I need some views on makes of laptops...

[Funkymonkey]

Is there any reason why I should choose one over the other apart from the stats? EG should I choose a particular make and if so which are better than others?

Are apple's really as good as everyone keeps telling me?

I'm confused :confused:

[theuedimaster]

Is there any reason why I should choose one over the other apart from the stats? EG should I choose a particular make and if so which are better than others?

Are apple's really as good as everyone keeps telling me?

I'm confused :confused:

I personally like the Toshiba laptops. Deciding which one you get depends on a multitude of factors dependent on your needs. If you are going for a desktop replacement, its a real easy choice to get a big 17" xps from dell or a toshiba quizno or whatever. If you want portability, go for the small ones. The tiny Vaio and Dell look real nice. The apple powerbook is good, but the intel pentium m ones offer a lot of better features.

[PeOfEo]

I bought mine with size weight performance and price in mind. I got a laptop that is not bulky because I carry it to class with me, But I also got one that can perform (but it has sis integrated graphics, obviously gaming wasn't on my mind), and it only cost me 1 grand. I bought an acer aspire 5000. I would say stickw ith the slightly smaller companies because hp and dell like to over charge because they are the 'name brand' systems and they are the companies that all of the people who do not know any better flock to.

Also, my laptop is an amd64 turion (their mobile 64 chip). It gets excellent battery life actually. I am very happy with it.

[gchick]

apple are good but i dont think they're that "good"

[iamlucky13]

IBM has a pretty solid reputation for laptops. I hate seeing Toshiba laptops, but my opinion may be biased due to spending 2 years as a computer tech on a college campus, where hundreds of clueless freshmen screw them up with adware, viruses, and spilled beverages and want them fixed "now." Apples are for people who like flashy, so you tend to get a lot of thumbs up from the graphics crowd and a lot of ho-hum or "you suck" from everyone else. There is nothing fundamentally better about them. It's nice that they are a lower virus/malware risk, but linux offers the same benefits and you can install that on anything.

[Jupac]

Yup Yup, I like IBM laptops my cousin got a T34, nice it has finger print reader, light , and has good battery life. Wish it had better gfx.

[PeOfEo]

But honestly, why would you need gaming quality graphics on a laptop? If you wan't too game it would be much more sensible to invest your cash in a desktop because putting decent graphics on a desktop is easier and if you haven't noticed laptops have real problems with dispersing heat.

Multimedia geared laptops: I can see that
But gaming geared laptops: Impractical

[MstrBob]

Not to mention the massive battery drain. Geeze, laptops gobble up battery power with simple networking as it is, running an intense game on it? Would you have enough power to get past the load up screen?


Apple I'm not very fond of at all. Yeah, I have an iPod, but there computers, for me, well no. Most likely I'll get hated for this, but I've found that Dell makes pretty decent laptops. Hell, as long as you don't need tech support there computers are fine. I'm running perfectly fine here on an old Dell. It has a pentium III, yet I've loaded Windows XP on it, have Apache and MySQL running constantly on it, and often have tunes playing, an IDE open, and am browsing the internet without any noticeable lag, and this was by no means a high-end PC when I bought it.

All my experience with IBM laptops have been that they suck. Maybe they've improved in the last year or so, but I've always had problems with them.

[theuedimaster]

Yea, dell laptops are nice on paper, good prices, but sometimes I feel they don't put the best parts in em.

[LJK]

Hi -
My first was an e-machines, refurb. 60GB, fast Ghz, 512RAM and a nice big screen w/ DVD burner. [Had to cut costs 'cause it was a loan for my 95 yr. old Gram!] Spent a very unhappy month sending it back & forth to them before able to ship to her. They ultimately replaced w/ a slightly diff. model - same features & it's been great since. $800 and ultimately did the trick.

El

[iamlucky13]

But honestly, why would you need gaming quality graphics on a laptop? If you wan't too game it would be much more sensible to invest your cash in a desktop because putting decent graphics on a desktop is easier and if you haven't noticed laptops have real problems with dispersing heat.

Multimedia geared laptops: I can see that
But gaming geared laptops: Impractical

True that. I knew someone who got the top of the line Alienware gaming laptop. After about 30 minutes in any game that put a load on the GPU, it would overheat and shut down.

On the other hand, I currently use a laptop for work doing CAD (I'm an engineer, web design is a side job), which also runs the processor and GPU pretty hard for 3-D modelling. It's an IBM T-42, which seems to work well so far. I've had it for about a month. I'd prefer a desktop, except I need to be able to take it places with me to program equipment.

MstrBob, what sort of problems have you had with IBM's.

