Best Laptop?

[Myke]

what do you guys think the best laptop is? i think the compaq x1000 is the best laptop on the market :cool:

[KLH]

I've heard to many bad things about compaq and HP laptops..


One of my teachers bought a compaq (desktop) and it wouldn't startup, and when he called support, they told him "You should have bought a better computer."


I think IBM makes the best laptops, but they are very expensive. My friend has an expensive Dell laptop, and it crashes a couple times a day..

I have a Toshiba, and it has only crashed once since I've had it, and that was coming off of hibernate. It also wasn't ever shut off for over 6 days.

Sony seems to have good laptops, from what I've seen..


But like i've said, i've never heard anything good about compaq and HP laptops... I've just be told to stay away..

[y6y6y6]

I've been happy with my Dell 600m laptop. And the price on eBay through a reseller was especially good. I haven't used Compaq laptops, but I've had a few bad experiences with their desktops.

[Myke]

i wouldnt touch a compaq desktop with a 12 foot pole, but the x1000 compaq laptop is amazing. wide screen, best resolution, dvd burner, thin, *drools*

[SnakEyez]

All this talk about the best laptop and not 1 mention of the Powerbook so far? Well I guess it's up to me. The only Mac computer I own is a Powerbook and the laptops that Apple makes are great.

I know the 17" screens are the best, but they are costly, so I have a 15.2" one and it's still great. Give it another 3-5 months and supposedly they will be the first 64 bit laptops on the market.

[HRGraham]

I've used many Sony computers(desktops and laptops) and in my opinion they make the worst computer on the planet. We bought a few sony laptops/desktops and the keyboards died, one of them stopped turning on. The keyboard port on my desktop stopped working and the cases to them are very poorly designed. I've used many Dell laptops and they are solid. IBM is also a very good computer manufacturer but really expensive for what you get.

I just used a friends Inspiron 8500 and loved it so I ordered an Inspiron 8600:

Pentium M, 1.4 GHz,15.4 in WSXGA+
256MB RAM(512 more coming from crucial)
40GB Ultra ATA Hard Drive
64MB NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 Go Card
4X DVD+RW
Dell Truemobile a/b/g wi-fi card

All for $1700

-Graham

[Dalfiuss]

Sony SRX-99 or whatever the model number is of the latest of their ultra tiny laptops....

I would love one of those.

[sxtxixtxcxh]

i gotta second the powerbook nomination :D

i haven't really used any pc notebooks. just played around with a few.. not enough to really make a judgement call. windows on a laptop feels to clunky.

[Fuzzylogic]

Dell, Dell is one of the best, if not THE best OEM out there.

Now of course it depends what you want to do with it, but I've worked on literally thousands of laptops and I STRONGLY recommend Dell.

If anything, AVOID GATEWAY like the plague.

[fac3less]

Ugh. Dell is disgusting crap.

I'd recommend picking yourself up an ECS barebones and learning a few tricks.

Only problem I have with the new ECS systems is the fans (well, it was a 2.8ghz laptop with 1gb of ram, what can you expect, it not to get hot? :))

were a bit loud. But I always have headphones on anyways and I don't care about the people around me. I'm mean. Mwhaha.

[SnakEyez]

Don't make posts that argue against a company unless you can explaining your reasoning behind your argument.

Many people will argue that any laptop with a normal Pentium 4 processor in it is horrible. This is because the battery gets drained quicker, so you end up with shorter battery life. Also because of the fans since they need normal fans, not the scaled down ones. And because they tend to be too big and weigh to much to be carried around for an effective laptop.

See how the argument against something is much stronger with fact....Try it.

[fac3less]

No.. I'm quite 'happy' with saying dell sucks. As does compaq, HP, Etc. They're all utter trash.

Why thank you. I've screwed with about 300 different laptops of every brand. The custom built ECS's were still the best out of them all. I'm a power user. I like to tinker with everything. I like to custom build, anything that isn't custom built - is a joke.

As you would also see if you custom built systems or have fixed as many systems as I have.

[y6y6y6]

"No.. I'm quite 'happy' with saying dell sucks."

Well, that sounds odd. Especially since they always rank well in customer satisfaction. They also regularly win head to head comparisons. In what way do they "suck"? Please, be specific.

I've had many laptops. The Dells always worked best.

[fac3less]

Sure the dells have always worked best. Have you ever had something that isn't 'compaq, hp, or dell'?

