Ignatowski
5,000+ posts
CarAudio.com Veteran
dell is the worst I have ever opened,HP a close second
Computer Gurus...Help me find a laptop!
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Ignatowski
dell is the worst I have ever opened,HP a close second
When it comes to desktops, I've probably seen 10x more HP's with swollen/busted caps or just all around dead boards. Same scenario with laptops. In fact I think I can count on two hands how many dell laptops I've seen with failing boards, whereas with HP's it's probably in the 3 digits.
From my experience of rebuilding tons of laptops, replacing hundreds of screens in laptops, ton's of keyboards, rebuilding laptops that have been dropped/spilled on/etc.
I can replace a dell screen in 5-10 minutes on average vs an HP taking about 30 on average. Keyboards on dell's always take about 30-60 seconds whereas an HP could take 5-10 minutes, (though to be fair it can be quick just depends on the model). Personally I consider the whole DV series to be lemons, although you can get more specific with it. Dv4/dv5/etc. It really all boiled down that HP cheaped out on the heatsink causing premature chip/board failure. Statistically speaking in my experience you would have a 10x more likely chance to have a bad experience with HP vs dell's. I will say that HP's are more shiny though.
Regardless I'm not recommending him a dell, i'm recommending an asus.
OP
Suicide Bobb
5,000+ posts
SPLC Fails
- Thread Starter
- #48
I appreciate all the help guys! Thanks, and keep it up!
akheathen
Premium Member
trianoacitol contraceptiv
i upgraded my hp dv9000 brick with bad-*** graphics, hd, etc last year..... i agree dell is stable hw, but real f'n dull. hp, i just like the purdy factor, and media center focus. asus is very nice platforms, but still kind of bare at times. 2 major things to go off of..... what it will be able to be built to, and what you are looking for with asthetics/media. first thing i look at is the screen, graphics are a very important 2nd, and 90% fail in that area. then of course, how many cores can it run simotaneously. now, you can get one to run 8 separate core functions, which is prime, if you are up to the foot-work of setting it up to utilize all 8 optimally. after that i look at it and decide if it's something i want to look at and play with every day. then consider blue-ray, dual hdd capability, ram support, etc...
ace_800
5,000+ posts
CarAudio.com Veteran
I just ordered this Dell Alienware M11x Laptop: Intel Core i5 520UM 1.066GHz, 8GB DDR3, 320GB HDD, 11.6" 1366x768 WLED LCD w/ Webcam, 1GB GeForce GT 335M, Win 7 $660.52 + Free Shipping
dell config
Code: KZHLCCGNS0?Q29
dell config
Code: KZHLCCGNS0?Q29
I'll agree HP is often "shinier" but at the same time looking at the HP laptops a year or two later they scratch like a motherfucker when it comes to that. That and almost every asus except older one's I've seen look pretty nice. Laptop I7's have 4 cores (and only if it's the I7 QM not I7 Q otherwise it's a dual core, yes there are dual core I7 laptop CPU's) but hyper threading makes it 8 threads not 8 cores.
like he said his budget is $500 and under, which pretty much means no I7 quad core and not a gaming laptop. I'd imagine with the budget and what he's after he doesnt care for a quad core and GPU for a good reason, because he likely wants longer than 1-3 hours of battery life.
Like I said in the other thread, thats actually a nice deal I'll admit for 660
IDSkoT
5,000+ posts
Resonating Reticular
This is very true. In the end, they're rebadged Hitachi, Samsung, WD, Seagate, etc. drives.
And, since they switched to Intel-based chips, you can buy a regular ol' RAM chip and pop it in with zero complications.
While their technology is "proprietary", it's only as such because they might've changed a few things from a previous design and patented it. In the end: it's all based off of a very popular board. This is shone through by the massive amount of "Hackintosh" computers out there. I am an owner of one of these. In fact, I dual boot (I have a hard drive with Windows 7, and a hard drive with Mac OS X (10.6.4, IIRC). It is running off the same hardware.
Now, you will argue that I had to change "a lot" to get it to work. Hardly. The only thing that I had to tinker with to work, is as you said: The sound. That is where Apple DOES change the design. The rest of it is just copy+pasta from a popular Windows-based motherboard.
This is why I'm baffled by the price that Apple is charging it's customers. You are paying for a case and a name -- but not quality. And while I do admit, they know how to make their products look amazing... it's nothing worth the $600-$1,000 dollars EXTRA they're charging.
