best laptop brand?

[onsitetech]

You should check out Equus Laptops at equuscs.com. We resell them and they have great warranty and service behind the sale.

[Curt]

Looks like everyone has pretty good things to say about Toshiba, and I'm going to jump on that bandwagon myself. Even after almost 4 years and some mild abuse, I had no problems with anything but the screen, and even that was only a single pixel that just stayed red. It was just a Celeron 1 GHz, but I loved that system. I'd still happily be using it too if it wasn't for some jack-a** that broke into my trunk one evening a couple months ago.

As a replacement, I picked up a Compaq. I would've preferred another Toshiba, but I couldn't resist the price. So far it's been excellent, but I really haven't had it long enough to encounter too many problems either, so don't give too much weight to my experience so far.

Another Toshiba thumbs up! :love:

[Light Speed]

Apple PowerBook

The 15" is the best value.
http://www.apple.com/powerbook/

[Silverbug]

we'll just to be different i have just purchased (in the last 2 months) an Acer tablet. while its a little heavy compaired to the hp tablet its still quite good, altho to be honest i dont really ever use the tablet features of it, and just leave it in "laptop mode" so to speak. It was also a little pricey for what you get imho, but hey its a toy

I did have an IBM thinkpad a few years ago and really the only good thing with that was the screen realestate.

[mresell]

Look at the construction and get the warranty. Frankly, Dell quality is not what is was and it is not expensive. Once they went consumer it has been down hill. I have seen plenty of problems with their laps. Compaq is very iffy, as well. If you replace them regularly...probably doesn't matter. However, all of them skimp on most models so get the warranty. If your screen goes you are looking at the most expensive repair .... one you can't do yourself. I tend to think the ibm and tosh hold up better, but I hated those stem kb things. Glad to see them going.

Acer/BenQ makes a fine laptop, but need an extra warranty. They OEM alot for others. I think JBL has built alot of compaqs, also.

[mattkakuk]

I got acer for about 3 weeks now, so far so good.

Dell had really bad luck. Hard drive went all 3 that I owned.

Always go with warranty, no matter what brand. you will use it guaranteed!

matt

[DVHost]

Originally Posted by mresell

Look at the construction and get the warranty. Frankly, Dell quality is not what is was and it is not expensive. Once they went consumer it has been down hill. I have seen plenty of problems with their laps. Compaq is very iffy, as well. If you replace them regularly...probably doesn't matter. However, all of them skimp on most models so get the warranty. If your screen goes you are looking at the most expensive repair .... one you can't do yourself. I tend to think the ibm and tosh hold up better, but I hated those stem kb things. Glad to see them going.

Acer/BenQ makes a fine laptop, but need an extra warranty. They OEM alot for others. I think JBL has built alot of compaqs, also.

I would have to agree that construction quality of Dell laptops is not all it could be. I also agree that a good (lenghty) warranty is extremely essential but be wary of the technician sent to work on your precious laptop.

I did have a problem with my i8000's display a year after I received it. It turned out to be an issue with the cable connecting the display to the mobo but Dell wanted to replace the cable and display just to make sure. They sent out some inept technician whom flipped my lappy over and in that single move prompted to tell him to stop and not go a step further. He had no idea what he was doing and had never performed this task on my model before.

His due diligence (or lack thereof) was astounding. I had him step aside and watch while I proceeded to perform the replacement of the display screen. A task I had never performed before, but if you exercise patience and caution a laptop display can easily be replaced.

While typical manufacturer policies state that if you do something you should not, it would void your warranty. Dell does it slightly different.

"You can perform the repairs yourself if you want to and if you are successful then your warranty remains intact. If you fail and break something... well your warranty is now void." - quoted from Dell tech support.

[Curt]

Personally, I don't have any use for laptop warranties. Aside from Best Buy reps, I don't know anyone who thinks they're worthwhile. Stores push extended warranties pretty hard on customers, especially those buying laptops it seems, but it only makes sense that the average repair costs associated with a purchase must be less than the warranty cost, otherwise those companies would be losing money by selling extended warranties, right? I live by the rule that if you treat things kindly, more likely than not, they will return the favour.

Well, except for those f***ing Best Buy reps.

[kapuwa]

wow - thank you guys for all of your comments. after one couple of weeks of searching i finally settled with a IBM ThinkPad R50e - cost me only $1000 with 3 year comprehensive warrnty - infact i am writing this message on it - this baby kicks ass

[ixie02]

I just couldn't handle all this talk about laptops so I just went out and bought me one. Found a good price on a Gateway 518 Notebook, pentium iv. Needed a work horse for multitasking and didn't care much about bells and whistles. Hope it works out and please, no more tempting threads on stuff I really can't afford!

[cmnbiz]

I'll put in my $0.02...

LOVE my IBM thinkpad. I've used it now, every business day, for 1 & 1/2 years. I have NEVER had it crash, and I have a ton of software on the poor thing, and it gets toted to & from work every day. Constructed very well....I can't speak for their service because I've never had to use it. I use a docking station, and it is my primary work computer.

Toshiba is also good, from what I hear...no hands-on experience, but I hear good things.

On the other hand, I've heard of lots of problems with Dell laptops. I have used Dell desktops for years, but have witnessed co-workers with frequent frustrations over their Dell laptops.

[mresell]

Originally Posted by DVHost

I would have to agree that construction quality of Dell laptops is not all it could be. I also agree that a good (lenghty) warranty is extremely essential but be wary of the technician sent to work on your precious laptop.

I did have a problem with my i8000's display a year after I received it. It turned out to be an issue with the cable connecting the display to the mobo but Dell wanted to replace the cable and display just to make sure. They sent out some inept technician whom flipped my lappy over and in that single move prompted to tell him to stop and not go a step further. He had no idea what he was doing and had never performed this task on my model before.

His due diligence (or lack thereof) was astounding. I had him step aside and watch while I proceeded to perform the replacement of the display screen. A task I had never performed before, but if you exercise patience and caution a laptop display can easily be replaced.

While typical manufacturer policies state that if you do something you should not, it would void your warranty. Dell does it slightly different.

"You can perform the repairs yourself if you want to and if you are successful then your warranty remains intact. If you fail and break something... well your warranty is now void." - quoted from Dell tech support.

Yeah they had alot of those go bad. But many other things can go wrong. The back light can go often as well. Dell actually sends things all the time for customers to replace themselves. They send instructions and all. Great warranty. I do on site servicing and what you describe is one reason I steer clear of that kind of subcontracting. I have seen similiar stupidity from lots of IT people, I am sure we all have.

All I was saying is that w/o a way to get the right parts cost effectively you will not fix it. If you had needed a whole new screen that warranty would have saved you hundreds. Labor aside. Many companies don't make those parts available after a short time. Dell or who ever. Some parts are more proprietary. You have to be able to get the right part cost effectively. I am not a big believer in extra warranties in general and best buy is a joke. If you will just buy a new laptop it doesn't matter anyway. You have to weigh the cost. I have seen many laptops have major lcd problems after about a yr and a half.