my dad said he'd get me a new laptop for graduation, so i'm trying to decide which brand to go with based on who has the best quality hardware and customer support. i don't want a mac. i've had a dell desktop for almost 5 years and haven't had a single problem with it, but i've heard dell has gone downhill over the last couple years. dell, hp and sony are the 3 i'm considering right now, but any suggestions for better products are welcome.

5/11/2009 8:31:16 PM

had a couple of dells, including one I got last fall, havent had a problem with any

5/11/2009 8:32:08 PM

dell dude

5/11/2009 8:33:15 PM

why don't you want a mac?

5/11/2009 8:33:55 PM

cause he doesnt want to be an annoying fuck

5/11/2009 8:35:44 PM

why don't you want a mac?

5/11/2009 8:36:00 PM

5/11/2009 8:36:55 PM

once you go mac, you never go back.....

5/11/2009 8:37:39 PM

i wonder if the dell dude still works at tortilla flats

5/11/2009 8:40:24 PM

why don't you want a mac?

5/11/2009 8:42:34 PM

Quote :

"why don't you want a mac?"

i think apple makes cool, innovative products, and i think macs are cool computers, but it just doesn't make sense for me to get one. until i go back to grad school i'm really only gonna be using my computer for internet, email, music and occasional word processing. macs are ridiculously overpriced, and even though it's my dad who'd be spending the money i wouldn't feel right getting a mac just because it's the cool thing to do right now. i feel that i can get a PC with superior hardware for far less money than an inferior or equivalent product from apple. and i don't want there to be arguments about the operating systems, but i know the ins and outs of windows and don't think mac osx is worth paying a premium price for. i also don't record music, edit photos, or edit videos, so it makes even less sense for me to get a mac.

also don't try to argue that apple's hardware is better than that of a PC. it's made by a company that also makes hardware for dell and HP if i'm not mistaken, and my roommate's hard drive has crashed on him 3 times since he's had his macbook. if mac osx never crashes or freezes then that's one thing, but when your hard drive fails 3 times then there's something wrong there.

[Edited on May 11, 2009 at 8:45 PM. Reason : .]

5/11/2009 8:42:50 PM

if you have any sort of budget, macs are out of the question.

[Edited on May 11, 2009 at 8:44 PM. Reason : ^ or he could answer himself.]

5/11/2009 8:43:49 PM

Rat Soup is pretty smart for a soup made out of or for rats.

5/11/2009 8:45:38 PM

Quote :

"my roommate's hard drive has crashed on him 3 times since he's had his macbook. if mac osx never crashes or freezes then that's one thing, but when your hard drive fails 3 times then there's something wrong there."

Apple doesn't make the HDs. With that said, your other reasons are perfectly valid. I was just curious.

5/11/2009 8:50:15 PM

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5/11/2009 8:51:14 PM

^^ they do, however, sell them as apart of their computers.

5/11/2009 8:51:49 PM

fuck dookey dell, get an hp, period.

5/11/2009 8:58:16 PM

macs are overrated and too expensive. yeah you have to install virus protection/spyware on pc's but after that its not a big deal. set them to run automatically. i also know quite a few people who have problems with the physical maintenance of the casing over a period of time.

i would either go dell or lenovo thinkpad. both have great customer service, great reputations, and great machines.

5/11/2009 8:59:11 PM

+1 Lenovo ThinkPad

5/11/2009 8:59:58 PM

Quote :

"MADE IN CHINA"

5/11/2009 9:03:07 PM

Tiger Direct

5/11/2009 9:04:46 PM

Dell or HP will probably give you the most bang for the buck. Check out Slickdeals.net You can usually find great offers/coupons their for laptops. It pays to wait for a good deal for a few weeks then jump on it. Got my mom a HP C2D 7200 3GRam, 320HD, 16" for 450 bucks from a deal posted there a few months ago, can't beat that.

5/11/2009 9:08:59 PM

I own Qfred's old Dell & it's been impossible to kill

'06? ICD (not IC2D IIRC) Latitude D620, 4GB RAM, 500GB HDD

5/11/2009 9:22:20 PM

I went ahead and bought this today
http://www.zones.com/site/product/index.html?id=002834764

5/11/2009 9:23:42 PM

I went ahead and bought this today
http://www.zones.com/site/product/index.html?id=002834764

5/11/2009 9:23:42 PM

^ nice. i saw a vaio i liked at best buy. i was just hoping to get some advice on what brand to go with though. did you go with that vaio just because of the deal on that site, or is there a reason why a vaio is a better choice overall?

5/11/2009 9:31:21 PM

i will be purchasing a new laptop quite soon

5/11/2009 9:33:50 PM

id just like to say that in todays laptop world, you gotta go with service for the most part, cause most of those things are running at least 4 of the exact same components

i deal with hundreds of assorted laptops per month, also deal with a lot of customer service and warranty issues (from tech to tech, although i have dealt with both regarding my home PCs, i own a gateway laptop and 2 dell desktops). best 2, as of now, before anything else merges:

gateway has never failed to have a prepaid box delivered by DHL within 2 hours of calling their tech guys if i have a warranty problem. average time between calling them and getting the machine back fixed... 4 days.

also they used to send my restore partition disks overnight. then once they realized i was a "special" customer they sent me a box of restore dvds for everything within about 2 years of the MT series

ive never had any problems with dell specifically, but their techs are less trained overall and they will jew you any way you can.