[MstrBob]

Well, my father used to use IBM laptops, and I always seem to be the computer technician in my family. One had a screen die, one had a hard drive which for whatever reason (which I never did find out why) suffered a large data loss and had a large corrupted area, and the last did work, but it was overpriced. :p At least now his IT department at work are responsible for handing out and maintaining laptops.

[PeOfEo]

I have never had an issue with an ibm laptop, my mom has been using them for years because that is what her work bought. Kind of boreing aesthetically though, not a big issue for me when looking to purchase though.

[Liphoto]

how come no one says anythign about sony?

[PeOfEo]

Sony is a rip

[PeOfEo]

Yea, dell laptops are nice on paper, good prices, but sometimes I feel they don't put the best parts in em.
I have been having issues with them lately. The inspiron 6000 seems decent for heat dispersion, but some slightly older dell laptops, like the ones from the beginning of this year and the end of last year, really over heat. One of my friends has one that would just cut off on her all the time and she wanted me to look at it, the bottom was insanely hot (which also could suggest the battery is going bad too) and I prescribed a cooling pad and that seems to have solved the problem.

[Mausau2000]

I found that Digital Star make grunty Laptops.

[Lotus9]

Those large manufacturers all outsource their customer service to India, so you really don't get the same kind of one on one service that you will receive from a smaller, independently owned company. Buy from a local shop in yer town, who you know will be there when you have a question or need help troubleshooting. And as a bonus, these smaller companies usually charge a lot less for a system (made with the same namebrand components i.e. Intel, Western Digital, Kingston etc.) that is just as fast as one built by these larger companies. :)

[august]

I try not to be biased (used to hate Apple, he he, but not anymore), but try instead to provide some insight to Macintosh so that you can compare later.
I used PC all my life until about 2 years ago when I switched to Apple. So far the only downside to Macintosh is that most softwares that're being written are targeting Windows, although the most essential softwares go to Mac as well. As far as operating system and general quality time as a user go, I've got to say that Macinthosh is superb. Last when I used Windows I remember a headache to keep updating security softwares and removing adwares and popup scams, and there was a constant lingering worry about viruses. (virus writers for Windows probably exceed 1 milion in numbers, which is a dire prognosis in the long run.)

Since switching to Mac all that anxiety has vanished. I have to say that on a Mac you can focus all your energy on using the computer without worrying at all about virus attacks or security breaches.

So, with Apple, pretty much seems to boil down to the operating system, which is based on Unix in its case, and is simply safer than Windows, while still providing super ease of use and smooth, almost impeccable functionality. Windows is fun in its own ways, particularily for all the crazy softwares that exist for it, but Apple compensates on other areas. Mac os x are superb. If you're into programming you get the whole bundles shipped by default on Macinthosh, such as apache, php, perl, java and more. There are also a bunch of native softwares that come with Macinthosh that are very useful. As far as graphics go it appears that Macintosh has an advantage. I haven't used all types of PC's, but from the ones I've used and seen, Apple clearly provides more smoothness and richer colors. Apple's physical designs really are secondary. Some wannabees just get Apple for the sake of its image. But The point is that Macinthosh's really are as good as they look. (And I say that without implying that all PC's are bad (which would likely be BS to say). Rather Macinthosh is a very safe bet, objectively speaking, due to powerful performance and great security.

[MstrBob]

I'm going to sound anti-apple on this, and most people here will probably hate on me, but meh. I own an iPod, I don't base my views of a company on one product.

It has been my experience with Macs that (having lately been helping out a number of people with them) that they are really mostly looks. Yes, I'll give you that Mac OSX is very pretty and more intuitive than Windows XP by leaps and bounds. But beyond the GUI, and I guess the hardware itself, that would be all the advantages you'd have over a PC. For a designer, I'd imagine apple computers would be fookin awesome, but otherwise, I don't see it.

With apples you are forced into their hardware, and by that fact are overpaying for your hardware. Yes, I'm aware that in somecases apple computers are cheaper than some computer vendors with equivalent specs, but not all, and you of course can get a PC much cheaper by putting it together yourself (Which despite what computer vendors would lead you to believe, is nothing more complicated than snapping cards into place and attaching some wires. You're not making your own transitors here :rolleyes: ). You don't have that option with apple computers.

Maybe the hardware issue will change, Apple is switching to the x86 form. But for now they maintain that Mac OSX will only run on Mac computers. As for security, you've got nothing else going for you Mac users than the fact that there aren't as many virus writers targetting Macs. That's no license to kill, however, and if you don't take basic computer security steps, well you're just as bad as a Windows computer without basic security.