Until then you don't really know the definition of good. (+ with price comparisons alone.. I paid 1300 for the 2.8ghz laptop.. with dell it would be around 3600.. not too bad..)

[y6y6y6]

Yes. I've used IBMs, Sony's and Toshibas as well.

And the Dell 1.4 Centrino I'm using now is just as fast as your 2.8. And it only cost me $1100. Sucks huh?

[fac3less]

Odd.. didn't post my last message right I guess.

and no.. my 2.8ghz with 17.6inch lcd is quite all right..

[Tammy]

The best laptop on earth is the one in my office from Gateway that I have had for the last three years. Best because it takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. ;)

Actually, Gateway laptops are heavy and a bit clumsy, so I wouldn't say they are the best. But my point is the best is not necessarily the one that looks the fanciest or gets the best reviews but which works for you, reliably, when you need it.

If I were to get a laptop today, it would probably be a Dell Inspiron, but only if I could get a whale of a deal on one (which you can do if you know the tricks). I might go for a Toshiba or something like that if I can find the right deal, too. Am thinking about it a little these days because, well, the new chips coming out this year should be real nice.

Compaq? Pass on that. The Compaqs I have used - desktops - were pieces of junk. Formed a bad impression in my mind and I will choose something else.

[KLH]

I don't really care for Dell. They once offered a sale on a computer, and they set it up so you can choose to "downgrade" the system (less ram, HD space, slower processor, etc.) and get the computer down to a very cheap price (not sure the exact amount. I found out about this on a website, and lots of people bought the computer. Well, Dell found out what people were doing, and cancled their orders, and said it was an error to be able to "downgrade the computer to meet your needs."
The people got very mad, and several TV stations aired reports on this, you might remember hearing about this a couple months ago.
This isn't the only time Dell did this, they have done this a total of 3 times in the past couple month that I know of.
If Dell is going to start a promotion, and sell computers that you can "downgrade" then I expect them to honor it. If they can't, then I can't buy from them.
And as a side note, Dell authorized hundreds of orders for these computer, and actually charged their CC, and then refunded them.

[sxtxixtxcxh]

Originally posted by fac3less
Odd.. didn't post my last message right I guess.

and no.. my 2.8ghz with 17.6inch lcd is quite all right..

as opposed to your 2.8ghz 17.6 CRT laptop... that we were alll assuming you were talking about... right?

[fac3less]

actually no.. i'm pretty sure it was only you with the idiotic assumptions.. but of course that was expected.. as you actually *paid* for your mac.

[sxtxixtxcxh]

:O

you didn't have to get all personal..!


think about it.. when it comes to OS and HARDWARE where do you go wrong when goin apple (aside from cost)?

[fac3less]

I completely agree with you. on the OS and hardware is decent.. but its just as bad as running linux if you get right down to 'programs that support it' (as someone was earlier bashing linux)

Then again.. I'm into ease for my desktop system.. so personally I would rather 'sit in the middle' on that one.. on one side - you have linux.. nice fun learning curve (which I'm past by a long shot, but I mean how can I train my younger siblings to use linux, i just can't even get started..) mac's in the middle.. easy to use.. but systems expensive.. and then microsoft on the other end.. sure linux pops on pc's too.. but microsoft is the 'easy of all easy' but 'the security will make you queasy' ;)

linux > mac os > microsoft.. so sure i'd like to sit in the middle as well.. but I can't afford it.. so I dual boot lin/mic and servers are all linux!

I'll go full-linux once I get out of florida and brother isn't using my system no more. (only reason I reinstalled it..)

And yeah - I'm not getting personal. I completely agree with you. + Mac's come out of the box more secure. Definately above anything microsoft-configured. But its the 'elite of the elites' so to speak.. and I just can't afford to completely switch.. now I don't mind my blueberry imac though.. then again I ahve too many systems.. problem is this is the only one worth using.. (2ghz etc).. rest are all outdated..

anyways, what a long boring post. :b i need to get a life.

[HRGraham]

I just wanted to let everyone know that I just got my Inspiron 8600 yesterday. Screen is beautiful and the wireless card works very well(dell truemobile). The keyboard is also fantastic. I think I can type faster on this than on my desktop keyboard. I have used many laptops and can honestly say this is probably the best one I've ever used. This includes Apple laptops, yuck.

OSX is probably technically more secure out of the box because there are fewer exploits for it. Hackers/crackers go after widely used systems so it can have the largest effect on the computing world.

