Laptop Question

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Mudder

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I had my laptop stolen and I just got my insurance check to replace it. Looking around for a new one I see a lot of Toshiba's on the market and was wondering who has what kind of laptops do out members have and what do you think of it?
I'm kind of partial to the old IBM Thinkpad because for me they have been pretty much bullet-proof but they are now out of my range and I'm looking to upgrade to vista.(I already have vista and I like it on my home machine) I'm looking for a laptop for under $1000

What say you?
 
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I have an HP, and had 2 Compaqs - I've not been all that happy with any of them. They have, at least on the surface, a great feature to price ratio, but I keep having various problems with them.

One thing to note - BestBuy has an extended warranty plan that is pretty good (or at least it used to be). I bought my original laptop several years ago (late 1999 or early 2000) and bought the extended warranty because it was a laptop and I was carrying it to work and school every day. As I mentioned, I'm now on my 3rd laptop (I'm really NOT that hard on them, I swear!), and all I've ever paid is to renew the extended warranty - BestBuy has given me a credit for the full value of the original laptop every time. I think this latest incarnation of the warranty may not be quite as generous, but with the way prices have come down since I originally bought mine, it will be less of a hardship to upgrade next time, if it's necessary.
 
I use a Dell for the shop, out in the shop in a pretty dusty enviroment. Not smart enough to see what model it is, though! It has the Centrino/duo sticker on it. I haul it to and from work (in a padded bag) in the car, on my cycle, I run AutoCad on it, take it on trips so the kids can watch dvd's. Basically use it well, and have for the last year or so, and it was used by the bosses' son before I got it. So I would have a vote for Dell myself.
 
Our laptops here at work are Dells and we've had few problems with them in 10 years. Ironically, a longtime family friend was a software engineer for Dell (now retired) from the beginning and he owned a Compaq. That was about 10 years ago and he said the Compaq was the best for the money and had fewer problems. Compaq has since changed owners and the quality may have fallen off. I've heard very good things about Winbook from a network admin I know.
 
Originally posted by Mudder
<br />I had my laptop stolen and I just got my insurance check to replace it. Looking around for a new one I see a lot of Toshiba's on the market and was wondering who has what kind of laptops do out members have and what do you think of it?
I'm kind of partial to the old IBM Thinkpad because for me they have been pretty much bullet-proof but they are now out of my range and I'm looking to upgrade to vista.(I already have vista and I like it on my home machine) I'm looking for a laptop for under $1000

What say you?
Click to expand...

I have ThinkPad and Dell laptops.
If you are going to spend less than $1000 on a Dell you are going to be very disappointed. The two do not compare in quality. But then my Thinkpads are pre-Chinese. So who knows what they are like today.
 
Both my wife and I have Toshiba's. 4 & 3 years old. Only issue was with the fan on hers and that was Two weeks after purchase. Was replaced and no other problems. Mine was an open box @ Best buy, paid $1300...... Her's, widescreen all the bells, $2200...... We have been happy with both of them....
 
I have always used a Dell and I actually bought mine form the dell outlet center. They are usally refurbished computers but the selection is huge and they have a warranty and well this one I have had for a year already and so far so good. The school district I work at every computer and laptop is a dell and the students get the laptops to work on and they are hard on everything the the computers still keep going.
 
I really like my Toshiba 17" widescreen, 6 month's old, no problems, use it more like a desk top, kinda big to haul around. My old IBM T20 won't die, I keep that one at home and lug it around everywhere I go just to have an internet connection.
 
HP laptop for me. P4 about three years old and seems to work ok. Use it a lot in my pick up with a GPS 18 hooked up for navagation and can also hook my cell phone to it for internet connection on the road (rest areas).

Chuckie
 
I use a Toshiba Satellite and I like it. It works really great so far. I am not a gamer and only use my laptop for internet, word processing, picture editing, worksheets, etc.

Note that it is not in any way top of the line but cannot complain since my father in law gave this to me after using it for 2 weeks. He is a Sony Vaio guy and bough this for my mother in law just for email purposes.
 
Also have a Toshiba Satellite. Got a good deal on it 3 years ago. Had my first problem last month and found out Toshiba extended the warranty to fix it. Can't complain[:D]
 
i just bought 2 gateway notebooks for 600 each. they seem fine.
they do what the kids want them to do.

plus when i called tech support i get English speaking people.

i had to call them trying to hook laptop up to a lcd tv. There was no problems with the computer.
 
