Anybody bought a laptop recently?

VortecJeep

VortecJeep

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If so, what did you get and from where and would you recommend it? There are so many choices and brands that weren't around when I bought our last one, I'm just wondering what people are getting that they are happy with.
 
I bought a 4 core i5 Samsung back in the spring. Very happy w/it so far. I also looked at an HP that was about the same, spec-wise. I don't remember why I chose the Samsung. It might have been on battery life. This one will go about 5 hrs without a charge.

Machines are fast enough now that you can do pretty well with any $400 laptop if you just want to browse the web. If you need more than that, the 4 core i5s and 4 core i7s are pretty fast. I'd look for at least 4GB of ram in a performance machine... maybe 6GB. Kinda comes down to how much you want to spend and what sort of features you're interested in (screen size, speed, battery life, weight/portability, etc)
 
depends on what you want to do. I prefer IBM's as I despise touchpads with every ounce of my being. They make document work so much more difficult because you have to take your hands off of the home keys to move the mouse... Some of them are also built with metal frames which the vast majority of other laptops out there don't have. I've dropped my T61 on the corner on tiles and it just flopped over and was fine. Do that with most others and it will shatter the screen.
With the new Thinkpad tablet out though, that is probably the best new technology on the market as far as computers. It is an android tablet, but has external full size USB port *none of the other tablets have that, so no using thumb drives*, and with the optional keyboard folio, it will dock into this folio and have a full size keyboard with trackpoint mouse that is hardwired into the tablet, so no fighting wireless connections. All of that folds up into the form factor of a 10 inch notebook, but for under $700 you get a full functioning notebook with the added benefit of the touchscreen and tablet features. It also has a full size SD slot for expandable memory and a SIM card slot so you can use 3g. I love mine and use it far more than my laptop. It won't run the same kinds of programs that the laptop will, i.e. if you're a gamer this is obviously not for you, and it doesn't have a whole lot of harddrive space. I have the 32gb model which is plenty because any native stuff it needs will fit there, I have the SD card slot for expansion and the USB port allows me to hook up an external HDD with any pictures and what not on there. So for under $800 you have a 1tb external HDD to store stuff, a tablet, digitizer pen *this is awesome because it allows you to scribble on the screen, which none of the other tablets are offering at the moment, it will also convert writing to text* and the keyboard folio. It's a bit more than what you can buy an off the shelf laptop from best buy for, but the versatility is astounding
 
Get an Apple...they cost more but last forever. I've had mine for 3 years now...never had a virus, never serviced, never crashed. Still as fast as the day I bought it. Slight learning curve, but awesome!
 
I've had PC/windows machines forever. We're going to macbook airs at work and after using the one I was given for a trial I love it. There are no moving parts, and there really isn't anything you can't do on them you can on a PC. Virus risk is much less on macs also. I've been won over, and it only took 12 years.
 
No moving parts tech? How does the hard drive work?
- true on the virus part though! I like macs, but you definately wanna upgrade the one button mouse!
 
they don't have them, the air's a solid state similar to tablets. waste of money imho with the tablets out not, but to each his own
 
i bought a hp pavilion g6 and i'm pleased with it so far its fast and i download alot of music and have all sorts of tech manuals and such on it
 
We got a Toshiba C655 about a year ago for like $400 new. Don't remember where but it seems to be just right for my & I & the kids. No problems with it at all either!
 
VortecJeep said:
What is the downside of these?
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The fact that they are Acer, Emachines and Gateway... All garbage.. You get what you pay for. Want cheap components that will not outlast the rest, go with these. Then again, your computer is obsolete the day you buy it so to each their own. They are good computers if you just use them a little bit for nothing serious. But if you like bells and whistles, fast processor speeds and and array of component hookups, then these arent what you are looking for.

Toshiba has always been good to me... My 5yr old laptop is still working with the best of em w/ Win XP and a 1Ghz processor.
 
Recently bought a Samsung i3 core and like it OK. I looked at the Macs, but couldn't justify almost 3 times the price. The only thing I've done to is is to disable the touch pad. It's set too close to the surface where you rest your hands when typing and the cursor would move to some arbitrary place in the middle of typing. You could turn it off but I'd never remember to turn it off each time I wanted to type something and then it'd piss me off, so I ended up unplugging it and using a wireless mouse. If I had to do it again, I'd probably get a Dell, though not one from Best Buy or the big box stores, I'd have one made. the main feature I looked for was 10 key on the side since I use it at work and type a lot of numbers.
 