I recently ressurrected an old laptop and installed Suse (A Linux distrobution, free you know) as the OS on it. Haven't had any problems with it, and Suse comes with all the basic software a home user would need, inlcuding OpenOffice (The best Microsoft Office replacement I've seen), Mozilla Firefox, Chatting software that can use all the common protocols like AIM, YIM, MSN, ICQ, ect., hell theres a lot of software that comes with the thing. Now, in terms of IDE's, you are limited with Linux in a sense that there aren't, to my knowledge, and largely populer ones for it, but there are many, many IDE's out there, most likely you can find one to fit you.

For the OP (if he even reads this thread now), I'd say you're best off getting a PC laptop and if you don't like Windows and want some other OS, try Linux. Of course, in my opinion, that is.

[august]

But, hey, Mac OS X is Unix. And more. That in itself means a lot in terms of industry tested standards. But yes, With Apple you'll be sort of limited to Apple's hardwares, but since Apple really makes good quality it's not an issue in itself. Many people survive just fine on Apple products alone, I suppose you get used to it after a while. And let me add once again that Macintosh is as good as it looks. There's a reason why they're prefered by many professionals. In a way, PC is more "geek", at least to me, but once you dwelve deeper into Macinthosh you'll find it just as "geeky" with plenty of considerations from Apple regarding the needs for developers both pro and amateurs. And again, the security and sheer stability of Mac OSX is a reason to choose Apple. I've heard that Apple would pay $25000 to anyone who succeded in breaking through their security walls, and apparently nobody has managed so far. With Windows (As good as it may and even can be) there are probably viruses written for it every hour. Seems like Microsoft is basing an entire business model on their own security flaws, by selling softwares for it. With Mac, you can just focus on your work without spending a second worrying about malicious code wreaking havoc on your computer. That's a good plus, especially since Mac has all the best softwares available to it, more than Linux no? And therefore you don't really have to sacrifice anything (except for all the funny softwares being written for PC's exclusively, but that may change at anytime). Let's just be fair. I still like PC, but have learned to appreciate the powers of Mac as well. But since many people hate Apple, so...

[kiwibrit]

I'm happy with my Dell laptop. Son uses an IBM. both seem fine.

[MstrBob]

No, Apple isn't Unix. Apple is Unix-like, and yes there is a big difference. Of course, Linux is as well, so there you go. I don't have an Apple at home and haven't checked to find out, but does one normally run as Administrator on a Mac? Because that's one reason why so many Windows computers have problems, is because the default user created when installing windows is an Administrator, and they never make a user with restricted powers. If I'm running as a restricted user, it won't matter if my browser is buggy, because my username doesn't have permission to install software! But many common users don't want to have to switch usernames to install software, or else don't know, and just run as administrator, and that's their problem. If I ran as root on Linux, then I have just as bad security as windows. If anybody takes reasonable steps (Which should be taken with any OS) Windows actually isn't that bad. Install a hardware firewall, keep up on updates for your browser (The source of the vast majority of issues are in browsers, and every software has bugs), don't run as administrator, (And avoid Internet Explorer), and you've nothing to worry about. I don't have any active anti-virus or anti-adware on my computer, running WindowsXP, and I've been clean for two and a half years now.

I'm sure Apple would love to have everyone think that Windows is swiss cheese security and Apple is a 6-inch steel and concrete safe, heck that's even what all the open source OS' would like everyone to think, but it really isn't the case.

[august]

Windows is not bad. In fact much of its security flaws relates to the Windows script host, and so it would be unfair to trash the OS as a whole since it's possible to turn off the script host. However, and regardless of how much you hate Apple, Macinthosh outbeats Windows in safety. Search google and find out for yourself. What's next, you're going to deny that FireFox is safer than MIE just because you hate their logo?

Don't know exactly what your vendetta against Apple is based on or where it's supposed to lead. Everybody knows, that in certain areas, Macinthosh is a better choice than PC. And the vice verca is true too, so let's just leave it at that, and thus let the O.P make an informed choice. :cool:

[MstrBob]

I never said that Windows was safer than Apple. What I said was that a Mac isn't the ultimate in security, and I also said that one can make some basic security changes to Windows so that one doesn't have to fear viruses. The Mac is a pretty safe platform at this time because they do have a unix-like system, Mac users are generally more tech-savvy, and because Macs have such a small percentage of the market share. A virus writer will get a lot more bang for his buck hitting windows. I also said that Mac and Windows user alike should both take basic precautions online, don't be lulled into a false sense of security.

Windows does NOT mean you have to be paranoid of virus and spyware and adware. There are some steps one should take when connecting a compuer to the internet.

