at macs.. for the magnetic power connector so that i can't wreck it like I did that one.

Go with a Mac, I will never again buy a piece of sh#t PC, once you go Mac you will never go back.

:biggrin:

Agreed!:biggrin:

Good thread. My PC is pushing 8 (human) years old now. In PC years I think its more like 80. I'm tired of all the problems I've had running XP on it so I've really been thinking about a macbook or macbook pro. But if I do go with laptop with a windows OS I'm leaning towards the Toshibas.

thank you for all the info
I will look into a few models

If you can afford the MAC then yes you will love it. If you go Windows take note any new machine will have the FREE upgrade option to Windows 7 that will be released later this year and Windows 7 is very good OS. Skipping Vista was a very smart thing to do.
Keith.

Hmm. Mac..$1400 for a 13in. or $1750 for the same with a bit of speed.

Half the price one can purchase various other brands, including larger screens or for 3/4 the price, a faster system with a 17in. screens. So when it craps in a few years, get another and your still the same amount as the Mac.

What am I missing here. Longevity ?

I have a Compaq R4000 - been running for 5 years now with not a single issue -

Larger screens just mean more weight, glass as we all know is heavy. MANY of my users who ordered big screens are kicking themselves now because they have to lug the thing to and from work every day. Better to get a small screen and plug it into an external monitor when at home or work.

Blacknife.... I had the same problem with my kids acers (2) and finally too the cover off and epoxied the power connector into its little plastic clip holder. They haven't had a problem since.

My personal favorites are the Toshibas and the Acers. Acer is a good basic machine that you can get at Wally world for about $600

What you're missing is Mac OS which, IMHO, is far better than Windows, fewer problems with viruses or general computer problems or issues, great and actually useful bundled software...

Oh yeah, and longevity. Plenty of people get 6 or 8 or 10 years out of a Mac.

+1

My Macbook Pro is plugged into a 27" monitor and external keyboard and mouse for use at my desk.

FREEDOM from all the Windows bugs, crashes, viruses etc etc has been easily worth the premium for me.

Once you go Mac, you will never go back (or so says those who have drunk Steve's Koolaid - like me)

I have not had all those described windows problems, myself. For sure not $700 worth. However longevity is an important concern.

Thanks