This one person took SS's of a G4, with it upgraded, and included SS's of a Windows-equivalent build with prices, and the difference came out to I think like $600 or $800 dollars. For what, in the end, would run the same.
As for the Hackintosh, I have zero stability issues. I've had a problem where I had to reformat, but that was due to my own malice. In the end: Apple is a farce.
They make products already on the market, put them in a neat looking package with half-assed software that isn't really as awesome as they say it is, and mark up the price to a ridiculous degree.
When I say proprietary I don't mean "Super awesome designed" I mean "you have to buy their **** to replace it with in the instance it breaks or fails" and not have the ability to use a random motherboard or random video card or random sound card. That and when I say "cost" i don't mean "Their cost", I mean yours/ours (the customers) cost. Other than that when I say "proprietary" i don't mean it's anything special, just expensive. Alienware tends to use a "proprietary" power cord for some of their higher-end desktops because they "use so much power." Does that make it worth $40 dollars for a power cord? Hell no.
Since apple changed to intel there isn't much "specwise" difference just the fact that you have to buy any of their hardware other than hard drives and memory to fix their computers. That and I'd personally never take a G4/G5 apple, I hated and still hate apple products pre-intel. Slow as balls, less compatable, usually more of a pain to work on, etc. Personally I don't see how you'd even compare the prices of a G4 mac to a "windows equivalent" design, it's a completely different CPU and platform, aside from being super-outdated. People always bring up the "specs for the dollar" argument with macs, and thats not the reason people buy macs. If people wanted the "Top of the line gaming platform" then why would they get a mac? It's not meant for gaming and while you CAN get super high-specced it's not meant for that. Excellent screen quality / aesthetics is a big reason, but theres other reason's people buy them.
It may not be worth it to some, but I have seen them do a lot of things other companies would not do for customers. I've seen people with old G5 Imac's which are obviously WAY out of warranty get free screen replacements because whomever the customer spoke with on the phone felt bad about their screen failing and the $700 price tag associated with it (imac screens cost a good bit). I've seen similar situations occur in numerous circumstances, good luck getting dell/hp/acer/asus/compaq/gateway/seagate/western digital/msi/sony/etc to replace or fix any product that is a WEEK out of warranty. They'll just say "Sorry about your luck". Is apple the best computer out there? No. Is it for everyone? No. Will I ever lose my windows 7 desktop? Not likely. But I do respect their image and genius when it comes to making profit and the customer happy.
Now quality comes down to another story? Define quality for me, is quality specs? Is quality a good build? Personally I find the macbook pro's to be of higher "quality" than a lot of laptops on the market. Taking apart a macbook pro vs taking apart any brand I listed above you're gonna find a lot of differences. One is you're not gonna have 2lb of plastic in your laptop.
Would I buy a new macbook pro? No as $1200 is kind've steep for me, that's why I have a dual-boot toshiba laptop with 7 and ubuntu. Can I see why some people do? Of course, people (Especially people who don't feel like dealing with computers) want a elegant solution that rarely has issues. Of course they have hardware issues, any hardware is susceptible to failure. Do they get viruses like a windows computer? Can you even find a counterpart to malwarebytes and combofix for a mac? Nope, because you don't need them. As a technician, it's usually 10x quicker/easier to diagnose an issue with a mac than an 'equivalent' windows computer. Your hard drive just died or is failing? You have a big blinking folder, not random blue screens which require a hard drive test to 100% diagnose for sure. Do you need "tuneup utilities, ccleaner, etc" with a mac? No because if you want to uninstall an application, you drag it to the trashcan. That simple. It's dumbed down enough for any average joe to never screw anything up. And if you do, you stick the OS disc in and click "install" and it reinstalls all the system files with your data and applications intact. Yes you can do repair installs for XP/vista/7 but it's a LOT more complicated for the average joe.
Call me a mac-fanboy if you want but the only mac-product I actually have is an Imac that I got for a steal because I got it broken and fixed it. I just give them credit because they have the best warranty/repair system I've seen out of any company, you can get tear-down and diagnosis guides for any product they have, try that with a sony laptop.
IDSkoT
5,000+ posts
Resonating Reticular
Okay... their laptops are different beasts. I whole-fully believe that their Macbook Pros are excellent machines. And I never said that they were BAD products. They're overpriced, and not worth it to me. Like most of JL's products. If you gave me a JL amp, I'd take it in a second... but I'd never buy it. Same goes for Mac.