1) Don't run as an administrator while online. If you don't have permission to install programs, no program attacking you can install programs.
2) Have a firewall up and running. They stealth/close your ports. Many attackers connect to your computer through open ports. They can also be used to limit what program can communicate online, so only what you authorize (Like a browser and email client) can communicate with other computers
3) Keep up with security updates on ANY program that runs online. No matter how secure an OS is, if you've got an insecure application, you can get screwed. Be it a browser, email client, web server, IM client, ect. These are applications that have promission to read/write files and go online, so an attacker can exploit their permissions to do some harm.

Any admin would follow the steps above, no matter if the computer was Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, or a Mac. In keeping with advice #3, I don't use Internet Explorer, as that program has many unpatched and exploited security holes. I would recommend either Opera or Mozilla Firefox (But keep up with security updates!). Using myself as an example, I've been worry (and virus) free for a long time now.

[Silvatungfox]

It really depends on what you will use the laptop for. If the majority of your stuff is graphics, then Apple has the goods, but if you also have to find/wait for mac versions of programs which sometimes are not as readily available if you do not have an ibm compatible. Personally I aways thought Dell was pretty good, but know that Toshiba and a few other outfits have really been competing for the market with pricing and options available. I got a very old Dell on Ebay for a song, that works great.. loaned it out to my friend to keep in touch with her kids while she is getting treated following a bone marrow transplant.. she says it works great for her as well.

[Brandon55]

I was wondering if you got one yet? Hasn't it been almost 2 months since you started this thread? Well my favorite electronic brand name is Sony and I carry a Sony Vaio around with me all day at school. Personaly, well at least this one is, I think they are poor quality, break easily, and a bit of a pain. I would go with a Dell or HP becasue they are better quality, more realiable, and have good service if anything happens to it outside of fire and theft. But whatever you get I'd recomend getting an extended warrenty, just to be on the save side! And make sure you get one based on what you need it for, weather you need it just for writing documents and surfing the web or if you need it for video editing or hard core gaming!

[Wharf Rat]

funkymunkey...can understand ur confusing from reading thru post. :) i have a sager..was resonable price and does what i want it to...what i did to determine what to buy was to decide my needs...battery powerand life....price...and warrenty. major brands may be better...the compaines are around longer..been thru one where the company went banko. not good for repairs :)

[august]

What, Dell has good service? Not from my personal experience but I always hear people bash Dell, if not for their products mostly, but precisely for their lack of good service. Just had to say it.

[Brandon55]

Oh, sorry, I always thought they has good service, I was sure that they even have on site repairs or replacements! Maybe I'm wrong!

[theuedimaster]

Yea, but its a biatch to get em to come over. I really don't trust Dell parts, I'd rather go with an HP or Sony.

[MstrBob]

Yea, but its a biatch to get em to come over. I really don't trust Dell parts, I'd rather go with an HP or Sony.

Only ever had a problem with dell parts once (and I've dealt with a number of Dell computers). Had a faulty cd drive on a computer. Once I got done with the standard tech support schpeel (two hours, mostly on hold, to talk to indecipherable guys in india) they replaced it without complaint. Pretty quickly, a new cd drive arrived and I was done. Only complaint was tech support, but everybody today has tech support outsourced, so what you gonna do?

At least Dell still ships Cd's! HP's new "recovery partition" is THE WORST THING EVER. No cd's, but a recovery partition. Taking up space. That they install a driver or some such for so that I CAN NOT ACCESS IT. It's real bull, that' my biggest gripe against HP.

[Brandon55]

And then if somehithing happens to your hard drive, your screwed! Then you have to go out and buy a new OS! That has got to be the stupidest thing they have ever come up with, what are they afraid someone might copy the cd? If someone wanted it that bad they will just get a crack for it! I thought Dell was good, but someone told me otherwise in this forum! Dell would defininitly be the right choice if you want quality, well that's my personaly opinion! And have you seen that internet ad where a company (Solaris) says something about their competors being hot and slow which is why they rhyme with hell? You see? Dell is so popular even other companies are promoting them! :p Or trying to take down their biggest competition, either way it still shows that dell is the right choice! Unless you wanted to go with Solaris, forget I even said that!

[Mausau2000]

Oh, sorry, I always thought they has good service, I was sure that they even have on site repairs or replacements! Maybe I'm wrong!
yep my experinces say 4 cosermer servece stay away from dell :)

[theuedimaster]

The reason for the "we aren't gonna give the os cd" thing is to reduce costs. To reduce the cost of burning a cd. Of burning a cd. Let me repeat myself: a single cd raises the cost of the computer too much. Wow. Thats even worse than the "they might copy it" philosophy. Oh, and the Dell vs. Solaris thing.... I thought it was funny. They're taking an aggressive stance in their marketing, which is mighty risky, but it just might pay off...

[Brandon55]

Does it really cost that much to mass produce CDs? And I thought it was funny too!

[dougadam]

I have had success with Dell