Originally posted by PenWorks
<br />I really like my Toshiba 17" widescreen, 6 month's old, no problems, use it more like a desk top, kinda big to haul around. My old IBM T20 won't die, I keep that one at home and lug it around everywhere I go just to have an internet connection.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean Anthony, I have a T22 for my son and it just won't quit. I had an X31 that was a very nice machine and super light but it had a small screen and when my eyesight started failing I had to give it up and got a T30. That T30 was nearly indestructible. I dropped it once and it ended up taking a tumble down an escalator and besides a few scratches it fired up without a hitch. It was a 2 ghz processor and now everything in my price range is 1.6
I'm going to swing by Best Buy tonight so we'll see if I can catch a bargain.

I'll check in again before I leave so please keep the idea's coming.
 
I'm tough on laptops due to work and home use. I have an upper-end Dell that is now three years old that still processes, edits, and outputs video for what I do for a living. Does a great job and still keeps a 3-4 hour charge with tough use. Video editing is probably tougher than even gaming on a computer. I've done it on airplanes, dusty fields in the sun, in the freeezing cold, and occasionally at my nice desk in the perfect environemnt. Never a flicker, but it is one of the Latitude models and not the consumer-grade Inspirions. Both my daughters have been through at least one Dell while in school. For college graduation I bought one daughter her 2nd Dell and she uses it daily for work now, the other daughter opted to get a fully loaded deluxe Sony Vaio w/Vista because she liked the white keys (?). She has had no laptop problems but Vista has caused some compatability issues that I am sure will eventually resolve. My wife has a really cheap Dell that allows her to check e-mail and play Solitaire at the speed of light, capable of much more but that is all she asks it to do usually [:)]

All that being said I would offer this advice when it comes to computers today, and since I depend on them working flawlessly for a livelihood I am always talking laptops with other people-
* In the under $1000 consumer market just get whichever one has the best deal, they all are worth what you pay for them and sub $1000 is not much even today.
* I'll never buy another desktop, in today's world it just doesn't make sense to.
* Vista may be a great operating system but either MS released it early or the rest of the computer industry wasn't ready. Amazes what has compatability issues from cell phones to printers, but with time this will all work out. Remember same problems with XP.
* Computers should be looked at as a consumable item, get more than a few years out of it and consider yourself lucky.
* For consumer level computers on a day-to-day basis you will get a better deal at Best Buy than anywhere else, and consider their extended replacement warranty. More laptops die from Starbucks abuse that anything else.[:0]
 
So I guess it doesn't matter what you buy all the major brands perform about the same! I guess if I were to buy a new laptop I would look at the extended warranty as Jim mentioned.

I have a Dell D420 because it is very small and easy to carry. The new ones are Vista compatible.
 
I just replaced a 4 yo HP laptop with a new HP laptop with all the bells and whistles for $1299. I believe it's the ZV9400 series that I got at CompUSA. 17" widescreen, DVD writer w/Lightscribe (which is pretty neat), 2 GB RAM and 160 GB HDD. Also has a built in camera (if you want to see my mug [:D]). Works like a charm and I do a lot of photography (more than the penturning [V] (still haven't found the time to setup my shop).

Kol Tov,
 
I bought a real nice Gateway from Office Depot. I looked at all the rest of the brands there and the screens just didn't look as good as my Gateway. The only one that did was a $1800 Sony. I paid $1000 for this one and I'm very happy with it.
 
Hi Mudder!

Both of ours are Dell, and they just keep going and going! I got all of our computers by watching Able Shopper (www.ableshoppers.com) for a deal on Dells. My last laptop was one that usually went for $1800, and the deal I got was around $1100. Good savings!

Good Luck!

Scott.
 
I have bought several (8-10) Dell desktops for my business in the last two years. I will <u>never</u> own another one. The customer support is s**t.

All of my business desktops are now Acer. I bought 8 Acer machines this January because of my support problems with Dell.


I own a Toshiba laptop and am happy with it. I bought it last year at Office Depot (they beat Best Buy and Circuit City this time).

The following is a chat with Dell tech support I promise I did not make this up.