Now, I do have to say their switch to Intel was necessary for the health of the company. Their computers WERE hard to integrate with any network or share files reasonably. Now, they're simple. Mac OS X 10.6 (Not sure how far it goes back) but can even read off of NTSF, and with a program, you can write to it, as well.
Now I will agree with you in the sense that the OS is incredibly easy to use. Almost idiotic.
But their warranty has reamed me too many times for me to be happy about it. My iPod, which I bought new, had it's hard drive die literally ONE DAY after my warranty ended. Nearly at midnight, when I was updating my playlists, it died. I came into the Apple store. They took it, and told me it wasn't covered, and there was nothing they could do unless I wanted to pay.
That left me a really bitter taste in my mouth about their warranty / support. That and I know a few people who work at the humbly named "Genius Bar", and they don't know anything about computers short of that "APPLE IS THE BEST! WINDOWS?! LOL!"
But, I will say that their higher-end computers have good quality parts. Quality in terms that there aren't many solder joint failures, or random sparks. With that said, I have seen quite a few Macbooks go up in flames, one quite literally... but that was because the owner decided it was a good idea to stick paperclips into the battery. But not that many.
Their iPods, however, WERE inferior quality. Incredibly inferior. The newer ones are better. However, the third generation iPods were NOTORIOUS for dying.
However, I think we're on the same page.
Honestly, if you gave me a Macbook Pro, I'd be really really really happy. The features are stupid, unnecessary and pointless... but, they're really nice. Like the light-sensing keyboard brightness, the magnet power cable.
Apple is not short of good ideas, nor are they short of designers... they just need more engineers.
If they came out with ORIGINAL hardware that blew everything away, I'd be thoroughly impressed and more keen on buying their products. However, I can't settle to buy anything from Apple knowing very well it's rebadged revamped hardware.
I agree, my only complaint when it comes to working on their products is they tend to use ridiculous tools (Suction cups aka plunger things) and have extreme processes to replace simple parts. To replace a video card in most Imacs (including the late 2010 ones) you must take practically everything out, the screen, motherboard (because the video card is screwed into the board), the dvd drive, PSU, etc.
I wish they'd take a lesson from Dell products in terms of "Using x amount of less screws in our designs saves us x million dollars"
When Dell learned that, they transformed from the old 100lb desktops they used to make to the simple desktops they have now with plastic sliding cages / etc.
On a note with your Ipod, call applecare. Tell them what happened, people at the "genius bars" not only tend to be as incompetent as geeksquad employees, they also have no access to granting extensions on warranty work. Had some people work at my store who worked at the apple stores right before working for us, and they had to ask how to reset a password for snow leopard, etc. Simple questions. With my Imac I got it because it had a failing board. Got it for 100 bux. I got on chat with a service admin (since I have an apple tech login I can chat directly with them), told them the serial number and asked if they would make an exception. They said no, however I expected this and knew that the first person would likely have no access, so I asked to speak with his boss, an SPS admin. He said yes //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif They promptly mailed us a board with a return label for old board and I replaced it.
So now I have an Imac that is 1yr 6 months old that I got for 100 bux
That being said, I honestly think apple is going downhill in terms of corporate-level image. They tried to advertise with the "1984" commercial, now they are sending lawyer squads after reporters who "Find the iphone in bars" because they want it so secretive.
When it comes to the hardware, I mean there's no sense in them re-inventing the wheel. Intel is on top of any common benchmark right now, why go to the effort of redesigning a CPU just for unique-ness? They'd cost even MORE than they already do. I see what you're saying, even redesigning chipsets on the board seems pointless. They know what works so they stick with it.
I agree the price is steep, however I compare them to BMW. Sure you can get a matching 400-500hp car for 10-20 grand less, but that's not why you buy a BMW. Take the CTS-V vs the M5 for example. The CTS-V is ~20-30k cheaper, performs better in most categories and still looks pretty good. With that said why would anyone buy an M5? Because they're luxury cars. I'm sure this comparison will spark another debate altogether however.
IDSkoT
5,000+ posts
Resonating Reticular
Good tip. I'll do that next time.
And, I'd be extremely interested in doing something the same. However, me and laptops normally don't fare well. I'm somewhat rough, and most of my knowledge of laptops include broken clips and mis-aligned keyboards.
I honestly don't think Apple will ever die out. I however, do not believe they will get any bigger if they follow their current business model. I recently upgraded from iPhone 3G to an HTC Inspire 4G.