I've had 2 Asus laptops. They have both been good as far as computing, but the build quality on the older one (2003 M3Np) was much better than the newer one (2007 F3JP). I've got a 2010 HP Elitebook 8540w for work with a 4 core i7 processor and it is nice. Battery life is a solid 4+ hours, and it has a nice fit, finish, and feel to it. Also, it has a light at the top of the monitor, which illuminates the keys. I like that better than the backlit keys because it doesn't shine right in your eyes, and it only requires one LED instead of several, so it uses less battery.
 
tbone1004 said:
they don't have them, the air's a solid state similar to tablets. waste of money imho with the tablets out not, but to each his own
Click to expand...

My desk top has SSDs as they provide the fastest performance with regular sata drives for storage , and I can see all desktops going a similar direction.

As for the one button mouse, the touch pad uses gestures which is the neatest thing about the air. There is a learning curve but once you figure it out it's quite nice.
 
GubNi said:
Stay away from Acer, gateway, emachine - All three are made by the same company.
Click to expand...

VortecJeep said:
What is the downside of these?
Click to expand...

I won't go so far as to say they are junk, but they are not top quality. For about the same price you can get a Compaq or Toshiba that are much better units.

BTW - I do laptop repair as my day job.
 
I sell computers daily at work... I have two schools of thought when i sell a computer.

You buy a really high end computer and hope to god the technology doesnt go an entirely different direction in 4-6 years and plan on getting 4-6 years out of $1000-1500.

or

You buy a cheap computer that will do what you want and plan on replacing it every two years when its completly out dated and the hard drive dies on you.

A last thought is you lease a Chromebook and dont deal with hard drives, viruses, huge OS's or programs. 34$ a month with free 3g connectivity and when its outdated and you hate it you turn it back in.
 
tbone1004 said:
depends on what you want to do. I prefer IBM's as I despise touchpads with every ounce of my being. They make document work so much more difficult because you have to take your hands off of the home keys to move the mouse... Some of them are also built with metal frames which the vast majority of other laptops out there don't have. I've dropped my T61 on the corner on tiles and it just flopped over and was fine. Do that with most others and it will shatter the screen.
With the new Thinkpad tablet out though, that is probably the best new technology on the market as far as computers. It is an android tablet, but has external full size USB port *none of the other tablets have that, so no using thumb drives*, and with the optional keyboard folio, it will dock into this folio and have a full size keyboard with trackpoint mouse that is hardwired into the tablet, so no fighting wireless connections. All of that folds up into the form factor of a 10 inch notebook, but for under $700 you get a full functioning notebook with the added benefit of the touchscreen and tablet features. It also has a full size SD slot for expandable memory and a SIM card slot so you can use 3g. I love mine and use it far more than my laptop. It won't run the same kinds of programs that the laptop will, i.e. if you're a gamer this is obviously not for you, and it doesn't have a whole lot of harddrive space. I have the 32gb model which is plenty because any native stuff it needs will fit there, I have the SD card slot for expansion and the USB port allows me to hook up an external HDD with any pictures and what not on there. So for under $800 you have a 1tb external HDD to store stuff, a tablet, digitizer pen *this is awesome because it allows you to scribble on the screen, which none of the other tablets are offering at the moment, it will also convert writing to text* and the keyboard folio. It's a bit more than what you can buy an off the shelf laptop from best buy for, but the versatility is astounding
Click to expand...

Technically, IBM hasn't made a laptop in several years, since selling the PC division to Lenovo.
 
the thinkpad line. My newer thinkpad still says IBM on it, but make sure it's in the thinkpad line, the lenovo home line is questionable on durability of the cases. People just don't like the thinkpads because "they're ugly"
 
buying a pc is like buying a car. If you ask people, what car should I buy, you get a lot of answers. You need to spell out what you are trying to do....... Internet browse, excel type work, picture storage, etc.

Lenovo did buy IBM PC 6 years ago. Idea product(home product set) is less expensive than Thinkpad(IBMlegacy). IBM legacy more geared to business user ....reliability, functionality etc.

Deals can be had. PM me if interested.

Like everyone Lenovo has garage sales on inventory. Some are local....Raliegh and Whitsett (US warehouse is there).

Dell and HP are both having issues right now. Just an FYI.
 
tbone1004 said:
the thinkpad line. My newer thinkpad still says IBM on it, but make sure it's in the thinkpad line, the lenovo home line is questionable on durability of the cases. People just don't like the thinkpads because "they're ugly"
Click to expand...

Thats true - I always thought thinkpads were pricey for not alot of bells and whistles.. Hell, do they still do the red trackball dot in the middle of the keyboard? I hated that mouse option!
 
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