<u>This is an automated email sent from the Dell Chat. The following information is a log of your session. Please save the log for your records.
Your session ID for this incident is XXXXXXX.
Time Details
03/28/2006 03:27:45PM Session Started with Agent (Thirumal Jaganathan)
03/28/2006 03:27:45PM trenton whitehead: "I have talked to tech suport several times. They are sending restore disks AGAIN. no help so far please help"
03/28/2006 03:27:59PM Agent (Thirumal Jaganathan): "At the end of this interaction you may be offered the opportunity to provide me with feedback. In order to do so you will need to click the "Exit" button rather than using the "X" at the top of the screen. You may rate this interaction on a scale of 1-10"
03/28/2006 03:28:24PM Agent (Thirumal Jaganathan): "Ternton, I apologize for any inconvenience or frustration this matter caused."
03/28/2006 03:28:34PM Agent (Thirumal Jaganathan): "Sure, I will help you with this issue."
03/28/2006 03:28:59PM trenton whitehead: "sorry to sound frustrated"
03/28/2006 03:29:29PM Agent (Thirumal Jaganathan): "I can understand your situation Ternton. Don't worry I am here to help you."
03/28/2006 03:29:31PM Agent (Thirumal Jaganathan): "I will check in our records about your order. While I do that, for security purposes, please verify your name, complete address, phone number and e-mail address."
03/28/2006 03:29:31PM trenton whitehead: "the last tech support person I spoke with is resending a restore cd That I do not need"
03/28/2006 03:29:44PM trenton whitehead: "trenton whitehead"
03/28/2006 03:29:50PM trenton whitehead: "xxxxx county road xx"
03/28/2006 03:29:55PM trenton whitehead: "xxxxxxxx xx xxxxx"
03/28/2006 03:30:02PM trenton whitehead: "xxx-xxx-xxxx"
03/28/2006 03:30:13PM trenton whitehead: "xxxxxxxxxxx@xxxxx.com"
03/28/2006 03:30:53PM trenton whitehead: "i have 8 Dell computers. this one is the only problem"
03/28/2006 03:31:25PM Agent (Thirumal Jaganathan): "Thank you for the information."
03/28/2006 03:31:46PM Agent (Thirumal Jaganathan): "Are you referring the restore CD for DIM 8400,P4, 640 (3.2GHZ)?"
03/28/2006 03:31:55PM trenton whitehead: "yes"
03/28/2006 03:32:11PM Agent (Thirumal Jaganathan): "Thank you. Please give me a minute."
03/28/2006 03:33:39PM Agent (Thirumal Jaganathan): "For your satisfaction I have placed an order for the restore CD and the reference # is 128817075. Once the order is ready to ship, it will reach you within 5 - 7 business days."
03/28/2006 03:34:14PM trenton whitehead: "i have 8 sets of restore disks"
03/28/2006 03:34:41PM trenton whitehead: "i dont need anymore restore disks"
03/28/2006 03:34:59PM Agent (Thirumal Jaganathan): "May I know the part # for the CDSs please?"
03/28/2006 03:35:17PM trenton whitehead: "where do i find the part #"
03/28/2006 03:36:17PM Agent (Thirumal Jaganathan): "Trenton, well, I have got the part # number. Don't worry you will receive the correct CD very soon."
03/28/2006 03:37:29PM Agent (Thirumal Jaganathan): "Thank you. How am I doing so far at resolving the issue to your satisfaction?"
03/28/2006 03:38:32PM trenton whitehead: "i have been sent replacement cds already, they did not help. I was looking for an address to send the computer to"
03/28/2006 03:39:46PM Agent (Thirumal Jaganathan): "Trenton,don't worry in this case I have initiated a request for the replacement CDs and I am sure it will help you for your needs."</u>


Dell sent me over the course of 3 weeks 4 more sets of restore disks, each time overnight shipping. I finally gave up calling them. Two weeks later I received a phone call from Dell to follow up on my experience with them. This time (now 5 weeks after my DVD drive failed) they sent me a new drive.
 
Don't really know what was said, but I have a Dell laptop now and really like it. I have Vista on mine with 2 gigs memory, 1.8 Core 2 Duo processor, and upgrade video and memory cards. I've had it for almost two months now and it has been trouble free so far. I actually like Vista quite a bit and am thinking about upgrading other PCs I have with it. I get some type of employee discount because of all the money my company spends with Dell, so I got a price on mine under $1k. At least 2 months later PC locally still aren't as cheap as what I paid for mine.
 
I just bought my second Toshiba when Vista came out, great laptop, top of the line, but use the first one that is 5 years old, because IMO Vista sucks, and don't wish to install XP Just yet.

jack
 
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