whats your budget?
IBM thinkpad t40 ftw!
it may be a little old but it still rocks for what you are planning to do with it. Ive been using one for the last 2-3 months since my computer died. i got mine for 500.00 but it was pretty much decked out to the max. i can also play some 720p HD videos on it as well.
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=1610
my FAVORITE keyboard ever...in all honesty id take a thinkpad keyboard over a normal desktop one.
IBM thinkpad t40 ftw!
it may be a little old but it still rocks for what you are planning to do with it. Ive been using one for the last 2-3 months since my computer died. i got mine for 500.00 but it was pretty much decked out to the max. i can also play some 720p HD videos on it as well.
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=1610
my FAVORITE keyboard ever...in all honesty id take a thinkpad keyboard over a normal desktop one.
x2 what he said
People always wonder why I like the IBM laptops so much and honestly it is for the little trackball thing, people look at me funny when I go on and on about it but I think once you use it then it is really hard to go back to a touchpad.
Plus they are reliable as hell. They are also a bit more expensive but there is no comparision in a cheapo dell $499 deal and an ibm/leveno(sp?) laptop.
soloXgt
10+ year member
Dinkum Flicka
toshiba
revrider1
5,000+ posts
Hmmm...
HP, Im happy with mine...
Just going from the brands we sell at my store and the problems I've seen them have:
Toshiba A200/P200 ... Toshiba has seemingly taken care of the motherboard problems they have been having the last 2 quarters. We were getting tons of units back, but have had very few back lately. They have a nice, solid chassis and I've yet to see a cracked/broken LCD on one. They have a GPU compartment and connections in most models I've opened up, which leaves room for upgrade if you get one w/ an integrated graphics processor, although laptop GPUs are very pricey. Unfortunately, the hard drives are still not physically attached to chassis and a solid bump can knock it out of the SATA connection. Also, the "universal" keyboard design pisses me off; the left shift is too short and the enter key is oddly-shaped. Overall, Toshiba would probably be my choice lately as far as performance and quality per dollar goes.
Hewlett-Packard dv2000/dv6000/dv9000 ... HP's laptops have been the most problematic of any of the brands we sell for the last quarter. I don't know what changed from earlier in the year because they were quite a bit better, but now, I hesitate to recommend them because of the problems in addition to HP's terrible customer service.
Acer ... Acer generally offers up good hardware performance for the dollar; however, they pair it with shitty, custom-made, performance-leeching software. Acer released a new chassis design which is a lot more solid-feeling than their previous chassis, which was quite flimsy and poorly-built. While it certainly isn't better than Toshiba's, it is on par w/ HP's. Acer has generally been one of the more problematic brands we sell and not much has changed in that regard, except less chassis-related incidents (cracked LCD screens, broken hinges, etc.). Fortunately, unlike HP, Acer actually has good customer service and gets shit fixed quickly.
Sony ... I don't see too many Sony's back and, when I do, it's usually something common (i.e. battery). They cost a bundle, but always seem decently built. Sony has the worst customer service in the universe by far, so if you do run into problems, you're better off slitting your wrists than phoning Sony for help.
Apple ... We only sell the Macbooks, so this is based on them and not the Macbook Pros, which I'm much more fond of. Let's face it, the primary deciding factor here will be how much you hate Windows Vista (or, to a lesser degree, how much you love Apple). I personally like Vista, so the Macbook doesn't present a strong case to me being that it's $1250 for a model that lacks some pretty basic features such as a DVD burner, a decently-sized hard drive, and a decent amount of USB ports, all features which are present on even $500 Windows-based laptops these days (though $500 Windows-based PCs obviously don't perform anywhere near as well, just pointing out features here). The saving grace of the Macbook is the Intel Core 2 Duo T7000-series CPUs which provide snappy performance. IMO, they should've upgraded the memory to 2 GB when they released Leopard as it's not quite as fast as Tiger is w/ 1 GB, however RAM is dirt cheap these days, so as long as you don't pay Apple's outrageous upgrade prices, it's not a big deal. For whatever reason, I get people in with keys falling off on the Macbooks at least once a month (I've only ever had 2 other laptops have this issue: 1 HP and 1 Acer). However, overall, the Macbooks are fairly problem-free, though the cost of repair is huge. Apple's service is decent, certainly better than average, but not nearly as good as Acer's, in my experience.
If you're getting Windows Vista, make sure you get AT LEAST 2 GB of RAM and I would advise a Core 2 Duo CPU (preferably a T7000-series) as they perform the best by a significant margin. If you find a laptop w/ a good CPU, but it's lacking in RAM, don't worry, RAM is easy and cheap to upgrade. You can pick up 4 GB of RAM for under $100 off Newegg.