-Graham

[fac3less]

I wouldn't exactly say they go after 'wider used' systems. More or less they make things for their own system they've used. Windows used more, windows gets more problems. I'd have to say the most of them are script kiddies.. who are just learning how to script or write a few tinyapps.

Nothing to be scared of.. its when the little kids control an army of systems ready to DoS your network - thats when things get scary and you'd rather not piss them off. :)

[Fuzzylogic]

Originally posted by KLH
I don't really care for Dell. They once offered a sale on a computer, and they set it up so you can choose to "downgrade" the system (less ram, HD space, slower processor, etc.) and get the computer down to a very cheap price (not sure the exact amount. I found out about this on a website, and lots of people bought the computer. Well, Dell found out what people were doing, and cancled their orders, and said it was an error to be able to "downgrade the computer to meet your needs."
The people got very mad, and several TV stations aired reports on this, you might remember hearing about this a couple months ago.


Now sadly that is not unusual behavior in the computer world.

However, Dell often does stand by such things, pricing errors and the rest.

For example Dell had a deal on their website for a 200 Gig hard drive, well it turned out they made a mistake and had over lapping refunds, taking the hard drive down to $20 vs the $200 something it should have been.

Dell honored the deal and took the loss. VERY FEW companies do that.

Another example of Dell doing great work is with their laptops, a year or two back they had a battery recall. As many companies do, however, what made Dell stand out was that they sent you a new battery. As a replacement, then you sent them your old one, then they sent you back a SECOND new battery. So basically you got a free second battery.

Most companies will have you send them your battery, leaving you SOL until the replacement arrives.

[Fuzzylogic]

Originally posted by HRGraham
I just wanted to let everyone know that I just got my Inspiron 8600 yesterday. Screen is beautiful and the wireless card works very well(dell truemobile). The keyboard is also fantastic. I think I can type faster on this than on my desktop keyboard. I have used many laptops and can honestly say this is probably the best one I've ever used. This includes Apple laptops, yuck.

OSX is probably technically more secure out of the box because there are fewer exploits for it. Hackers/crackers go after widely used systems so it can have the largest effect on the computing world.

-Graham

Glad to hear you like it.

I wouldn't say there are fewer exploits for Mac OS, just that fewer people use it so fewer hackers or whatever you want to call them are trying to do anything to it.


------

As for people saying Dell sucks I'd still like to see some reasoning behind that.

Now I earlier said Gateway was awful, and I didn't offer much explanation for that.

I've done tech support for over 2,000 Gateway laptops, and I'm pleased to say (sarcasm) that they have the 2nd highest failure rate in the industry.

They also seem to have the slowest hardware replacement rates as well. It should NOT take a month to ship a replacement part.

But they make up for it in their lack of ethics or morals.

The deal we had going with them was that if a laptop was "totaled" through misuse then our user would pay $500 out of pocket to replace it and our insurance would cover the rest.

Well apparently Gateway liked this idea, so much in fact they started deciding laptops were totaled that were not.

Luckily I was finally able to catch them in the act. After several students having stories that fiercely contradicted the things gateway claimed were wrong with the laptop (though the user often denies damaging the machines, you can usually tell the ones that are telling the truth form the sheepish liars) we started wondering what the heck was going on.

Finally a friend of mine had to send his laptop in because the battery latch had broken (another feature, if you use your laptop for say over 2 months the battery latch breaks and those Solo batteries slide right out).

Well the call came back that he had spilled pop or beer or some sticky liquid in it and friend the entire thing. It was going to be $800 to replace or $500 out of his pocket.

Well this obviously didn't fly, I had inspected his laptop myself before sending it in and it was in pristine condition. I called them back and spoke with one of their techs, asking what was going on. He went on about how when they got it it was this and that and destroyed and everything.

I was getting pissed, I asked to speak to their manager, and finally got transferred up to where I needed to be.

I explained what was going on and how it was outrageous, he told me that he went and grabbed the laptop from their support area and would look at it himself. I told him I'd wait. So 10 minute pass and he gets back on the line saying he had the thing on his desk, looked it over just now and it is very obviously suffering from this and that and other random crap. I ask him what the serial # is, he very smugly "reads" it to me and it is the one that matches the laptop for my friend that we sent in.


Well I then inform him that he needs to start sending us those replacement parts with the same courier as the company that they use to send us back those laptops, because they have mighty fast service. As they managed to rush deliver that thing from his desk 3 states away to my work bench in under 10 minutes!