And, the HTC is leaps and bounds better. Yes, it is newer. However, HTC has been using the same concept / everything for their phones for a while now.
With that said, I think the only thing Apple has going for them right now is their phone department. They will always have die hard fans, like any company. However, most people are starting to realize that they can buy a tablet PC that runs Android or Windows for much less than the iPad, and is a much better web browser, as well as everything else.
I don't want to spark another discussion about cars in this, however, I will say that I believe people who buy BMWs do so for the title, rather than performance. My Mom's Pontiac G6 drives better/feels nicer than my friend's '03 530i.
It's just a deceleration of class.
PS: I prefer the CTS-V over the M5, but I especially like the coupe version. I forget the name.
I'm inclined to agree with ya, I love the 600hp cts-v coupe, it's ridiculous and looks awesome, too bad I probably wont be able to afford it for 10 years lol.
That and the whole applegate antenna fiasco was ridiculous regarding the iphone 4g. They used their current business model to make them a big-game player, now they are going to need to adapt to a business model to stay there and possibly grow more or else they run the risk of becoming the companies they've hated on for so long now. They get oodles of free press from the press, and get offended when they have a legitimate screwup and they get called out on it. They've put themselves in a dangerous situation similar to being a snitch in prison. People (other tech companies) are waiting for them to screw up so they can prison-yard shank their *** in the media.
My current phone is a blackberry, however I deleted my facebook a few months ago (shocker I know, no facebook?) and I hate using email on phones as it annoys the **** out of me, so I'm thinking my next phone will be a nice basic phone with music/bluetooth capabilities that doesn't require a data plan.
I'll admit though, there are some neat things I've seen people do with iphones and Ipad's. A guy I used to work with had an Ipad and an Iphone and he jailbroke both and got a supermario app for his ipad that would turn his iphone into a controller and make the ipad the screen, and allowed for 2 players too.
Honestly, I predict a couple things. I think mobile is going to get bigger and bigger, obviously. However, people don't realize viruses are going to get very real for smartphones and the mobile community as it get's bigger and bigger and people use the internet more and more on them. When this happens I think apple is going to get hit really fast in the next few years as they've never had to deal with this issue as much in the past due to lower market shares. (Some argue it's because of the unix background, I argue because of market share) Since they have a formidable market in the mobile sector I think it will be a real issue. Smartphones are not secure at all and you can look at how easy it was/is for people to jailbreak their Iphones as an example.
The old (may still work don't think it does) jailbreak for Iphones was going to jailbreakme.com, and you would "Slide here to jailbreak your phone", that simple. Used an exploit with adobe PDF's to inject code into the phone. Now they may have used it nicely, but imagine if an exploit like that got into the hands of someone who had ill-purposes?
AJM511
10+ year member
Chill as a Cucumber
My base model macbook's been running like new for 4 years now! no problems whatsoever. Although the fan seems to work more than it should, but no complaints. I just hate the fucking magsafe power supplies they sell now!!! I've gone through 3 in the last year. All in all, I don't think it was worth the money even for the lowest end model, when I can get a really nice asus for ~$500.
Ignatowski
5,000+ posts
CarAudio.com Veteran
After seeing a lot of the issues I've seen regarding acer that I havn't seen with many other brands I stand by the fact that I say to avoid them at all costs. Ya if you don't have any issues you'll be fine, but stastically speaking you're way more likely to have an issue, and if you do good luck with their warranty process. We mailed an acer laptop in for a customer 3 times, each time telling them specifically what was wrong (I told them the board was failing and each of the three times took over a month each), each time they diagnosed it incorrectly and did not fix it at all, which was evident after 30 seconds of turning it on due to it completely freezing up. I've never seen that with any other brand. Toshiba, one time fix, yes it took a month but they fixed it right. Apple, if you have a problem it's usually (not always) back within a week under warranty. Dell has an awesome system setup for warranty work and teardown guides for every product, all you have to do is enter the 6-7 digit service tag (shouldn't need them though, because dell's come apart real easy).
I saw multiple acer models with crazy issues, screens failing after 18 months, DVD drives not working, etc. Taking apart an acer is horrible vs any other brand, even sony. Personally I'd rather spend the extra 50-70 bux can get a model I can trust more than acer. Sure any model has the possibility of problems, but who is going to take care of you more? A brand known for producing aftermarket performance parts for years for desktops which includes accidental damage in it's warranty, or one that came out of no where, is made by the cheapest bidder and has a horrible reputation amongst computer enthuisiests?
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