Need Laptop recommendation from CP

Erik Tracy

Hey all,
I'm in the market for my first laptop.

I'm thinking something with a >15" screen, basic apps is all (browser, MS Office Pro, Adobe Acrobat Pro to create PDFs, Photoshop, anti-virus, etc), DVD/CD writer, wireless, good running time of +2hrs, reliable, fast.

Would love to hear any recommendations/experiences folks have had with theirs - good or bad.

Any tips or features I should be concerned about?

Thanks!
Erik

PhantomOG

make sure you think real hard about the screen size. I bought my first laptop a couple years ago and got a 17" screen. Now I really wish I had gotten something 15" or less.

KASR

I've had nothing but great luck with Sony Vaio's...all always recommend them.

coolsax

I like a laptop of 15" or more but that's me b/c I play WOW on it. What kind of budget are you looking at? If you're looking just for basic use with little gaming then any of the $350-$600 laptops out there should be fine for you and last you quite a while. My wife and I have an HP and its done pretty well for us.

audiobliss

I really love my Lenovo ThinkPad. Amazing build quality. Makes me so glad I chose a ThinkPad everytime I touch it. And I opted for a 14.1" screen. Makes it so much more portable.

Fireman32

I work all day with the Lenovos but you are going to spend more money for one over the other brands. I also like the HP's. What is your price range?

Jstas

Actually, I was looking at Dell's site the other day and they have some good deals on well equipped laptops for around $650-700. If you're not doing hardcore number crunching, that stuff will work just peachy.

polkatese

HP DV4-2040US - 14.1" screen, HDMI, 320gb, 4gb RAM yada yada.. is on sale at Office Depot $549 after HP $50 rebate.

Systems

Jstas wrote: »

Actually, I was looking at Dell's site the other day and they have some good deals on well equipped laptops for around $650-700. If you're not doing hardcore number crunching, that stuff will work just peachy.

Yes, would recommend Dell also. My wife had an Inspiron which she used extensively for school, work, travel: took it with her wherever she went, never had issue one with it. She gave it too her sister after she got a another Dell and her sister loves it also.

Her new Dell is a Studio 15 and have had no issues with that one either.

Stay away from HP's, please:)

tcrossma

I always recommend Dell. Relatively inexpensive and reliable enough for the 3-4 years that you'll likely want to keep it. I usually buy something from Dell's "small business" line since it usually works out a bit cheaper than their consumer line.

Erik Tracy

I was thinking that my budget would be about $1K - out the door, all software loaded.

But - if I can get everything for less - then more green for me to spend on audio stuff!

I do alot of typing, so a notebook is not for me - I'm looking more for the full laptop with decent keyboard spacing.

tcrossma

Erik Tracy wrote: »

I was thinking that my budget would be about $1K - out the door, all software loaded.

But - if I can get everything for less - then more green for me to spend on audio stuff!

I do alot of typing, so a notebook is not for me - I'm looking more for the full laptop with decent keyboard spacing.

You might want to consider using OpenOffice to save some money. And between that and Photoshop you'll have pretty good PDF creation, so you might be able to do away with buying Acrobat (just depends on the type of PDF creation you need to do).

As far as keyboards go, a lot of the smaller laptops these days have pretty darn good keyboards. I'd recommend that you don't discount a keyboard based solely on the screen size of the machine.

Jstas

Erik Tracy wrote: »

I was thinking that my budget would be about $1K - out the door, all software loaded.

But - if I can get everything for less - then more green for me to spend on audio stuff!

I do alot of typing, so a notebook is not for me - I'm looking more for the full laptop with decent keyboard spacing.

Yep. That's my preference too.

Like Lorthos, my track record with Dell systems is good. Dell Support, they are a drag but thankfully I don't need to call them often at all since most of what I need is on the website.

However, the $650-700 jobs are full-sized 15" and 17" Latitude models. They are the work horses. Also, like tcrossma said, check out the small business section instead of teh consumer section. you can get the "professional" and "ultra" levels of operating systems there instead of the limited "home" versions. Plus, systems are better equipped for similar money. Upgrades will be expensive there though so check prices.

SKsolutions

HP 5310m == Great bang for the buck, less than 1'' thin, 5 hr battery life, good keyboard, magnesium and aluminum, low voltage but still very snappy Core 2 Duo. 899$
Dell can't touch it.