5/11/2009 9:35:32 PM

plz to continue this thread. i will be getting a new laptop soon as well

5/11/2009 9:50:06 PM

I got bought a cheap HP back during a best buy after christmas super sale, basically just for internet browsing. so far so good.

5/11/2009 9:53:47 PM

This looks like a more semi-serious thread that people want to continue in order to receive relevant information.

Move to Lounge?

5/11/2009 9:55:57 PM

^^^^I've seen some fairly good looking deals for Gateways at Best Buy. I'll rarely be using the laptop for the internet and when I do it'll probably be over a modem, so not too many funk viruses. But I'll also be pretty far removed from any repair options for 2 years, so great service doesn't matter tooooo much either way (Peace Corps in Kazakhstan). I saw this one http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9173191&type=product&id=1218044029373 at Best Buy. Okay deal?

edit: Portability would be a plus, which this doesn't really have. Decent battery life would also be cool, but not as important as reliability and portability.

[Edited on May 11, 2009 at 11:19 PM. Reason : asdf]

5/11/2009 11:16:51 PM

I recently got an HP Pavilion dv3000. 4gb ram, 320gb hd, 4.5hr battery life, Nvidia graphics card, dual core, dedicated video memory, and it's $895 at Best Buy right now (was $1000 when I got it, thx BB for price matching yourself and giving me back $100!)

Runs beautifully for games 'n such. It's got Vista, but I only use it for MS Office stuff + internetz.

It's got the Windows Media Center entertainment stuff, but I don't really use that.

Also, thing's about 4lbs and about 3/4-1" thick. Mine is 13.3". They have 14.1, 15 something, and 17 something.

[Edited on May 12, 2009 at 12:07 AM. Reason : portability addition ]

5/12/2009 12:06:17 AM

Quote :

"did you go with that vaio just because of the deal on that site, or is there a reason why a vaio is a better choice overall?"

I got it because I also have a Dell laptop that's eligible for a $450 trade-in, so the laptop came out roughly $300 post-tax+shipping for me.

5/12/2009 12:07:31 AM

get a little netbook

Eee PC or Aspire One

one with a big solid state drive
upgrade the ram and jam a massive SD card in it

5/12/2009 1:12:53 AM

lenovo

5/12/2009 1:14:59 AM

GATEWAY. all i've ever had. probably all i'll ever have.

5/12/2009 1:52:01 AM

5/12/2009 3:58:18 AM

^ haha what?

5/12/2009 12:24:37 PM

thread bombing

5/12/2009 12:27:15 PM

he means that instead of your dad buying you a computer, he should get you a hooker instead

5/12/2009 12:27:36 PM

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ i'm not sure that will work

5/12/2009 12:27:45 PM

just get a mac, you will not be disappointed

5/12/2009 1:31:51 PM

lenovo if you want the best construction

i've had two HPs recently and they're pretty solid, though they do get a bit warm (even so, i've not experienced any problem as of yet)...my personal opinion is that style-wise, HP is as close to a mac as you'll get (not that that has any relevance, but i've noticed that HP offers much more stylized laptops than do the other big PC manufacturers)

5/12/2009 1:35:14 PM

^ a lot of the HPs i've seen lately are really shiny and glossy and look like they show dirt and smudges really badly. i know that doesn't really affect the performance of the laptop, but it looks sorta nasty.

5/12/2009 1:59:12 PM

yeah, i got mine because i nabbed one of those $500 off $1099 deals from slickdeals about a year ago...it's shiny, but i tend to cover my laptop with bumper stickers, so you can't really tell anymore

it's not a big enough problem that i would pass up a good deal because of it

5/12/2009 2:02:37 PM

i got a toshiba satellite last year, mostly cause it came recommended and was cheap. damn thing didn't even come with microsoft office (it was a trial, I found out recently)
unless someone wants to pm me a ms office 07 vista key

5/12/2009 2:13:14 PM

Quote :

"just get amac, you will not be disappointed"

a+ advice

5/12/2009 2:14:06 PM

+1 Lenovo ThinkPad

My Dad recently had to get a new laptop, so my mom researched a shit ton and found that a certain HP laptop was the best. After bringing it back from Staples or w/e, he booted it up and the damn thing crashed within a few hours, wouldn't start up without pushing the power button multiple times, etc. petejames's sister also got a new HP within this past year and has had many, many problems, including problems with it starting up (again, have to try and start it at least 15 times).

Dad took the HP back the same day and ordered a custom Lenovo online. Hasn't had a problem since.

5/12/2009 2:18:59 PM

Quote :

" got a toshiba satellite last year, mostly cause it came recommended and was cheap. damn thing didn't even come with microsoft office (it was a trial, I found out recently) unless someone wants to pm me a ms office 07 vista key "

I've been using Open Office for years, and I've never had any problems. It's free and does just about everything the MS Office suite does.

http://www.openoffice.org/

5/12/2009 2:20:58 PM