Toshiba A200/P200 ... Toshiba has seemingly taken care of the motherboard problems they have been having the last 2 quarters. We were getting tons of units back, but have had very few back lately. They have a nice, solid chassis and I've yet to see a cracked/broken LCD on one. They have a GPU compartment and connections in most models I've opened up, which leaves room for upgrade if you get one w/ an integrated graphics processor, although laptop GPUs are very pricey. Unfortunately, the hard drives are still not physically attached to chassis and a solid bump can knock it out of the SATA connection. Also, the "universal" keyboard design pisses me off; the left shift is too short and the enter key is oddly-shaped. Overall, Toshiba would probably be my choice lately as far as performance and quality per dollar goes.
Hewlett-Packard dv2000/dv6000/dv9000 ... HP's laptops have been the most problematic of any of the brands we sell for the last quarter. I don't know what changed from earlier in the year because they were quite a bit better, but now, I hesitate to recommend them because of the problems in addition to HP's terrible customer service.
Acer ... Acer generally offers up good hardware performance for the dollar; however, they pair it with shitty, custom-made, performance-leeching software. Acer released a new chassis design which is a lot more solid-feeling than their previous chassis, which was quite flimsy and poorly-built. While it certainly isn't better than Toshiba's, it is on par w/ HP's. Acer has generally been one of the more problematic brands we sell and not much has changed in that regard, except less chassis-related incidents (cracked LCD screens, broken hinges, etc.). Fortunately, unlike HP, Acer actually has good customer service and gets shit fixed quickly.
Sony ... I don't see too many Sony's back and, when I do, it's usually something common (i.e. battery). They cost a bundle, but always seem decently built. Sony has the worst customer service in the universe by far, so if you do run into problems, you're better off slitting your wrists than phoning Sony for help.
Apple ... We only sell the Macbooks, so this is based on them and not the Macbook Pros, which I'm much more fond of. Let's face it, the primary deciding factor here will be how much you hate Windows Vista (or, to a lesser degree, how much you love Apple). I personally like Vista, so the Macbook doesn't present a strong case to me being that it's $1250 for a model that lacks some pretty basic features such as a DVD burner, a decently-sized hard drive, and a decent amount of USB ports, all features which are present on even $500 Windows-based laptops these days (though $500 Windows-based PCs obviously don't perform anywhere near as well, just pointing out features here). The saving grace of the Macbook is the Intel Core 2 Duo T7000-series CPUs which provide snappy performance. IMO, they should've upgraded the memory to 2 GB when they released Leopard as it's not quite as fast as Tiger is w/ 1 GB, however RAM is dirt cheap these days, so as long as you don't pay Apple's outrageous upgrade prices, it's not a big deal. For whatever reason, I get people in with keys falling off on the Macbooks at least once a month (I've only ever had 2 other laptops have this issue: 1 HP and 1 Acer). However, overall, the Macbooks are fairly problem-free, though the cost of repair is huge. Apple's service is decent, certainly better than average, but not nearly as good as Acer's, in my experience.
If you're getting Windows Vista, make sure you get AT LEAST 2 GB of RAM and I would advise a Core 2 Duo CPU (preferably a T7000-series) as they perform the best by a significant margin. If you find a laptop w/ a good CPU, but it's lacking in RAM, don't worry, RAM is easy and cheap to upgrade. You can pick up 4 GB of RAM for under $100 off Newegg.
- Thread Starter
- #8
Well unfortunately I only have about $600 to spend... I found a few nice toshibas/gateway/hp for that range, Most have a min 1G Mem and 160GHD I think Im going to want a 15.4" screen, I just think 14 might be too small...I was out shopping last night and I really can tell its going to take some getting used to for Vista, I just really dont care for the OS....
mapolley07
10+ year member
its all imaginary
i have a 15.4" Toshiba A215 that I bought for $899 at Circuit Shitty. i like it a lot and I would recommend even a lower end Toshiba. Great screen, fullsize keyboard, and it runs really well. The only problem I am having with it is the little volume wheel pretty much quit working for me. Not a huge deal though, and I think its my fault because I tend to fiddle with things like the volume knob. i can still turn down the volume in windows, so no big deal
I recommend HP- they are the best looking and also best selling laptops. Mine came with lots of features and well equipped. As with anything else you have to do lots of research about what you need....then shop for a good deal. As far as problems, just keep up with updates posted on the support website. They are well built IMO. I bought a Dv9220us back in January when they finally released Vista. Check out the specs on it, still love it!
konechiwa
10+ year member
Jeepers
dell normally has great deals and coupons.
If I wasn't mistaken they had a 300 dollar off 1199 inspiron notebook purchase w/ an additional 200 dollar gift card to dell.
If I wasn't mistaken they had a 300 dollar off 1199 inspiron notebook purchase w/ an additional 200 dollar gift card to dell.
Scoobydoo
5,000+ posts
POOPSIE McSQUIRTYSHORTS
sager/clevo, some of the best brands
- Thread Starter
- #15
Right....Didn't I mention I only wanted to spend around $600?
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