Review LINK

billbillw

If you want a notebook computer for doing serious work, I'd recommend getting a business class model from Dell, HP Compaq, or Lenovo. The Thinkpad is the model that most look up to, but the other manufacturers are worthy as well. I'd stick to 14" size for portability. The real benefit of the business models is the warranty. Consumer laptops usually only have 1 year warranty. Business models are usually 3 years and often will cover a battery replacement.

Shop around at the places that do closeouts for slightly older business models. I managed to grab an HP Compaq business model (6910p) last summer for only $399 and that came with a 3y warranty, 14.1" screen, 7200rpm HDD (faster), 2.2GHz CoreDuo2, bluetooth, SD reader, firewire, and a real nice feeling keyboard.

Systems

Once again, I can't stress enough, please stay away from HP's, Compaqs.....

Conradicles

Just got my wife a Dell Inspirion for $500, it is a nice little gem.

Erik Tracy

Lorthos wrote: »

Once again, I can't stress enough, please stay away from HP's, Compaqs.....

- my company has an employee discount program with HP/Compaq.

I just used Dell's online tool to customize a Latitude 5500 and I ended up blowing my budget to $1600 even after their $300 instant discount.

But - I will admit that I was adding some options in that I could probably do without.....:p

coolsax

I've owned several HP and compaqs over the years been fine.

SKsolutions

If you want to know whether a laptop is likely to prematurely fail, look for temperature readings throughout the body of the laptop, measured at all of the key areas. Online reviews are all over the place, and good ones will markup a picture with temperature readings taken after heavy use. If brand X sells millions of Celeron boxes, they will likely rate much higher on reliability, because they are clocked way down, and wont throw as much heat. If brand Y sells millions of desktop replacement, high clock Core 2 Duo Extremes or pretty much any AMD chip, and people game on them, they are exponentially more likely to fail. There is no data that is going to drill down to the exact model and configuration that you are looking to buy, so it's pretty much a crapshoot, and a wasted conversation. Look for heat and themal design. Don't get the fastest processor out there, get the most efficient. Lower total thermal envelope chips, and some of the newer low voltage chips are using newer materials for their transistors that lowers gate leakage and loss quite a bit. Heat kills laptops. Finding a cool running one is the best predictor of reliability and quality of design, not brand. Again, the parts are likely identical.

Jstas

The HP may only be $899 but if you read the fine print, you also must sell your soul to own one.

Honestly, the HP systems will perform but they are very proprietary and it's hard to get replacement/upgrade parts for them. They are also expensive parts. Many other systems from other manufacturers are much easier to deal with and upgrade in that respect.

Personally, I'm not a fan of the HP systems. I try to stay away from them for the above reason alone. That and I like my soul. But to each his own. All I know is that I'm picky about my systems and I was able to find, customize and price a laptop from Dell well below the $1K mark set and I was happy with the selection.

Kex

Well, this is a bit like asking Polkies what car to buy. You're going to get the Japanese lovers, the Japanese car haters, the U.S. car lovers and haters, the German car lovers and haters, and the Korean car ... errr ... well the Korean car people of whatever description.

I can only share what I know, and that is limited since I don't buy laptops that often. I mostly buy ultra-light machines (3lbs or less), and this is not what you are considering:

1) I had a bad experience with Sony Vaios (three to date and probably never again), but that was a few years ago. They had reliability issues. They remind me a bit of Emotiva (sorry Emotiva owners): a bit too much bling and not enough substance IMO. YMMV.

2) I have had only good experiences with Toshiba (three to date). Their very small laptops never seem to have heat issues or drive failure issues (Toshiba make their own drives AFIK, so they're not using Seagate or Hitachi etc.). Quieter operation than just about every other 12" laptop I have owned, but the others have improved a lot in the last five years. They do add a lot off fiddly functions, which can be useful, but end up bloating the resource requirement somewhat, perhaps. I even dropped two of these by accident, and while there was some damage, they survived and are still working. Once you're out of warranty Toshiba don't help you much, but there is a good community to help figure things out if need be. Their pricing is quite aggressive sometimes.

3) I have had mostly good experiences with Dell (three to date). One earlier model did show a rather tacky quality of fit and finish that reminds me of U.S. car interiors (sorry U.S. car owners). I had to replace the keyboard on that one, but parts for Dell are very easy to find at reasonable prices. Community support is also widely available if you need it. A family member visiting for TG mentioned that her IT department is buying no more Dells, however, since they have had too many problems with recent models breaking. YMMV.