I inform him I'm looking at the laptop as we speak on the phone (which I was, as when we got it back it had the "bill" attached to it and I of course wanted to know why work was done on it that wasn't needed).

Well he suddenly doesn't sound so smug anymore, he stammers for a bit and tries to back peddle. I explain to him that I want this bill removed from the system and that I don't ever want to have to speak to him in this capacity again and hang up the phone.


After working on literally thousands of their laptops and talking to my friends who still work there (I got fed up, quit and started working for a place that has all Dells, it is so wonderful) I can safely tell you that gateways in general are total crap.

[fac3less]

Nice little story. I can tell you that I've never had something like that happen to me through dell - or anything 'odd' or 'rippish' other than their prices.

And thats why dell sucks. Their prices.
(and their bios)

[Fuzzylogic]

Originally posted by fac3less
Nice little story. I can tell you that I've never had something like that happen to me through dell - or anything 'odd' or 'rippish' other than their prices.

And thats why dell sucks. Their prices.
(and their bios)

So a company sucks because they buy quality parts?

You DO realize that you often get what you pay for.

I'm sorry, but it is going to take more than "Well their prices are higher than other people whose prices are lower" to win me over on this one.

[fac3less]

Why? And dell's parts aren't that 'high in quality'.. have you ever used a custom built system? micron, wd, non-onboard chip? :b

[Fuzzylogic]

Originally posted by fac3less
Why? And dell's parts aren't that 'high in quality'.. have you ever used a custom built system? micron, wd, non-onboard chip? :b

Of course I have.

However, one does not often build a custom laptop, also the time involved is not economical.

I have no intention of custom building one of the labs at work, it would take far to long.

Additionally custom systems cost more than OEM, so not only does it take me more time, but more money.

It makes more sense to buy from an OEM for such purposes.

Now there is nothing wrong with a custom system for personal use, as I think most of us have those. However, there is always a trade off.

[fac3less]

you can purchase certain parts from OEM's. Where do i get most of my parts? directly from Asia/or a distro here in the states/canada.

How is it more expensive/time consuming? You go give me some system off dell with some specs + a price, I'll match it with better parts/price. (and it won't suck)

[Fuzzylogic]

Oh I meant to add, onboard chips can be very useful.

I usually buy my motherboards with onboard audio, video if possible and all the rest.

Of course I don't use the onboard video and rarely the the audio, but if one of my cards fails I can easily fall back to the onboard to test.

[fac3less]

I'm not talking about onboard audio/video/lan, etc. I always buy myself an asus board with at least 2 of the 3, normally I skip the video and just get audio/lan onboard.

I'm talking about ones who solder the chips into the sockets. or build chips right into the mobo. Processors!

[sxtxixtxcxh]

"but its just as bad as running linux if you get right down to 'programs that support it' "

not true. it's not as widely supported as windows, but it's definitely got more options than linux. when i decided to get a computer, i built a windows machine, because of the software, of course :)
then i went mac, and honestly, haven't had too many complaints (aside form gaming... then again, i'm not much of a gamer.)

"I wouldn't say there are fewer exploits for Mac OS, just that fewer people use it so fewer hackers or whatever you want to call them are trying to do anything to it"

well.. by definition of an exploit, there ARE fewer. i mean, by exploit you're saying there's a nonstandard use for a security hole found.

it could be argued that os X might in fact be less secure than windows, but with the lower user base, and less reason to target the system, there are definitely less exploits.


as far as laptops are concerned one overlooked feature is form factor. i doubt you can custom build a laptop with a 17" lcd (;)) an inch thick (closed) and less than 7 lbs.

[fac3less]

was about an inch and a half think I believe. not sure. and light too.

And by 'fewer exploits' i mean fewer found exploits. More users = more users hunting for exploits or more to test exploits on.

Anything is exploitable. It just takes time finding out how. :)

[Fuzzylogic]

Originally posted by fac3less
you can purchase certain parts from OEM's. Where do i get most of my parts? directly from Asia/or a distro here in the states/canada.

How is it more expensive/time consuming? You go give me some system off dell with some specs + a price, I'll match it with better parts/price. (and it won't suck)

I don't think I understand your reasoning.

Building ANYTHING yourself almost ALWAYS takes more time than having it done in an assembly line.

Our society is built off this, agricultural revolution, industrial revolution etc.

People had more time when they could specialize, they focus on one thing and delegate the rest to others so they can focus on it.

Sure I could grow my own food, build my own house, and sew my own clothes.

