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recommend me a laptop

post #1 of 34
1/21/07 at 11:20pm
Thread Starter 
i'm leaving home very shortly for a couple months and i'll be unable to bring my desktop. i know virtually nothing of laptops and have never owned one. anyone know of any great deals out there right now in terms of a best bang for your buck laptop? don't really have a budget if it's worth the money.

i'll take any help i can get. thank you much.
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post #2 of 34
1/21/07 at 11:35pm
keep an eye out in circuit city, best buy or your nearest store like those.
i scored this toshiba satellite laptop for cheap!

1.6 intel 2 duo
2 gig ram
160 hard drive
15.4 widescreen
free upgrade to windows vista!
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post #3 of 34
1/21/07 at 11:39pm
If you want cheap- go Dell (they have their detractors but so does everyone else). If you want the best get a Thinkpad. I have owned several Lenovo/ IBM Thinkpad series models and they are truly the best laptops you can buy (unless you look to Japanese imports or Panasonic/ Getac industrials types).

Laptops are a bit different than desktops- more things to consider like build quality, screen size, form factor, etc. For my money, the Thinkpad T-series models are the best balance of everything, although perhaps a little more expensive than the competition.
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post #4 of 34
1/21/07 at 11:42pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by feh1325 View Post
keep an eye out in circuit city, best buy or your nearest store like those.
i scored this toshiba satellite laptop for cheap!

1.6 intel 2 duo
2 gig ram
160 hard drive
15.4 widescreen
free upgrade to windows vista!
eh, don't get a toshiba satellite... My brother's kept overheating all the time and needed two external fans... Toshiba gave us like 50 dollars like a couple of months ago because there was a lawsuit about it or something...
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post #5 of 34
1/21/07 at 11:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oistrakh View Post
eh, don't get a toshiba satellite... My brother's kept overheating all the time and needed two external fans... Toshiba gave us like 50 dollars like a couple of months ago because there was a lawsuit about it or something...
mine runs pretty cool
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post #6 of 34
1/22/07 at 12:04am
My gf recently got Lenovo Thinkpad T60. It's a well built work horse. I really recommend it if you're willing to dish out the money. If not, go with a Dell. They build solid laptops for a low cost.
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post #7 of 34
1/22/07 at 12:08am
If I were to get one now, I'd probably get a MacBook or a Sony SZ. Both are light, small, and built well.

But for price-for-performance ratio with some security of quality, Dell probably wins.
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post #8 of 34
1/22/07 at 12:09am
It always amazed me when people lug around laptops what weigh more than 5/6 pounds. Including peripherals and the bulky adapter you're easily looking at 8 pounds to carry. Honestly, the best thing travel-wise is good performance, while keeping weight low and good battery life. My next laptop is going to be a Dell XPSM1210. It's a 12.1" beauty with amazing battery life, and the power to pull through pretty much anything, even graphics intensive games (with the upgrade video card option). Plus at ~4 pounds you won't get a hernia carrying it around.
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post #9 of 34
1/22/07 at 12:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmmtn4aj View Post
If I were to get one now, I'd probably get a MacBook or a Sony SZ. Both are light, small, and built well.

But for price-for-performance ratio with some security of quality, Dell probably wins.
I bought a Sony SZ and although it was a really sexy piece of hardware, the software was so unstable I ended up returning it. I ended up buying an Apple MacBook Pro. I run XP in a Parallels VM and it is the best laptop I've ever had by a wide margin. I'll never buy anything else.

Check out the MacBooks. http://www.apple.com/macbook/macbook.html

You won't be sorry.
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post #10 of 34
1/22/07 at 12:23am
First choice would be Mac Book. After that IBM and Dell.

--Chris
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post #11 of 34
1/22/07 at 12:23am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oistrakh View Post
eh, don't get a toshiba satellite... My brother's kept overheating all the time and needed two external fans... Toshiba gave us like 50 dollars like a couple of months ago because there was a lawsuit about it or something...
Well, i've seen a lot of Toshiba lemons, they replaced my sister's with a new one, it was pretty messed up. I have a Toshiba satellite that works quite well, except the fans are noisy.

If you live in US, i recommend seeing what Costco has, cause you get 6 months to decide if you like it or want to return it. The other option is a refurbished Macbook Pro for $1400 or so. Beautiful machines, but they are the 1st generation which make weird noises and get really hot.
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post #12 of 34
1/22/07 at 12:27am
I third the IBM Thinkpad suggestion. Awesome machines and I love the build quality. The majority of them are very portable with light weight and long battery life.

You have to ask yourself what you plan on doing with your laptop too. Portable and transportable are two different things, just like our rigs. For me, I want something easy to carry around, but isn't too small for me to use, and with long battery life.

When I'm using my laptop the most demanding thing I do is watch movies. Most of the time it's web browsing, working with MS Office files, and Foobar'ing. Sometimes ****.
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post #13 of 34
1/22/07 at 12:28am
As much as I hate compaq and as a company there ehhh...

My mate said they have a really good bang for buck laptop, that's over here atleast.

1.6 Turion IIRC and it has fairly low specs in RAM, HDD etc. but has a video card.I can't remember the details exactly anyway it's only $1100AU.
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post #14 of 34
1/22/07 at 12:45am
Anything around 4-5 pounds is pretty easy to port around (IE Thinkpad T series). The big gaming machines- 7-10 pounds are more home space savers. The Ultra portables- 3 pounds- are less bang for your buck with small, squinty screens- only recommended if you really need something that small.
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post #15 of 34
1/22/07 at 12:57am
I've worked for the same company for 10 years now. Standard issue was Toshiba Tecra for a few years, then we shifted to the IBM T series. X series has also been available. Currently using a T43 for work. I think the T series is the most robust PC around -- very reliable.

For home, though, I have an Apple Powerbook 15". Would probably buy a Macbook next if I really needed another portable.

Dell is good price/performance, but they seem flimsy to me. I read that HP just surpassed Dell's sales numbers (not sure which segment). They must be fixing up their act, but I haven't looked at them recently. Acer is a good import to go with, but won't be as easy to have serviced as Dell/HP/Apple.

Panasonic Toughbook is the way to go if you want bulletproof reliable, but $$.


Michael
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