4) I have had mostly good experiences with Lenovo (two to date). The wifey currently uses one and it seems quite excellent. They seem to be the flavor of the month in some circles recently and their pricing can be quite aggressive. If you can't decide, I think this is what I would buy now, if I wasn't buying another Toshiba.

Size wise, I would not get larger than 15" unless you are fully aware that it will weigh a ton. I refuse to get larger than 12" for travel because of the weight of the machine and the larger size of the power bricks they use. The wifey's Lenovo 12" model has a power brick about twice as large as the 12" Toshiba I use.

Other features that are nice for travel is a fingerprint reader, to secure your laptop and your files.

I like to have bluetooth so that I can use a bluetooth mouse (without adding a USB adapter), keeping available USB ports free for other things.

A huge factor for me, if buying today, would be:

- A backlit LED screen, for ease of use in direct sunlight.
- Windows 7 (or Linux), not Vista (XP is getting too old).
- 2GB or more of RAM for faster operation.
- SSD if cost effective, for safety and noise concerns.

I hope that (A) you are still awake, not dozing off, and (B) that some of this gives you something useful to think about.

tcrossma

Erik Tracy wrote: »

- my company has an employee discount program with HP/Compaq.

I just used Dell's online tool to customize a Latitude 5500 and I ended up blowing my budget to $1600 even after their $300 instant discount.

But - I will admit that I was adding some options in that I could probably do without.....:p

A Dell Vostro configured the way I'd want is $649, and that's more expensive than I usually go.

I just can't see spending much more on a computer these days. I'd rather get a relatively inexpensive one today, use it for 2-3 years, and then get a new one instead of spending double that and being forced to keep it longer. Even a modestly configured computer right now is plenty fast and has all of the features that I need for my tasks.

But, everyone has their computing needs and wants. I've just realized that mine do not include getting the latest / greatest hardware anymore -- I'd rather use the money on something else that matters more to me.

vc69

I always recommend Dell. Nobody has ever regretted my suggested purchase. I use a ton (literally... maybe more) of Dell Latitudes and Vostro's (a few) and the Vostro's are good budget laptops.

/.02

steveinaz

Lorthos wrote: »

Once again, I can't stress enough, please stay away from HP's, Compaqs.....

CORRECT. They have the highest failure rates in the industry. Toshiba is the best rated for not failing.

billbillw

HP consumer laptops may be the worst for reliability, but their business models are stout, that's why they carry a 3 year warranty!

Squaretrade (warranty company) did an analysis of repair rates on the various laptop companies. Asus, Toshiba, and Sony were neck and neck for the lowest failure rate. But remember, this is most likely looking at consumer models since most business models don't get a squaretrade warranty tacked on at purchase time (because they already have a longer warranty )

http://www.squaretrade.com/htm/pdf/SquareTrade_laptop_reliability_1109.pdf

phuz

It's hard to beat Dell. Period.

edbert

phuz wrote: »

It's hard to beat Dell. Period.

Not so much. Walk to garage, open toolbox, pickup hammer, proceed as necessary.

No one has mentioned it, but you could always get a Macbook. It should do everything you are requesting and they are quite reliable(at least in my experience). The price falls right where you are looking. Other than that, my dad, father-in-law, brother-in-laws and sister all have Dell laptops and they have yet to have problems. Most of them are on their second ones just because they needed to upgrade to keep up with their computing needs.

Good luck!

bigaudiofanatic

KASR wrote: »

I've had nothing but great luck with Sony Vaio's...all always recommend them.

My vote use to go to HP but they seem to have went down FAST with their quality. Everything form motherboards going to power supplies to the cords. Now I can not comment on their newest ones. Also I do not recommended dell at all. Why? Just a PITA to get parts and support for. I have had to work on them a lot and do not care for them.

Now personally I have a 5 year old mac that I swear by. 0 problems. however I am not sure if that it the route you want to go.
So my vote as well goes for sony.

Erik Tracy

So, I've narrowed my selection down to two laptops:
Toshiba Satellite M500-ST6422 $878
Dell Inspiron 15 $875

Both comparably configured with screen size, Win 7 OS, 4GB memory, comparable HD, MS Office, etc.

Any thoughts?

ViperZ

I would never buy anything but the Thinkpads. Built like tanks, perform excellent. Negatives? Butt-ugly, but it's worth it.