However I would have no free time left, and my products would most likely be of lower quality.


Now so far as you asking why it is more time consuming.

I can order a system from Dell right now, 20 minutes tops. (Less if I know exactly what I want)

And I'm done. That's it. In a few days I just unpack it and go.

When the system breaks down (as all systems do) I can just call Dell tell then what is wrong and they send a replacement. I get it the next day and I'm up and running again.

[fac3less]

and I can take 20 minutes, find some good deals online, order the parts and within an hour of them arriving I also have a system ready to go. (give or take os installation time)

I'd also pick the right companies to buy from - ones with warranties and also be able to call up and they would send me the replacement part immediately.

and with the few hundred or a thousand that I'd save - i'd sew my own clothes and plant a farm!....

(yeah.. right)

[Fuzzylogic]

Ok, so lets say for the sake of argument that you can build a system faster and cheaper than Dell can. (Which I still don't believe, but we can come back to that).


Now it's a week later, and my computer isn't starting up. What do I do?

It's 2 AM, do you want me to call YOU at 2 AM and ask you for tech support?

Because I sure as heck don't want any of my users calling me at 2 AM, unless they want to incur the wraith of my emergency help fee.

Even if a person can put the system together faster and cheaper (which can't be done) they still can't provide 24X7 tech support for it.

However, let's also say for the sake of argument that you can provide round the clock tech support.

You determine that the video card is fried. Who calls them up to replace it? Do you REALLY want to wait on hold for 15 minutes, then go through all the crap with the video card maker, then wait 3 weeks while you ship them your card, they test it, and then send you back one? Then pay shipping and handling charges?


I'm just saying there are trade offs, obviously there must be something worth while about a custom system since I'm sitting right next to mine.

However, the cost is that it takes more time and money.

[fac3less]

I'm talking about me building my own. I provide the tech support for anything I build (and yeah, I'm still up every night at around 2am, ;)) and I also normally provide free on-site labor/etc. Unless its the users fault.

I've also had a friend that had a laptop that dell took 32 days to fix.
Yep. Not only did they take their time, but they shipped it all around the states just for a cracked lcd screen. and then decided to charge him like 1700 bucks. ;)

It was his fault (accident, he dropped it). Dell still has the laptop. Shrugs.

Thats not immediate.

[Fuzzylogic]

There are of course always examples to the contrary of any thing.


However, overall in Dell has overnight support.

As I said earlier, I do support for thousands of laptops and Dell has almost always provided next day service.



How do you not charge for your service calls, where do you make any money at?

Obviously you do not charge yourself, HOWEVER, keep in mind that you are paying opportunity cost.

For each hour you spend fixing your computer you are not spending it doing something more productive.

Additionally as I said, even if you are able to know the problem instantly you still have to wait for each the part supplier to replace your part.

And that will take at least a week.

[fac3less]

but I enjoy fixing computers. Its more a hobby than anything else. I'm not losing out on productivity - its having fun. ;) I love screwing around with everything I can get my hands on.

Tinkering is my forte.

[Fuzzylogic]

That may be, but if you are supporting other users you can't run a business that way.

I'm just saying that if you build your own it costs more and takes more time.

You just can't build a system for cheaper than an OEM, it is almost impossible.

[fac3less]

of course I can't build it cheaper than the OEM does. :b but they sell it for a lot more than they build it.

[Fuzzylogic]

Originally posted by fac3less
of course I can't build it cheaper than the OEM does. :b but they sell it for a lot more than they build it.

Actualy the mark up they put on computers is rather slim. Something in the 10% range or lower if I recall correctly.

But fine, if you want to grab one of the Dells from their page, use it's default options and then see if you can configure the same one for a better price you are welcome to.

However, and this is especially true on the cheaper ones, you will be hard pressed to do so.

Even more so once you try and buy Windows, Office, etc..

Say a Dell Dimension 2400 eval code 6V593-D24TVC for example.

That one comes to about $400 I think.

[fac3less]

I can't go to dells site.. I've already mentioned that.

They like having my network banned. ;) but yeah. I could match any system. I'm sure the one you sent me to was a celeron too.. but can't tell for sure as I can't go to dell!

[Fuzzylogic]

Originally posted by fac3less
I can't go to dells site.. I've already mentioned that.

They like having my network banned. ;) but yeah. I could match any system. I'm sure the one you sent me to was a celeron too.. but can't tell for sure as I can't go to dell!

Why the heck can't you go to their website?